NC State interim head coach Todd Goebbel joined the Wolfpack Weekly Radio Show to discuss the transition into his new role, the emergence of Elijah Satchell, preparing for Cal, and much more.
How has practice been this week? How have the guys been responding?
From the get-go, we told everyone that the goal is to bring value, to do it hard, tough, and together with a great attitude and unbelievable effort.
From the moment we walked onto the practice field through the meetings, we got exactly what we asked for.
That says a lot about the type of guys Coach Doeren brought in and the type of players we have.
Transition is always hard, especially this one.
But the way our players responded today, the way they approached practice and the leadership we saw, which we knew we had, was at the forefront.
It was a heck of a practice.
How would you describe your transitional plan as you take over the program?
As I said in my press conference yesterday, the transitional plan is to carry on the culture and foundation that have been laid for 14 years.
It’s a clear-cut message.
We’re going to be hard, tough, and we sure as heck are going to be together, especially in times like this.
As we approach the week, Coach Warren, Coach Kurt Roper, and Coach Zac Roper are going to put together three excellent plans.
They’re going to be detailed.
They’re going to put our kids in the best situations to succeed.
They and their staff are going to coach them, get them ready, and prepare them.
On Saturday, we’re going to go out there and play a good football game.
There isn’t much time to make major changes. How much can you change with the practice and meeting structure while still maintaining what was already in place?
There’s not a ton of time to turn the battleship.
We talked to the kids, and I think we owe it to them.
There was already a good plan in place.
The details of how we meet, how we practice, and the structure of everything — nobody had any problems with it.
The biggest thing — I don’t want to say it’s a change, but something we challenged our kids with — is the urgency and attention to detail.
I want you to get out there urgently.
I want you to practice urgently.
By doing that, we’re going to be as close to game speed as we can be for however many periods we’re out there.
Then we’re going to get off the field, get our corrections, and move on to the next day.
We’re going to have a 1-0 attitude at all times.
You were all over the field during your first practice as interim head coach. What was it like going from overseeing the running backs and special teams to having a view of the entire team?
It was good. It just expanded.
That’s one advantage of being a special teams coordinator.
You have a lot of relationships with a lot of players.
The defensive tackles are probably the closest thing to a group I haven’t had as much interaction with, but I always try to find the big fellas.
I made my way around and interacted with each group at different times during practice.
I’m not a sit-still guy, and I’m not going to stand there.
I want to be in the mix at all times.
My job is to encourage, help the assistants in any way possible, and, at the end of the day, put the glue together and make sure the product is consistent.
How different will the headset communication be for you on game day?
Ironically enough, the headset piece of it will be no different for me.
With special teams, I have to communicate with both sides of the ball.
I can flip over to defense. I can flip over to offense. I also have special teams.
I spent most of my time on offense before, of course, but I was able to flip over, hear the defensive calls, and hear the interaction.
We have ultimate professionals here.
The transition of hearing everything on the headset and communicating with both sides of the ball is something I’ve already done in some form or fashion.
How valuable is it to have veteran coaches like Zac Roper and Roc Bellantoni on the staff during a transition like this?
That’s one advantage.
Everyone talks about big staffs at places like this. I wouldn’t say we have a large staff, but I think we have a good-sized staff.
To have veteran coaches like Roc and Zac Roper on your staff instead of always having young guys, in a transition like this, you’re talking about plug-and-play.
You know you have veteran guys who have been there and done it.
Coach Roper, he’s my right-hand man.
He’s been doing this with me for two years now.
It was an easy conversation. He jumped at the chance.
We won’t miss a beat.
The running backs are in good hands. The special teams are in good hands.
I’m excited for Coach Roper’s opportunity.
Roc is another veteran coach who knows how to do it, and he’ll do a great job for us.
Charlton Warren is now calling the defense. He stepped into a similar situation last year when D.J. Eliot had to be away. How seamless is that transition?
It’s seamless.
One, he’s already done it in that situation.
He’s been the co-coordinator. He’s heavily involved in game planning.
He understands the defense inside and out.
I’m sure he’ll put his own little twist on it, just like everyone will.
But as far as wholesale changes and things like that, he’s the right guy to lead this charge.
The players will rally behind him and play their tails off.
Looking back at Stanford, what did you think went right and wrong, and what needs to improve moving forward?
I thought we put a great practice plan together.
I thought the way we approached the game and the travel out west, our kids handled all of the changes really well.
They were prepared. They were excited to play.
They had energy in the fourth quarter, which is always a concern when you go out west.
I thought our players played with elite effort.
They played their tails off.
We got behind early.
But the biggest things are third downs, fourth downs, all of those situations, making explosive plays and eliminating explosive plays.
That’s going to be the emphasis moving forward.
We have to build on making explosive plays offensively, which we have the ability to do, and defensively eliminate the explosive plays.
With Duke Scott out, Davion Gause has carried a lot of the load at running back. What did you think of Deandre Desinor’s explosive touchdown catch against Stanford?
