Wake Forest football gets a quality quarterback in the transfer portal, helping new coach Jake Dickert shape his group this offseason.

DANIA BEACH, Fla. — The Big Ten plays nine conference games in football. So does the Big 12. The Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference are among those playing eight-game league schedules. The Mountain West played a seven-game league slate. Notre Dame doesn't have a league. Enough, Penn State coach James Franklin says.

DANIA BEACH, Fla. — The Big Ten plays nine conference games in football. So does the Big 12. The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference are among those playing eight-game league schedules. The Mountain West played seven during the most recent regular season. Notre Dame doesn't have even have a league.

"He wasn't real happy about me promoting him for the commissioner of college football ... or whether that is (former Wake Forest coach) Dave Clawson -- who I think is a really, really smart football guy -- I think having somebody in that position would ...

Rob Ezell has been hired as offensive coordinator and Scottie Hazelton has been hired to run the Wake Forest defense.

Editor’s note: This is a guest column from former writer and columnist Dave Jones, who retired from PennLive last May after 33 years covering Penn State. Jones, who will be recognized with the Football Writers Association of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Jan. 17 in Atlanta, offers his thoughts on the current playoff format.

Wake Forest ranked No. 25 among college football programs in luring talent from the transfer portal to Winston-Salem.

As Pete Sampson, who covers Notre Dame for the Athletic, wrote, “He might as well have patted the 38-year-old on the head and told him what a good job he was doing.’’ That’s apparently how Freeman took it as well. He returned to Notre Dame’s hotel and shared the tone of the presser with his players.

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end who this past week announced his transfer to Purdue amid coaching turnover in Winston-Salem, credits that mindset to the culture instilled by Lilly.