Dave Doeren: NC State Looked to Add Speed With The 2020 Class

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the Wolfpack's 2020 football recruiting class.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.

Opening Statement...
Welcome to our signing day, the first one of two as you guys know. We’re excited about and thankful for these 17 young men that represent seven states and multiple position groups: seven on defense, nine on offense, and one specialist.

The biggest part as we got into this as a staff is trying to get some more team speed. We were feeling like that’s an area, particularly on offense with our receiving corps, where we needed to get some more guys who can run, and we addressed that.

There are four kids in this class that have verified times – whether they’re track times or they’re verified times in our camps. They’re guys that can really run, separate, and create some explosive plays for us.

Three really good, tough, smart offensive linemen that are high character guys.

Two linebackers that can run and hit.

Defensive lineman Davin Vann‍ is a really flexible guy that can play multiple positions. You see him even run it down on kickoffs. He’s an all-state player.

We obviously know about our quarterback; not just Ben Finley‍, but also his family and his pedigree, his mentality, and the way he was raised.

A tight end who’s got a great bloodline but also an incredible size. He’s going to be a guy we can build up in our program.

We’ve got a guy that can be a punter, kicker, and a kickoff guy that can help us behind the specialists we have to compete with those guys.

It always starts as a team effort. I’ve said that to you guys before. Our staff across the board recruits these guys. I’m involved. The coordinators are involved. The positions groups, the area coaches, the recruiting staff… Once they get here, our staff, our coaches, our GAs, our quality controls, our players that host, the academic advisors, the professors, the caterers, the cooks, the administration that’s a part of it, our equipment staff… You name it; there are so many people.

I’d like to give them all a thank you, in particular Billy Glasscock and his staff in our recruiting office. A lot of logistics go into that. A lot of work went into this class, and I’m very excited about these young men and their opportunity to come to NC State. Even the ability to stay at the hotel we stay at on Centennial Campus is incredible.

We’re looking for tough guys, competitive guys, loyal guys that love to train, and I think that’s the one thing in our program. We have to develop players, and obviously we’re going to compete for every good player that we can get that has the grades and the character, but we want young men that love to train so that they look a lot different after a couple of years with Coach Thunder and his staff, that have that work ethic and that desire and that love.

That’s what this class is all about. As you go through it, you’ll see in this class of 17 guys that the state of North Carolina was where we got the most of our kids with six in-state guys. Eight of them are early enrollees. Two of them are All-State. Two of them are state champions, and Devon Betty‍’s team is actually playing in the national championship in Las Vegas this Saturday against Saint Louis High School from Hawaii. That’s pretty awesome to have that going on for him and his team at Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Four Shrine Bowl invitees that are down there right now in Boykin, Vann, Coit, and Udoh, and then Rooks is in the World Bowl.

A bunch of guys are multi-sport athletes that played basketball, track, wrestling, golf, and soccer. Two are guys with brothers in the NFL: obviously, Ryan Finley and Ben Finley, and then our tight end Udoh’s brother is playing in the NFL right now. There are a lot of good bloodlines in there and a lot of good people.

I’m excited to get them here. Unlike last year where I think 90 percent of our class was already here in January, eight of the 17, so a little less than half, will be here Jan. 2. I can’t wait to get them here, and I look forward to coaching them and building on what we’ve done in this program.

Doeren on QB signee Ben Finley‍...
I think Ben is his own guy. I think he’s got to blaze his own trail. He chose to come to NC State for his own reasons. While I was recruiting him, that’s when we knew that if we played really well, Eli could be a head coach. I told him, ‘You can’t come here because of Eli. You can’t come here because of Ryan. This needs to be your school.’ He committed that way.

Obviously, from the outside looking in, there’s always going to be comparisons for him, and he’s going to have to do it his own way.

Was this class about filling needs?
I think you always start with your needs, but you’re not going take a guy to take a guy. We ended up with the ability to get some more. We have five left that we can sign, so whether we’re looking at graduates, junior college players, or high school players that didn’t sign, you start with your needs. We still have some needs.

The thing you want to look at is if we’re going to take this many receivers, what do they have to have? If we’re going to take a DB, what do they have to have? What makes us better than where we are today? The one thing that we saw, watching us on the field this year, we need to get more separation and more runs after the catch. Adding some competition in that room with those skillsets was important.

On local standout Davin Vann‍...
One, you’re fortunate to have that. You want to have more of those kids. Davin is such a humble young man and quiet young man, but ultra competitive young man. I’m proud of him. I’m excited for him. I’ve heard he’s doing well at the Shrine practices as well. It’s a lot like when we had Nyheim in Garner.

Sometimes, you just have an elite player in your area that’s right down the street, and he grew up watching your team play, and he wants to be in that uniform. It’s nice for us to have that opportunity for him and for him to be able to seize it.

What other areas will you look to address?
I think, on the line of scrimmage, we’ll be looking. On the O-line and D-line, those are two spots that we’ll continue to look more than any. As you go through it and look at the grad transfers that come out of nowhere, is there a guy that’s better than what we’re playing with? If that happens, then we need to look at that player. It’s kind of case-by-case in some cases, and I don’t think you can have enough big guys on your team.

On four-star signee Porter Rooks‍...
I’m really excited about Porter.

The first thing that stands out is the type of person that he is. Porter was a national recruit. People didn’t stop recruiting Porter, and Porter stayed loyal to us, and that means a lot. He was one of the guys that was at the forefront and was one of the earliest commits we had.

