2016 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team

The 2016 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Dave Clawson, who was in his third season at the school, and played its home games at BB&T Field. Wake Forest competed in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference, as they have since the league's inception in 1953. They finished the season 7–6, 3–5 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Division. They were invited to the Military Bowl where they defeated Temple.

When Wake Forest lost to Louisville on November 12, Dave Clawson alleged that Louisville had received impermissible information that benefited the Cardinals on the football field. On December 14, 2016, after a month long probe, former Wake Forest staff member and IMG College radio analyst Tommy Elrod was dismissed from the program for leaking confidential and proprietary game preparations on multiple occasions. Once the leaks came to light, Clawson and offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero would completely overhaul the Demon Deacons' offensive playbook in the offseason resulting in the "slow mesh" offense, an offensive scheme based on the run-pass option (RPO).

Recruiting

Schedule

Coaching staff

Game summaries

Tulane

3rd meeting. 0–2 all time. Last meeting 1995, 35–9 Green Wave in New Orleans.

@ Duke

97th meeting. 37–57–2 all time. Last meeting 2015, 27–21 Blue Devils in Winston–Salem.

Delaware

2nd meeting. 1–0 all time. Last meeting 1932, 7–0 Demon Deacons in Newark.

@ Indiana

2nd meeting. 0–1 all time. Last meeting 2015, 31–24 Hoosiers in Winston–Salem.

@ NC State

110th meeting. 38–65–6 all time. Last meeting 2015, 35–17 Wolfpack in Winston–Salem.

Syracuse

6th meeting. 1–4 all time. Last meeting 2015, 30–17 Orange in Syracuse.

@ Florida State

35th meeting. 6–27–1 all time. Last meeting 2015, 24–16 Seminoles in Winston–Salem.

Army

16th meeting. 11–4 all time. Last meeting 2015, 17–14 Demon Deacons in West Point.

Virginia

49th meeting. 14–34 all time. Last meeting 2012, 16–10 Demon Deacons in Charlottesville.

@ Louisville

4th meeting. 0–3 all time. Last meeting 2015, 20–19 Cardinals in Winston–Salem.

Clemson

82nd meeting. 17–63–1 all time. Last meeting 2015, 33–13 Tigers in Clemson.

Boston College

24th meeting. 9–12–2 all time. Last meeting 2015, 3–0 Demon Deacons in Chestnut Hill.

Vs. Temple – Military Bowl

2nd meeting. 0–1 all time. Last meeting 1930, 36–0 Owls in Philadelphia.

Leaks of plays

Colloquially called "WakeyLeaks", some of Wake Forest's opponents appear to have had knowledge of Wake Forest's playbook, even plays they had just created and only practiced for one week. Suspicion fell on Tommy Elrod, a color commentator on the broadcast crew; Elrod was found to have made long phone calls to the coaches of rival teams in the days before Wake Forest played them, and he had access to the practice tapes compiled by Wake Forest staff. Elrod had been an assistant coach during the leadership of previous coach Jim Grobe; it is speculated that after Clawson did not hire him on as a coach, instead relegating him to color commentary, he leaked the plays as a form of revenge. Elrod was fired and banned from the campus in December 2016.

References