NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media via Zoom Wednesday afternoon to talk about the Wolfpack's recruits who officially penned their letters of intent during the National Signing Day.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference. A transcript of his comments will be updated below.
Opening Statement
Signing Day is always a really, really cool day with these guys. You start recruiting some of them when they're really young, and it's just one of these special moments in a young person's life, a stepping stone, I guess you'd say, a milestone. It’s a complete honor, as a coach, to be in the journey with these young men and help them achieve their dreams and goals. We always talk about recruiting, and recruiting is a lot of things now, more than it's ever been, but to me, recruiting is about finding the right fit where you can grow into the best version of yourself, as a young man with the goal of a four-to-five-year window turning into the very best you can be when you face the real world when college ends, on the field, off the field, obviously as an athlete, as a student, and as a grown man. I take that as a huge responsibility, and I'm thankful to all the players and parents that have signed and joined us today. There’s more coming that I can't announce because we have a handful of guys that have announcements tonight, tomorrow, and the next day. It's just how their schools are doing them. As you know, until they do that, I can’t, so there will be a few more that aren't talked about today that will be talked about by the end of the week.
For the 26 that did sign that I'm allowed to speak about, we're super excited. It's a class that, when you go through it by state, [there are] seven in-state players, four from Georgia, four from Florida, which has always been our major footprint if you look at our roster, South Carolina, and then we've ventured up northeast a little bit, like we have in the past, with New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Alabama is actually becoming a better and better place for us in recruiting with the Mobile area and Birmingham. Getting into that area, I’m super excited we were able to get a kid out of the Midwest, in Illinois, with Stephen Brown. Then, [we had] one player from Virginia and one from Maryland.
Eleven of these young men were captains of their football teams which I love. It’s pretty cool to have so many, I think it's 15, multi-sport athletes in this class which is something I also love: guys that are competing, not just in football, but year-round. Quite a few positions are represented, and there'll be, as I said, a few more additions to it, but I’m really excited about the skill, and we needed to add more players in those positions and feel like several of these guys will be able to play early in our program.
It's unique. It comes on you fast. You play your last game on Saturday, and four days later is signing day. Some of these guys are still playing; we’ve got several of them that are still in the playoffs themselves and have state championships they're trying to gain in as a team. Then you turn around, and January 12, we'll have 22 to 26 of these guys moving in mid-year, and so it's amazing how quickly all this stuff goes.
I’ve known a lot of these guys for a long time, some of them, not as long. I mean, I've known Aiden Smalls since he was a freshman, and Jacob Smith, I've known a long time. Some of these guys, you get to know in their sophomore, junior, and some of them even in their senior years. We’re really excited.
I want to say thanks and give my recruiting staff a shoutout. There's three areas in there now [with] the way we have our recruiting staff. Andy Vaughn is our general manager and does a great job, and he's the one that handles the communication with families, agents, and everything that goes into this now, from a rev[enue]-share standpoint. On the recruiting side, Alex Faulk, we call ‘Suge,' and his staff do a tremendous job. LaFayette Stewart and he, when kids come on campus, do so much showing these guys around. Tyler Jones, one of our former players, [does the] same thing. Those three guys do an amazing job representing us and showing kids around on campus. Taylor McDonald and Shelby, our on-campus recruiting coordinators, I think Taylor is probably the best hire I've made in a long time. What she does in the recruiting office is just fantastic. Austin Shelton, Danny, and Daniel [Bernstein], what they do in player evaluation — they're on our player personnel side — and so you have a player personnel side, you have a recruiting side, and you have a general manager and on-campus recruiting side. It's a lot of moving parts in recruiting, and you don't get them for a lot. Some of these kids come up here once or twice, so you don't get a lot of time with them, and you've got to put your best foot forward and be as capable as possible of showing them what the experience will be like. I thought our recruiting staff did a tremendous job of that this year: finding our kinds of guys.
There's some surprises in here as well. I think one of them was just announced with Lawrence Brown, a player we really liked from Grayson [HS in Loganville, Ga.] that made a decision to flip to us from our rival school. It's always great to have one of those here at the end, and [he’s a] great outside linebacker and rusher. When you go through the class, you guys can ask me individual questions about the players, but changing schemes defensively, it was a huge emphasis in getting players that we felt like were really good fits in our scheme now with the ability to play three-down and four-down and playing with linebackers that are more capable of fitting in the scheme that we have. Obviously, you saw the success that Caden Fordham had in the scheme, so just finding that true inside linebacker and then the hybrid linebackers like we saw with Cian [Slone] and Tra [Thomas] this year. We had none of those in our program going into the year, so we had to really put an emphasis on recruiting that position.
