RB Coach Todd Goebbel On His Room: "We Have A Group Of Seven"

NC State running backs coach Todd Goebbel met with the media to discuss his position group, fall camp, and much more.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

Todd, just your overall thoughts on the running back room. Obviously, things have changed pretty drastically since last fall. 
I mean, my overall assessment of the running back room is, I think we have a group of seven. I think they're extremely talented, smart, and the good thing is I think they're aligned with each other, it's highly competitive, and that's all you want as a coach.

You want talent, you want competitiveness, and you want respect in the room.  I think right now with all seven guys, I think what we've got, we've got talent, we've got true competitiveness, and then we've got respect.

It's appreciated as a coach, and it's exciting to come to work. 

We've heard a lot about Duke Scott this offseason. What have you seen from him from a growth standpoint compared to where he was arriving last spring? 
Just recruiting Duke, what I did know, I was going to get a team guy that had a work ethic that probably was going to be unmatched and that was going to be consistent.

Now, you're hoping that all that tailors into becoming a really good football player. And he's always been a good football player. He just kind of, just like anything in a really good institution with good players, you can kind of marry it a little bit, but as a young guy, instead of worrying about that, he just went to work like I knew he would when I recruited him.

And people are now, it's not new to me, but it's new to others, kind of who he is, what he stands for, and how he goes about his business.

I'm excited to see him out there and perform with his brothers. 

Everybody wants to throw the ball around in college football, it seems like.  How important is the running game? 
Well, I think the running game makes the quarterback better. I really do. As an ex-quarterback, you've got a solid running game, an efficient running game, and I know Coach Roper does a wonderful job with that of establishing the run and the mentality running first... doesn't mean we're going to run the ball every play, but it's that mentality.

But I think if you can run the ball effectively, what you do is you allow the quarterback to play at even a higher standard than the good one that we already have. So that's my opinion.

Speaking of Coach Roper, how has this offseason been different as he implements his scheme into the offense as a whole? 
Coach Roper has an innate ability to allow players to feel like they overachieve, and whether it's an install, whether he teaches it, how he motivates, how he relates, been around him for a while, had a lot of respect for him, but he has an innate ability to want players to overachieve not only for themselves, but for him, the coaching staff, and their teammates, which is pretty impressive. 

How difficult is it to find walk-on punters, successful scholarship punters and kickers in college? 
It's becoming almost non-existent nowadays with the way the demographic is going and the dynamics going, but I think our resume and the respect people have for what we've done around the country in developing, just like Coach Doeren, it's from the top down.

This is a development program, and some people stop with just the offense and defense, and he's let it permeate through the special teams as well.

So I think it's going to be a lot more difficult to do that, just to say, hey, come on in for free, and hey, by the way, we'll develop you and you'll get rewarded once you are productive. But we're going to continue with that message and use our reputation to help us.  Up to this point, we've continually been successful and we're going to keep trying that way, but I think we've got to be creative as we move forward. 

Whether it's the return game or as a running back, how do you see Jonathan Paylor making an impact? 
Jonathan's been fun. He's fun to coach. We all know he's dynamic. We all know he's fast, and what I've learned real quick being around him more and more is the kid just wants to be good.

He's got a thirst for knowledge. He's got a thirst to be better. Anytime as a coach you get to coach a young man just like the rest of the running back room, they just want to get better and improve. You've got a chance, especially with talent. 

Hollywood wasn't able to play his senior year and then redshirted at Oklahoma. How much difference do you see that he's had stability the last year and a half at NC State? 
He's got ownership in his performance. He's got confidence from his teammates. And for the first time I'll say this, I think he's kind of an extension of me now. And as a coach you're hoping the guy that's a veteran can be an extension of you in regards to helping younger guys and those things. He loves football, is talented but loves football. It's been refreshing and it keeps him busy, too, which he loves to be busy.

I know it's early, but what does the pecking order look like when it comes to the return game right now? 
I think we have really talented guys back there. You saw who they were. They're all competing right now. We've got one guy with experience, three guys with talent, and it's my job, Coach Doeren's job, and the staff's job is to keep evaluating and evaluating.

It comes down to decision-making and trust. We'll have plenty of talent, but as we all know, we've got to come down to decision-making and trust, so we have the football at the end.

We'll make the right decisions, and we'll put another good one out there.