NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss NC State's pro day, who stands out, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!
On the combine today...
For them, accumulation of a ton of hard work and a dream. I know there are a lot of anxious guys trying to figure out which 32 teams might give them a chance. I'm hopeful that all of them do well today. Especially with all these old players coming out and watching, too. It's pretty cool to turn around and see some of the guys that are here cheering on the alumni that they may or may not even know.
I see schools, NC Central, Winston-Salem State. How does it feel to know that you help some of those local schools that maybe don't have the wherewithal to do something like this?
Yeah, I mean, we want to help as many as we can. It's turned into two pro days, really. One for our guys and then one for a lot of the smaller schools and local players that aren't getting a shot because their schools don't have pro days. You want to do everything you can for these guys, whether you coach them or not. You love the sport, and you want to see these guys have a chance to show what they can do.
You only had him for one year, but Cian Slone has shown us so far. What did you gain from him this past year, and what do you feel like he brings to the next level?
Well, he just jumped 35 and a half inches in there. That was pretty impressive. He's a great young man. There's a bunch of them in the last three or four years; we've had just one year. His ability to impact the program and be a great teammate, and become a captain, says a lot about what he meant to the program. He's done well for himself. I was able to see him practice one day at the Senior Bowl, and obviously hoping for the best for him and all these guys today.
Obviously, we're not done, but aside from Cian, is there anyone who has stood out that maybe you weren't expecting to have the numbers that they've had so far?
I don't think anyone's done anything I didn't expect. The 40 is going to be the telling part of this, it always is. I'm excited to see him run. Looking over here, these guys are warming up right now to run. This is probably one of the most important stats when it comes to differentiating these guys outside of their measurables, height, weight, and wingspan. This will be a big one for them.
I was going to say, for a guy like Justin Joly to have not run at the Pro Day, how much more importance does that put on this for him? How much did it help to bring some more scouts in to see him do it and maybe catch the eye of some other guys?
I don't know that he is running, so we'll see. The way things are anymore, the agents tell these guys what to do and what not to do. We're just waiting to see who does what. He used to be good at everything. His film shows what kind of speed he has. I think that's pretty obvious. I know he's going through the position drills. He did tell me that, so I'm looking forward to watching him do that.
Dave, you've been through so many Pro Days, but I'm sure it never gets old getting to see NFL scouts come here and get to see your players. Especially for them, having put in so much hard work. How is that, as a head coach, getting to see your players finally reach this point in their careers?
It's rewarding. This is my 13th or 14th one of these here. I don't know, I'm counting them backwards. It's pretty incredible to be here, not only with the guys going through it, but like I said, when you look around, and you see it, it's all Alim McNeill staring over there. It's just cool to be back here watching these guys and cheering for them.
It means a lot. It's really kind of surreal, to be honest with you. I've known some of these guys since they were freshmen in high school. To get to this point with them and then see them come back and have good NFL careers, it's meaningful.
On Pros Returning to NC State
You want these guys to stick. Zeke had a terrible injury last year, and he's playing well. You're hopeful that this is the day that gets him another chance. I got to catch up with Devin, actually, at Drake Thomas' wedding. We were talking about what he's doing, and he's in between NFL contracts. We needed a guy to throw today.
I was like, we should get Devin to come in here and line it up with these guys. He was excited to do it. Hopefully, this is a day not just throwing it to Wesley and to Justin and Cody, but he can showcase his arm and get himself another chance in the league.
On player development with the transfer portal...
It's a learning experience every day. You're trying to figure out what guys can do and what you need to help get better at. How we need to advance defensively, offensively, and on special teams. There's so much work to do. It's personnel-driven. We've got 42 new players. There's a lot of personnel. There are a lot of things you need to find out. Each day, you're uncovering new things, good and bad.
It's way different from how it used to be. It was all development, development, toughness, toughness. It's still that, but at the same time, we're coaches. We've got to figure out what we have. We don't get anybody else. Here's what the offseason, from this point on, needs to be to help us be better.