On D.J. Eliot’s role recruiting the Mid-Atlantic region…
It had a lot to do with D.J. being in Philadelphia, coaching at Temple, living there, recruiting that area, and having some relationships up there. I also have [relationships] from my time recruiting up there; when George McDonald was here, we went up there pretty hard with Kelvin Harmon, Louis Acceus, Josh Fedd-Jackson, Devin Leary… It was a productive area for us for a while. When D.J. started getting interest from guys up there and getting them on campus, it was easy for me as well to get back in there. Jordan Moreta's coach and I have a really good relationship, so it was great to rekindle that with the recruiting of Jordan. That's what recruiting is. It's relationships, and I know there's transactional pieces now with rev-share, but most families want to know their kids are going to be taken care of, relationship-wise, and that means there's trust. When you have long-standing relationships with high school coaches in an area, it does make that area easier to recruit in, and D.J.'s obviously allowed us to do that in the Northeast.
On the common thread between recruits signed from that region…
They're tough kids. I don't know exactly why that's different because I've never lived there. I've recruited there a lot. In Wisconsin, we had a lot of Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio kids on our roster. They're tough kids, and the way they're brought up, maybe the communities they're in, their fan bases in the Giants and Eagles; you look at the fan bases up there, and they're pretty intense. These kids are used to competing and being around tough, hard-nosed people.
On the revenue sharing and transfer portal impacting recruiting…
Each year has been different, and this year has probably been the easiest of all of them because you actually know what your numbers are. In the past, you're hoping because every dollar you're talking about is a dollar you've got to raise as a coach. To actually have a number that you don't have to fundraise to get to makes it a little easier to plan out. What still makes it challenging that you mentioned is our attrition comes later, and so you're adding before you know how many you really need to add. For us, it’s trying to get the high school players in, one, that can play right away which we've done that over the years, some that we can develop — we're going to develop all of them — but that won't play right away because they need a little development. You take your high school class based on who you know is leaving the program, who are our seniors and things like that, and that's where the portal now has to supplement. You may have more attrition than you expected at a certain position, and you didn't sign as many high school players as you needed, and so that's where that comes into play.
It's interesting. I think I learn every year how to do it, and then it changes again, and that'll happen again here. I think every college coach would tell you: our calendar is just not in sync with the demands of what's happening in our sport, and so we need to get our arms around that to make our jobs a little bit easier from a planning standpoint. With that being said, you’ve got to do the best you can with what you have, and I feel like this is a really good recruiting class, man. We met all our needs, and there are some more guys that you'll see coming in that accentuate the class in a positive way, and there are some really good players, really good kids, and some guys that can help us next year.
On Josh Warren, Jr.…
Josh is a really good pass rusher, and something that [said] I've since last year: we've got to get past rushers in this defense. You saw the impact that Sabastian Harsh, Cian Slone and Tra Thomas had, and they weren't guys that we had on our roster a year ago. The last five or six years, we've been recruiting to the 3-3-5 defense, and so now that we're in a 3-4/4-2 scheme, we have to have more pass rushers, and that's what Josh is. You watch his film, and he's a dynamic pass rusher. He can bend. He’s got really good speed. He’s got long arms. He can play our Jack position or our field end position, so he's versatile. You see that with these guys that we signed that are edge players, as a lot of people call them, but Elijah Satchel is that kind of player. Lawrence Brown's that kind of player. They're that hybrid player that we need more of on our roster.
On Gavin Locklear and Charlton Warren recruiting players at tight end and the secondary, respectively…
With what we did on offense this year, tight end wise, it became easier to recruit nationally at that position, and the fact that we're for sure losing two of our three tight ends with Justin [Joly] and Cody Hardy being out of eligibility — Dante [Daniels] is in the mix of trying to get another year, so we're hopeful for him with the whole junior college thing, and you just never know; we might get another year for him, and we're trying — to be able to go national at that position because we led the nation in touches, touchdowns, and all these things with our tight ends, and we have two guys, maybe three, that are done, it helped us with Stephen Brown, what a great athlete: Two-sport guy, tremendous basketball player, tall, rangy. Gavin did a great job going out and finding guys. [William] ‘Tex’ [Vaughn] was a guy that committed early to someone else. We didn't really have much of a relationship there, and then he saw what happened offensively here and how he could be used. Again, he came in late to the picture. We had liked him a long time. We're super excited, and he's a guy that was high school teammates with A.J. Richardson who's on our team, and A.J. just bragged about how competitive, tough, and athletic he was. For us, it's great when you have a guy that knows him differently than we do that can give you some skinny on him, but it really helped us. Charlton has relationships everywhere. He's coached all over the country, and he has a lot of respect across the country, and you can see that with the guys we're able to get in the secondary.
