VIDEO: Dave Doeren’s 2019 National Signing Day Press Conference

NC State head coach Dave Doeren held his National Signing Day Press Conference for the Wolfpack’s 2019 football recruiting class yesterday. The video is ABOVE, and a bulleted breakdown is BELOW.

• Very excited for these young men who signed with us today, and their families. Special group of guys. Really bonded. Have had the ability to connect over social media.
• The 19 players who signed, we had 9 Shrine Bowl selections, and 16 of these 19 will enroll early, which for me is a high.
• 4 of these young men were ranked as 4-star players. Whether that matters or not, we’ll see as time goes. Top 25 class for the 1st time since 2003 at NC State.
• 15 of them are from our state.
• We got our first choice in many cases says a lot.
• People ask me a lot in recruiting what’s the best thing we do. I tell them the best thing we do here is develop players, and I can prove it.
• The passion that our fanbase has is unique.
• NC State is not a school that just has 1 sport. It has 23 sports who are supported well,and play well.
• 4 players drafted on the Defensive Line. That’s happened 3 time in the history of the NFL. Then you see us get the 4 best defensive linemen in the state. There’s a correlation there. When kids can see it, it’s different than when you just talk about it.
• We are the only school in ACC history to have two 1st-team All-ACC wide receivers with 1,000 yards.  Why wouldn’t you want to come here?
• Those things sell themselves now because it’s happening.
• Success changes the conversation in recruiting because you are no longer selling anything. You’re telling them: here’s what we do…here’s the blueprint…here’s the proof.
• More are doing it so it’s becoming more normal (16 enrolling early). It’s strategic. It’s important when you’re losing good players to get them in early, and teach them the systems. It just happened where a lot of the guys we were getting were early enrollees, and we had open spots with guys graduating early and leaving the program.
• I get to know every kid and their families. I’m an integral part in recruiting. I spend a lot of time in it.
• It’s going to happen when you win. You’re going to lose coaches. We were fortunate to hang on to our staff last year like we did. To win 9 games last year and not lose anybody was unique.
• For the most part our class stayed firm. We lost 1 young man and that’s fine. At the end of the day, I want players who want to be a part of our program.
• I hired everyone here. Everyone that works in this building has come through me. If they (recruits) love them…they know I brought them here. If they (coaches) leave, I’m not going to bring someone to make us worse.
• I hired coach Uremovich who went on to be an offensive coordinator. I hired Clayton White who went on to be a defensive coordinator. I hired Dwayne Ledford who left to be an offensive coordinator. I hired Eliah Drinkwitz who left to be a head coach. Those are good things for those guys, and I’ve replaced them with coaches who have done well.
• We recruited Jakobi Meyers to play quarterback and now he’s a receiver. Thank God, because he’s really good at it. There’s now a hole (QB) in that class. You don’t want to stack talent in the same year if you can help it. To be able to get an older guy like Bailey (Hockman) and then a younger guy like Ty (Evans) was great.
• We’re really excited that coach (Kurt) Roper is joining us (Quarterbacks Coach). Some of you know him from his time at Duke. Has a lot of ties to the area. Has incredible ties from a recruiting standpoint, spending time in the Southeast, whether at Ole Miss, Duke, Tennessee, or Florida.
• There are some talented guys in this class and there are some needs on our football team. They’ll be in the competition and getting reps in spring ball if they are healthy.
• I tell every recruit that I’m not going to promise you a job, but I’ll promise you an opportunity to win a job, and I’ll coach you the best I can every chance I get. It’s up to them to win the job.
• It doesn’t matter how many stars they had. It’s about what you do now. every day is an opportunity to get better.
• There are some lines shorter than others, and running back is one of them. I told that to Bam (Zonovan Knight), “Hey bud, you better be ready because you’re going to get a lot of reps this spring.” He’s excited about that. He has an awesome opportunity. We’re excited to see what he can do.
• We have a few spots left in this class. Probably 2 or 3.
• I actually thanked Drake Thomas (LB) last night. His leadership as a player is so strong and people want to play with him. He has a magnetic personality and doesn’t push guys into things. People like the way he plays. They like his confidence. He wants to win a championship here and he wants guys around that he feel can help. He was awesome talking to guys. He did a great job and a lot of these guys did. It’s kind of what recruiting has become.
• Shyheim (Battle) and Jalen (Frazier) are cornerbacks. That’s how we see them. They’ve played multiple spots, but they are good man-to-man players. You watch Jalen and he’ll be in the slot, out wide, or in safety.
• Khalid Martin is a safety for us. Jakeen (Harris) can play nickel or safety. He has very good man skills. He plays nickel in their defense, but has the ability to play strong safety, if that’s what we need him to do.
• I want our players to see us as more than coaches and that’s how you build a family environment. Everyone I hire, I always look at it as if my son was going to go play for him. How would he feel about that? I’ve always had our players thoughts and hearts in mind with every hire.
• When people come in, the common comment I hear is, “Coach, you have an unbelievable group of people here.”  We just have great people here. We really do.
• Recruits are comfortable here. We don’t lie to kids. We tell them the truth. We tell them how it’s going to be. If they don’t like being pushed, they should go somewhere else. There are certain kids who want to be a part of that.
• That’s what makes this a unique job. Not only do you have 4 ACC schools, but you have ECU, App, and Charlotte and the outside schools who want to come in and PRETEND this is their state.
• What we’ve done is build a place where they can go to the NFL, graduate with an incredible degree, be surrounded by wonderful people, and live in one of the best places in the world to live.
• It’s competition, and I love it (Mack Brown at UNC and Mike Houston at ECU). We’ll get out on the road and compete with anybody. I’m not afraid of any of those guys. I look forward to competing with them. They have their job to do, and we have our job to do.  May the best man win.