Dave Doeren shares scrimmage standouts, other fall camp updates

Fall camp is in full swing for NC State as the program hits the field each day, preparing for a season full of excitement and high expectations. The Wolfpack held its first scrimmage of the year over the weekend, and head coach Dave Doeren met with the media Wednesday to discuss position battles, standout athletes and more. 

Here are the highlights from the Q&A with Dave Doeren. 

NC State football coach Dave Doeren Q&A

On first scrimmage standouts:

“One, it was great to be in the stadium and see kind of how people get bigger or smaller on that stage. The guys you’d expect to play well did, and so that wasn’t a surprise. I think Julian Gray had a good day, just going back in my mind here on players that showed up. Defensively, we definitely tackled well, for our first day bringing people to the ground. I think that’s always a concern is how that’s going to be.

“We stayed healthy, which is a huge part of a scrimmage, that’s maybe the most important part of a scrimmage. We were able to do a bunch of good special teams work. I feel good about this kind of the back-and-forth that’s happening right now in camp, not just the scrimmage, but practice.

“And I’m getting to see guys that were out play again. So seeing Cyrus [Fagan] on the two-minute drives, having Payton [Wilson], Drake [Thomas] and Isaiah [Moore] out there, all those things are good.”

On controlling reps for experienced athletes:

“We have a rep count. There’s guys on our roster, as you know, that have 2,000 game reps, so they’re not going to take every rep in practice. They’re limited because we’re doing that, not because of their health, and then there’s other guys that are getting the bulk of the load because we want to get them better and develop them more. 

“So it’s kind of a delicate thing. You want to get them enough to be ready to play ECU. At the same time, we don’t need to get them too much because they’ve got a bulk of reps already banked.”

On Maryland transfer wide receiver Darryl Jones:

“He was out in the spring, as you all know and so, the best thing about Darryl right now, he’s been consistent. Every day, he’s been the same guy. He’s a big, long guy. He’s got great dimensions to him. He’s very consistent; he’s mature. He’s got strong hands. He’s really helped us on special teams too.

“We’re excited about his progression right now. He’s a guy that’s earned a lot of trust so far in camp.”

On keeping the Wolfpack motivated throughout fall camp:

“You give some speeches here and there, but you also lean on your leaders. Lean on them, and they’ve got to understand everyone else has got them, too.

“There isn’t an ‘Oh, I’m sore.’ Training camp is that. It’s going to be sore legs. You’re going to have some hot days, some days that aren’t. Build your chemistry, your team, you’re going to get to see kind of what the playmakers can do. That’s what training camp is. So if you don’t enjoy that, then it’s really not the right sport.” 

On sophomore defensive lineman Davin Vann:

“He’s probably been the most consistent playmaker in the front, from a fall camp standpoint. He really worked hard this offseason. I think he went to work with Thunder [strength coordinator Dantonio Burnette] and in the film room too. You can see he’s playing a lot faster, and he looks really good. He’s in great shape. He’s playing inside and outside, and for sure one of the guys that we’re excited about.”

On NC State’s backup linebackers:

“Jordan Poole is doing really well. Him and Jayland Parker are probably two of the more improved guys in the linebacker corps because they’ve gotten so many reps.

Caden [Fordham] should be back out there. He’s been limited. He should be back out there with us moving forward. I really don’t have a report on him, but the other two are doing really good.”

On the impact of NC State’s support staff:

“Being able to delegate things and not get somebody where they have so many things they don’t do any of them well, I think is important. So we can kind of, here’s what you have to do as a graduate assistant, here’s what the analyst does.

“For [Ruffin McNeill], he and I are looking at practice like head coaches. So for me to be able to go in there and ‘Hey, what did you see today, man?’ It’s great to have that, not just on the field but things off the field like, ‘Hey, what do you think about this idea? Or what do you think about this? Or hey, we’re traveling this week, here’s what I’m doing, look at it, let me know if you have any thoughts.’ 

“It just gives me somebody that’s been in my seat that I trust that will tell me the truth.

“Having more people is good. You’ve got to be careful how many. I think sometimes you can get too many people. I feel like some of the staffs out there are unlimited, it seems like. I don’t know how they have staff meetings. Like, where they put all these guys?

“But we’re in a good spot right now. And to me, it’s more about quality. We’ve got some really good, young coaches that I’m excited about.”

On the effect of college football staff expansion:

“I think recruiting is why that’s that way. There’s so much more, as you guys know, different ways to communicate.

“In the past, years back, it was just you had to call people. And now, through all the different social media means that you can text, DM, so on, or text people. Having more in the graphics, and the video and all the things that go on digital media-wise — that’s where you see staffs almost turning into like NFL staffs, where you have a bigger recruiting department.”

On the NC State backup quarterback battle:

“I’m excited that Jack [Chambers] and MJ [Morris] are progressing the way they are. We’re splitting reps with those guys with the twos and both of them are improving. Both of them are making mistakes, and they’re both getting a lot of valuable reps against a really good defense right now.

“I feel great about where we’re at as far as who’s behind [Devin Leary]. I’m not ready to tell you who the two or three is yet.”

On preparing for game prep:

“Almost, not there yet, man. We’ve still got this week. We’ll start that on Tuesday of next week.”