Dave Doeren: "There's a Lot of Talent Out There"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren discusses his team, quarterback Grayson McCall, the defense, and much more at the conclusion of the first day of spring practice.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

"We had 18 guys have their first college football practice today and then 32 new players. It was day one, like you always say, but you can tell there's a lot of guys that haven't practiced here. We got a lot of little things on how we work that need to get better. It was great seeing everybody out there. You can tell a lot of guys have worked hard in the offseason. When you have a lot of change on a roster, you got a lot of work to do. The chemistry of the team, the timing of things, the communication. It's great to be back out there. It's telling when you see it. It's gonna be a lot to coach off of. I like the way the guys worked. Right now it's like 'where are we going? This drill, where's this drill?' There's 32 guys that didn't know where the drills were going to be. You could tell from period to period. As we go, it's going to get much more efficient. With that being said, we’re excited about what's out on the grass. There's a lot of talent out there. Now we've got to get it all pointed in the right direction."

"The first thing you see is confidence. You can tell that [Grayson McCall’s] won a lot of games. He's very comfortable as a leader. He has no problem being vocal. Learns quickly. I like how he handles adversity. If he has a bad play, it's next play. You can tell there were no body language issues. Like that about him. He's a natural leader is the first thing that -- he's a guy. You see that. What I mean by that is he's very confident. He knows who he is. The guys around him can feel that. It oozes out of him."

"He's got that skill set to be a runner. How much we run him, we got a lot of work to do before that happens. Even when he drops back, like Brennan [Armstrong], he's going to have some freelancing that goes on because of his athleticism. The designed runs, that comes over time. We have to see the evolution of things. He has the skill set to be a runner. That's one thing that you're going to have to account for is him in the run game, even if it's limited to certain situations or field positions or down and distances. You're going to have to know that he can do that, because over his career he's been very dynamic as a runner."

“[Aydan White] hasn't given up a touchdown in two years. Knock on wood, let's go for three. Not many people can say they have a corner that's got that accolade. He's a really good football player for us. He's a playmaker. He's elevated himself as a leader. You can hear him talking to teammates, more vocal. It's great to have him back. I'm excited for him to have this time to develop a little more and be more ready for the NFL after one more season. It's great to have corners that you trust. That's a big deal when you know that he's got his side of the field. Now you get to watch [Corey] Coley, who you guys just met with, and Brandon Cisse. Some good competition on the other side. It's going to be fun to watch."

"It's really nice to have these [coaches] back. I told them yesterday in our staff meeting I'm very thankful that we have that kind of continuity. It helps you in a lot more ways than X's and O's. When you get into the recruiting world, these guys have been in the same areas talking to the same coaches now for five, six years, some of them. That's really helpful in recruiting. When you're turning over a coach year after year after year you're losing that longevity in the area of recruiting because the relationships that you build. It helps there. It helps in your player development. It helps in your install because coaches are all on the same page. It helps me. I'm not having to coach coaches as much. We've lost some off the field personnel which we're having to change out in some of those areas.”

“Excited about who's coming in. We hired two new guys in recruiting. Really excited about them. At some point you guys will get to meet with them as well. Fortunate. Boo [Corrigan] deserves credit with that, too. Boo's done a great job helping us being competitive and rewarding these guys for the work they've done. It's meaningful for me being here as long as I have and having coaches that -- these guys have gotten opportunities. It's not like nobody calls them. They like working here. They like working for me. They like their players. They like Raleigh. They love our opportunity here with what we have on home games. We have a true homefield advantage. We can recruit here. As you guys know, there's tremendous talent in the state and around our state. They know that we have an opportunity this season with the college football landscape changing to 12 teams, teams like us that have been in the top 20 over and over and over can knock on the door differently than we used to. These guys feel all those things. For me as the head coach that's been a part of building this, I'm thankful to those guys. It's fun. The continuity goes past the coaching staff. Coach [Dantonio Burnette] has been with me the whole time, too. Coach [Henry] Trevathan, our high school relations. There's several guys that are part of this."

"Thirty-two new players... real different. Trying to build chemistry with the team. Found a lot of different things that way. In our real world Wednesday talks that we have, which is leadership that we teach in the offseason, it's been us talking to us. Players, coaches getting up, telling their stories. Talking about some really, really deep things personally to them. Trying to break down some some walls and create vulnerability on our football roster. It's been different that way. When you add 10 to 15 guys mid-year, it's not as hard to integrate. But 32 is a lot, it's a lot. For me it's been 'how do we get this glue, this bond that we need?' Because that's what wins games. When games are tight, one-possession games, brotherhood is a big part of winning. I've got to really cultivate that."

"Momentum helps [recruit players]. Winning five in a row to finish the regular season helps. The teams we beat, some storied programs. Back-to-back with Clemson and Miami. All those things matter. You get hot, people are talking about you more. That's all happening around the signing date and the transfer portal. We were a hot team at the right time. We took advantage of that. We have stability, which you guys talked about. That's an important factor to these guys. A lot of these kids that transfer went to a school and the coach that recruited them is not there anymore. But our staff that recruited them is still here. That's attractive to them. They know our people. They know how we do things. They have friends on our roster. All those things played into it. It's a trickle down. You get one, and he's friends with this guy that's also in there, and then they want to play together. Then pretty soon, it's let's get the group back together that played in all these seven on seven tournaments. It's amazing how this works now with social media and these kids stay in touch with each other. It's an interesting time. I've turned into more of a fundraiser than ever because of all this stuff. That's part of this is getting out and helping One Pack and Savage Wolves raise money for our collectives."

"I feel really good about the specialists that we have. They got to get out and prove it and game day is different, but we have some guys that have been here a while and have earned our trust. Feel really good about Kanoah Vinesett and Collin Smith.  We got two young guys coming in that have strong legs, but those two guys have been here. They understand how we do things. They're very, very, very talented. They've earned our trust."

"Built-in friends coming in the door, that helps. Thirty-two guys, if none of them know each other, that's more challenging than if some of them do. There were some relationships not only within the guys that came in but with the guys currently on our team. As you know we recruit a lot in-state guys. A lot of these guys have met over the years at camps and seven on seven tournaments and things like that. They knew each other from competition. Those friendships help for sure when you're talking about building chemistry on your roster."