New OL Coach Garett Tujague: "I'm Grateful To Be Here"
New NC State offensive line coach Garett Tujague recently met with the media to discuss his new role in Raleigh and much more.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
Coach, do you just want to talk about coming to NC State, maybe? What have you seen of this team?
Yeah, so first of all, I've been a big fan of NC State and I've been watching it from afar. Coach Doeren's done an amazing job with the culture of this program. There's teams that you play, that you know you've played them, and NC State's one of those teams.
So being able to come into this family that's got great tradition and has a phenomenal foundation, was a true blessing for me and my family. The limited time, let's see, the seven or eight days I've been here, man, these players love each other, and they love football. So it's been very refreshing for me to see that. I've been welcomed with open arms. It's been an amazing, fast and furious first week, but I'm grateful to be here.
How much does it help to have that background at the College of the Canyons? How hard was it to go to being a position coach after doing that for, what, 15 years?
Yeah, that's a great question. We've, man, loved our time at College of the Canyons, loved our time at the California Community College or junior college setting. The turnover in your roster happens pretty fast, so you become well-versed in recruiting, if you will.
But then being able to leave that program to go to my alma mater was, obviously, a true blessing, as well. It was a great experience to be with coach Anae. Coach Anae was my GA when I played. So man, I've known coach Anae longer than I've known my wife.
But it was a seamless, easy transition, but as an assistant coach your responsibility is to make the job for the offensive coordinator and the head coach, their job, much easier. So having been in that role, I appreciated the value of a good assistant coach.
Coach Anae, I guess, he's an observer for the bowl game. How plugged in are you? And how much involved are you in this bowl game?
Yeah, same role as an observer, just watching the guys and seeing how they're going to fit and mold into our system here. I'm excited and looking forward to that.
As you watch the players that you're eventually going to coach, obviously, is it going through your head, and you're grading them a little bit and thinking things through?
Yeah, 100%. I go back and watch film and evaluate them and see what their strengths are, and ask them to do those same things for us when that transition happens.
I was just going to say, what was the biggest thing when you were looking to make this move that really stood out about the program as a whole?
Yeah. I had turned down four different job opportunities prior to this one. There were easy reasons to stay in Charlottesville with the other ones, but then when coach Doeren came knocking, it was really simple. It was easy.
Like I said, I've been watching this program for probably four or five years, and how they've done things. And again, like I said, when you played NC State, you knew you played them. So it was a no-brainer, easy decision for me.
First impression of the offensive line?
Yeah, very excited. The opportunity to work with these guys is going to be elite. They are proven, they've done a very good job statistically. Looking at their PFF grades as a non-bias, they've done a very good job.
There are some key components that we're going to have to work to replace some guys that have done a really good job here, and I'm looking forward to that challenge. But man, I am elated to get to work with these men.
I asked this to Coach Anae. What impact did Lavell Edwards have on your life?
Man, Coach, a phenomenal human being. I'm so grateful for him. He took a chance on a kid that not too many people took a chance on, I'm grateful, and to be part of that pedigree and that tree is meaningful to me. So every day, offensive line coach, every day I come out to strive to make them both happy.
Was there a point in time when you're like, "Oh, it's not so easy," or they just have Ty Detmer or... rolling out every year?
Yeah, no. They, again, probably pretty similar to here, have done a really good job with the history of offensive line play and obviously prolific quarterbacks there. So yeah, I'm excited to be here.