Co-Defensive Line Coach Elisha Shaw: "Our Eyes Tell Us Everything Up Front"

NC State Co-Defensive Line Coach Elisha Shaw met with the media to discuss Fall camp, the Virginia game, and much more!

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!

What’s it like for you to have KaTron out there for this weekend's game? 

Man, it's like you open that Christmas gift, man. You're excited to get another big, trained body, someone who understands the technique we teach. So I'm excited about him. I'm excited for his family to see him. This is a part of getting him here, getting his family to the game. So I got everybody excited right now. 

How ready has he been for this season as well? How ready has he been for this opportunity too?

So you got no choice around here. We don't believe in sitting around with no one. Coach Thunder and his staff, they kept him rolling. He was getting after it. They kept him conditioned. He lost 17 pounds. So he's in pretty good shape right now, mentally and physically. We're excited for him and the condition he's in right now.

They have a very experienced offensive line. Is there anything specific you're wanting to do or see this Saturday that doesn't give anything away?

I like what you just said, because they do have a very experienced offensive line. And to a guy like me, and to men in my room, that gets us fired up. Nothing better. To go ahead and test our fundamentals, test our eyes, because that's all we're gonna play with: eyes, fundamentals. Very simple game to us. We're gonna slow it down. We don't care so much about the scheme. Our eyes tell us everything up front. And that's what we're gonna play with.

Does it also help that you have a lot of film on them? These are experienced older guys, and even their transfers have started. Compared to last year’s Virginia. 

Yeah, of course, and we always love when there's a deep dive in film. And like I say, up front, it's a physical game up front. And you don't wanna be thinking when it's a test of will, right? You wanna be able to see, acknowledge, and identify. And this film only helps us identify faster. And I tell the guys all the time, the film study, the study of departure angles, is like playing Madden or NCAA in real life. And that's kind of what we focus on. And I tell guys every day, I got guys in my room; we haven’t played a college game. And I tell them, hey, slow this game down. You can't be worried about what the scheme is. Is it stretch? Is it inside zone? Is it split zone? Play those departure angles and slow the game down. Quiet the stands down, all through your eyes. And that's what we're gonna play with.

On having older players in the room who know how to study opponents...

100%, I always liked that group because when we had to do different things, we coaches maybe had to meet as a staff. I had to trust my older players to get the young guys around them. We send home film homework assignments for opponent scouts. My older guys know how to work that catapult through and through. They know how to do a deep dive. It's like football FBI. They're all over it. So it's exciting, and it's very helpful.

How have you seen the younger guys that knows really develop, that's just fire, the guys behind them? Have you seen the younger nose guards really develop in the last few months, get ready.

100%, I've seen my whole room develop. What I like about my younger guys is this right here. They're so eager to be perfect. They wanna master something. Anything I tell them, they wanna master it. And I love that. In our room, we tell them that we preach three things: technique, fundamentals, and strength. Technique, fundamentals, and strength. Know how to line up. Know the fundamentals that come with every block you identify with strength. That's what mom and dad gave you. 

So my young guys got so much better. But as I told you earlier, my guys wanna perfect this technique. They wanna master this technique. So we're always trying to get better than the day before. So I'm excited about the OJ; I'm excited about the Colby Cronk. I'm even excited about the guys who've been learning non-fundamentals as I walk on, like Fabian. I'm excited that everyone's drinking the same Kool-Aid, veteran or not. Everyone's drinking the same Kool-Aid, same skill, same drill. And get mastering the next day. So that's exciting to me. I love drinking that Kool-Aid .

On Coach Charley Wiles...

100%, Coach Charley Wiles, man, that guy right there is just — if you're not asking him a question, you’re just stupid, man. Like today at practice, I had my eyes in a certain location, and he picked up on something, and you hear that great legend, Charley Wiles, knee bending, knee bending.  Charley is Charley. He is a legend of the game right now. He is enjoying the fruits of his labor and helping us through it all. But football is football, Charlie Wilds. This D-line is still a part of Charley Wiles. I got great help from Coach Rock. Coach Rock helped me out a lot. It's just a lot of great football knowledge getting poured into this group. So you love, all right, how much they want to be great. We love how much they want to grow, especially their fundamental technique. It's fun.