From walk-on to NC State starter: Inside Matt McCabe’s journey through football

By Noah Fleischman

NC State’s entire roster sat in the Wolfpack’s team meeting room inside the Murphy Center in late August last year to listen to coach Dave Doeren . The final PowerPoint slide he pulled up showed what “perseverance” looked like within his program: Matt McCabe’s growth in four years. 

The slide had a side-by-side comparison of McCabe’s progress in the weight room, going from 262 as a freshman in 2020 to 301 by the start of the 2023 campaign. Doeren noted McCabe’s accolades — three years on the scout team to cracking the two-deep in his fourth year, while starting on the punt and field goal units. 

Then came the four special words on the bottom of the slide: “Now he’s on scholarship.”

McCabe, at the time, just wanted to play football. The scholarship was nice, but he was focused on finding a consistent way onto the field. His dad was in the facility at the same time for a coach-parent meeting, and he might have been more fired up for McCabe than the offensive lineman was. 

“It was a big deal, but I was just worried more about playing. At that point in my career, I didn’t really care about the money,” McCabe recalled Monday. “I broke the news to him, and it was pretty surreal. … I was really excited, but I think he was more excited.”

While seeing the field was his goal, and he played 152 total snaps last fall after earning a full ride (19 offensive line, 70 punt coverage and 63 on field goal/extra point protection), McCabe proved to the rest of the walk-ons that it was possible to earn one of the 85 scholarships. Doeren wanted to make an example out of McCabe, who didn’t even play football until his senior year of high school. 

“To me, one of the best things you get to do as a head coach is give a guy a scholarship that’s earned one,” Doeren said inside the team meeting room after awarding McCabe’s scholarship. “Earned not given, we talk about it all the time. That is a great visual to understand that there is a pathway to this.”

Now, as the Wolfpack prepares for its 2024 season opener against Western Carolina at Carter-Finley Stadium on Thursday night, McCabe’s journey is even more impressive. He’s listed as NC State’s starting tight end on the depth chart and could see action in the pass game with Grayson McCall at quarterback. 

It’s been a while since McCabe has caught a pass — even those reps in high school were slim — but his path to this moment might be characterized by his intense work ethic to pick up a sport that was foreign to him just before he enrolled at NC State.  

High school pitcher turned defensive end

Cary (N.C.) Panther Creek High School coach Sean Crocker had seen McCabe around the school during his first three years. He was hard to miss at 6-foot-5, but the football coach didn’t have McCabe on the field with him, rather he was busy working to refine his three-pitch mix on the mound. 

The right-handed pitcher possessed an 88 mph fastball with a sharp curveball and a mid-70s slider. McCabe was interested in pitching at Charlotte or Davidson at the next level, and football was not on his radar.

“I threw really hard, but didn’t know where it was going,” McCabe said of his pitching arsenal. “I just couldn’t locate it.”

But one day, Panther Creek baseball coach Daniel McCoy mentioned he should think about playing football. Crocker had made a few inquiries about McCabe’s football interest to McCoy, but he never pressured the budding right-hander to come out for the team. 

McCabe, however, was down to give it a try his senior year. 

“When we found out he’s a baseball player, it kind of hurts the heart of a football coach,” Crocker said. “He said his senior year he’d be willing to come out and give it a shot.”

And so it went. McCabe was a football player. He wasn’t going to coast. No, he wanted to give it everything he had to see how it would go. That meant the summer workouts in the North Carolina heat and attacking the weight room the same way he went after hitters in the box. 

In late-July, Crocker had McCabe line up at defensive end. Or at least try to — he had no idea how. 

“I was a little bit concerned,” Crocker said. “But Matt took to it. He was a quick study, and by the first game, it looked like he had been there for a while.”

McCabe blossomed into one of Panther Creek’s top pass rushers during the 2019 season. His 6-foot-6 frame was towering over offensive tackles that had the pleasure — or displeasure — of lining up across from McCabe. 

And once he was able to breeze past the line, most quarterbacks went running for their lives. McCabe was able to do just that in Panther Creek’s season opener against Fuquay-Varina, his football debut, and the towering defensive end leapt through the air with his right hand extended. 

Good luck trying to escape that. 

“That’s when I was like, ‘This dude’s going to be pretty good,’” said Crocker, who has coached Panther Creek since 2012. 

While McCabe flashed as a defensive end — 31 total tackles with three sacks and two fumble recoveries — an interaction with his future collegiate teammate ended his senior campaign on the gridiron.

McCabe was still green when Panther Creek laced up its cleats to play rival Cary High. He lined up against Davin Vann, a two-way standout for the Imps that was committed to play at NC State. Vann tried to trap McCabe’s arms in pass protection at guard, so the new defensive end lifted his forearm instead of using his shoulder. 

That’s when it cracked. He had a broken arm. But McCabe stayed in for two or three more plays before he trotted off the field and later realized what had happened. 

