ACC FOOTBALL KICKOFF: Pack Players Meet The Media

NC State's CJ Bailey, Justin Joly, and Caden Fordham met with the media at the 2025 ACC Football Kickoff.

 CJ, you were kind of thrown to the wolves when Grayson McCall got hurt. Can you talk about some of the most important lessons you've learned becoming QB1 and the leader of this program?

I learned a lot, especially from Grayson McCall. He was a great leader for me, great mentor for me even when he was done. I learned how to every day be the same person, try to be more vocal than what I was before. So at the end of last year, that's what I was working towards, was just being a more vocal leader. You'll see some of those flashes in the spring ball that we just had, I was very -- still is a very vocal leader. But overall, the type of leader I am, I'm an energetic guy, and that's what I bring to the table.

 To end last year, you guys played East Carolina, you also play them to start this year. What's that going to be like in terms of getting back at the Pirates?

Yeah, it's always exciting to get on that field for that first time, and that game 1 is going to be really fun, and the way we prepare for it is going to even be funner. I can't wait to step out for the first time with my guys and see what we're really made of.

CJ, Coach Doeren talked about what it meant to bring a quarterback back, and now this is the first time that's happened in quite some time. Can you explain what the difference is in kind of knowing I'm in the front seat, I'm in the driver's seat, this is my team as the quarterback 1 here as opposed to being in the mentored and nurtured into playing this year?

Yeah, it's a big difference. Like, last year, I just was sitting back and letting Grayson do his thing, and there was a lot of things I wanted to do last year, but I didn't want to step on Grayson's toes. Like, just be more of a leader than what Grayson was. I just observed, and coming into this year it's very different. In spring it was very different. I used my voice more, as I said before. I was way more than what I was last year, and I think what happened -- not any knock to Grayson, but I think I got the chance to experience being a starter of the team.

Working with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks Coach Kurt Roper, how has he helped you evolve your game up to this point?

Coach Roper, for one, he's a great guy, phenomenal guy, but he helped me every day. Every day I come into that room with him, in that meeting room, I gain some type of knowledge and some type of understanding of the game better. It's great that he's our offensive coordinator because he understands me and I understand him. He's my quarterback coach still at the end of the day.

CJ, a lot of new guys coming to the O-line group this year, whether it's Teague Andersen or Jalen Grant, the transfer portal, Spike Sowells coming in as a highly touted freshman. How much have you been able to get to know those guys on and off the field, and how much are you looking forward to working with those guys this season?

Yeah, we've got a great group of guys up front and I spend a lot of time with them. We've had a couple dinners so far. I have fun with them, joke around with them a lot. But some of those guys are returners and we already had that connection. It's just guys, like you just said, like Teague and JG, I'm getting to know them more and I feel like I did a good job. I feel like I just know them a lot and they know me.

CJ, what's it mean to represent Miami on this stage as a rising sophomore?

It's great. I feel good to represent the city of Miami. That's where I'm from, and taking what I got to North Carolina, showing them what I got and putting on for the city, the 305. It's just been good. It's been great. I feel like I'm doing a great job.

Caden, NC State has prided themselves on their defense for quite some time under Tony Gibson. Last year it seemed like things took a little bit of a step back in terms of performance, and I know that your injury was part of that. Looking forward to this year, looking forward to new coordinator, new system, all those things, do you think all of that newness is kind of the shot in the arm that this unit needed to get back to what the expectation is set at for NC State defenses?

CADEN FORDHAM: Yeah, anytime we go out on the field as an NC State defense, we expect to dominate. We expect to play physical and tough, and I believe this off-season was big for us. Getting a lot of the new guys in here, showing them the ways of how we do things here is huge for us.

But as far as me coming back, Sean, some of the guys that have been there for a while, we got to see guys like Drake, Payton, Zay, how they did things, and last year, you're right, it wasn't up to the standard. But this year is a new year and we're going to come out and prove that we're back. We're going to uphold that standard and play ball on defense.

Caden, going back to last year, that injury, first of all, how much of an eye opener was that for you and kind of change your perspective on the game of football, and where are you at from a health standpoint heading into fall camp now?

CADEN FORDHAM: Yeah, anytime you're taken away from the sport you love so much, it's difficult. Thankfully I've got my brothers. They were with me the whole way. Coach Doeren helped me a ton. My dad, he was in my corner the whole time. My faith in the Lord helped me get through it all.

