NC State's Grant Gibson, Devin Leary, and Payton Wilson. spoke to the media at the ACC Football Kickoff.  Here is a look at what they had to say at the opening press conference.

Quarterback Devin Leary

How much does it help you going into this season to have so many of your receivers back and your offensive linemen and your running backs, to kind of have that chemistry already built in?
Yeah, I think it helps me out tremendously. Like you said, being able to have so many guys back in the receiving corps, running back, our offensive line, everyone has great experience where it just makes my job that much easier.

I mean, Coach always said, Just be the point guard of the team, distribute the ball, make everyone else make the plays for you. Being able to have everyone back is very helpful.

How have summer workouts been with Emeka Emezie, Thayer Thomas? What attributes do they have as receivers?
Summer workouts so far have been good. Even with Coach Thunder getting our entire offense prepared for the season. I think just being around guys like Emeka, Thayer, Devin Carter, I mean, the list goes on. I think it truly shows how much they truly love this game.

We're doing everything as far as throwing routes on there, working on different footwork drills, even to in the film room. These guys are as hungry as everyone else on the team.

For me to be able to see how hungry and eager they are to play, it just makes me that much more excited.

What did you take away from last season prior to the leg injury, just what you saw out of yourself looking at that film? Where have the improvements come post leg injury?
Yeah, I think there's always stuff to take away from film. I think last year before my injury there was multiple different plays or multiple different things I could have done better that I could take off of film, whether it's within our offense or studying different defenses.

I think post-injury that's my biggest emphasis, is just trying to study defense as much as I can and prepare the best way possible.

After playing last season with no or few fans in the stands, what is it going to be like running out the tunnel with a full house?
It's going to be amazing. I can't wait. It's going to feel some type of normal I feel like for our whole team, just going back to what we're used to. It's a feeling that you can't really describe. I'm really looking forward to it.

Can you walk me through what the advantages of having a season of experience as a quarterback and a team returning a quarterback that it's familiar with?
Yeah, I mean, I think it's a great advantage. I mean, last year obviously we had to go through different protocols and different things with COVID that kind of affected I guess our overall learning. Like Coach Doeren said, we had to do a lot of things virtual.

I think now this year being able to see everyone in person, being able to pick everyone's brain, be able to communicate better with our offensive system is going to help us out so much more.

You talked about after your injury finding a love for the game in a different way. Can you talk a little bit more about the lessons you've learned off the field, how you plan to use that in this season.
I think really what I meant by the love of the game in a different way is I never really necessarily experienced an injury like I did last year. I think it kind of just puts things in a different perspective as far as just the smallest things, like celebrating in the locker room with your team, just every little thing you never really take for granted anymore. That kind of gave me a different perspective.

Now post-injury, you're playing every single day, working out every single day like it's your last. I'm going to continue to take that approach.

Linebacker Payton Wilson

Grant touched on it, you work out, so many leaders in the room. What is different this off-season?
 I think like Grant said, not many people -- nobody's ever had to go through COVID like we did, like everybody did in the country last year. I think it's something that not pushed us further away as a team but brought us closer together. It brought a lot of different leaders out. People had to step up. They had to become leaders.

We got people like Grant, Devin. On the defensive side of the ball, we have some of the best leaders I've ever seen like Isaiah Moore, Drake Thomas. The leadership varies throughout the team. Like Grant said, it's not just one person talking all the time. Everybody throughout the team has the same mission, the same goal, and we're all on the same page.

 You played a lot of games with pain last year but still led the ACC in tackles. How is your health? What drives you to play this game no matter what? 
I'm actually 100% healthy. I'm healthier than I've ever been since the beginning of high school. Doctors and the trainers did an excellent job of getting me back.

I think these injuries, the reason that I play the way I do, the way I play so hard, is because I know this game can be taken away from me in some simple play. My knee could be gone, my shoulder could be gone. Every play I want to go out there, I want to make that play. I want my teammates to know I'm putting everything on the line for them because I would want them to do the same for me.