As a player, he’s consistent. He’s a good route runner. He’s a good ball catcher. He’s got good speed. He’s competitive. He understands the game, and I think he’s a hungry kid that wants to prove himself and help elevate our program.

There’s a lot of positives. He’s got an incredible family that was loyal to us in the process.

On decommitments...
My focus is on the ones we got, not the ones we didn’t. That’s a part of recruiting. I have players on my team that we flipped. That’s just a part of it. I don’t think coaches stop until we can’t, and once they sign, we can’t recruit.

When a kid commits, we’re going to reach out to him and say, ‘We’re going to continue to recruit you’ unless he says, ‘I don’t want you to.’ I think that’s just the nature of the business right now. Until they make it different where a kid can sign whenever he wants, kids are going to be recruited. How do we handle that? We tell them, ‘Don’t commit if you want to keep looking.’ I say those words to our guys. ‘Once you’re here, you have a scholarship, but by committing, please stop recruiting other players at your position when it fills up.’

Most of the kids hear me loud and clear, but some of them don’t. That’s the system we have right now.

Did the two offensive linemen from Georgia recruit each other?
I don’t think they recruited each other. As these guys in today’s cell-phone society can connect whether they’re in Georgia or wherever, I think our guys do that. There’s a lot of communicating that they have with each other where they get to actually build relationships when they’re not in the same states.

Sean will be here early. Ethan will be here early. Those guys will build chemistry together. That’ll be unique for them because they’re from the same state and will be here at the same time.

More on adding speed and depth...
The biggest thing is just making sure that you have enough speed and agility at the different positions and competition.

Looking at the roster and who’s coming back, that’s the one thing about our football team in general. We didn’t lose a lot off the roster. It was a young football team. There were only a few seniors that were starters. I’ve always wanted competitive talent, a depth chart that’s full of competition for positions. That’s what you’re looking at. If your starting outside linebacker goes out of the game, can his backup come in and do the same stuff?

We’re just trying to add guys that can run and hit on defense, guys that have good agility, guys that can think on their feet, guys that are reactors.

On our defense, it’s about running, hitting, and being able to communicate well.

I will tell you one of the guys that’s probably the staple of what we’re looking for, in the back end anyway: Devan Boykin‍. If you’ve ever talked to him, he’s a very smart football player. He plays corner, safety, and nickel. He can do a lot of things. He’s a great receiver. He’s a great basketball player. That’s what you’re looking for if you’re looking for a DB.

On the Payton Wilson situation...
Obviously, it’s a very unfortunate, disappointing situation, one that he’s going to learn a lot from. I sat down with him and sat down with his family. He feels horrible about it. I know he put something out regarding that, and it’s on him now to build it back. Time is going to be important in what he does after that. As far as where we go from there, that’ll be up to us, him, and the program.

On adding kicker Ian Williams‍...
I don’t know if you guys saw in the Georgia Tech game where Chris pulled a muscle kicking in that game, and he could barely swing his leg. He’s a tough kid to be able to make his attempts in that game. I don’t ever want to be in a situation again as a coach where I can’t make field goals.

I went to a Weddington game this year. That guy can kick. He can kick off. He can punt. He’s very talented. To bring him in, he wanted to compete with who we have because I think that keeps them on edge, but if he doesn’t win the job and he redshirts, then we know that we have somebody for four games in case something would happen to Trent or something would happen to Chris Dunn so that we can perform on special teams the way that we did this year with our specialists and then to have that carried on after they leave so I’m not replacing a senior with a true freshman down the road.

On getting eligible transfers Jeff Gunter and Levi Jones...
I’m very excited.

They’re very athletic guys. They’re hungry. It’s hard to practice every day and never get to play when you’re a guy that’s used to playing. That’s really hard.

Jeffrey Gunter and Levi Jones are both guys that can have a huge impact on our football team. They’re excited. I look forward to seeing them when they get back from break. I actually saw Jeffrey earlier. There’s a lot of energy about them. There’s a lot of excitement.

I told them the story about Jacoby Brissett. I thought, to me, he was the guy that exemplified what it’s like to transfer and have to sit out. He made the scout team “game day” every day. These guys did the same thing. They worked really hard. Now they need to come back with the mentality of being the best that they can be every day and elevating the position groups that they play with.

On competition within the roster...
After what I just went through, I don’t think I can answer that in an accurate way. I’m still trying to overcome 15 starters out for the year. I tell these kids the same thing. I want them to come in here to win the job. If they’re not ready or if the competition in front of them is better, then they can redshirt.

But their mentality needs to be they’re coming in to play. They need to come in ready to compete, and they need to come in ready to learn our systems, to get to know our staff, to do well in school, and be the best they can be. If they’re not ready, that’s what the redshirt is for, and that’s the way that I want them to approach it. I want all of our players to come in with that competitive edge.

Will you add anyone else today?
Not today, but we have between now and the next signing day to add. We’re still hunting. We will, and we’ll see where it ends up.

Really, we have until August to add guys. That’s happened with Joe Scelfo. That was a late addition a few years back. There are some things that can happen late. Jeffrey was late. Levi was late. The way kids are transferring, there are some guys you can find that, for whatever reason, want to find a new home.

We’ve just got to make sure we do that at the right position groups if we have them.