"We're the fastest growing fanbase in P5": Wake Forest AD John Currie makes bold remark about school's dominance
Over the past few years, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have steadily built a name in the ACC. However, the last two seasons have been disappointing, with the team finishing 4-8 in each under former head coach Dave Clawson.
Wake Forest Athletic Director John Currie appeared on Friday's episode of "Next Up With Adam Breneman," where he talked about the growing popularity of the Demon Deacons in college football. Currie also talked about their research into understanding and measuring their fan base. He made a bold claim, saying that they are the fastest-growing program in terms of fanbase in the Power 5 conference.
"We've done a bunch of research and part of it came out of, you know, back in 2021 we won the ACC Atlantic Division football championship," John Currie said. "The next year in 2022 we're 10th in the country. You know, we had a massive game against Clemson and had great ratings and all that kind of stuff."
"But there was a rather derisive comment made about like the scale of Wake Forest fandom ... We actually like did some research, 'well, how many fans do we have?' And when it came back was, we have 2.7 million fans at Wake Forest, which is pretty remarkable for a school with 80,000 alums."
"And we also came back that we're the fastest growing fanbase in the power 5 since 2019. It also came back that our fan base, even though this is a predominantly white institution by heritage, 44% of our fans are not white. And it came back that our fans are young, they're influential...pretty good group."
After 11 seasons, Dave Clawson resigned as the coach of Wake Forest after the 2024 season. He was replaced by Jake Dickert, who was previously the head coach of the Washington State Cougars.
Jake Dickert hires Dan Enos as Wake Forest's new QB coach
After taking over as the coach of Wake Forest, Jake Dickert made some changes to his coaching staff, including the addition of Dan Enos as the team's new quarterbacks coach.
Enos spent the 2024 season as an offensive analyst for the Florida Gators. In a statement announcing his hiring, Dickert heaped praise on Enos, saying that he was excited to see what Enos will bring to the program.
"Dan Enos is one of the most accomplished offensive minds in college football, and we're thrilled to have him join our football staff at Wake Forest," Dickert said (per godeacs.com). With over three decades of experience coaching quarterbacks, Dan has consistently developed players and built successful programs."
"His deep knowledge of the game, passion for teaching, and familiarity with the ACC make him an invaluable addition as we continue to push our program to new heights. I'm excited to welcome Dan, Jane, and their family to DEACTOWN."
Fans of the Demon Deacons are hoping for great things this upcoming season.