Sports

Wake Forest Baseball Players Rip Athletic Director Amid Head Coach’s Unexplained Leave

#Wake Forest Demon Deacons
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iStockphoto / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Walter was placed on an unexplained leave in October.


Longtime Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter has been on leave since mid-October. Details of his time away have not been made public.

Athletic director John Currie failed to provide clarity in a recent update on the situation this week. Former Demon Deacons players have come out to blast the handling of Walter’s employment over the last few days.

Currie’s update provided no information on either the reasoning for the leave or a timeframe for reinstatement. It’s not sitting well with those close to the program.

Tom Walter was placed on leave.

The news of his absence was announced on October 17th. Two weeks later, we still have no resolution. The leave remains ongoing. No one knows why Walter is being punished.

The Wake Forest coach has been leading the baseball team since 2010. He’s helped the Demon Deacons reach seven NCAA Tournaments headlined by a College World Series appearance in 2023. That was the program’s first trip to Omaha since 1955.

Walter has run into some controversy in the past. In 2025, he was seen muttering an offensive slur in the dugout on a national broadcast. The coach later apologized.

Outside of that hiccup, his history is pretty clean. Players, both past and present, love him. They voiced support for the coach amid that previously mentioned controversy as some called for his job. They’re doing so again amid his mysterious absence.

Wake Forest baseball players defend coach.

John Currie released a statement on the situation this week. He did not answer any questions related to the leave.

Due to the lack of transparency, many around the program are upset. Players from the 2026 roster blasted the update on social media Thursday. They included recent Giants signee Dalton Wentz and pitcher Rhys Bowie, who is still on the roster.

“Could of kept this one in the drafts.”

-Rhys Bowie / X

Former players, too, have voiced their concern. Gavin Sheets, who was a second-round MLB pick in 2017, posted the following response to Currie’s statement.

Players have their coach’s back. Administration continues to play things close to the vest. The school has done little to ease the tensions of the team and fanbase. We’ll see if a resolution comes soon.