NC State linebacker Da’Kaari Nelson met with the media to discuss the upcoming Virginia matchup, his transition to Raleigh, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!
What’s the best story you have with Beau Pribula from Penn State?
I'd probably say my freshman year, my first pick off of him during the fall camp. One of the best memories I've got. I'll never forget it.
Do you let him hear about it since then?
Nah, I don't really do too much talking. The more I do it, the more I try to do it again, try to do it again, try to do it again. So I don't really talk about plays I make against players.
Did it hit you this month, or maybe in the spring, that you could be facing him? When did you first ponder this?
It definitely started this summer when I found out we were playing Virginia. We had a schedule this summer where every Wednesday we would go over a different team we played against. And then week zero came, and I'm like, I know this dude. He's real good. It was a yes moment. He’s a great, great quarterback.
You were in the same recruiting class as King. So what's a good freshman year for King, getting to know King's story? And is it crazy that you're both at NC State now?
The crazy thing about it is that King and I came in first; we came in together. He was my first roommate, and I played safety, so we were in the same position group. So, really, the first time I saw King play in the fall camp, I was like, yo, he's too fast. Even though he didn't know what he was doing freshman year, he would be everywhere. He probably had a half and would end up in the flats. The next thing you know, you'll see some small legs running across the field.
Is there a different sense of urgency opening with a conference game rather than playing a team from a different conference?
Oh yeah, there definitely is. The urgency on defense has been there since spring ball. Last season wasn't the season we wanted. So the standard changed for us. So a lot of us took initiative. Instead of waiting until fall camp to get it right, we're going to get it right now. So when camp comes, when the season comes, it'll be the easiest thing ever. So I think the urgency has been there. And even on both sides of the ball. With the offense coming in, we competed a lot. With our standard growing up, their standard had to grow up. So it's like everybody has been real urgent when it came to facing a conference opponent.
As I said, I'm sure a lot of the film that you've watched in the last few weeks has been Beau at Mizzou last year. How different did he look as a quarterback compared to what you saw when he was at Penn State?
I think he got more comfortable throwing the ball. During my freshman and sophomore years, he was a year older than me. He was younger behind Drew. During the first four weeks of last year's season, he was a Heisman candidate. So I feel like he got way more comfortable in the pocket, throwing the ball, making the easy passes instead of trying to force things downfield. So I feel like that's what he improved in his game.
Dave told us on Friday that he loves the leadership on both sides of the ball. What have you seen specifically in defense? And how have you noticed the same level of leadership on the other side of the ball?
As I said, I mentioned it to him with urgency. Last year, they told us they couldn't do as many walkthroughs as we did this year. Player-led walkthroughs, especially all summer. We would come here every day, walkthrough just the defense, no coaches. We're hitting the coaches up like, " Hey coach, give us cards. It might not even have to be the opponent. It could be any routes, like routes in college; anybody might run. So the leaders, including myself, even the offensive guys, we even had walkthroughs against each other with no coaches around. And I think that shows the urgency we have as a team to get better.
Have you seen that anywhere else? Or with any other team you’ve been on?
On my previous team, we did more walkthroughs with the coaches. Like, we'll chill out when we can. Here it's like, all right, we do walkthroughs with the coaches. And like, we got to get better. Like, another team is doing the same walkthrough with their coaches. So what are we going to do to be different? We're going to do our walkthroughs without the coaches. And free time on Saturday and Sunday, whenever we could.
We played in a lot of places on the road. What was the — maybe what was the venue where you're like, okay, this was cool. I understand what it's like on the road. But now I get college football. I've moved on a little bit. But that first time, we're like, whoa, this is a little different than high school.
I would have to say, West Virginia on the way in. But in the stadium, our fans were crazy. Like, our bench is right here, and this bench is right here. So you hear everything. They don't care. They don't ease up on you.
How different is this competition in your position group?
It was a lot different coming in with the competition in my room: me, Popo, AJ. We're all leaders in my room and on the defense and team in general. So I had to take initiative and, like, all right. The competition, I had to be like, all right, it's not just me versus me anymore. It's me versus them and us versus everybody. Because we strive in our room to be the best linebacker room in the country, not just in a conference and not just being the best linebackers on our team. We want to be the best linebackers in the country. So my preparation, my sense of urgency went up for sure.
Coach Doeren said Friday that when they faced Virginia last year, we didn't do as well on defense and in tackling and swarming to the ball. Did him telling you all that give you a kick in the butt?
I think that kick came from not just him. As I said, when I first got here in January, we realized that last year's defense wasn't the standard we wanted. So I feel like that started in the spring ball, when it came to swarming the ball and getting around it. We have this thing called the camera crew. When we go watch film, the back view, we're going to have all 11 people in the camera. So I feel like everybody took initiative to be that. And ball disruption, like, in order to get the ball out, you have to get to the ball.