On Amiri Acker’s comments about wanting to help NC State reach the national championship…
You want super, ultra competitive guys, and I've always said this: when you find players from winning programs and guys that are ultra competitive, it helps you. It's challenging when you assign a kid from losing program, and maybe over time, they even accept what it's like to be like on a losing team. For me, that's not the makeup I'm looking for. Amiri's comments are welcomed, and I would love for him to do that: to be able to come in and get our program to another place with all these guys. That's the goal. They're not coming here to stay where we're at. They're coming here to help us get better, and that's the goal of every recruiting class. For these guys to stick together in a time where recruiting classes break up all the time, having them stay together, compete together, and get us better together, that's what it's all about. Our players did a good job hosting these guys and talking to them about our culture, to your first comment.
I recruit the same way I coach and the same way I talk to you. I'm very direct. I’m very transparent, and I do that for a reason. I don't want a kid to come to NC State and feel like he was sold something that it isn't when he gets there. I tell guys that my office, “This is what it's going to be like. This is how we work. This is how we coach. These are the things we expect, and if that's not what you want, you probably shouldn't come.” We try to find guys that are a match. "Hey, Coach, that's what I want. I want to be held accountable. I want to work hard. I want to be pushed. I want to be with people that care about me." We're not salesmen from the standpoint of pushing something out there that isn't real, and that's the beauty of being somewhere 13 years. “Here’s the data on our program. Here's where the GPA was 13 years ago. Here's where it is now. Here's how many players we put in the NFL. Here's how many linebackers, receivers, and so on. Here's the stats at your position." I can really be a guy that presents information that, over time, repeats itself, and that's a predictor for them on what they're going to get when they're here. When you're transparent, honest, and authentic, kids like that, man, Some of these schools they go to, it feels like it's just a song and dance, and that's the last thing I want them to feel when they're here.
On the speed of this year’s class and Tyreek Copper’s performance this year…
Tyreek is a great reason why you should still have high school camps. That's where we discovered his talent. We knew his stats from last season, but we hadn't seen him in person until our high school summer camp, and when we did, we were like, “Holy cow, this guy is a great athlete.” We got with his mom and dad, brought him in my office, and offered him a scholarship. In a matter of days, they committed, and that's why you have camps. There's a lot of schools that are reducing their number of camps because of the load we have on us now. June is a really hard month. You’re coaching your own players, you're having high school camps, and you're having official visit weekends. It's become one of the more challenging months on the calendar, and so a lot of schools have reduced their camps because of that. He's a great reason why you shouldn't do that. You can still find players that other people haven't found.
To your point [about the speed of the class], I don't know. I'm the wrong guy to ask about the track times. I mean, [I’ve had] 13 years of them, but yes, this is a fast class. There are guys that can really run in it, and if it wasn't, then I did a bad job. You should be trying to get faster to your football program all of the time.
On coming back for his 14th season at NC State and opening next season in Brazil…
What a great opportunity. I told the team this: I've been coaching 32 years of college football, and I've never been out of the country to coach a game, and so it's unique. It is a unique opportunity for these guys, and I'm so excited for them and thankful that Boo [Corrigan] wanted to do it, and he was excited about it, just like I was. That was a short conversation. "Hey, do you want to play in Brazil? Hell yes!” Let's make sure it's safe for our guys. That's the biggest thing. You want to have a good place to play, and you want to have security, safety, and all that while you're there.
As far as being here, I'm having fun, and that's the thing I told everybody. I’m enjoying myself. I love this team. I love these guys. They're fired up about our recruiting class. My staff chemistry is excellent. Again, I think a lot of stuff was made out of somebody's comments that doesn't have the right to say those things. Nobody called me and asked me. They just put some BS out there that they think is going on. I'm used to reporters like going to Annabelle [Myers] and saying, "Hey, can I ask Dave is this true?" before they say something about me or write something about me. That’s what a reporter should do. Now, we just get on podcasts and tell everybody that we have a source and [say], “We know what Dave Doeren is going to do.” That is such BS. I love what I'm doing. I'm coaching my butt off. I'm having fun doing it. I love where I'm working, and I'm going to keep doing it and see where it takes me.
