Jonathan Paylor: "You Have To Actually Know The game"
NC State freshman slot Jonathan Paylor met with the media to discuss preparing for the Military Bowl, his upcoming opportunity, and much more.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
On KC Concepcion being his mentor…
Him mentoring me as a young guy coming in was the best decision.
Did it get real after you saw that he entered the portal?
No, for me, actually before everything, we sat down and talked about everything. He told me pretty much just to be confident, be confident in your role, be confident in your play, be confident in your knowledge, and make sure you have your school books open.
Did you, or have you gone through full practices? Have you found yourself getting more opportunities, getting a chance to kind of show that work that you've put in so far and show how it's translating on the field?
Definitely. For me, I feel like my growth has been humongous since I got here. I think every accomplishment, even the little ones, are great accomplishments. Knowing that I actually got here, even to be able to play on the scout team and go get the first defense, you're going to get better regardless. And for a long time, (we have) one of the best defenses in the ACC. So, but overall, our growth has been humongous.
Where's the biggest part you've seen yourself grow through your freshman year?
I would say just the knowledge of the game. Knowing to be able to read defenses, knowing to be able to actually really commit to the game. Like in high school, I was just better than everyone else. But now that I’ve got here, all these guys know how to play football. So you have to actually know the game.
Like you said, in high school, you never came off the field. You played every snap. And now you've had to embrace, you know, a role on the scout team. You're a redshirt. What has that adjustment been like for you to handle that?
Commitment, drive. I mean, I feel like the sitting out part really helped. I wouldn't have known what would happen if I did go out there and start it without the knowledge of the game I know now. But I feel like that tool to have a redshirt and sitting out and watching great players play, you never get an experience like it again.
How important is it for you guys to win this game, get a little bit of momentum adding it to the next season?
I think for me to know that we're playing ECU and the bowl game and we're playing them in the regular season as well, I feel like that's a great advantage. I feel like since we got three weeks of film already and going into the new season, it's a great jumpstart for us.
You talked about embracing, redshirting, not being able to play. You played a little bit at the beginning of the year. How much did that taste kind of fuel you to continue to want to grow and kind of be ready for your time when it comes?
After my first handoff, I was off the charts on the sideline. I was like, I got the ball, I got the ball, I got the ball. But at the end of the day, knowing that they put me in the game, they were confident, like, OK, yeah, let him get a little taste of what's going to happen in the future. It's a great thing to see that our coaches actually put trust in guys that's developing and know what's going on.
You're very competitive, how have you kind of used that drive where, at some point they're going to let you cook?
Applying it, applying it to my game, applying it to my violence of the game, applying it to my film sessions. Literally after this, I'm going to catch Juggs. So it's like there's a couple of things that you have to commit to to be able to wrestle this game.
You mentioned KC being a mentor for you. What was that mentor, mentee relationship like?
Brother, brother, that's my dog. There's nothing he has done to make me think of any of this as being a bad guy. I feel like since the day I got here, even before I got here when I was getting recruited for the past four years, he's been in contact, he's been calling me and everything like that to know that as a guy who's really dedicated to bring guys and actually mentor them and not just be a leader. I feel like it's a great mentor.
What’s the biggest thing you learned from him?
Patience. Patience. He knows, it was crazy when our first conversation, he was like, bro, I have never seen anybody move this fast in my entire life. He was like, now you're going to do it slow and down. It's going to come to you. So pretty much learning patience and commitment to action my craft pretty much helped me.
You were lucky enough to be able to visit here unofficially a gazillion times. You went through the entire process for multiple years. Anything you've learned about NC State now that you've been here for six months, seven months, maybe you didn't even know during the recruiting process?
Grit. It's always been grit. It's always been the same model here for years. And that's the reason I came here. I knew once I came here, I was going to get the best every single day. I was going to get, going to give and give 100% every day. I was going to get 100% from the guys that are putting in work as much as I am.
This freshman class has contributed a lot this season. A lot of guys have been able to see the field, at least for a couple games here and there. Is there a lot of excitement with that class of 2024, the future that you guys have ahead of you?
Definitely. I feel like since the 23 class, it has always been a shock. But I know the 24 class has made a huge impact. It was one of the big classes he had coming in. And I knew guys like me, Terrell Anderson, Keenan Jackson. Those guys are ballers.