Three-star OT Charlie Symonds decommits from NC State
Charlie Symonds, a three-star offensive tackle and an NC State legacy recruit, announced his decommitment on Twitter Friday afternoon. The lineman joined the Wolfpack in June shortly after his official visit to Raleigh.
Prior to his commitment to the Pack, Symonds held offers from Stanford, Kentucky and many others. He was one of four offensive linemen in the 2023 class. Former NC State offensive line coach John Garrison was his primary recruiter before he left to take the same job at Ole Miss.
“I have decommited from NC state,” Symonds wrote in a Tweet. “I would like to thank Coach Doeren and Coach Garrison and the whole staff for recruiting me and believing in me.”
Following Garrison’s departure, the Wolfpack quickly hired former UVA assistant Garett Tujague as the program’s new offensive line coach. Robert Anae also joined the staff as an offensive coordinator.
NC State was his lone official visit, but he took 17 unofficial trips before making his commitment public. This included stops to see Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Rutgers, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt and Virginia.
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“It was really fun seeing all these different places,” Symonds told The Wolfpacker in July. “To be honest, after a while it got kind of stressful trying to manage going to all these different places and talking to the different coaches.”
Toby Symonds, Charlie’s father, was a soccer player for NC State and also kicked for the Wolfpack from 1989-1990. Those were coached by Dick Sheridan and went 7-5 each season , including 1-1 in bowl games.
“Throughout the whole process, he wanted to me to make my own decision,” Charlie Symonds said.
Symonds was the first out-of-state commit for the Wolfpack in 2023, with the 6-7, 265 pound tackle hailing from South Kent, Connecticut, and suiting up for The Taft School. He is the On3 Consensus No. 905 recruit in the nation, the No. 58 offensive tackle and the No. 7 prospect in Connecticut.
NC State’s 2023 class is now down to 16 commits. Symonds’ decommitment led to a four-spot drop in the team rankings from No. 32 to No. 36. The class ranks No. 6 in the ACC with a 86.86 class score.
Following the 2022 season, NC State will be tasked with replacing of a few major pieces on the offensive line after center Grant Gibson, tackle Bryson Speas and guard Chandler Zavala all exhaust their eligibility, and this class will be an important step in finding ways to replicate their production.
Offensive tackles Darion Rivers and Obadiah Obasuyi, along with do-it-all lineman Kamen Smith, are all still committed to the Wolfpack.