On how much stock he takes in how NC State stacks up nationally in recruiting rankings…
I don't know what comments you're referring to, and they're probably [from] people who didn't play football and don't donate to our program. I don't put a lot of stock in their opinion. I think you’ve got to go to the product. Since 2020, it's either the second or third number of wins in our league. What we're doing is pretty good. Can you always be better? Absolutely, and that's what we're trying to do: get better. But it's not about what makes people happy on Rivals or On3. It's about what wins games, what’s your team need, and finding guys that are the right fit, [guys] that are going to represent our university, guys that I know can play well. One of the best stats I saw was around Covid: we were top three in the nation at putting players in the NFL that were ranked three stars or less. This is a developmental program that knows how to identify talent, and it always has been since I got here, and it will continue to be that way. The thing I love about Boo is he wants us to get better, and he's doing everything he can to provide resources so we can be more competitive, not just from a rev-share standpoint, but also from a facility standpoint. We're getting out our dining hall, and we’re putting together one of the nicest places to eat in college football for student athletes. It fires me up because nutrition is really critical for these guys. Improving facilities, improving our rev-share, and all those things go together allow us to do that. From a fan standpoint, you should care more about the results than you should where we're ranked. As far as I know, UNC is ranked ahead of us in recruiting every year I've been here, and you know... compare the records.
On R.J. Boyd’s commitment…
R.J. was in our class two years ago and has been battling cancer. Whenever that battle ends, I don't know when that's going to be. I know he's doing really well with his treatments, and we're hopeful that he can be a member of our football team. We totally believe in that young man, and we know that he's been through hell and back with his treatment schedule. Coach [Todd] Goebbel does a great job, our running back coach, of staying in touch with him. That thing is ongoing, but he went from being a member of last year's class to this year's class. Our prayers go out to him as he continues to battle, get healthy, and get back to who he was as a high school athlete.
On Noah Moss…
Philip [Rivers] gave us a heads up months ago about him, and we watched his film early in the season. At that time, we just didn't know we were going to take one or two or three backs in this class. As the season went on, looking at our team and watching him play, because he got better and better — he plays both sides of the ball; he's a really good defensive player, too — it was obvious that he's a really good football player. He’s got a great pedigree. He's a winner and a little bit bigger, six-foot, six-one that can do a lot of things and will help us on special teams as well because he's a really good tackler on defense. It was a no brainer.
On Jacob Smith…
Jacob’s a two-sport athlete. He's going to pitch here at NC State as well. He’s got a huge arm. He’s athletic. We do feel like he can run. He can do a lot of the things Will [Wilson] is doing right now as well. To what degree, I don't know until he's doing it against college guys, but watch his high school film. He's athletic. He’s tough. He’s really competitive. Like I said, there's not many kids that are good enough to pitch in the ACC and play quarterback, and he's got the pedigree to do both. Coach [Elliott] Avent is excited. He and I were meeting. He came up here three days this week just to talk to me about Jacob. We're trying to get his academic schedule set up in the spring so he can be a two-sport athlete. We’re excited for him and the chance to develop him. That's the other part of this. He missed his junior year high school because he had a knee injury, so there's some developmental things with him that we're going to have to help him with as a passer, the speed of the game in college, and all those things that go with it. We love his makeup. He had a hell of a season. It took him as far as they've ever been in the playoffs this year as the leader of the team. Again, he’s just another winner.
On balancing a two-sport athlete at the collegiate level…
It starts with the relationship. Elliott and I, as you guys know, are good friends, and he's a mentor to me. I love him to death. It's easy to sit down and say, "Hey, here's what we expect. Here’s our dates on the calendar. Here’s what we're doing. How does this fit with your calendar?" If there's things that don't fit, “All right, how can we work through this?" I don't want him to miss the scrimmage. When we get into it, “All right, here's the things he can miss in football. Here’s the things he can miss in baseball." Obviously, as a pitcher, it's different than if he's an everyday guy for them. If he's playing center field, and they've got to have him for every game, that's a harder thing to balance than a guy that might not pitch for every three games, every four games, or whatever it ends up being, and he may not even be in the rotation his freshman year. We'll have to adjust as we go. I want these guys that I recruit to have the ability [to do that]. I had it with Nyheim [Hines]. You know, Nyheim was an All-American in track and football. It worked really well with Coach [Rollie] Geiger during that time. He was great to work with. I don't expect it to be any different. We had Thayer Thomas with baseball for one spring, and Thayer got drafted after that spring by Boston. Hopefully it'll work out, again, where Jacob's able to manage his time. That’s the hardest thing, man. For us to put it on the calendar for a guy is one thing. For the kid to be able to manage it is the other, and it's a massive task, time management wise, to play two sports and go to college at the same time, not just physically but the mental wear down that they can have. It’s different for each guy.
