Why Wake Forest Could Be This College Football Season's 'Red Pill'
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Wake Forest Football has the opportunity to be the spoiler in a lot of head coaches' tenures across the entirety of college football, as the Demon Deacons have already gotten one coach fired- and have the chance at giving the 'red pill' to fellow ACC opponents.
The 'red pill,' for those who don't know, is a term that originated from the 1999 film The Matrix. The term 'red pill' has become ingrained in today's culture to represent the process of enlightenment and finding out the harsh truth.
There have been numerous cases this college football season of red pills being taken - whether it be LSU's loss to Texas A&M, Penn State's losses to UCLA and Northwestern, or otherwise, each of those programs now must start anew after recognizing their harsh realities.
Whether it be the loss of reputation caused by losing to "Little Old Wake Forest" or otherwise, some programs have already taken that harsh swallow of reality after facing the Deacs.
Recent Dose of Reality
Trent Bray, Oregon State
Wake Forest's first "victim" was none other than Oregon State head coach Trent Bray, who was fired after his Beavers lost 39-14 to the Demon Deacons in Corvallis.
Not only did Bray lose by a large amount, but it also came as the Demon Deacons started their backup quarterback, Deshawn Purdie, who broke out for 270 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Bray was previously 5-14 throughout his one-and-a-half seasons at the helm in Corvallis, and had been 0-6 going into the matchup with the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest was the harsh dose of reality in his tenure, though, as the lopsided final score revealed that Oregon State shouldn't go forward with Bray, a former alum, at the helm of their football program any longer.
The Future Candidates
Mike Norvell, Florida State
If Wake Forest defeats the Seminoles in Tallahassee, Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell might be receiving the axe soon.
After Norvell earned a contract extension behind an undefeated regular season in 2023, the Seminoles have severely regressed the past two seasons, to the point where Norvell is very much on the hot seat again.
Norvell's fall from grace has happened in part because his Seminoles are just 1-10 in conference play since 2024. Despite winning against a ranked Alabama squad earlier this season, Norvell has lost all four conference games this season, and the Demon Deacons can make it five on Saturday.
The price may be steep - possibly over $100 million to fire coaches, undergo a coaching search, hire a new coach, and bring in a transfer class with NIL- and yet the Seminoles may be willing to pull the trigger if the Demon Deacons beat them handily.
Bill Belichick, North Carolina
There's no shortage of words to describe Belichick's tenure in Chapel Hill so far. Controversial, underwhelming, chaotic- well, the only adjectives that come to mind are negative.
With this being the case, Dickert and the Deacs have the opportunity to stick it to their Tobacco Road rival on Nov. 15th. After all, both the Demon Deacons and the Tar Heels each had coaching searches this offseason, and it's safe to say that Dickert has outperformed by a large margin - all while the most high-profile hire has been a high-profile flop.
After initial reports indicated that Belichick may look to move on after the season, the rumors around Belichick's job have begun to die down. However, if Dickert can dominate the Tar Heels at home in two weeks, there is nowhere to look but within for the Carolina faithful, which could lead to the recognition of the harsh truth.
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-b2b3204fafefe7b6e203a1c43238f099.jpeg "Sean Kennedy")
Sean is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University, where he served as lead sports editor of the school’s student-run publication, the Old Gold & Black. Outside of covering Wake Forest’s sports programs, he served as president of the school’s Sports Analytics Club. A native of Long Island, New York, he enjoys watching all forms of racing in his spare time.
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