ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL KICKOFF

July 22, 2021

Luke Masterson

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Luke.

Q. At the risk of being a yes or no question, I'm hoping you can elaborate a little bit. Do you feel like a linebacker now or is that still to come?

LUKE MASTERSON: Yeah, I do feel like a linebacker. I put on 10 to 15 pounds this off-season. I think playing in the box has always come naturally to me. I think I'm a better football player when I'm in the box. I played rover two years ago. Throughout different game plans, I've been down in the box in different situations. I've always excelled there.

So it was a matter of putting on the weight, getting stronger as well. I definitely feel comfortable now.

Q. Coach Clawson spoke about the fact he wanted to transition you for the last couple years. Speak about where you've elevated that game, going to that point of these last two years, finally getting to have that spot right now?

LUKE MASTERSON: Yeah, I think I've been blessed to play three different positions at Wake. Obviously it's been hard to go back and forth. But there are blessings in that as well. I know what's going on behind me and what's going on in front of me.

The transition hasn't been as bad because I've been used to being in the box and behind the box in the secondary. I've been on board with this decision from the get-go. I'm really excited for this year.

Q. You're a three-year member of the National Honor Society. You finished high school with a GPA of 4.7. What is the secret in how do you integrate academics and athletics?

LUKE MASTERSON: I think it's all about time management. As student-athletes, at Wake Forest especially, Wake does a great job with helping us getting ready for life after football, then helping us manage our time when we were playing football.

At a school like Wake Forest, school is very important. It's hard. Finding that balance between football and school is tough. But as a freshman they do everything they can to give you the resources necessary so that you can excel off the field so that you're not thinking about that stuff when you're on the field.

Q. You not only return all of your offensive players, but all of your special teams guys. Coach talked about the need for the defense to do better against the pass. What is the potential of the defense to help transform Wake from merely a bowl team to a contender?

LUKE MASTERSON: Yeah, I talked about this earlier. I think at Wake Forest the past five years that I've been here, every single year the offense has been really good and the defense has been really good, but we haven't been really good together. I think that's what our goal is this year, ties make our offense an elaborate offense, a very explosive offense, but also have a defense that can back them up, get them out of tough situations.

That's the challenge, trying to find that season where we can put them both together and play at one complete unit.

Q. With you and Ryan Smenda, what are you trying to get out of the linebacker room this year? What do you see out of guys like Chase Jones, Jaylen Hudson, Zach Ranson?

LUKE MASTERSON: All the guys have been great. Chase Jones has taken great strides. Jaylen Hudson, as well, in the spring. I think the biggest thing for us is consistency. We all need to build depth, we need to be consistent, be consistent tacklers, consistent in all aspects of our game.

Building that depth so that if something goes wrong throughout the season, guys like Chase Jones and Jaylen Hudson are ready to take that step and fill in for guys. And not even if guys get hurt, but just being able to play more guys allows guys like me and Smenda to be healthy, play less snaps, remain healthy throughout the whole season.

I think just building that consistency in the room, completely buying into the mission is our goal for this year.

THE MODERATOR: Luke, thank you.