NC State balancing physicality, keeping players healthy during Summer Camp

NC State’s conditioning was immediately put to the test with hot temperatures Wednesday.

The Wolfpack are determined to not let last year’s 6-7 overall mark and 3-5 ACC record define who they are this season. NC State coach Dave Doeren retooled his staff with new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper and defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, and he doesn’t think that will slow them down in incorporating altered schemes.

“In my tenure here, I’ve had several new coordinators,” Doeren said. “I look at Kurt differently maybe than the outside world does because I’ve been with him for so long. He knows our players. He knows our terminology and how he wants to change it. He has relationships built. Offensively, it’s not the same as bringing in a new face that knows nobody in that locker room.”

Eliot was a defensive analyst last year at Baylor, and was a linebackers coach with the Philadelphia Eagles and defensive coordinator at Temple in recent years.

“On defense, obviously, it’s a different conversation,” Doeren said. “For me, I’ve known D.J. a long time, so I knew kind of what he was going to be about. There’s a lot of new faces because we had graduations and guys leave. There is an evolution over there from a schematic standpoint and personnel. It’s an opportunity is how I look at it more than a challenge.”

Doeren said he’ll have a plan to mix in tackling when the pads are on, but not to the point where injuries could occur from heavy hitting. NC State will have two full scrimmages and some situation scrimmages for last four minutes of the game offense, short yardage and goal-line action.

“With training camp, we’ve got a pretty good idea how much we want to do,” Doeren said. “it’s kind of a slippery slope. You don’t want to do too much, but you have to do enough to have them ready.

“As ball carriers too, it’s not just the tackling. You want guys to be able to protect the football when it’s live, and now you’ve got people pulling them to the ground and the ball can come out. There’s a definite need for that.”

What will help is the healthy return of senior middle linebacker Caden Fordham from a season-ending knee injury, and a smattering of transfers to help fill holes at various positions.

“It’s happy to see the conditioning of many of the players,” Doeren said. “It’s good to have some guys back that were out last year. To see [redshirt sophomore defensive end] Isaiah Shirley and Caden Fordham and some of those guys playing for us again, it was fun to see and they looked great.

“You can see there’s some continuity with [sophomore quarterback] CJ [Bailey], different from last year, being a returning starter with his receivers and obviously we’re not in pads.”

Doeren pointed out some things definitely needed to get cleaned up from the first practice. He noted there were some dropped passes and false starts that can’t continue. Some players suffered through cramping with the temperature reaching the low 90s.

The first practice gave some true freshman and redshirt freshman a chance to show where they are in their development. The offense could get a jolt at running back, and the center position is up for grabs.

“I think we’re all offensively excited to see [redshirt freshman running back] Duke Scott,” Doeren said. “He had a really good spring, building off of a tremendous summer in the weight room. 

“[Freshman center] Spike Sowells, young offensive lineman that did a really nice job early in the spring and had a good summer.”

Sophomore cornerback transfer Brian Nelson of North Texas is expected to make an immediate impact.

“There’s just a lot of new parts that came in and so whether they’re new or, I guess they’re all new when you talk about transfers and freshmen, but it was good to see Brian in the corner, transferred in here. He had a good day today. Very smooth mover.”

Redshirt freshman safety Ronnie Royal will be competing for one of the safety spots.

“Ronnie Royal, I thought took advantage of a lot of reps today,” Doeren said. “Did a nice job in there.”