Although McCabe’s season ended early, Crocker knew he had a natural gift for the game. He made phone calls around the state looking for a spot for McCabe to land. Soon enough, offers from Campbell and North Carolina Central rolled in. 

So did a walk-on spot at NC State. That’s what McCabe accepted. 

“To see the growth over the last couple of years, it’s been fantastic,” Crocker said. “I don’t think I envisioned him taking to it. … The results speak for themselves.”

Little did McCabe know what was coming when he picked the Wolfpack.

Walk-on at NC State

When McCabe arrived in Raleigh, he was sent to the defensive ends. And as a player just in his second season of playing organized football, it was trial by fire. 

Especially when his opponent in practice was Ikem Ekwonu, a future first-round pick by the Carolina Panthers with the sixth selection of the 2022 draft, a “humbling” experience, McCabe recalls.

While McCabe was welcomed to college football going against one of NC State’s best offensive linemen in recent history, he was still trying to learn the sport. That, however, seemed to pay off in the long run.

“It wasn’t that quick, if I’m going to be honest,” McCabe said of adjusting to football. “I was still getting used to it. But the good thing about not playing football was I didn’t have any bad habits, but I had to learn a lot.”

After one year with the Wolfpack’s defensive line, NC State moved McCabe to the other side of the ball.. His 6-foot-6 frame appeared to be a perfect fit for NC State’s offensive line, so that’s where he was placed.

McCabe gained 50 pounds while he worked to earn snaps on the field. It took McCabe two full seasons of development to find the field — he played 33 total snaps on special teams, including five in his collegiate debut against Florida State in Week 6 of the 2022 season. 

Although the snap counts weren’t high on the offensive line, McCabe proved he could do it. The coaching staff believed that too, awarding a scholarship ahead of last fall. 

McCabe moved to right guard last season, where he found himself on the Pack’s two-deep. Suddenly, he was one injury away from being on the field for an entire game. That didn’t come, but he played in four games on the interior of the offensive line, including five in a 13-10 loss to Louisville in Week 5.

Now, McCabe has become a poster child of hard work within NC State’s program. And with walk-ons being threatened in the new scholarship totals for next fall, Doeren thought McCabe’s path would be one to use as a prime example of why they should stay.

Crocker, the high school coach, thought the same.

“I think it’s a road map for all the guys that think they want to play college football or play at a higher level,” Crocker said. “You put the work in, you keep your head down and you do what coaches ask you to do. More times than not, your talent level is going to dictate where you go, but if the talent level is there and your work ethic is there, it could lead to some pretty good results.”

Role this year

McCabe entered fall camp this year in a position battle at right guard with incumbent Anthony Carter Jr., one of his best friends on the roster. The two battled for nearly a month’s worth of practices, pushing one another to improve each week. But by the end of the competition, Carter’s starting experience from last season pushed him over the top. 

Although he didn’t win the starting spot on the interior offensive line — and is viewed as the top option at backup there — McCabe was presented with a new opportunity: starting tight end. 

The Pack offense is unique with its receiving tight ends at flex-y, opening up chances for big-bodied blockers at the traditional tight end spot. A year ago, that was current right tackle Jacarrius Peak and freshman defensive lineman Isaiah Shirley (Shirley will also be featured in this role this season). 

Now, it’s McCabe’s turn to do that. 

NC State offensive line coach Garett Tujague thinks McCabe is further along at the position than Peak, who eventually became a starter at right tackle by the midway point of the season, was at this point last fall.

“The more available you are, the more dependable you are, the more you can do,” Tujague said of McCabe. “I’m excited for him. Play one is going to be interesting, but it’s just going to be awesome to see him take the field and help us in both the run and pass game.”

McCabe’s large frame at 308 pounds will help firm up NC State’s rushing attack, paced by Duke transfer Jordan Waters, this fall. Doeren, the Wolfpack’s 12th-year coach, likes the thought of having a bruising offensive front. Bringing McCabe on the field as a sixth offensive lineman would do that — and some. 

“It gives you a really physical three or four-man surface,” Doeren said. “We want to be really physical from the point of attack when we have those guys in the game.”

“I’m excited that we have the ability to expand and contract,” Doeren continued. “We can get five really fast dudes out there in a heartbeat, and we can get really physical and big in a heartbeat. I like that.”

For McCabe, it’s a fun learning experience. He has been able to ditch the knee braces he had been accustomed to as an offensive lineman, and can also run routes in his new No. 47 jersey. 

Now, will a pass come his way? If so, he’s ready. 

“I’ve got some hands,” McCabe said with a laugh. “We’ll see.”

But in the meantime, McCabe has come a long way. He wasn’t even aware he’d be able to take football as far as he has. Gone are the days of trying to break 90 mph with his heater. He’s a football player now, and McCabe has embraced his new role on NC State’s offense. 

“I’ve been slowly climbing,” McCabe said. “It’s been a big jump, but it’s been a good journey. I’m proud of it. I’ve got no regrets. I’m happy to be where I’m at now.”