NC State Kicker Chris Dunn: "Let's Go Finish This Season Right"

NC State kicker Christopher Dunn recently met with the media to discuss his final game in a Wolfpack uniform.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

Do you have a special place at home for all the awards that you have accumulated?
Yeah, it's a blessing and a curse. I'm running out of room. I've got a lot of game balls just over the years, but I'm sure I'll end up finding a place for that with everything going on in the next few months.

I might be moving here or there, so we'll see. Once I settle down, I'll definitely end up having a man cave or being able to put all those special memories from the past five years somewhere special.

Are you almost like the poster boy of what can happen if you take that extra year?
Yeah, I think.

When you think back to what this was like last year at this time where you're thinking, what do I do?
Yeah, absolutely.

So I reflect back to 2020, and that was a down year. You had 4,000 people at games, you were taking a bus to go everywhere. It's kind of a drag, honestly, and just didn't feel like a real game, felt like a scrimmage. And being able to have that extra year, come back and go out the way I wanted to, I was able to fix a lot of things in the offseason, just tune some stuff up and go out there and make kicks for the team.

And that's I feel like what it's all about, and I'm so grateful that coach Doeren allowed me to come back and play another year for him and just go out on a bang.

For people like yourself and some of the other guys who won't be wearing the NC State uniform again, there's a series of lasts at the end -- last home game, last regular season, and now the reality of the last game. How special would it be for all of you guys to go out with a bang and win?
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's what we've been preparing for. That's our goal. I think if we can all go out and play our brand of football -- hard, tough, together -- I don't see why we’d lose. So I think we just go have fun. We play together and the brotherhood that we've built, it's like you said, one last game for the senior class that's come back and to do something special with coach Doeren. I think that'd just be kind of the happy ending to this chapter.

You almost made it to the finish line batting a thousand.
Yeah, it was [close].

How much did it hurt to miss that one kick in the last game?
Obviously my position, you get one shot. Offense, defense, you've got three or four plays to get a first down or to keep them from going on. So it's pretty vital at my spot to go in and be able to execute.

24 for 25 is an amazing year. I couldn't have scripted that any better, and I think that's just the proof of all the things that I've done in the offseason and all the hard work that my protection's put in to allow me to go kick, and what a great snapper and holder I have. So those guys make my job way easier.

But obviously it's upsetting and frustrating. You never want to miss, but the way we were able to respond, bounce back, hit a 31 from the right hash to send it to the second overtime and then go on to hit a game-winner against the rival, that's a great way to end the regular season, so I can't be more grateful for that.

Can I ask this – your arrival was very anticipated by NC State fans. What do you remember about national signing day?
I don't know. It was so long ago, to be honest with you. Like you said, I committed after sophomore year, so I had two years of just kind of waiting around trying to get here. And I remember Alim McNeil, Peyton Wilson, him flipping and just having such a great class come in all together, Ricky Person and a lot of those guys are in the NFL now.

Hopefully I can be joining them next year, but just coming in with a great group of guys, and it's really whittled down to a slim amount of us still left here. So I'd say that it was just excitement and joy to be able to get here and get to work.

That stunning development a year ago. You guys are in San Diego, you're expecting to play. Game day, all of a sudden you realize there's going to be no game. How long did it take to get over that?
Yeah, I think that we carried that through our offseason. That was kind of some motivation for us, chip off the shoulder. And I think that really drove us through some of the games this year is that, hey, you know what? We didn't get to go out and showcase what we could do last year and get that 10th win.

So I think that really fueled a lot of the guys to come back. That was part of the reason we had a lot of guys come back. And I think that that's helped us just through some tough times. We didn't get to go finish our season last year, but let's go finish this bowl game. Let's go finish this season right.

Did your parents go out to the game last year?
No.

Okay. I was just thinking, they didn't go out and not see a game.
Yeah.

I'm sure it hadn't been lost on you as a kicker that a regular season started with an opposing kicker missing the winning field goal [and then] in the last game of the season ending with the opposing kicker doing it.
Yeah. Obviously I've been through a similar situation last year and you never want to see another kicker miss. But that's just part of the game. Unfortunately, I felt bad for those guys. Went and reached out to them after the games, and I know they've got a lot of career left.

And it's all about how you bounce back and hit the next kick. So any young guy that's out there watching it, just move on to the next one. Whether you make it or miss it, just move on to the next kick.

[They] Might win the Groza, right?
That's right. Just go one for one as many times as possible.

Along those lines, what wisdom have you passed on to people like Colin Smith or Noonkester at punter?
Yeah, I'd say this before, but the easy things are easy to do, but they're even easier not to do. It's easy to go on social media and post the video of you at nine o'clock at night working out. Or when all the coaches are around, when all the eyes are on you, it's easy to do things.

But my biggest advice to young guys out there like Colin and Caden, Kanoah, some of the younger guys in our room, is be satisfied with not getting the attention. With our position it's hit or miss. Like I said, you're not going to have everyone sitting there patting you on the back, so you need to get used to doing the dirty work and not getting that attention.

So just keep grinding and go one for one and just stay as positive and happy. I can't believe that I've got two weeks left with NC State. It's come to a close pretty quick, but enjoy every minute. It's such a blessing and it's a gift. So I'd say just treat it and enjoy every moment you have.