NC State linebacker Kenny Soares, Jr. met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus Campbell.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Soares’ interview.
On how the week leading up to Campbell has been thus far…
Honestly, it's been great. I feel like you’ve got to have the mentality to never look back after Sunday. When you watch the film, that's the end of last game and the week before, and you’re just on to the next week, continuing to prepare for the next opponent. We want to be 1-0 every single week.
On the takeaways from watching last week’s film…
For me, I'm very, very critical about myself, the plays that I get, and the opportunities that I get on the field. I try to make the most out of every opportunity — no matter if I'm playing four plays in the game or the entire game — no matter if it's where my right step is, if my six-inch step isn't six inches, or if it's a foot-long or whatever like that, or me getting my pads to the running back in order to tackle better, and everything like that. I think [it’s important] being very critical over yourself, and not only yourself, but your brothers that you play next to as well because they're going to be able to make the play, or you're going to be able to make the play. If you’re both working together in tandem, it helps everybody.
On the areas that have needed the most growth…
What we've been hardest on is just being able to make sure we eliminate errors when it comes to within plays and everything, mental errors within plays, doing your job, making sure that you have trust in your brother next to you that he's going to be able to have his job done, and also being able to just make sure we're tackling: getting people to ground, and negating yards after contact as well, keeping that to a minimum.
On what’s led to explosive runs for opposing offenses…
I would just say, for us, we just need to be able to tackle better and bring people to the ground. It's just one of the heaps that we've had on our defense in the past couple of weeks, and we've kind of just been harnessing ourselves and making sure that we're holding each other accountable within practice, no matter if we're wearing shoulder pads and helmets or just helmets, getting our feet through the tackles, bringing our hips through, bring your past the tackles, tackling, keeping your feet under you, and everything like that.
On his enthusiasm on special teams…
I love special teams. I'm not going to lie. You put special players in special positions to make one play a game, no matter how many plays you get there. Coach [Todd Goebbel] says, "One mission, one chance." You really get one chance a game, one play that may make the entire game change. You can run down on kickoff and knock somebody’s head loose; the ball comes free, touchdown [for] our side, or whatever like that. I take a lot of pride, especially running down on kickoff every single week.
On Spike Sowells…
He’s a really, really young kid, but very, very talented. I haven't really been around a lot of young guys that fit in right away in the way that he does. Coming in fall camp [as a transfer], I didn't know he was a freshman because of the reps that he was getting and the way that he was playing. He's a really great player with a great future ahead of him, too.
On Campbell...
I think they're a really, really great team. I think we definitely respect them as a program. We just have to go out there, own our role, and just be able to do our job, be where we need to be in order to keep ourselves accountable for our opportunity that we have in front of us.
On Ke’Von Carter and LaCorian Hoge getting in-game reps at linebacker…
I'm excited, obviously. I love watching young guys be able to get their chance and their opportunity because I remember when I was a young guy. I remember the first time I played; I was completely nervous and scared. My freshman year, the guy's shoe fell off at Eastern Illinois — I remember this like it was yesterday. Coach called my name. I was frantic and didn't know what to do, but I went out there and I played. I got my couple plays, came off, and went on special teams for the rest of the game, and for the rest of the year, I felt like I was set. Just being able to get your feet wet, that's why I'm excited for those guys. They have very, very bright futures, in my opinion. Being able to get their feet wet, knowing just how the game speed works, how to be able to communicate, and do your job for the defense, I feel like it's going to be great for us, especially for the future of the program.
On what needs to happen to fight through adversity…
I think [you need] short-term memory. For me, sometimes I struggle with that as well. For us, we have a lot of Bible study sessions where we talk about having faith, and one of the ones that stick out to me is just when you're in a small boat and there's a big storm, are you going to have faith to keep pushing that you're going to be able to get through that storm, or are you going to sit there, fold, just be scared, and not doing anything about it? I feel like, as of right now, we're in a small boat in a big storm around us; what are we going to do? Are we going to have faith, buckle up, and push through it, or are we going to get scared and fold under pressure? In my opinion, I think we're doing a great job of buckling up and continuing to go throughout the season. We've got seven games left.
