WATCH: Dave Doeren Media Day Press Conference

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media today prior to 2017 Meet The Pack Day.  Here is the video and quotes from Doeren's press conference.

*****

Opening Statement:

I'm excited to have Meet The Pack Day and media day. The first week of camp was good. The guys have worked hard.  I've spoken to you guys a couple of times, there's really not a lot of new information at this point.

I don't have a lot of competitions that we're dealing with right now. We're just trying to get better everyday and develop our depth, which we feel like we have, in some spots.  At the same time there are a lot of situations we need to put some guys in.

Yesterday we scrimmaged about 25 plays with each unit, and we will have another 60+ scrimmage on Saturday.

I thought Justin Witt did some good things and Joe Sculthorpe... just talking about guys not on the field last year that we're trying to gauge. I thought both of those kids offensive-line wise played well.

The defensive line, it's who you would expect, but behind them seeing what Shug Frazier can do. He's got a lot of reps and has got better, but he has a long way to go.

I thought Eurndraus Bryant did some good things for us.

James Smith-Williams has probably been the bright spot when you talk about guys who weren't out there last year on the d-line... he's finally healthy and has gained some weight.

Deonte Holden is a guy that we hope can continue to improve as well.  He got a lot of reps in yesterday's live work.

At linebacker there is good competition and a good rotation that coach Hux has with Pratt and Airius working at one spot and Jerod and Riley working at another.

At the nickel spot, Shawn Boone, Freddie Phillips, and Trae Meadows have all taken reps with the first and second groups.

Jonathan Alston has had a good camp at corner, and that's been fun to see him play again. He's been out a while, he's worked with the ones and twos. Nick McCloud has worked with the ones and twos. I think Mike Stevens has probably been the most consistent guy at that position.

It's good to see Dexter Wright... I thought he probably played as physical as he's played in the scrimmage yesterday at safety. We know what Shawn does from that point. Jarius has been steady.

The transfer from Tennessee, Stephen Griffin, has been really good in fall camp. I'm excited about his demeanor, and how he goes about his work.  I think he's found a good niche. I know he's comfortable and that's good to see.

Reggie has changed his body in a good way. He's down to 223 from 235 a year ago, and he's running like it.

Nyheim is explosive but playing really fast in the backfield. You can see he's a lot more comfortable there.

 Jay Sam has done some good things at receiver and tight end...  his ability to know and execute multiple positions has been impressive.

One area we need to see what happens as we move forward is the backups at tight end behind Cole Cook. Dylan Autenrieth... Dylan Parham, who we moved from quarterback to tight end, had a really nice play yesterday. He caught a flat route and broke it for a touchdown... broke a few tackles, it was good to see him run physical.

Carson Wise has done really well at place kicker in camp so far.  We put him in some pressure situations the other day, and he was 3-for-3... it was good to see him do that.  That's the first time we had him in that environment.

What does Ramos returning give your team?

He spoke last night to the team, what it's like to be a senior. It was very emotional.

It's been a hard journey getting back on the field and I'm not sure what he thought he'd be able to do. He made three nice catches in practice the other day and I think that was huge for him. From a mental standpoint, it was great for our team to see him do that. He's been in the training room for an entire year.

We're taking our time. We don't want to rush him, but it's great to have him back. Whatever capacity it ends up being... obviously there is good depth in that room, but with the adversity he's been through it's fun to see him compete and be back with the guys on the field.

How has the competition been at kicker, you said when Carson Wise signed it would be his job...

He's definitely started with the ones and hasn't given it back. He's done everything you'd want him to do . He's been consistent and made kicks he's capable of making... the step is live rush.
He's done everything to stay where he was when he got here and I wouldn't expect that to change.

Kyle has worked really hard, and I think he'll our kickoff guy right now... I think that would be his role.  Carson can do that as well, but Kyle has good hangtime on his ball and good distance.
We'll see in the next week and a half where it goes.

He has a dry sense of humor, but he's very funny. He likes to joke around when he's not in the middle of drills. He's extremely intelligent and puts a lot of time in outside of the mandatory time of watching film. 

So far along academically... he's in a different place than most players can be.

He's worked hard on a couple of things and you're seeing it.  One was his relationship with his teammates, showing up when he did have a chance to have one, now he's been here 12 months.

You can tell he has a totally different vibe with the guys. They respect him, like him, and he jokes around with them, both sides of the ball, coaching staff.

That was one and the other was his weight.  He was under 190 almost when he got here and now he's over 210... he's carrying it well.

His deep-ball accuracy was something he was really hard on himself about last year, and he's been really good in camp.

When you have the defensive line experience, how much does that put you ahead in camp?

We have to stay healthy there to start, and we have to develop the rotation.  You can't have four good players who are NFL quality and have nothing behind them. I don't think we have nothing, but we have to get those guys ready.

We'll have to play eight to ten guys because of the heat factor in the first month of the season per game. That's something I've been able to do, we've been able to do here, and we'll continue to do.

