Tim Beck: "I'm Pleased With Where We're At Offensively"
NC State offensive coordinator Tim Beck met with the media following Tuesday morning's practice in the lead-up to the Wolfpack's season opener at East Carolina on Sept. 3.
NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Beck’s interview.
“I’m pleased with where we’re at offensively. We have a good mix of veteran players that have played a lot of games, and a good mix of young, rising, talented players that are hungry and fit into our culture. I really like where we’re at, but we’ve still got work to do.”
“It’s hard to even put the difference [between Devin Leary’s first fall camp and now] into words. He was shy and still learning how to be a quarterback. Right now, this is his team. He does a great job in everything that he does: the way he handles himself, the way he plays, the way he studies the game, and how much he’s grown. It’s a tribute to him. He’s worked really hard doing it, and I’m proud of him. I think he’s done a great job.”
“It’s definitely different than it was two years ago, I can tell you that, when I got in and didn’t know anybody. It’s a great feeling to know that you’ve got your quarterback back and a steady group of receivers and offensive linemen. You’ve got guys that have been through some of the battles, and it’s important. You practice against your defense in the spring, you practice against your defense in the fall, and then you get ready to go play somebody who’s completely different. Well, these guys have done that, and so you fall back on their experience, their age, and their maturity. You know what to expect when you’re going out there.”
“No doubt. From what I’ve heard, [East Carolina] is a great environment to play in. You give a lot of credit to their fans, and they’re a good football team. They play really hard, especially at home. We’re looking forward to the challenge of going there, and I think Devin’s the right guy to lead us there.”
“It’s hard [practicing against the Wolfpack defense]. I’ve had some experiences in other places I’ve been. I remember at Nebraska going against Ndamukong Suh and Lavonte David, and with those guys, there wasn’t much treading there either. You know, you’ve just got to stay the course. My goal isn’t to beat our defense. My goal is to make sure our guys are ready for game one and to put the things in that we have to have to be successful throughout the course of the year, whether they’re good against our defense or not. My thing is just getting our guys to go out there and play hard and know what to do.”
“It’s like having a 21-year-old and a newborn. It’s night and day. I give a lot of credit to Jack [Chambers] and M.J. [Morris] though. They’re both very intelligent young men. They’ve picked up a lot, more than I thought they would. You can see there’s days where their brains are oatmeal. You’re teaching to the highest level getting Devin prepared, and sometimes it’s just overwhelming for those guys, and it shows. I try to streamline it for them to make it [less overwhelming] so they can go out and have some success, but I’m really proud of where those guys are. They’ve done a great job all camp. They work really hard. They worked hard all summer. I like the room and where we’re at.”
“It’s interesting. They all got better, and Devin’s gotten better. That’s a tribute. There are some guys that come in that are good that don’t get better, and those are the five-star, four-star guys that go to college and disappear, and you never hear from them again. Devin’s gotten better. I also think his arm talent is pretty special. It’s probably as best as I’ve ever had. His ball accuracy, where he’s placing the ball, and his toughness in the pocket are definitely incredible attributes.”
“I’ve tried to pride myself on that. I have a systematic approach, but at the bottom line, the players win games. You hear coaches say that all the time: it’s not the play call; it’s the players. Give them the ball, and let them do their thing. That’s kind of what I do. ‘How do we have? Where can we fit them? How do we get them the ball?’ It’s those type of things. At the different places I’ve been, I’ve had unique [situations]. Curtis Samuel was a little bit that way in how we used him. We had Ameer [Abdullah] at Nebraska and Devin Duvernay at Texas. We had different guys that we used, backfield, wide receivers, or whatever, just to use them and get them the ball in different ways so they couldn’t take the ball out of their hands.”
“There’s been a lot of development from a lot of players. You look at Anthony Belton. He’s a left tackle who didn’t play for us much last year, but his improvement from the end of last year to now is very impressive. Jalen Coit is having a good fall camp. [Julian Gray] is having a good fall camp. I don’t want to miss anybody per se, but our running backs are very consistent. I have a lot of confidence in all those guys. You say that, per se, as opposed to just one giant jump from somebody that’s like, ‘Wow, this guy just came out of nowhere.’ You see a lot of guys that have made an improvement this offseason.”
“It’s just playing. They’re not making mental mistakes anymore. They’re catching the football. They’re making guys miss in space. They’re just more confident and playing faster."