Graduate Transfer Kenny Soares Jr. Brings Experience, Edge to NC State Linebackers
Kenny Soares Jr. joined the Wolfpack in May of 2025 as a graduate student after transferring from Northwestern. While at Northwestern, Soares was a part-time starter at linebacker, and he played in 12 games in both his redshirt junior and redshirt sophomore campaigns. As a sophomore, he made five starts.
This upcoming season Soares is expected to provide depth and experience to the Wolfpack linebacking group. Based on early feedback, Soares has been impressive and is expected to be a part of the rotation.
Soares came to Raleigh in part due to the persistence of Coach Isaiah Moore.
“Isaiah Moore was really adamant,” Soares said. “He called me pretty much every day until it was pretty much over. So, out of the portal, I feel like it just made me the most comfortable coming here than a lot of other places.”
Now that he’s here, what has been like to play for Coach Moore?
“It’s been great, honestly. Zay, one playing here as a linebacker, he plays my position. Well, he played my position. Now, he came back and now he’s coaching me as an inside backer. Zay is one of the best players to come through here.”
A lot of folks are wondering what the defense is going to be like with a new defensive coordinator in charge. Coach DJ Eliot is taking over the reins after Tony Gibson departed the program. What can we expect from the defense?
“Physical, gonna run through your face every single play. Not gonna stop every single play. That’s the biggest way I would explain it.” Soares continued: “We got, in my opinion, one of the best d-lines. Got Cleveland front. Chazz. We got Travali. Some of the transfers that came in, come off the edge. Then at linebacker, we got a lot of leaders, basically. We want everybody to be the best they can be every single play. Then from the DB standpoint, we got a lot of dudes that are just ready to play.
“Football is football. You got somebody in front of you, you gotta use your hands, you gotta get off the block, go make a play,”
Soares commented when discussing the differences between the defense at Northwestern and NC State. While some of it is the same, it can feel like you’re starting over.
“All of a sudden, it just feels like I’m back to being a freshman again. Learning the playbook, doing everything all over again. And honestly, I’m enjoying the process.”
Some early feedback from those who have been able to attend practices is that the defense may be better than expected. One of those reasons may be because of the depth. Soares went on to say: “I feel like the depth aspect, for me, I think is great. You can rotate. You can do whatever you can with what you have, honestly. Our motto is always to be, play fast, play physical, and do your job. So, when you have depth, for example, a linebacker, guys like Biscuit and Sean, when they’re playing together they get tired. It’s not a step back when other guys come into the game.”
How does Soares expect it to be different in the ACC versus playing in the Big Ten?
“I’m used to Iowa. I-form, run down the middle, and just go hit a fullback. So, here in the ACC, it’s a lot more throw the ball, spread it out. You might get a quarterback run a lot more times than you get in the Big Ten, too. But for me, being able to be that headhunter, just looking to go hit someone every single play, I could be able to bring that into this linebacker room and encourage other people to be the same way.”
Heading into the season, there are a lot of questions surrounding the defense. There are a lot of new players, a new scheme, and a new coach. With so many new things coming together at once, Soares says you have to “be able to hold your standard and stick to your routine. Do whatever you can to push yourself… make sure my routine is perfect in every sort of aspect I can.”
Wolfpack fans are hoping that part of that routine is getting wins on Saturdays this fall.