Deacons' party line steps out: WFU linemen put on a show before practices

Before getting down and dirty at football practice, Wake Forest's offensive linemen like to have some good, clean fun.

Fortunately for them, their coaches and teammates are enjoying the show.

"It's fun," Coach Jim Grobe said. "It's hilarious. It's nice to see that. I think it helps our football team.

"You're getting ready to start practice, and everybody can laugh a little bit before we start. I think it's a good start to practice."

Grobe is referring to the pre-practice hijinks the linemen come up with each day, be it a skit, a re-enactment of a scene from a movie or something somebody saw on YouTube. It always entails a lot of hollering and yelling, and usually some choreography, to use the term loosely.

All the linemen are aboard with the practice, but Grobe has noticed one who has been a little more into it in the days leading up to Saturday's opening game against Baylor.

"The guy that is leading all the stuff seems to be (senior center) Trey Bailey right now," Grobe said. "He's usually out there somewhere near the front of the crowd.

"But it's just a good group. They're having fun right now."

Junior center Russ Nenon said that the genesis of the idea was the insistence by Steed Lobotzke, the offensive coordinator and line coach, that the offensive line start a workout with some boisterous enthusiasm. And when that enthusiasm wasn't boisterous enough, he made the line try again.

"So one day, we decided to make fun of it, and we started bringing in a little skit each day," Nenon said. "It ended up being pretty fun."

Some of the greatest hits to date have been the pre-battle scenes from Braveheart and 300 and the dance entrance of the T.C. Williams High School football team in Remember the Titans. But the deeper into preseason the Deacons progressed, the deeper into their brains the linemen had to delve to come up with different things.

And some of the skits have been different, indeed.

"They're impressively creative with everything they've done," senior quarterback Riley Skinner said. "They acted like they were coming out of the gate at BB&T Field so they were all lock-armed and swaying back and forth. And Trey Bailey acted -- with one of the blocking dummies -- like he was on the motorcycle.

"He had it in between his legs riding it like a horse going crazy. He ran out, and they all ran out after him. It was pretty funny."

Nenon noted that Skinner and Grobe and the others on the football team should just consider the source of all these shenanigans.

"We always kind of have the goofballs on the team," Nenon said. "Barrett (McMillin) and Trey and Joe Birdsong and Jeff (Griffin) are all just crazy, crazy kids."

Grobe and Lobotzke obviously hope that the antics help build camaraderie in a group that requires it beyond all others. With eight players back who have started a total of 116 college games, the line is one of the most experienced in school history. And the return of Chris DeGeare from academic limbo has provided an imposing anchor at left tackle.

But a prevailing theme of the preseason has been one of redemption. The offensive line was disappointing last year, particularly early in the season when the offense was mostly in a spread formation that required the linemen to concentrate on containment rather than aggression.

The line improved along the way and performed well in the EagleBank Bowl victory over Navy. But the offensive linemen know they had a bad year. They were, after all, reminded daily.

"I kind of took it personally hearing the press and the coaches saying we had such a great defense last year, and our offense kind of sputtered on again, off again," Nenon said. "It's very frustrating to know that you're the reason some of the games went the wrong way.

"So we've kind of made it our mission to turn it around, and we're actually trying to be the strength of our team. So we've all worked very hard to be the strength, and hopefully it will pay off for our running backs and our quarterbacks and our offense this year."

Skinner said that based on what he has seen in preseason, he expects the line to accomplish its mission.

"The good thing about that is that offensive line has probably been working harder than any position on our team since last season," Skinner said. "They've gotten the most criticism and this year they really haven't complained at all.

"They just keep putting forth more and more effort, which has been pretty cool to see."

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