Gavin Locklear: "It's Just A Blessing"

NC State tight ends coach Gavin Locklear met with the media to discuss his new role, star tight end Justin Joly, the Wolfpack's offense, and much more.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview with coach Locklear.

Hey, Gavin, you obviously walked on to NC State. You've been around NC State your whole football career after high school. You know, what does this mean to be able to be in this full-time, you know, tight ends coach having a position, you know, to lead? 

Yeah, I think for me, man, it's just a blessing. First of all, I want to thank Coach Doeren for giving me the opportunity and believing in me. Roper as well, thank God and thank my family. I've come a long way from walking on here at NC State and to me, man, it's just all about hard work, right? It means the world to me. I started as a walk-on that earns a scholarship, right? Then I started as a student volunteer unpaid that now becomes a position coach, right? So for me, man, it's unbelievable. It's something that you dream of, right? A lot of coaches would love to coach at their alma mater and I have the ability to do that and I don't take that lightly and I look forward to maximizing this to the full potential. 
 

What's the biggest thing you've learned since becoming a coach at NC State, whether it's in the volunteer role, whether it's being a GA or now, like what's been the biggest thing you've been able to learn just being in the building on that side of things?

Man, I've learned so much. A part of my career and as a player and as a coach and, I've been around here for a long time and, I've tried to take a little bit of everything from everybody that I've come in contact with and,, I think that at the end of the day, your coaching philosophy is what it is, but it's never just something that you design on your own, right? Like I worked for George McDonald and George was great. He was my position coach, right? Coach Thunder, I've been with Coach Thunder for a long time and all the other coaches that I've been around and been able to study and listen and just hear them talk and talk about their experiences and things they've been through and just, you know, taking a little bit from each and every one of them is really, I think, what helped me become the coach I am today. 
 

Hey, Gavin, congratulations on the promotion. As you step into this first opportunity as a position coach, how nice is it to have a guy like Justin Joly in that room? 

Oh, man, it's really a blessing. Justin's awesome and I love Justin and Justin and I, it kind of goes back to his recruitment. When we got him here and he was in the portal and all those things, we built a really strong bond really quick and that's one of the things that I really believe in when it comes to recruiting. And, now that he came here, he showcased his abilities of what he was able to do last year. It's really exciting. And the thing that I love about Justin the most is his passion. He's a very passionate player. He loves the game of football. And, now we've had some conversations since I stepped into this role and, you know, it's just really getting him to buy into each and everything that he does on a daily basis to outwork everybody else that's in the same position as him. But, man, it's a blessing for me to be able to coach somebody like that in my first full-time job. 
 

Hey, Gavin, along those same lines, you guys went out and added Cody Hardy as a grad transfer. What intrigued you guys about him and what did you like about him to bring him into the program? 

Yeah, when it comes to Cody, man, that first phone call we had, it was, I knew it was the right fit. You listen to the kid talk and you understand his makeup and you understand what he's about. It's a football player. It's a kid that's passionate, a kid that loves the game, a kid that really wants to be good at the game. And really, he's all about winning. He wants to help the team win in whatever way he can. And, he's a big kid. He's 6'5", 260, 270 pounds and moves well. He's a strong kid. He's all about hard work. And I think some of the things that I really picked up on really quickly was he was a culture fit. And I knew that if we were able to be fortunate enough to bring him into this program, that we were bringing in a guy that was going to put his head down, go to work, and do everything he can to really make this program continue to elevate.
 

And just to follow up, I know you've been around Coach Roper now for a while. He's been at NC State for a while as well. What excites you about this opportunity for him, just seeing him kind of get that opportunity as offensive coordinator? 

Yeah, just being around Roper over the past few years, man, you really understand how passionate he is about the game of football. I was kind of listening to him talk earlier, and he's been around a lot of really good football coaches. And so with that comes a lot of really good knowledge. And for somebody like me that was coming up through the ranks and being able to be around him, I've been able to learn a lot from him. And the thing that, you know, I admire the most about him is, like I said, the passion that he has for this game of football. He loves the game of football. And the game of football has given a lot to him, right? And so he really enjoys being able to give back to not only these players, but the coaches that are also on his staff. And, man, I'm really looking forward to working with Kurt. 
 

Gavin, given your history with the program, I think it's pretty clear that this matters a lot to you, that it's an exciting moment for you both personally and professionally. Can you take us through the moment that you found out you would be getting this promotion and just what that moment was like? Did Dave take you into his office? Like, what happened there? 

Yeah, I'm not going to really get too far into it, but I'll tell you where I was at. I was on a golf course. I was on the golf course, and I was actually just playing around the golf with my buddies and got a call. And, it all kind of went from there. But, I probably swung my golf club about five times that day through 18 holes. But, it's like I said, man, it's a blessing. It's a dream come true. And, you know, I'm very fortunate. And I said it earlier, but extremely appreciative for coach to give me this opportunity.
 

And if I may ask a follow-up, too, with the changes going on the offense side of the ball with the assistant coaches, what kind of changes do you see in the offense with coach Roper taking over? What do you see next year looking like? 

Yeah, I think Roper hit on it earlier. But, he wants to play with tempo, right? He wants guys to get lined up fast, and he wants to play fast. And like you said, just being able to pull it back a little bit if we need to do that. But Kurt is a very competitive guy. So no matter what we're doing, whether it's individual, whether it's team, whether it's a group setting, whether it's in the meeting rooms, he expects everybody to compete in everything they do. And, I think with him pushing the element of that tempo and him pushing the mindset of competition, I think we should be really in store for some good things next year.
 

Gavin, building off of that last year, this team was ranked as one of the worst teams in the country in terms of tempo, in terms of snap per second rate, like 29.6 last year. So how important is that to be able to change that element going into the season? 

Yeah, I mean, obviously, I think it's just really about what you believe in. And I think for Kurt, his belief is he wants to play fast. He wants to score points, right? And I mean, at the end of the day, who doesn't want to score points? But, his belief is we're going to get lined up fast and we're going to play fast, right? And so, I talk all the time, especially with the tight ends, when I took over the room, man, everything starts with a mindset. If you get guys believing in what you really want to do, you have a real legitimate shot to be really great at something, right? And I think that's something that Kurt's been really great at, right? His mindset and the way he sees it. And now it's just getting everybody to pull in the right direction. And so, he said, here's what we're going to do. And you can see everybody's bought into it. So I'm really looking forward to seeing where it goes. 
 

And as a follow-up to the questions about NC State and your relations to that, I mean, when you go out on the recruiting trail, how much more passion do you have being able to pitch a program that you played for as well? 

Yeah. I do think that is one of the strengths that I'm going to be able to have, right? Like, I tell all these guys, and really I'm talking about right now the guys that are here, like, I've been in your shoes. I've done the things that you're going through. And, I've been a part of those workouts. I've been a part of those fall camps. I've been a part of those spring practices, right? And so just being able to relate to those guys on that level, because at the end of the day, man, this game's not easy. And there's a lot that goes into it. There's a lot of early mornings. There's a lot of late nights. And just getting these kids to understand that at the end of the day, man, life's not easy, right? And so just being able to talk to them about life in general and my experience here at this college and this university and playing for this program, I think that, that really allows them to see the passion that I bring to my job every day.