NC State facing a 'win-now season,' opposing coach believes

The NC State football program is coming off an excellent showing in the 2023 campaign, after they finished 9-4 and 6-2 in the ACC. The Wolfpack were carried by their electrifying freshman receiver, Kevin Concepcion. He racked up over 1,000 all-purpose yards in his debut season of college football, including 839 receiving yards and 10 touchdown catches. Concepcion is back to team up with quarterback transfer Grayson McCall, to try and keep the positive momentum rolling in Raleigh.

The 2024 college football campaign is only a few weeks away, as college teams across America will strap on the pads and ramp up practices in fall camp. College football preview magazines and predictions have rolled out across the country in the past few weeks. And in Athlon Magazine’s 2024 edition, an opposing ACC assistant coach called NC State’s year this season “a win-now season.”

Opposing ACC coach on NC State 2024 outlook

“[Quarterback] Grayson [McCall] transferring in means that they’re going to push it to a win-now season. That kid is a born leader, a legit gamer. He’s a success story for the portal; he stayed on at Coastal and gave them a full run, and now he gets a shot with a P4 program….Dave [Doeren] signing the extension was much deserved; that guy never gets the respect he deserves when you talk about elite head coaches. They turned a corner last year, especially when you go out recruiting and hear about that win over North Carolina…Is this year they put it all together? If you match McCall with that defense it might be. They’ve never had the breakout, conference title season in their history. This is a good chance,” according to an opposing ACC coach in Athlon Sports’ preview of the Wolfpack.

The NC State offensive attack averaged 26.2 points per game last year, ranking them 72nd in the nation in that stat category. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong is gone after he tossed in 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the Wolfpack. NC State will hope that McCall can bring a bit more stability to the quarterback position and cut down on the turnovers.

Another player the Wolfpack landed out of the transfer portal is receiver Wesley Grimes, who comes from Wake Forest. The recruiting experts at On3 were much higher on Grimes than other recruiting services, ranking him as the No. 36 wide receiver in the country and the No. 168 overall prospect in the country. He’ll be a name to watch in the future.