Michael Campanaro grew up wanting to play at Maryland.
But the Terrapins weren’t one of the seven schools to offer him a scholarship, so the River Hill senior slotback will watch Saturday’s game from the Wake Forest section in Byrd Stadium.
Campanaro is just one of the many lightly regarded recruits who have played a major role in vaulting Wake Forest to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division as the traditional powers struggle to keep up in the new two-division alignment.
“They don’t seem to get the big recruits or big-time players, but they’re winning games,” Campanaro said of the Demon Deacons. “I think it has a lot to do with the coaching staff and the players they recruit. I just wanted to be a part of something like that.”
Wake Forest has won two straight against Maryland, eliminating the Terrapins from the ACC title race in 2006 with a win in College Park to finish the regular season.
That victory – the first in eight years against Maryland – propelled the Demon Deacons to their first ACC football championship since 1970.
Coach Jim Grobe is 50-40 in his eighth season at the ACC’s smallest school. His plan is more obvious, and lately, more successful than that of Ralph Friedgen, who also is in his eighth season with the Terrapins.
“I think Coach Grobe has had a plan. I think what he does is redshirt his [freshmen] and keeps them in school,” Friedgen said. “I think that has really helped him in building experience and maturity to their team. They’ve got a lot of experience and that helps them.”
Wake Forest generally redshirts true freshmen the coaching staff doesn’t not envisioning playing at least 22 snaps per game, Campanaro said, adding he could be one of few true freshmen on the field next season.
This year, Wake Forest has 33 players — 14 redshirt seniors and 19 redshirt juniors — in their fourth, fifth or sixth season in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“We’ve not been there very long as far as respected as a good football program,” Grobe said. “Building it was pretty tough, and a lot of fun along the way. Trying to be a good football team and maintain that seems to have a little bit more pressure with it.”
