Wolfpack Assistants Discuss Several 2021 Signees

On National Signing Day, NC State officially added 19 members to its 2021 football recruiting class.

The team’s assistant coaches offered their thoughts on the class, and here’s a full breakdown of what they had to say: 

Tim Beck, offensive coordinator

On the future of the quarterback position with Aaron McLaughlin‍ coming in...
We’re starting to fill the cupboard, that’s for sure. We’re getting a lot of not only great players, but great young men.

That’s one thing Dave talked about with Aaron. Not only is he a big guy that can run with a strong arm, but he’s very competitive. He’s a smart guy and just a great person.

So he’s going to come in here and push the guys, which is good. So you love competition. Everybody knows that every day when they come to work or they come to the office, they’ve got to put their best foot forward. The cream’s going to rise to the top. So I’m excited to see the competition and see the guys compete.

Tony Gibson, defensive coordinator

On linebackers Jordan Poole‍ and Caden Fordham‍...
I think both of those kids fit our scheme really well. They’re both very athletic. Both of those guys are converted safeties that play a lot on offense and do a lot of different things on the field.

Caden has played wildcat quarterback, Jordan’s played tailback. Those guys have great ball skills, great football sense, and savvy. They’re very athletic, and I think that we did a lot of zooming and watching film, talking to them and talking through the scheme.

We’ve had them in camp. So I think they realize what they were stepping into, and being able to show them some guys in the past that had success from the scheme, they’re really excited about.

I’m really looking forward to both of those guys, and they’re both mid-year. So I’m looking for them both to get a lot of reps in the spring, and they’re both going to have great careers here. 

Charley Wiles, defensive line coach

On Zyun Reeves‍...
He has unlimited potential.

He’s a guy who I watched come out for his first spring football practice out at East Forsyth. And then the growth that he had, not only from a production standpoint but really learning the game. Coach Willert, I know, does a tremendous job. They coach them. So obviously, I think he has a football IQ. So you’ve got, I think, a really nice package, a kid that can be a giant, too.

He’s long, he’s 250 pounds right now. He easily can be a 280-pound kid here in a year or two. So the unlimited, I think the potential excites me the most. He’s raw, and being able to develop a kid like that can really come in, there’s no telling what he can turn into. 

How much does his basketball background help?

I think anytime in recruiting that you go watch a kid run the hardwood and play basketball, it shows the athleticism or lack thereof. So Zyun having that ability, now I’ve never seen him play basketball, but obviously he was a very important piece of their basketball program because he’s so big and long. But the guys that I’ve always recruited that play basketball, it really stands out how athletic they are. You see a lot of guys translate from basketball to football.

On Travali Price‍...
Explosive kid, he can play all three downs for you. He’s played a lot of football in high school, was really a tremendous player as a tenth grader too.

He missed his senior season but he’s played a lot of ball and has really worked hard to get bigger, stronger, and faster. So explosive, and you can see it in his numbers. I think it was 22 TFLs, 11 sacks, so the kid has some play-making ability. Very, very excited about him.  

George McDonald, wide receivers coach

I know the receivers all bring something different. I know Micah Crowell‍ and Jakolbe Baldwin‍ are bigger and Julian Gray‍ is blazing fast. How important is it to have different skill sets in a class of receivers? 

I think it’s really important. In the past, we’ve tried to get big, physical guys that can match up on the edge, which they’ve done a good job.

So the last couple years, with coach [Billy Glasscock]’s help, we’ve just been trying to get more guys with speed who can do a little bit more after the catch, and I think all these guys have that trait, with Gray being track fast and Crowell doing a really good job creating plays in space and plays after we’ve gotten the ball in his hands. And then Jakolbe, we’ve had him in camp and he does everything well.

So I’m excited to get those three guys here, add them to the mix, and keep getting better at the wide receiver spot.

John Garrison, offensive line coach

On grad transfer Chandler Zavala‍...
I’m really excited about him coming in. I think the biggest thing is he wanted the opportunity to prove himself at the next level, and he’s one of those guys, you look at him right now, he’s 6-5, 320 pounds. And if you look at a full-length body shot of him, he doesn’t look that. He holds the weight really well.

He’s a guy that loves to train, loves to compete. He’s very serious about this opportunity. I think it was a great fit.

Obviously having his Mom here was a big part of that. But I’m really excited about what he’s going to bring. He’s a guy that was a veteran player, an All-Conference player at that level, but a guy who’s played a lot of football.

He’s going to be able to come in and have an immediate impact for us. So I’m excited about what he’s going to be able to do for us.