NC State HC Dave Doeren Talks Day One Of 2025 Fall Camp
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media following the Wolfpack's first practice of 2025 Fall Camp.
NOTE: Click on the video above to watch the interview.
Opening Statement…
First day, for us, excited to be back on the grass with the guys and obviously competing against one another. We do so much of these walk-throughs and things throughout the summer and the guys are training, and today's the chance to get your first glimpse. And so I was happy to see the conditioning of many of the players.
It's good to have some guys back that were out last year, you know, to see Isaiah Shirley and Caden Fordham and some of those guys playing for us again. It was fun to see, and they look great. You can see there's some continuity with CJ, different from last year, being a returning starter with his receivers, and obviously we're not pads, so, some of the stuff you've got to kind of wait and see on blocking and pass rush, taking on blocks and all that, but it was a good first day.
A lot of things we've got to clean up. Too many drops, balls on the ground, a couple false starts, and then, guys cramping. It's hot out there and learning how to prepare themselves, obviously, for the heat that it seems like we're going to have for the rest of the week. Questions?
First day for a lot of the young guys who have been some of the young guys that have stood out to you going back to spring camp as well.
When you say young, do you mean, like, first-year players?
Fresh guys or guys that didn't get action last year stepping out this year, too.
I think we're all offensively excited to see Duke Scott. He had a really good spring, building off of a tremendous summer in the weight room. Spike Sowells Jr., a young offensive lineman that did a really nice job early in the spring and had a good summer.
Defensively, there's just a lot of new parts that came in, and so whether they're new or I guess they're all new, we can talk about transfers and freshmen, but, you know, it's good to see Brian, the corner, transferred in here, and he had a good day today. Very smooth mover.
Ronnie Royal III, I thought, took advantage of a lot of reps today and did a nice job. And there, so it's going to be a process, getting these guys into a lot of situational football and competitive drills to see how they handle the load, the first day of practice. Not a lot of install, but there's a lot of things coming, a lot of competition coming in this training camp that will be able to give you a lot more detail on guys after that.
Hey, this is the first time in a long time you've had to replace a couple different coordinators. Does that change where you expect things to be on the first couple days of camp?
No, in my tenure here, I've had several new coordinators, so, you know, I look at Kurt differently, maybe, than the outside world does because I've been with him for so long. He knows our players, he knows our terminology and how he wants to change it, and he has relationships built, so, offensively, it's not the same as bringing in a new face that knows nobody in that locker room.
On defense, obviously, it's a different conversation. For me, I've known D.J. a long time, so I knew what he was going to be about. There's a lot of new faces, because we had graduations and guys leave, so there is an evolution over there from a schematic standpoint and personnel, and so it's an opportunity is how I look at it more than a challenge, excited for the players because they're getting to learn new things, and, we've had different times throughout my tenure where we've changed, and each of those changes has helped us, so looking forward to that.
This may be a little too early, but you've talked about this before. It's finding the balance with tackling in the offseason so that you guys are ready to tackle in the first game, and then you don't want them to get hurt. Have you kind of got closer to what your balance will be for this offseason?
Well, we're not in the offseason anymore, so, we're training camp, and we've got a pretty good idea of how much we want to do, and you're right. It's kind of a slippery slope. You don't want to do too much, but you have to do enough to have them ready. As ball carriers do, it's not just the tackling.
We want guys to be able to protect the football when the play is lost, and now you've got people pulling them to the ground and the ball can come out, and so there's a definite need for that. We'll have two full scrimmages, and then we'll have some situational scrimmages where we get in and short yardage, and goal line and backed up, or you want to get into those, four-minute offense where, hey, can he finish a run? Can we stop the guy from finishing a run? So you just got to really use your gut as a head coach and get a feel for where you're at and what you need, put their safety in mind, and also having them ready to go play a game.
How much of this camp do you think will be focused on perfecting fundamentals as opposed to install?
It's always both. I mean, there isn't a good play on offense or defense that has bad fundamentals. There just isn't one. Every play starts in a good stance. There's a desired technique and finish that you're looking for from the players, and then there's the X's and O's that go with it. So every single play, all of those little things and 11 guys doing all those little things at once together is what creates a positive play. So the focus is always on both.
You’ve collected a bunch of receivers who have put up major numbers in high school. How important is it for one or two or three to break out and basically scare the heck out of defenses?
Yeah, it helps, when you're worried about someone running by it. And then to have the tight ends that we do, the running backs that we do, that have the versatility and the skill positions, it helps, but you don't want DBs to just sit and play catch coverage on you because you won't run by them or can't run by them, and that's not where we're at. We've got some guys that can go, and we've got to be able to connect when we take those shots too.
Where do you feel like the offensive line is right now heading into fall camp?
It's too early to say. I'm excited about the depth we've created, you know, through recruiting and development. There's some really good body changes on those guys. We brought in a couple new guys with Teague and JG, and so there's more competitive depth, but to give you an answer without pads on, we need to wait.
You capped your offseason with a hole in one, what was that like for you?
To do that with two of my three sons with me was pretty special, and good karma. When I looked in the hole, I saw the logo of the Wolf looking back at me and just made me laugh, and that's good karma, and it was awesome, beautiful place, too, but the best part of it was to celebrate it with, Connor and Luke.
Was that your first one?
It was, yeah.
Which course, which height?
60-degree, short hole, downhill. He's in Missouri. My son's got a job in Arkansas, so we met in Missouri and played.
13 can be an unlucky number. Is that a lucky omen?
No, my wife's birthday is the 13th, and it's very lucky to me, yeah.
This will be the fourth different starting center in four years. What are you kind of hoping to see from the guys that you're evaluating, and what will it take to earn that spot?
Well, the center of your offense and your defense have to be really, really strong. If you're soft in the middle, you've got a tough day. Jalen was very consistent in the spring, and so you want that consistent demeanor.
Spike, really excited about what we're getting out of him, and so it's the fourth, but we've had a lot of good ones, too. Each one of these guys, two of them are playing, three of them are playing in the NFL right now, so, there's a tradition there at that position, and we expect nothing to change. To have somebody in the middle that's strong, that's a good leader, that's consistent.