Brennan Armstrong: "We're All Ready to Hit the Field"
NC State graduate student quarterback Brennan Armstrong met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack’s Spring Game presented by GiGi’s Playhouse.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Armstrong’s interview.
On adjusting to the offense…
Honestly, it’s been pretty seamless. One of the reasons why I came to NC State was because I knew how easy the transition was going to be for the group of guys here trying to learn this offense. Right now, we’re just working on the little things and trying to get chemistry built through spring ball. We’re trying to get back that firepower that this place needs. That’s what we’re trying to build.
On the similarities between Robert Anae’s offense here versus what he worked with at Virginia…
It’s still some of the same play designs. Every team in America knows football. There’s not anything really special that you’re going to do that people don’t know. I think with what he’s done, going to Syracuse and picking up some stuff there, we’ve added some cool stuff that we’ve got going on in this offense. Obviously, I’m not going to tell that. He’s compiled everything he’s been doing, and he's trying to make this team understand what we’re doing and figure out what we’re best at. Honestly, it comes down to what we’re best at.
On his role in this offense…
It was just an easy transition with the guys, being able to have conversations about the offense. Once I’ve built a conversation, just talking with the guys, learning their names, and seamlessly transitioning to just talking with them outside of football, that’s kind of the biggest thing with coming in and knowing the offense. It’s just helped me step in here, be a pretty normal dude, and just communicate very easily with all the guys.
On NIL…
I was in college when it wasn’t there, and I was in college when it was there. It’s been crazy for me. I think it’s a good thing for the athletes. I wasn’t expecting to use it, to be completely honest with everyone. It just turned out that I wanted to and needed to, and I’m lucky that it’s there for me. Being a grad transfer, it makes it a lot easier than transferring maybe into your sophomore year. It’s a good thing for the athletes to figure out what’s the best place for them to play and chase their dreams.
On building chemistry with receivers…
In the winter, you just get out there and start throwing with guys. Your’e really not trying to teach too much. I just want to talk with them, get out there, and throw with them. Now, I think the chemistry’s starting to get there, and I think summer’s going to be huge for us because now they’ve been in the offense, they’ve seen what’s going on in spring ball, they understand the route concepts and what we’re trying to create offense, and I think that’s going to go a long way, and I think it’s going to be in our hands this summer to really, really take the next step forward and building confidence. That’s the main thing that I saw the difference in from one year to the next. It’s just that confidence. When you step on that field, it doesn’t matter what play’s called. We’re going to make it work, and we’re going to make a play out of it. I think that and the summer are going to be huge for us.
On being Anae’s “right-hand man…”
There was a lot of learning done by coaches and players. It was nice to understand it. Coach [Kurt] Roper, myself, and the quarterbacks work so well together with the communication that Coach Roper has with us and the questions he’ll even ask me about what’s going on — maybe I read this in the past. He puts it in what he thinks is the best way for us to do right now, especially against our defense. Our defense is pretty dang good. There are different things that we look at on that side of the ball. I guess I can be a right-hand man to him. I’m so familiar with it. Overall, I think it’s been pretty easy. I hadn’t been a right-hand man too much [before].
On M.J. Morris…
M.J.’s great. M.J.’s great. The whole room’s great. This is a pretty dang skilled room that I’m in. I honestly believe that. These guys obviously have game experience. I think that the future here is really bright. I really do. These guys can ball. I’m not going to lie about that. They can really ball. I haven’t really seen game film. Obviously, I watched some of the bowl game. I’ve just been focused on my feet here and getting the offense going. This place is in good hands here with the quarterback position. They’re really skilled, they can throw the ball obviously, and they’re just playmakers.
On his relationship with Anae…
It’s pretty unique. Freshman and sophomore year, I didn’t really like him that much. He really got onto me, and I was young. Then it transitioned to more of a relationship than being told what to do and being yelled at. I took the feedback and took the coaching. It’s grown a lot. Now, it’s funny because we’ll sit around, do some offensive stuff, and gameplan for practices and things like that. He talks to me, not like a coach, like a normal guy. It’s come a long way from getting yelled at as a freshman or sophomore to him asking for my input on things.
On the advantage of knowing the other ACC teams…
It’s an advantage to know every ACC team and the defenses they play. I’m very familiar with this offense and matching up with their defenses. Each game, you’re still going to game-plan, should they be doing something different. Their schematics might change based off their personnel each year. You never know what happens. In general, they keep what they want to do defensively pretty similar from year to year. It’s a cool thing to have under my belt.
On the excitement to show off the new offense in the spring game…
I just feel like I’ve got something to prove. I really want to put two great years together. There’s a chip on my shoulder, and this is the best place for me to prove that. There’s a lot of opportunity here. The guys, especially on the offense, are itching to be better. They feel like they didn’t do their part last year, so we’re all in this together. We’re all ready to hit the field. That eagerness on offense is a big deal of why we can be special this year.
On playing in the pro-style offense last year…
There are plenty of things that you don’t get a chance to do or rep in games, and I got to do that all. Obviously, it didn’t go the way we planned, but having those reps, having that terminology, and being able to transition from two different offenses pretty easily is huge. Last year wasn’t a failure. You don’t look at it that way. I look at it as a success in learning things I wouldn’t have seen or been taught, and I can take that forward. This year is all about production, being productive, putting our best foot forward, and making plays out there as an offense.
On NFL projections…
I don’t even care about the NFL right now. We’ve got to put things together on the field in college, and I’m excited to do it with these guys. [NFL] isn’t even a thought in my mind. It’s all about these guys here and having a great season. Once that all gets done, everything else will handle itself.