NC State defensive line coach Charley Wiles met with the media this week to discuss his unit's recent play, the upcoming matchup against Duke, and much more.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
Coach, what's the halftime adjustments look like the last few weeks? It seems like you guys came out a lot better in the third quarter.
Well, we use everything that we have available, which obviously now at the iPads and being able to show some clips and adjustments. We make our halftime adjustments based on what they've done and had some success. So that's a big advantage now in today's football, right?
And the same thing for them, they're looking at what we're doing too. But obviously, we played quite a bit two high safety in the first half, played a lot of single high in the second half, but it really comes down to tackling and beating blocks and that kind of thing, playing together and playing, continuing to play hard.
And what's it been like working with Coach Eliot?
It's been fun. Coach Eliot's got a lot of energy, a lot of juice, really, really smart football coach and a lot of, a lot of knowledge, you know, so it's been fun, obviously kind of being a little bit more multiple in what we're doing.
Brandon Cleveland's impact goes beyond the statistics. What's a good game for him?
Well, you really got to watch the film, nose guards don't make a lot of plays, they make a lot of money, you know what I mean? They knock people back, they take two gaps up, they eat blocks that don't show up on the stat sheet, right?
Turn the video on and those guys that are big that can play on their side of the line of scrimmage require a double team, require a double team, and that's what Brandon's been doing is, eating two, requiring you got a double in the ace thing with Brandon and, also he's been good in our four down, playing some two techniques, some three technique, there's a big body that can move around and then we've been able to, we've got some packages where obviously on third down, Brandon's off the field and so he's playing that right number of reps where he's not getting too tired.
Coach, what do you tell the players coming up on a game against your neighbors right down the street? This is a big local matchup, but a big conference matchup.
Well, they beat us four out of five, so that says it all, right? We got a lot of respect for Duke, their coaching staff, their players, and, you know, I've been here, it's my sixth year, we beat them in 2020 here in COVID, that's the last time we beat them, so they're tough, they don't beat themselves normally, they do not turn the ball over and, obviously that Illinois game they did, they got beat, but they know the formula and they're a disciplined, tough group.
How impressed have you been with Sabastian Harsh, coming in as a transfer and making an immediate impact?
The thing about Sabastian, it's when you are in the transfer portal, in our opinion as a staff, it's getting the right fit with ability, with enough ability.
Imagine we hit a home run, gratitude came here, it's not like given, it's earned, not given, he never said anything about, “I want this number, I want this, I want to sit here...” he sat back in the back and now he's in the front, and he earned his way up there and we let that happen because we respect our players and what they're doing, so it's a process and it didn't take long because he shows up on tape, the way he practices, it's the way he plays, he shows up, he made, he obviously, if you watch any film, the kid is tremendous, his effort of which he plays with, man, it's fun to coach, but he's a great kid to be around, he's very football intelligent, so yeah, I mean, that right there is what you want, what I mean, this kid is exactly what you want and then, he's, and then the kids respect him, because of the way he goes about his day.
You’ve had a lot of guys make a lot of money in Virginia Tech who are kind of that edge rusher or tweener, whatever you want to call it, what has it been like to re-incorporate that into the defense?
It's been fun, it's been fun, right, you know, just being a little bit more multiple and having an opportunity to play a little bit more four down on first, second down and then we're, getting in and out of our three, our odd stuff is great, I'm telling you, in the odd stuff, it's very good, so it's been fun and the kids are enjoying it.
What are some things that your guys are going to have to do to have a different result against Duke than you had in the last few years?
Well, it's complimentary football, right, it's a whole group and then, defensively, it's stop the run and, you know, don't give up explosive plays, they make a living on throwing it over your head, they do, and they got good backs too, I mean, they can hit a home run, I mean, they already, they got good personnel, so, we can't let big plays get out, right, we got to tackle, got to tackle well and not let them throw it over our heads.
It seems early in the season, it seems early in the season, but this is a really big opportunity for NC State, it's the second road game ACC, just speak to the opportunity NC State has this week and have y'all address that with the young men.
Oh, absolutely.
It's a big game, of course, it's the next game, right, for sure, it happens to be 30 minutes away against a group that's beat us four times out of the last five, we're all very aware of that, but then what, how do you win, and it's the same formula, you got to win the line of scrimmage on both sides, we run it, they didn't run it, we're going to win most of the time, right, so, we got to stop the run, make them be one-dimensional, we got to run it and then we can throw it and do what we do, tackle, no explosives, don't turn it over, really. Duke at Illinois, look at that game, it was like at halftime, it was a tie game basically and then they turned it over a bunch and got beat.
So, it's the same formula and it's the next game, it just happens to be 30 minutes away against a group that, that's in our league, that's beat us, all that's important as well, but we got to stick to the fundamentals in the plan that allows us to be successful.
