D.K. Kaufman: "It's Going to Come Down to Playing Physical"
NC State safety D.K. Kaufman met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus Georgia Tech.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Kaufman’s interview.
On ending his collegiate career with a bang…
Of course, why wouldn’t I? There’s nothing promised after these last two games. Obviously, we’re trying to get a bowl game, but even at the next level, that's not promised or guaranteed. The biggest thing, really, is going out with no regrets. Honestly, I wouldn't change anything. I wouldn't change the way I prepare. I've been doing the same thing all year, putting my best effort forward. Honestly, I wouldn't change anything. Obviously, the season's not going the way we wanted it to go, but I’ve just got to continue and, just like everybody else trying to continue, put good stuff on tape.
On how his health issues impacted his playing career…
It made me more grateful. I was young. I came in as true freshman starting, and I was on top of the world. Then, that happened. I wasn't playing at all, They told me they didn’t know I'd play again. That was big for me because I was out there in Nashville all by myself with no family — it was during COVID — so I'm handling all this for the first time away from home. It was a lot, so it really just changed my whole perspective on life. At first, obviously, I was like, “Why me?” But at the same time, I just took that as God telling me He's in control of my life because, like I said, it was so good, then everything else just went to nothing. I just took that, and it honestly made me a better person.
On how his health issues were resolved…
It kind of just resolved itself. For three months, I couldn't do anything to get my heart rate up, so I literally was just out there. I was just eating and sleeping. That’s really it. I went back and got another MRI. Three months later, they said the inflammation had gone down, and then it was good from there.
On the changes to his diet during that period…
Obviously, I couldn't eat the way I wanted to because I couldn't exercise, so I cut back on carbs, and I stopped eating a lot of certain foods. That’s when I really cut out pork and started eating a lot of more vegetables just to try to stay lean.
If Raleigh feels like home…
For sure, I definitely does. From the moment I got here, it felt like home. No knocking Auburn, but it still was kind of like… well, I’m not going to talk about them. I’m going to talk about here. It definitely feel like home. I'm happy I made this decision. I appreciate the coaches, my teammates, everybody. Even [the media] welcomed me here with open arms.
On Georgia Tech’s offense…
They run the ball a lot. It's really just going to come down to doing your job and being physical. That's really it. We fit the run well in the last game. We’ve just got to try to make them beat us over our head. […] But it's not really anything we haven't seen before. We’ve seen everything. I’ve seen everything. Our coordinators have seen everything. It’s really going to come down to doing your job and being physical.
On the Yellow Jackets’ two quarterbacks…
They play two different ones, [Haynes King] and [Aaron Philo]. [King] is kind of sneaky athletic, and then [Philo] can throw the ball a little bit. [King] can throw too, but they run the ball mostly with him. We’ve got different calls based on the different quarterbacks or personnel.
On the team’s mentality coming out of the bye week…
Our mentality is always the same. We're just trying to go ahead and win. Really, everybody's just trying to play 11-man football. Complementary football is what they call it: One Pack, One Goal. That's really just it: just playing 11-man football, complementary football, and turnover margin. Win that, and you win the game,100 percent.
On what football games he watched during the bye…
Honestly, I didn’t do anything. I don't watch football, outside of here. I watch film. For NFL, I go watch highlights. If Georgia Tech would have played, I would have watched the game. Other than that, I do not watch football. I don’t. I'm not going to lie to you.