VIDEO: Dave Doeren Talks at the End of 1st Week of Spring Practice

NC State has nearly wrapped up it’s first week of Spring Practice, and Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren met with the media after practice yesterday. The video is ABOVE (Via PackPride), and a bulleted breakdown is BELOW.

• Some good, some bad.
• It’s the second day in pads today. I thought yesterday or 2 days ago, we were a little sloppy. A lot of young guys were playing in pads for the first time. Too many guys on the ground. Today was much better.
• There’s a fine line between how physical you want to play and playing against your teammates, so you also want to keep people up and prevent people from having ankle sprains in piles and things like that.
• It’s a matter of 17 new players getting used to playing college football. But there’s some good things. There’s some new schemes, there’s a lot of learning going on, and today I thought there were fewer mental mistakes than there were the day before.
• The new coaches have great energy. I think any time you’re new at a school, you’re trying to prove yourself and earn respect. You have to come out and be a good teacher. You have to be consistent. You have to have a voice. The players ultimately, no matter where you are, want to get better. These guys do a great job with that. They have good command with their position groups. They’ve put a lot of time into getting to know their players, and I know they’re just having fun working with these guys. We’ve got a good group of young men to work with.
• Quarterback play is up and down. I think Matt (McKay) and Devin (Leary) are further along probably because they know more. Obviously, Bailey (Hockman) and Ty (Evans) are just getting here, so you’re going to expect to see more mistakes from them.
• They all throw the ball well. They’re all coachable guys. They care a lot. But there’s a lot of time between the decision process, and it’s just a body of work that you need to put together over a long period of time.
• We’ve had really good success bringing in grad transfers, and you don’t bring one in unless you have a serious need at that spot. Obviously losing Kelvin and Jakobi early, to be able to add an older player (Tabari Hines) to that room, I think, is very, very important.
• He’s (Hines) a guy we know a lot about, having seen him on film, not just against us but against the league. He’s hungry to play. He had a tough year last year, so he’ll have a chip on his shoulder which fits our program. I’m looking forward to getting him here in May.
• I didn’t know him (Hines) at all. You get to know him as a person and the type of worker he is. Anytime you get to talk to a senior, it’s a different conversation than when they’re younger just because the sand’s running out of the hourglass on him. He knows it’s an important year for him. He’s coming in here ready to help our football team and, by doing that, help himself.
• Levi Jones has really adjusted. The first week was hard. Since then, he’s gained some weight, he can really run, he’s a special athlete, and I just like how coachable he is right now.
• He (Jones) really wants to learn. I think him and Coach Huxtable have a good relationship. He coached his father, Coach Hux did. It goes a long way back. There’s a lot of respect in that family for each other.
• We look forward to having him when we get him eligible. I don’t know yet (eligibility this year). I wouldn’t say a pipe dream because everyone is a specific case. We’ll just have to see.
• I think Coach Huxtable’s done a good job identifying guys, and we’ve been able to sign really good players that we wanted, and they’re tough kids. They fit the demeanor of his room. They love ball, and I think that’s the one thing; if you’re going to play for him, you’ve got to be a guy that loves studying the game and is a true student of the game, not just what you say but what you do, your actions. It’s a good room of guys, really good room.
• Thayer Thomas is an amazing young man. The way he manages his time between two sports and his academics. He does a great job in the classroom, the way he treats people, and the whole thing.
• He’s pretty special when it comes to time management. Not a lot of people can pull off two sports and maintain the GPA that he does and play the way he plays. I know he’s helping the baseball team when asked to and has a role with them and obviously has a huge role with us.
• I didn’t get to watch the NFL Combine.I was watching videos of the guys of their performances when they were posted. I’m very proud of them, but I’m not surprised. Those guys worked hard to get to where they were, and I knew they wouldn’t stop working. When they get another opportunity, they’re going to go full speed at it.
• Garrett Bradbury’s sub-5.0 40-yard dash doesn’t surprise me. He’s a good athlete. He always has been. That’s one of his strengths as a football player. He’s always been agile, and to be able to put it out there like that, I think he helped himself a lot.
• I’m really proud of Isaiah Moore. Him and Louis (Acceus) both work really well together. They’re competitive. They’re both really good players. Isaiah’s leadership has grown so much this offseason. I think last year, he was just trying to prove himself, and now he’s trying to help others and serve. He’s really taking that seriously in the offseason.