Wake Forest released its 2008 season this week and on the whole it looks pretty decent in terms of the competition it has to meet (Home games in BOLD).

Aug. 30 at Baylor

Sept. 6 MISSISSIPPI

Sept. 20 at Florida State

Sept. 27 NAVY

Oct. 9 CLEMSON (Thurs)

Oct. 18 at Maryland

Oct. 25 at Miami

Nov. 1 DUKE

Nov. 8 VIRGINIA

Nov. 15 at NC State

Nov. 22 BOSTON COLLEGE

Nov. 29 VANDERBILT

One thing you may notice from the home games is that there are 7 of them. This will be the first time in several years that the Deacons will have this many games at home. Also, too, one of the games will be on a Thursday which is ESPN’s game of the week which should be a big draw of a game locally. Unlike last season when the team started off slow playing Boston College then Nebraska, this year’s start will be a more subdued one with Baylor and Mississippi.

The Tobacco Road series will be missing one matchup as North Carolina drops out of the rotation being replaced by Miami. That may not be a bad thing in retrospect as Butch Davis and a few strong recruiting class looks like that North Carolina will be competitive this year for a change while the Hurricanes are still in a rebuilding mode.

As for recruiting, it looks like the team has done well for itself especially through its Florida connections. Offensively, Wake will have nine additions including quarterback Ted Stachitas from Jacksonville, FL Nease High School. Stachitas, the Florida Times Union Player of the Year, succeeded Tim Tebow as quarterback at Nease. Tebow won the Heisman Trophy last fall as the quarterback at the University of Florida.

The Deacons will welcome four new offensive linemen including Gabe Irby (6-3, 315) of Habersham, GA; Joe Looney (6-3, 315) of Lake Worth, FL; Chance Raines (6-2, 270) of Jacksonville (Bolles School) and Garrick Williams (6-4, 314) of Columbia, MO (Rock Bridge).

The new offensive players also include a pair of tight ends in J.T. Dixon (6-4, 230) who comes toWake Forest from Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, VA, and Andrew Parker (6-5, 225) from Jacksonville, FL (Bartram Trail). Terence Davis (6-1, 180) of Lilburn, GA (Brookwood) is the lone projected wide receiver in the class while Lovell Jackson (5-10, 170) of Tampa, FL (Plant) is the only running back signed by the Deacons.

The seven newest members of the Deacon defense include a trio of linemen, three linebackers and a cornerback. On the defensive front, Wake Forest will add Derricus Ellis (6-2, 225) from Rome, GA (Darlington); Kevin Smith (6-4, 210) from Plano, TX (East) and Ramon Booi (6-6, 330) from Jacksonville, FL (Nease). At linebacker, the Deacons are joined by Scott Betros (6-1, 220) from Jacksonville, FL (Bolles), Joey Ehrmann (6-4, 210) from Baltimore, MD (Gilman) and Riley Haynes (6-1, 225) from Jacksonville, FL (Nease). The newcomer in the secondary is Kenny Okoro (6-0, 185) from Greensboro, NC (Dudley).

There are considerations for the future especially as when you consider that Coach Grobe redshirts virtually every freshman player. These players will be in a position to take over from the current starters when they graduate in a few years time. If Stachitas comes through in his sophomore year, he will be bringing several wide receivers and tight ends with him while still having the abilities of a then senior Josh Adams.

As always though, this recruiting class is only ranked 11th best in the 12 team ACC but it has been that way for years and probably continue to be so but as always it is the coach’s ability to get the most of these players that accounts for much of a team’s success perhaps more so than raw talent. Recruiting class ranking are always a bit of a crap shoot when they are calculated because you never really know how a player will make the transition from the high school local environment to the college level.

The future is now set for the Deacons next year and beyond. Let’s hope it is as successful as it has been in the past two years.