Dave Doeren Talks First Scrimmage, Building Depth, And Much More
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the opening practice, players who have impressed, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
Where are you guys at coming out of your first scrimmage?
Well, we came out healthy, so that was good. That’s the biggest thing you worry about in these fall camp scrimmages. There was really good back-and-forth on the field. There were some explosive plays offensively that were fun to watch.
There were some takeaways on defense and some really good plays made. Teshaun Smith, it was really great having him out there. He had a really nice fumble that he stripped out. You guys see the completion of plays.
I thought, at the quarterback position, which is probably what everyone wants to know, Devin [Leary] played very well, very poised. I really thought the three quarterbacks showed good poise in the scrimmage and made some good plays. They protected the ball and didn’t throw any interceptions. They’re going to continue to do some things just from a game-management standpoint.
I would say the guys that needed it, that play a lot for us on game day, we got them in, got them out, and got some good work in. I thought we tackled pretty well. It was good to see the running backs get tackled. They need that for them just from a ball-security standpoint.
We were able to get some good work on our special teams with some kickoff returns and get some live guys running down at them and field goal kickers against a good rush. We need to scrimmage again. We will this week on Thursday which is two weeks from the kick.
How do you balance getting your older players reps, looking at the younger guys, and protecting your players from injury heading into the first game?
That’s a really good question, and that’s the conversation we’re having in the staff meetings. How many reps does Isaiah Moore need? He’s played a lot of football. Well, he needs enough. What is enough? Probably 30-40 reps where they’re in there, their hearts are beating, and they’re getting a lot of good situational work.
We hit backed up, we hit red zone, we hit short-yardage, we hit two-minute, and we had some regular, move-the-ball series. The guys were able to get into those situations, and you just need to get them enough where they’re ready for game day.
On the other hand, we’re trying to get them into the 50- and 60-rep counts where we can put those guys through it and see if they’re ready to help us.
We want to get Julian Gray a bunch of reps, a guy that’s been impressive in camp. We want to get Demi Sumo a bunch of reps. And for guys who were hurt last year that are trying to get back into game shape, they need reps. It helps to get Tim McKay a bunch of reps because he missed a lot of time last year on the field.
It’s a player-by-player discussion. It’s something we really look at from a rep count. You don’t want to find out on game day that you didn’t do enough, and I think that’s kind of where we’re at. The weather played into it. Saturday, it was hot, so you have to be smart that way, too.
Coach [Tony] Gibson said that, with so many guys back, the defense was going to play fast, and they’ve been playing faster because they know what to do, they know how to line up, and they know the plays. Is that something that’s jumped off the page for you during the first few weeks of practice and the scrimmage with the starters who have been in the program for a while?
Yeah, and it’s the continuity of player experience and coach. They’re all with the same coaches on defense that they had the year before in the same system and same terminology, and playing next to the same player, in many cases. That’s helped them play faster. I think there’s trust. There’s built experience. It’s not that we’re playing perfect football. We’re not.
There’s a lot of things that we have to do better, but they are playing fast. What I’ve seen is that they’re spending more time talking about the situation. Maybe it’s third-and-long, and they’re talking about down and distance. Maybe it’s red zone, and they’re talking about field position. Or they’re talking about offensive sets. They’re talking about the other side of the ball instead of, when you’re just getting into the defense or you’re just getting with a player who hadn’t played with you, talking about, ‘What’s the call again? Where do I line up?’ We’re not having those conversations with the 1’s and, most of the time, with the 2’s.
The offense is no slouch either with plenty of guys on that side of the ball who’ve played the last couple of years. How have those battles been? How are they making each other better in practice and in the scrimmage Saturday?
I think the biggest thing for both sides of the ball isn’t that there’s a lot of experience back. The problem we’ve had is that they haven’t been on the same field together for consecutive days.
We’ve had guys in and out. Last season, it was injuries, or it was COVID. Now, it’s just a guy’s out with a sore hamstring here, or our guy’s sick today.
We want the best five O-linemen to play with each other every day and every period. We’re still trying to build continuity and chemistry, so we’re still trying to get to that. There’s a little bit of a misconception that we’ve got all these guys back.
We do, but we also need them all to be out on the field at the same time, working together for consecutive days after days after days. We’ve been able to get that in some spots but not enough of them for me to say that I feel good about it yet. That’s kind of where it’s at.
It looks like you’re going to play in front of a full crowd. How big of an advantage is that, especially at Carter-Finley Stadium with this ravenous fanbase?
I was hoping so. I think people have been cooped up, judging by some of the other public events I’ve been able to go to. Hockey games were crazy.
It’d seem like the fans would want to be at a game and go nuts, and having a night game on top of it, I expect to have a very lively crowd with a bunch of people that are excited to see their football team and coaching staff on the field together. That’s what we’re hoping for and the student body being a part of that as well.
That’s what makes college football fun: the pageantry of it. Carter-Finley Stadium on a night, on a weeknight in particular, is usually a very special venue.
With the linebackers, as a unit, back with a lot of experience under their belt, how much does that help the defense with awareness and setting everything up?
The continuity of that group is good. I think there’s also been opportunity to build some depth behind those guys.
Coach Gibson’s done a nice job with Jaylon Scott and Devon Betty. Those two guys have been able to play both Mike and Will and rotate inside and outside so that we can build some things so that, if a player is out whether he’s just tired or injured, we don’t have that inexperienced plug-in. We want to be able to stay at a competitive level. We feel like our three starters are as good as anybody’s in the country, if not better. We just want to make sure that, when one of them steps off the field because his helmet comes off, he’s overheated, or whatever it might be, the next guy going in is just as good.
Unfortunately, Levi [Jones] has been out with some minor stuff. Payton [Wilson] has been out with some minor stuff. But the positive of that is we’ve been able to rep those other guys and get them ready to play, and they’ve really done a nice job in their absences.
I think we’ll have everybody, starting tomorrow, back on the field, so that’ll be good.
With the prep season in North Carolina starting back on Friday, how much are you and your staff looking forward to getting back out there and evaluating players in person?
I’m excited for the high schools. I know that was hard for them not playing last fall. Being able to have their normal Friday night lights in the fall for all these high school teams and coaches, I’m excited for them and happy for them. For us, it’s valuable to have live evaluations. We missed that in recruiting. It’s something we truly believe in as one of the most critical ingredients in the evaluation process. Being able to go back out, hit the road, and do that on Friday nights, we look forward to that.