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Countdown to Study Hall: Wake Forest wins the 2018 College Football Playoff

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My first book, Study Hall: College Football, Its Stats and Its Stories, will be released in approximately two weeks. To celebrate the occasion, I wanted to start some conversations about the topics included in the book itself.

Chip Vaughn #9 (C) of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and his team celebrate victory over the Maryland Terrapins at Chevy Chase Bank Field on November 25, 2006 in College Park, Maryland.
Chip Vaughn #9 (C) of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and his team celebrate victory over the Maryland Terrapins at Chevy Chase Bank Field on November 25, 2006 in College Park, Maryland.
Nick Laham/Getty Images

The set closer in Study Hall is a lengthy jam session on underdog tactics, figuring out ways to both beat Goliath and become Goliath. I spoke to coaches like ULM's Todd Berry, Stanford's David Shaw, Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, and Ohio's Frank Solich, among others, about this, and I was really happy with the result.

Today's discussion topic, then, is this:

Tomorrow, Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe retires. Stunned by the departure, Wake Forest hires you as Grobe's replacement. Five years and six months from now, your Demon Deacons take down Random Football Power (take your pick: Alabama, Ohio State, USC, whoever) to win the 2018 national title. Sold souls and incredibly illegal recruiting tactics aside, how did you do it? How did you build your talent base? How did you manage your scheduling? What strategies and tactics were most directly beneficial to your team's title run? In football terms, Wake Forest is basically Stanford with a tiny alumni base. How would a program like Wake bring home the crystal football?