I’m really proud of him.
He’s been here for two years and was uber-talented coming out of high school.
He’s waited his turn.
He has a great attitude every day, works extremely hard, and is an unbelievable teammate.
I’ve said it for a long time: Good things come to good people.
He’s getting his opportunities.
People forget that in the Virginia game, he had the two-point play, and that was another tough catch.
He’s one of those guys who has a unique skill set, and I think Coach Roper does a really good job of using it.
To his credit, when he’s had opportunities, he’s made some big plays.
What he’s doing is gaining the trust of the coaching staff.
Some things are being added to his plate.
We’re excited for him, and there’s not a better kid for it to happen to.
Elijah Satchell is a true freshman who leads the team in sacks. How impressive has he been?
I’ll tell you how impressive the young man is.
He’s technically not on special teams, and he’s the first guy in the special teams meeting room.
First of all, that shows his maturity.
From Day 1, he’s been the same kid.
He’s shown up with a very mature attitude and a coach-me attitude.
You put that together with his talent and the people coaching him, and it’s been a good recipe for success.
He’s handled the success really well, too.
You haven’t seen a change in his personality.
You’ve seen the maturity throughout.
His work habits in practice are probably second to none.
You really don’t have to challenge him to give effort, especially for a young guy.
Usually at this time of year, freshmen start to get a little tired because their high school seasons would probably be over or almost over.
You start to see that drop-off.
I’ll judge him on what I saw today because I was able to spend more time watching the defensive side of the ball.
It was impressive to watch.
He was one young man I could point out each time.
He’s getting off on the snap, and he’s chasing the football.
That’s what he’s doing.
You’ve coached players from almost every position through special teams. How has having those relationships helped the transition into the interim head coach role?
I guess that’s the biggest thing with the transition and why it’s been seamless.
They understand who I am.
They understand how I relate to them.
They understand that I’m very transparent and direct, and my message gets through clearly and concisely.
There’s not a lot of gray in what I say.
As far as delivering a message, asking for their best, and treating them with respect, there isn’t a feeling of, “Who is this guy? What’s his angle? Where is he coming from?”
Most of them know.
That’s been the encouraging thing through this transition.
Most of them have come up to me and said, “Your voice is your voice.”
I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
But they understand where I’m coming from.
If I’m hard on them, they know I’m going to love on them.
They know I’m going to tell them the truth.
You’re an audible presence at practice, but your praise can be just as loud as your corrections. How intentional are you about the way you deliver your message to players?
The biggest thing is I always tell those guys, “I’m coaching technical, not emotional.”
My voice inflection is there for a reason.
It’s not responsive or emotional.
They understand that I’m not getting on them to get on them.
There’s a reason I change my voice.
There’s a reason sometimes I’m very subtle, and then there are times I’m a little louder.
They understand that the louder it is, the more important it is.
If it’s subtle, it’s, “Hey, we can get this thing corrected in time.”
I learned that from my father.
My father said you can’t always speak in the same voice.
Whether it’s a correction or encouragement, you should never deliver everything in the same voice because, at the end of the day, the person listening starts to go deaf to it.
I credit my father with that little nugget as far as how you relate to people and talk to people.
Coming from a football family, how much football was talked about in your house growing up?
Ironically enough, we avoided a lot of it.
But my dad was going to talk ball.
My dad still wants to talk ball.
He’ll call me after a game and explain to me what he saw.
I have to explain to him, “I was there.”
Whether it’s good or bad, I don’t need the rehash.
I’m going to get the rehash tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day.
He’s excited to give his opinion; that’s for sure.
What advice did your father give you after you were named interim head coach?
I won’t tell you exactly what the conversation was because I love my dad.
I called him quickly when the whole thing went down.
He has mastered retirement, so I had no idea where my father was at that moment. I’ll leave that part out.
He just said, “Hey, man, you’re built for this. Go be you.”
That’s where I get it from.
I’m going to be myself.
He told me, “You’ll do a great job, and thanks for letting me know before the world knew.”
What has stood out to you about Cal on film?
Coach Tosh Lupoi does a heck of a job.
All three phases are well-coached.
They’ve recruited well, and I think they’ve done pretty well in the portal, too.
You can see the team speed.
They have range at every position.
At wide receiver, I think they have four or five guys with multiple catches.
Chase Hendricks is uber-talented.
They’ve played three quarterbacks, and all of them have shown on tape that they can play.
The running game keeps them on schedule and is really efficient.
Defensively, they’re very aggressive.
They do a good job on the back end, and their safeties have great range.
It’s going to be a great challenge for us.
I understand we all have records, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t tell the real story.
When we watch tape and dive into it as coaches, records are one thing.
The real story is in the tape.
Coach Kurt Roper, Coach Zac Roper, Coach Warren, and I have dived into that tape.
They do a really good job in all three phases.
They’re well-coached. They have good talent.
We’ve got a heck of a challenge Saturday.