We feel like inside, Eurndraus Bryant is a guy who can play and make plays and help us win games... Darian Roseboro is a guy who can do that as well.  With the four we always talk about and those two, we kind of look at as six starters.  Is it James Smith-Williams, Deonte Holden, Shug, or is it someone else?  That's what this next week will be up front.

To know who six are, that's a great place to be.  We just have to keep them healthy and keep developing their weaknesses.

It looks like you have a lot of depth and experience at linebacker...

Even if you recruit a junior college guy, he's not experienced in your system. These guys, since they've stepped on campus, have heard coach Hux talk about how he wants that position to look and play.

They can speak his language and finish his sentences.

We have five guys in there now that are like that, Brock Miller has been here a year, and he's flashed in camp too.  We feel good about depth and competition. Any given day, Dave keeps rotating who is in with the ones, and you don't see a drop-off. Sometimes the twos look better than the ones and the ones look better than the twos.  That's a good situation. 

Mentally, the football IQ in that room is really good now too.

How does the speed of Nyheim Hines put pressure on defenses out of the backfield?

You misfit a run, it's an explosive play.

The thing that is also hard, because of his height, he's hard to see in there... he's coming behind Will Richardson who is 6'6. You have him and Terronne Prescod in a combination scheme and he hits the hole and cuts back, really dangerous back there.

The thing that I've liked, and he's going to be hard on himself, is his power.  He doesn't look at himself as a little back.  He looks as himself as a guy who can run people over, and he wants to prove it.  I like that about him. 

Even the backfield routes, he can catch a swing route or an out route, if he's out-leveraged you it can be a huge plays.  The mismatches that you can gain with him are big for us.

What type of a role do you see for Jalan McClendon?

It's hard to say. Jalan is trying to learn everything so that he can be the guy. In his mind he's competing everyday to be the starting quarterback and be ready for that opportunity if it comes.
As we get to our first game week... we'll get a feel for the packages.

Do we need some QB run game? Do we need him to be that guy? Do we need Ryan to be able to do both? Jalan has proven himself as a runner, and that's something we need to continue to have whether that's short-yardage, redzone, or bad weather days when it's hard to throw the football.

We will have that element on offense. We just haven't got there yet.  We're still in week one. Whether you're a Wildcat, using the backup quarterback, or your starter, I do believe in having it where all 11 guys have to be accounted for in the run game.

Most o-line guys I've worked with don't rotate a lot.  Even if they have a full ten. They feel like as the games goes on they get used to who they are playing against and with the speed of it they get better. 

We need to have, in case of injury, more guys that can plug in. Sculthorpe and Witt definitely have the trust of their position coach, and Joe can play guard or center. That gives you two guys in one with his versatility. 

We need to find some more because there are guys there.

Philip Walton and Aaron Wiltz have both been here a while and need to use this next week to earn that. They've improved their size and flexibility.  They have what you want, stature-wise. They are big and tough kids.

There's definitely a place for him. He and Ramos can also play outside, Steph played some inside some last year... Gavin Locklear and Jakobi Meyers are playing well in the slot.

That's a good thing, if you can have that rotation we can get into our tempo and run three new guys in who are fresh, and they don't drop off in production.

C.J. showed some signs that he can be really, really tough to defend and not just because of his height. He can get in and out of his breaks a lot better than you would think a tall guy can, and even on our special teams work he's doing really good things there.

How does your preparation change with playing South Carolina in the opener?

It's usually nine or ten days prior to kick we'll transition.  We start school August 16th so we'll probably get a few more days after classes start of just working on ourselves and then delve in after that.

You spend too much time working against the scout team, it's not the same tempo. You want that good on good for as long as you can get it, until there's time to transition.

Offensively there's a lot of carry-over, route concepts... if you were playing a triple option it might be a different preparation.

Of the competitions that remain, which concern you the most?

The depth factor at some of these spots is the concern, it's not necessarily the competition. I don't worry about who'll get the snaps at these spots... it's the injury factor as a head coach who keeps you up at night.

We have some threes, fours, and fives that are all the same. Who is going to take it? Who's going to be the guy you can trust? We need to see.

At corner there's three guys right now playing good football.  Nick McCloud, Jon Alston, and Mike Stevens... put one in and they'll play. We have to find the fourth corner and there are five guys who fit into that basket. That's a big deal.

At tight end we are really excited about Cole Cook and Jaylen Samuels, but what if one is out of the game for whatever reason? Where are we going?

We have people there practicing hard, but who will earn the right to be that guy if it happens?

You mention Clemson and Florida State's depth in the past. In year five, do you feel you have more of those guys in terms of depth?

I feel better than I've been. I don't know the exact number off the top of my head, but we're definitely in a more competitive place than we've been.  To have senior guys who have played so much football makes you feel that way.

We've been playing young against some talented rosters and this year we're not.  We have a returning quarterback, returning backup, and all the things around them, o-line, d-line wise, I think that's the biggest difference with this team.