Aughtry-Lindsay: "I Want Our Guys To Play Fast"
NC State interim defensive coordinator Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay met with the media to discuss his expanded role, the bowl game against East Carolina, and much more.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
Have you ever met Bill Belichick before?
I have not. I have not.
Opening statement…
And before y'all get any questions, I just want to thank, over the time since I've got the interim tag, I want to say thank you to everybody that showed me love. A lot of alumni have reached out to me and gave me a lot of congratulations, family and friends. So I just want to say thank you to everybody. I know I couldn't respond to everybody, but I wanted to say thank you to Wolfpack Nation, alumni, family, and friends. Thank y'all.
Anyone that you've reached out to, maybe to get some sage advice from?
I have some mentors that I've talked to, but I've been leaning on a lot of guys that we have on this staff right now to continue to do the things that we've been doing well here. A couple guys I might have reached out to when they reached out to me, I just said thank you and asked them a couple of questions here and there, but not too many.
Do you want the full-time role of defense coordinator?
Absolutely.
What is your pitch to Dave Doeren, and have you had any of those conversations yet about next year?
My pitch is what I've been doing for the last five years here. I've been leading these men in this building for the last five years. Now I just get an opportunity to lead the coaches. He and I have talked, but my opportunity right here is right now to lead these guys and coach them in this bowl game and we'll see what God has going forward.
Will your fingerprints be on this defense in the upcoming game or will you take stuff from what Coach Gibson did as well?
I feel like my fingerprints have always been on this game plan. We've been a staff that's been together. Everybody has had ownership in what we're doing, even with Coach Gibson here, and so we'll continue to do things that have been really good for us. We will enhance some things in this defense, but for this bowl game, I want our guys to play fast, confident, and dominant. It's not going to be too much change, but we're going to make sure that we're doing things so they can play that way, play what we know we can do.
Does it make it more special for you having played here at NC State and been a really good player here at NC State?
Absolutely. I mean, for a guy like myself to be able to come back and be a position coach and now have an opportunity to call the defense at a place that I came in and grew up as a young man and got to play in that stadium like these young men and get to lead these guys doing the same thing that I've done, it's absolutely a pleasure and a privilege and I thank Coach Doeren for giving me this opportunity. Absolutely.
Anything about upstairs or downstairs or communicating with the new helmet rule?
Oh, I mean, we've been using that all year, all right? For me, I just have to get used to clicking the button. That's all I got to get used to, but as far as the staff and things of that nature, we still got most of the guys we need to have around here, and so things won't be changed. We'll be talking about it throughout this time. We got time to make sure we fine-tune and get everything set up how we need it to be.
Has Coach Doeren given you any advice since you've been named the interim, and also have you heard and gotten any advice from Coach Gibson?
So, with Coach Doeren, man, he and I have always had a football relationship and we've always talked and he's helped me out throughout this process since I've been here the last five years. So, absolutely, we've talked and I do lean on him for some things because he's a guy that's been the head coach for 12 years. He's called it before and so he's always been involved in that instance, so yes, I have.
Coach Gibson and I have talked also, and so he's always been busy the last few days, so we haven't been able to talk as much. But being with him for the last five years, obviously, I know this game that we've done inside and out. Obviously, some things that I would like to do and grow and enhance it. But for right now, like I said, I want our guys to play fast, confident, and dominant, and just make sure we put good stuff on the table here in this bowl game.
What type of philosophy do you have as a coach, as a defensive coordinator?
When I've done it in the past, what I continue to believe in is we want to dictate to the offense. We want to make sure we confuse the front five... so we want to be aggressive, which we have been here. So that's nothing new. And so we just want our guys, again, to play fast and keep it simple. That's the biggest thing. And if we get guys to play fast and make it simple, where they don't have to think and they can run and hit, then that's what we want to make them do.
Switching gears a little bit, how have you seen Brandon Cleveland? I know he hasn't been in your position group. How have you seen him grow on and off the field in his time here?
Man, Brandon has been here and that's one of my guys, man, I've always had a good relationship with. I mean, he's doing so much, not just on the field, but off the field. Obviously, a big community service that he did this year, serving food to the homeless down in Moore Square in downtown Raleigh. So that's a big piece of him, man. And just seeing him grow as a person, as a man, and becoming a leader, not just in that room, but on this defense. And so it's a huge upside that I've seen in the last few years that I've been around that young man. I know that he's going to continue to grow.
You mentioned being a defensive coordinator before. What did you learn from that experience that you can use now in this role?
The biggest thing for me that I've done before at the lower levels is that I got to make sure that I coach the coaches just as much as I coach the players. And I got to hold them to a standard. But I got to make sure that I continue to build relationships with the coaches and give them the opportunity to have ownership, right? If everybody has ownership from player to coach, then that makes us smoother. And then how we're doing it as far as our relationships and making calls and making sure guys understand what we're doing.
At North Carolina Central did you run a 3-3-5 or a 4-3?
I ran similar to what we had here. And so maybe a little bit more toward that. Yeah, it's been an easy transition. The box is still the box. It's a six-man box with five on the back end. So we'll make the adjustments needed that we have to.
You think about Andrews and St. Augs. How surreal has this journey been to get to where you are? And what would you say to young men who are in the same part of that journey that you were at at one point?
I learned a lot of my faith in God. And I truly believe that God gives you the desires of your heart. And so I've always wanted to be a head coach and put it on my heart that I wanted to be the head coach here one day and take steps. So you want to be a position coach. You want to be a defensive coordinator. You want to be a head coach. And so I would say for those young coaches now, continue to pursue and work your butt off. Always prepare yourself for any opportunity that comes about. And so my brother, Coach Thunder, always tells us, if you stay ready, you ain't got to get ready. And so that's a big thing that I live on. And so like I said, I believe in God. He's always been a strong piece of me. And so he gives you the desire of your heart. And I'm here where I'm at now because of that.