Improving One Day At A Time

There is more to NC State’s defense than just a front four.

The quartet of Bradley Chubb, Justin Jones, B.J. Hill and Kentavius Street is receiving plaudits from across the nation and rightfully so. The starting group consists of all seniors and it is plausible that each player will be invited to the NFL Combine following the season.

The back seven for the Wolfpack will also have something to say in 2017.

Seniors Airius Moore and Jerod Fernandez both have sideline-to-sideline speed but it is their discipline and studious nature that stands out to NC State defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable, who also doubles as their position coach.

“They are tremendous students of the game,” Huxtable said of the senior duo. “They have been playing for a long time. They understand the system very well and they have worked at it very hard. I am blessed to have both of those guys for their senior year and I am looking forward to them being great leaders and having a good season for us.”

Like the defensive line, Moore and Fernandez have played for Huxtable and with each other long enough to know where to be and when to be there.

Huxtable does have to teach as much this fall.

“They understand the system so I am just staying on top of their fundamentals and technique,” Huxtable said. “They make very few mental mistakes because they understand things so well. They are just continuing to grind and get better at their linebacker play.”

The secondary is the lone position group in the defense that raises questions among pundits and NC State faithful.

There is some experience in the back four however. Huxtable thinks there is enough veteran leadership in the secondary that the unit will continue to progress throughout camp and during the season.

“Shawn Boone is probably the most experienced guy along with Mike Stevens,” Huxtable said. “He has played a lot of football at the corner position. I would say those two guys are the leaders in the backfield.


“Mike Stevens is a leader by his work ethic. He is not a real vocal guy. Shawn Boone is a much more vocal guy, very heady guy, very smart. He knows the defense as well as anybody on the field and is vocal. He leads by example but he is also more of a vocal leader.”

“We are continuing to work,” Huxtable said of the defensive backs. “We have some young guys back there at the safety position. I say young [meaning] young in experience. In the corner position there is not a lot of depth, but they are working very, very hard. We have still got some ways to go, but I feel very good about that group of players.”

Ultimately, NC State’s defense aspires to be one of the better in the nation and the back seven is intent on holding up its end behind the highly herald defensive line.

It is a process though and Huxtable is repeating the NC State company line of daily focus whenever he is asked about the Wolfpack’s defensive potential.

“It is one day at a time,” Huxtable said. “I want us to get better today than we were yesterday. Tomorrow we want to be better than we were today. We are just taking it one day at a time. They are coming out and giving us good focus, giving us good effort and doing a good job.”