NC State football adds intriguing punter transfer Shane McDonough
Two days after losing first-team All-ACC punter Trenton Gill as an early entry to the NFL Draft, NC State football has added a replacement option in Towson grad transfer Shane McDonough.
McDonough started his career at Marshall, and his final year there the Thundering Herd special teams coordinator was Todd Goebbel, who is now the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach for NC State.
In his first year at Towson in 2019, McDonough, a 6-foot-1, 210-pounder from Clearwater, Fla., was named third-team all-conference after finishing second in the Colonial Athletic Association at 43.9 yards per punt.
This past season, after not having a season in 2020, McDonough was second-team All-CAA after finishing third in the league at 41.3 yards per punt. He pinned 15 of his 45 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He also handled kickoffs for Towson.
McDonough will likely compete with rising redshirt freshman Ian Williams, who was a scholarship addition from the 2020. Williams averaged 39.6 yards on 65 career punts at Weddington High in Matthews, N.C.
Rising redshirt sophomore walk-on Collin Smith is another option. Hailing from Eastern Guilford High in Gibsonville, N.C, Smith averaged 42.0 yards per punt and booted 70 of his 83 kickoffs for touchbacks.
Gill was a former walk-on averaged 44.4 yards on his 65 punts during the season for NC State, earning his all-conference recognition. He chose to turn pro rather than use a Super Senior year.
Gill’s career average of 45.8 yards per punt is a NC State football record, breaking Johnny Evans’ mark of 44.0 yards that has stood since 1977.
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