From a weather standpoint, NC State’s fall camp practices haven’t been what Dave Doeren has grown to expect in Raleigh. There haven’t been many practices with the sun beating down onto the team on a 90-degree day.
Instead, it has felt a lot like a North Carolina spring. Temperatures have been mostly comfortable with plenty of rain. NC State has tried to balance its practices to avoid the torrential rainfall like the Wolfpack saw Wednesday, which led to another session inside the Close-King Indoor Practice Facility.
If it were Doeren’s way, he’d opt for more grueling summer days as his team comes together ahead of its season opener against East Carolina, which is just over two weeks away.
“We’d love to have some fall camp heat,” Doeren said. “We did for two days. … You can’t control that. You do the best you can. We had a nice, humid day yesterday, [which] got the guys sweating. We expect September games at home to be warm.”
Although the Pack hasn’t had to deal with blistering hot conditions through the first two weeks of camp, its many position battles all over the field have turned up the temperature on the field. NC State has competition along the offensive line, while several wide receivers are pushing for playing time. Defensively, nearly every position is up for grabs, including a rebuilt secondary that returned no starters from last year’s opener against Western Carolina.
While NC State has a lot of unknowns on the depth chart, for now, Doeren didn’t want to open up too much about who may be leading in each battle.
“I’m excited about the depth and the competition,” Doeren said. “I’m not going to give you any intel. Obviously that doesn’t help our team to help you with that information. But we have really good competition right now, on both sides of the football: from specialists all the way through the position groups.”
But even with his secretive approach, the Wolfpack’s 13th-year coach was proud of how the reserves have performed to this point. It was a key point that he and the rest of the NC State coaching staff touted in the offseason, and so far, the team’s depth continues to impress on the practice fields.
“It’s been refreshing,” Doeren said. “Sometimes you get to the twos and your threes and there’s a massive drop off — we’re not seeing that. We’re seeing guys know what they’re doing. They’re getting better. It’s been a fun training camp, competitively.”
NC State’s first scrimmage of camp, which occurred last Thursday inside Carter-Finley Stadium, featured 140 plays in the rain. Doeren was happy that, despite the weather conditions, the Wolfpack didn’t have a single fumble or poor snap, and the team’s receivers caught the ball well downfield.
Doeren raved about redshirt freshman running back/wide receiver Jonathan Paylor’s ability to perform well in the live setting, while he noted sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey looked good. Doeren added that Wyoming transfer defensive end Sabastian Harsh and Norfolk State transfer AJ Richardson were the top two standout performers on defense.
As NC State prepares to have its first day of classes on Monday, Doeren is excited about what his team is building on the practice field. The Wolfpack, after all, is flying under the radar this summer. It’s a spot that Doeren seems to enjoy, and as he has watched players battle on the depth chart, the coach has found joy in the group’s ability to be malleable.
“It’s a really fun group to coach,” Doeren said. “They listen, they take criticism well, they want to get better. There’s no ego. It’s guys trying to get better, helping their teammates out, coaching the guys they’re trying to compete against and with. It’s been a fun camp.”
