Grant Gibson: "Nobody Wants To Leave"

NC State All-ACC center Grant Gibson met with the media to discuss the Holiday Bowl, returning for 2022, and much more!

My question has nothing to do with the game, but since this is the first time we've talked to you in a while, I just wanted to know, were you in the band in high school? What's your attraction to doing the maestro with the band after big wins at Carter-Finley Stadium?
So, I played the saxophone all the way up until ninth grade, and I don't really know how it started, but after we beat Clemson, I was over there and I saw the band director and I was like, "Hey, can I do it?" And he was like, "Yeah, sure." And so he let me climb up there onto the ladder, and then when we beat UNC, they started calling out my name so I was like, all right. I guess I'll do it again.

But no, it's just cool to go over there and give them love. By all means, they come to all of our games and they play hard, and I just want to make sure that they get some shine. So it's just a little, small, fun thing that I get to do.

You guys last year when you went to the bowl game didn't get that bowl experience. I think you traveled the day before. Just how excited is the team to have maybe a little bit more normal where you get to do things like the zoo and Sea World and just kind of have that whole week to experience that?
So we went down for two days, and we didn't get to do very much, like you said. But this year, I think over half of our team hasn't been to the west coast, so we're all just excited to get to see that part of the United States. And it's going to be fun, we get to go to the zoo, to Sea World, to the Naval base.

But just the chance for us to get to go out there and have fun as a team, it's huge for us, and that's something that our whole team is just starting to look forward to. It's going to be a whole bunch of fun. So yeah, it's going to be cool.

I asked Devin about some of the younger players during bowl practices, and I was wanting to get your take on a couple. He mentioned Lyndon Cooper, who plays your position, and obviously Demie Sumo at running back. What have you seen from those two young guys?
Just seeing how far Coop has come since last spring when he came in early, just seeing how much he's grown. He's started to take control of the offense, or the offensive line, when he's in the game.

And Demie, he does everything right. Just seeing the way that he knows all the plays, he's patient when he's in the game. Both of those guys have worked hard this year, and I think it's just great to be able to see them get out there and get some reps, because sometimes we don't get to see what they can do.

But to see them out there on the field just working hard and just executing, it's exciting because you know that NC State's in good hands because we have some bright, young players.

Obviously you had some professional options but you're returning for this upcoming year. When did you know that was going to be the decision you would make?
I just talked with my parents about it. Talked with my parents and people that I'm close with. I talked to Coach Garrison about it, Coach Doeren and Dee Hoggard as well.

I just felt like that it was so much that this team can do, and I didn't want to miss out on it. I also know that I hold myself to a high standard and I know that I can come back and play better, so that's what I wanted to do. But I want to help this team win whenever I can.

We all know how good this team can be next year. So I was like, I definitely want to be a part of this. Just to see all the guys that are going to come back that could have left, I think that kind of speaks to what NC State has here. Nobody wants to leave. We want to stay and play as long as we can. So it is very cool to see all the guys coming back, and it's going to be fun next year.

I'm curious if you have a favorite Christmas gift you've ever received, or Christmas memory.
I think I was in the third or fourth grade, I got a PSP. I don't even know if you guys know what that is, but I came downstairs and I was like, "Yo, this is so cool," because that's actually one of the best toys of all time in my honest opinion.

The screen was that big. You got the little buttons on the side. It was cool. That's the best gift that I've ever gotten. So that was a long time ago but yeah, that was my top gift.

I am just curious with the excitement going into next year, are these bowl games for you? Is there something you can learn about this team going forward, or is it more about just staying healthy or getting other guys some time on the field? What is the main priority going into this?
We want to go win. The way that we've been getting prepped the past week, we're not going to take this game lightly. We want to go out there and play well and play to win because we understand that this is the last time this year that we get to go out there as a group until next fall. And we only get, this is our 13th game, so you only get 13 tries each year.

We want to just end this year strong, but we want to do this for the older guys who this is their last game. But we also know that we want to set ourselves up well for next year.

NC State, it hasn't ever been done at NC State where a team has won 10 games, and we want to leave a legacy here when we leave. That's something that we've talked about as a group with coach Doeren and things like that, is that we want to end this year strong, and so we're going out there to win this game. UCLA is a great team; they're strong up front, they do a lot of movements in games, and so we know that we're going to have to play hard against them.

There's still a couple guys who haven't really made their decisions yet. How do you see them sort of handling that turmoil and potentially not being there for the game? How are you guys preparing for that? And how do you see those individuals just dealing with that decision right now?
We just play hard. That's something that we try not to worry about. We try to worry about the guys that are here, and we're going to just play with whoever's here.