Highlights From Dave Doeren’s Interview on Gramlich & Mac Lain’s NC State Preview: Part 1

Kelly Gramlich and Eric Mac Lain recently had Head Coach Dave Doeren on their Podcast for their 2024 NC State Football Preview. Here is Part 1 of the Highlights from their conversation.

You can watch the video in full ABOVE, and read some key quotes BELOW.

Grayson McCall

“I couldn’t have asked for a better Quarterback to come in here. Grayson’s a leader. His confidence and humility, the way they match up. When he walks in the room, you can say ‘that’s a dude right there.’ You can just feel his presence, and it’s not cocky, but he’s a winner. When he gets going and competing, he just fits the DNA of NC State. He’s a blue collar tough kid. He was under recruited in high school…ran the veer in high school…nobody in the ACC recruited him. He’s got a big chip on his shoulder to show our league that he’s more than good enough, that he’s the best player in this league. I’m excited for him, and proud of him. He’s done a great job stepping into a locker room, just being himself, and being real and vulnerable with his teammates. He’s very accurate as a thrower. More mobile than expected. We all knew he could run, but he’s really comfortable running, not just as a play call, but the way he can scramble to get yards, or scramble to throw. He’s got so many reps. He’s seen so much on the field. The thing that I like most about him, when you watch him in the big games, he plays his best football. It’s the same in practice. When it becomes a scrimmage, he moves the ball. The guy knows how to get first downs and touchdowns, and he protects it.

Running Back Room

“It’s deep. Kendrick Raphael, who played well as a True Freshman, has gained a bunch of weight and looks great. True Freshman, Duke Scott, that was impressive, to say the least, this Spring. We’ve got depth, we’ve got talent, and we’ve got experience with Jordan. (Waters). He’s really a good role model in that room. He’s very about his business. Matter of fact. Does the right things on and off the field. He’s helped Coach Goebbel in that room immensely. To show them what it looks like, because there’s a lot of young guys in there behind him. It’s been a position that’s rotated a lot over the years, since we had Bam Knight and Ricky Person. It’s been awhile since we had a room like this, so we’re excited to have that talent and competition in the room.”

Kevin Concepcion

I think the biggest jump in his game is the physical part of learning how to recover. He’s been in a college weight room for a year. He looks better. He’s definitely got an understanding of what it’s like to have to sustain that long of a season now. He’s doing the right things off the field to take care of his body. I think that’s where you’ll see a jump. His knowledge and feel for the game is very unique for a young guy. None of us expected to put that weight on him his Freshman year. That’s just how it played out. To his credit he accepted the challenge and did a great job. Our offense ran through one player last year. After the bye week, we really just dug in at how many times can we get him the ball, and in how many ways. We have more people around him now to help him, which doesn’t diminish his role, but it allows us now to not allow a defense to pinpoint where he’s at all the time with Dacari Collins and Noah Rogers, Wesley Grimes…our Tight End Justin Joly had a great Spring. And then the Running Backs. We can spread the ball around now more and take some of the pressure off of him, which will help him as well. Because you know last year, after a couple of games, the whole team was pointing to where he was at every snap, not that they could stop him, but they were focused on him. He can throw Eric. He’s probably our third best thrower right now. The guy can sling it. Not that he can go back and read coverage, but he can really throw a football. It gives you some fun plays. You know with Coach Anae, he’s always got something in the bag.

We’ve had some Freshmen, Bo Hines, who was only with us 1 year, had a tremendous Freshman year. That was my 2nd year here. Jaylen Samuels had a really good Freshman year. But not like KC, who was the Freshman Player of the Year in the conference. He’s definitely had the biggest impact on the offensive side of the ball for us.

Offensive Line

I’m really excited about our O-Line. