The Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represents Wake Forest University in the sport of American football. The Demon Deacons compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Wake Forest plays its home football games at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium and is coached by Dave Clawson.
The 2006 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Jim Grobe, in his fifth season at the school, and played its home games at Groves Stadium. The Deacons finished the regular season with a 10–2 record, giving them the first 10-win season in their history, and won the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The subsequent victory in the conference championship game gave Wake Forest their first conference championship in 36 years. As such, they represented the ACC in the Orange Bowl. The team ended the season with an 11–3 record and a number 17 ranking in the nation. The team and its star linebacker Jon Abbate would become the subject of a 2011 feature film, The 5th Quarter. They did not win the Atlantic Division again until 2021.
Gary Benjamin Mauk is a former American football quarterback. He completed his college football career in 2007 for the Cincinnati Bearcats. He attended high school at Kenton High School where he set national passing records as a senior. He then went on to play at Wake Forest, and then later transferred to Cincinnati at the conclusion of the 2006 season.
The 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl, one of 27 non-BCS bowl games played after the 2007 NCAA football regular season, took place on Saturday, December 29, 2007, with a 1:00PM EST kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wake Forest won the game, 24-10.
The 2006 Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game featured the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a regular-season American football game to determine the champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest defeated Georgia Tech by a 9–6 score to win its first ACC football championship since 1970 and its second in school history. The game was held at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida and was the concluding game of the regular season for each team.
David Paul Clawson is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the head football coach at Wake Forest University, where he was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year. Clawson previously served as the head football coach at Fordham University from 1999 to 2003, at the University of Richmond from 2004 to 2007, and at Bowling Green State University from 2009 to 2013. At Wake Forest, his annual salary is $3.6 million.
The 2008 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was Wake Forest's 56th season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Jeff Mullen is an American football coach. He is the former quarterback coach of the Charlotte 49ers. Mullen was previously an assistant coach at Ohio University, Wake Forest University, and West Virginia University.
Ben Sankey is a former gridiron football quarterback. He was signed as a street free agent by the Calgary Stampeders in 2000. He played college football at Wake Forest.
Christopher T. Crane is a former American football quarterback who played for the Milwaukee Iron of the Arena Football League. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Boston College.
Tyler Allen Sheehan is a former American football quarterback. Sheehan played collegiately at Bowling Green State University after a standout career at La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. After going undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft, he signed with Houston Texans, where he was released after training camp. In 2011, he signed with the Cincinnati Commandos of the Continental Indoor Football League. Sheehan led the Commandos to a perfect 10–0 regular season, winning the league's MVP award. In the playoffs, Sheehan led the Commandos to the 2011 CIFL Championship Game, where they defeated the Marion Blue Racers 44–29. After the Commandos season ended, Sheehan signed with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League, but never appeared in a game. In 2012, Sheehan returned to the Commandos and led them to a 7–2 record, this time in the United Indoor Football League. The Commandos took the first place seed into the playoffs, and won Ultimate Bowl II 62–44 over the Florida Tarpons.
Brian Kuklick is an American former quarterback for the Orlando Rage of the XFL.
The North Carolina–Wake Forest rivalry is a series of athletic contests between the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons. The first football game between the two institutions was played in 1888. As a consequence of ACC expansion in the 21st century, the two schools do not play each other annually in football, as they were placed in separate divisions and assigned different opponents for their "protected" cross-division games. North Carolina got rival NC State as their cross-divisional opponent, while Wake Forest got Duke, which allowed the Duke-Wake Forest rivalry to continue.
Cole Stoudt is an American football college coach and former player. He is currently an offensive player development coach at Clemson University, where he played college football and was the Tigers starting quarterback in 2014.
Tanner Price is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Wake Forest. He also attended Westlake High School in Texas.
John Thomas Wolford is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wake Forest and signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2018, and played for the Los Angeles Rams from 2019 to 2022. He has also played for the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football.
The 2019 Pinstripe Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2019, with kickoff at 3:20 p.m. EST on ESPN. It was the 10th edition of the Pinstripe Bowl, and one of the 2019–20 bowl games concluding the 2019 FBS football season. Sponsored by the New Era Cap Company, the game was officially known as the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
Kendall Hinton is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Wake Forest as a quarterback and wide receiver and signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2020. That season, he made an appearance as an emergency quarterback following the rest of the team's quarterbacks being placed in COVID-19 quarantine for a week. In doing so, Hinton became the first non-professional quarterback to play significant snaps at the position in an NFL game since running back Tom Matte with the Baltimore Colts in 1965.
The 2021 ACC Championship Game was a college football game played on December 4, 2021, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the 17th edition of the ACC Championship Game and determined the champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2021 season. The game began at 8:15 p.m. EST and aired on ABC. The game featured the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, the Atlantic Division champions, and the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Coastal Division champions. Sponsored by restaurant chain Subway, the game was known as the Subway ACC Championship Game.
Sam Hartman is an American football quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He previously played for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons where he became the all-time leader in touchdown passes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