It was an eye-opening experience. I learned how to lead from a different perspective. I was on the sideline. I wasn't really out there with the guys doing it the whole time.

It was a big step in my leadership, learning how to talk to guys and show them things one-on-one instead of being out there in front of the team.

It was such a blessing. Anytime you get to play this sport, you can never take it for granted. Then as far as it goes right now, I actually just went home, got cleared, so we're ready to go, and I'm excited for fall camp.

Caden, you just spoke about your faith there. Just having faith in the chaos of adversity and how faith guided you through that storm that you had with the season-ending injury?

CADEN FORDHAM: Yeah, that's the rock. Faith is so much -- means so much more to me than any game. So having that strong faith really helped me get through those dark times.

Also, like I said, being with the guys, anytime I was with them, it made it so much better. It felt like I was out there the whole time. Definitely having a relationship with Christ, it was huge during those times.

Speak about the Pack culture and what it means to be a part of the Wolfpack and the whole city of Raleigh is behind you guys?

JUSTIN JOLY: I would say that's really the reason I committed here. When I got here, I didn't know where I should go out of the portal coming out of UConn. But the people here, the people I look at to my left, that's my family right there, and everyone who wears red and represents the Wolfpack, it's not just one person, it's a pack. It's the Pack for a reason. I would say that was definitely a big moment for me and my culture.

You're now 18 months in; what have you learned being a Wolfpack that may stay with you for the next 30 years?

JUSTIN JOLY: That you can rely on your people. I can count on -- if I ever need anything, I know I can call up Coach Doeren, CJ, Biscuit. I can call up any one of them to tell them if I ever need anything.

You were listed as one of the Top 5 tight ends on College Football '26 and yet it seems like nationally you don't get the respect and the accolades of some of the other guys mentioned in that same breath and vein do, and Coach Doeren talks about how NC State players have an edge and they have that chip on their shoulder. Is that something that adds that chip to your shoulder?

JUSTIN JOLY: Honestly, it doesn't really faze me because at the end of the day I know who I am as a player and I think my teammates know what I'm capable of. Preseason they can have the top five tight ends. That doesn't worry me. At the end of the season is when I really want to shine.

Justin, this is a very versatile tight end group with yourself, Coach mentioned Cody Hardy as a guy that's going to move some bodies, Dante Daniels is back, another very large man, a lot of excitement around a freshman like Gus Ritchey. How much are you all embracing that versatility and being able to do a lot of different things on offense in different ways in your group?

JUSTIN JOLY: I think versatility is one of the best things you can have on offense because it's very unpredictable. You never know, like, if I'm in if it's a run play or if Cody is in if it's a run play or pass play. Having that and having all different statures when it comes to tight end also, I think, helps the offense out a lot because we don't know what's going to happen, we've just got to take a guess.

Recently you posted a 007 chain. Go into your personality and how you define your personality, and if we can see that in the chain which you said, "Coming to a field near you?"

JUSTIN JOLY: Yeah, man, 007, James Bond, you know, I'm rocking rock No. 7 this year. I rocked No. 7 my senior year of high school. I've got a little personality in me, if y'all couldn't tell. Yeah, coming to a field near you.

Talk about your relationship with CJ Bailey and how you've gotten to work with him and build a rapport.

JUSTIN JOLY: I remember when CJ first took the helm over, you know, became QB1, I was, like, hey, fam, if you need someone to rely on and you need a reliability factor, you can come to me, like, for anything. That relationship has grown. He's relied on me for things that -- sometimes there's some routes I shouldn't have ran, but he's going to give me the ball in an open moment.

And CJ, I love you for it; don't stop ever.

Me and him, we were rooming together here at the hotel, and we were just bickering, having fun, going back and forth because that's what brothers do, and I really think that's what me and CJ's relationship are.

There's been a lot of noise going on with the basketball program and in Chapel Hill, obviously, with Belichick. How has that helped you and the rest of the offensive skill position group which has retained a lot of players? How have you been able to bond and fly under the radar? How has that helped you guys?

JUSTIN JOLY: Honestly, we just block out the noise. No offense to any of y'all, but we're not really worried about what anyone else says; we're worried about what in-house says. At the end of the day, we're the one who plays football, so I love all of y'all and I appreciate y'all for coming out, but it really don't matter.

Are you sure you don't want to be a wide receiver?

JUSTIN JOLY: I promise, man. I love being a tight end.