Wake Forest suffers defensive-line loss

Michael Carter's off-again, on-again football career at Wake Forest is off for good.

When the Deacons emerged from the locker room yesterday afternoon for their first practice of the season, Carter was not among them. Coach Jim Grobe said Thursday that Carter had not made sufficient academic progress under NCAA guidelines to remain eligible.

Defensive-line coach Ray McCartney expected Carter -- a 6-3, 315-pound reserve defensive tackle from Memphis, Tenn., who would have been a redshirt junior -- to provide relief for returning senior starters Boo Robinson and John Russell. Carter's loss left the Deacons ultra thin in the defensive line, where depth is critical.

"It's a huge impact," Grobe said. "I'm not going to tell you he was where Boo and John Russell were, but he was close.

"It was to the point where I think Coach Mack, Ray McCartney, had gotten to where he really didn't care who was on the field -- whether it was Mike Carter, John Russell or Boo Robinson.

"He'd gotten to be that good a player. I'm not sure he had any of the leadership things that we were looking for. In fact he didn't. But what he did have was really, really good ability."

Carter struggled to remain eligible throughout his three years at Wake Forest, so much so that Grobe didn't allow him to play in the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl because he wasn't pleased with Carter's work in the classroom. Carter also missed the final four games last season -- including the EagleBank Bowl against Navy -- after he and safety Alex Frye were suspended for what Grobe described as a violation of team rules.

But Carter and Frye were reinstated after the season, and both practiced during the spring. Frye, a redshirt junior, opened practice as the starter at safety.

Grobe said that an August priority will be to develop depth in the defensive line. The only lineman with experience other than Robinson or Russell is Michael Lockett, who played a reserve role in all 13 games last season as a redshirt junior. Lockett is listed as second team behind Russell. Ramon Booi, a 6-6, 300-pound freshman who redshirted last season, is listed as second-team behind Robinson.

Grobe said that because of the physical exertion required in the defensive line -- especially in pass-rush situations -- he prefers to have five players rotating in the two spots. The Deacons' only other tackles (or defensive linemen who could end up at tackle) are Tripp Russell, Steven Chase, Frank Souza, John Gallagher, Kris Redding, Bryson Dunmeyer and possibly Devin Bolling, if the staff decides to play him on the defensive line instead of the offensive line.

Russell is a 6-3, 240-pound redshirt junior from Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem who has previously played linebacker and defensive end. Chase is a 6-7, 270-pound freshman who enrolled in January and practiced during the spring. Souza, Gallagher, Redding and Bolling are incoming freshmen, and Dunmeyer is a walk-on who redshirted last season as a freshman.

Redshirt senior Dominique Midgett was moved from linebacker to nose tackle for the final three games of last season, but was moved back to linebacker during the spring.

"I wish we could just take Boo and John and throw them out there and not have to worry, just leave them out there the whole game," Grobe said. "But as big as offensive linemen are today, you have to -- especially in pass-rush situations -- be able to keep some fresh guys in there."

Grobe said he felt bad for Carter, who was never able to overcome his stumbling start in the classroom. The NCAA requires an athlete to have a 1.8 grade-point average entering his sophomore academic year, a 1.9 GPA entering junior year and to maintain a 2.0 GPA the rest of his career.

"What happened to Mike was, at the end he was trying hard," Grobe said. "With this progress toward degree and the ascending GPA requirements each year that you're in school, you can get behind so far you can't catch up.

"He was lazy, really lazy for a couple of years. I really think this last semester he kind of got it. He wanted to snap back and get going, but he had just dug such a deep hole for himself."

Grobe said it especially hurts to lose a player after he has spent three years in the program. Carter played in the first nine games last season and had seven tackles, including 1.5 for losses.

"He had become a really good player, and he had become more dependable," Grobe said. "I wouldn't say he was perfect, but he was much more dependable, and he really showed flashes on the field of being a great player for us. So it's a shame.

"One of our biggest disappointments is when we get a good player to his junior year and lose him. That's the downside of redshirting kids and counting on them being their best when they're 22 and 23 years old. If you don't get them to play those years, it's really disappointing.

"And we get attached to the kids, too. It's always heart-breaking when they don't make it."

■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.