What was it like playing last season with basically cardboard cutouts in the stands? How much does having a full house add to the experience and help you, especially as hard as you play?
Like Devin said, it was weird last year. The first couple of games, nobody's cheering. You could hear everybody on the field. You can hear your coaches talking to you. It had its pros and its cons.

Having everybody back in the stadium, playing in front of Wolf Pack Nation is going to be awesome. Having the band, my parents out there, that means the world to me. They couldn't come to some games last year. I play for them, I play for God. Having everybody out there is just going to be awesome.

You mentioned Isaiah and Drake a couple minutes ago. What can you say about that linebacker corps, your decision to return, what the three of you bring to the table not just for NC State but for the ACC?
 I mean, I'm here today representing us. But Drake and Isaiah, they make the thing up. Drake and Isaiah are very smart players, they make me who I am. They help me day in and day out learning the game. Our linebacker corps is very deep.

We have a guy like Vi Jones, who is a game changer. Young guys coming in that will make a huge impact. Cayden [Fordham] and Jordan Poole. We're so close together, it's almost like I'm out there playing with my family.

What is it about NC State that you love so much?
The coaches and the atmosphere. Coach Doeren is an amazing person. He makes all of us be the best that we can be. He teaches us to chase two dreams: he helps us achieve academically and athletically. One of the main reasons is I love my family so much. I really didn't want to leave them. NC State gave me every opportunity that I needed.

Center Grant Gibson

20 starters back. Coach was talking about the competition at so many positions. As an older guy, is this one of the deepest teams you've been around? Talk to the experience you have.
So this NC State team that I'm on right now, this team is great. Just the guys that we have that have played that are going to come back, but also we're close as a group.

I think this team that we have, we're so tight-knit. Last year really brought us all together just with all the events that happened. I think the guys that we have that came back is going to be huge for us this year.

This past year and a half obviously has hopefully taught everybody a lot. What have been your biggest takeaways off the field? On the field you talked about this being a family. How that family stayed close?
So last year when we got sent home, we talked as a team. It was like, Listen, we need to grow from this. We didn't know how long we were going to be at home. We were home for I think about three months. But during that time, though, we had Zoom calls, just trying to stay in touch with all the guys so that we could perform well next year.

But I think this past year has just taught us as a team that we can fight through anything. There was a lot of thing off the field, too, like George Floyd got killed. I think that brought us together as a team, as well. We had some tough talks amongst our team about how we can grow from these issues, how to teach other guys. I think last year as a whole taught our team a lot.

When I talked to Devin last week, he was talking about the fact there's so much leadership on this team. There's guys, every single player on this team can talk and everybody else will listen. What is the leadership like in this program going into this year?
Oh, it's great. I mean, like, all of us here can speak for it. It's so many guys on this team that can lead. I think when you want a team to be great, that's what you need.

Like when we work out and things like that, it's not one guy that talks the whole time. It's 18 guys that talk the whole time. I think when you can hear from all over the place, that helps the team grow, that helps keep the team on track.

You received team awards last year for your winning attitude, your integrity, your sportsmanship. Who do you attribute your character to?
My mom and my dad. Like, I would not be here without them. My dad helped me get to this point just with all the workouts that we did back when I was a kid. Like he helped me get here.

I can't thank him enough for that.

My mom, as well. She taught me the importance of school and trying to treat others right. That's something I pride myself on, is that I try to treat each person the same way.

So I thank them both for what they've done for me.

You ranked 12th last year in total offense, which is kind of surprising considering your strong win-loss record. What do you feel like you can do better this year starting with the offensive line in terms of generating more pass yardage?
We just need to execute better. I think last year there were times where we didn't execute. The small things killed us, like the false starts, the post-snap, things like that. We talked about this as a team, that we need to execute and cut down on those small things so we can be better this year.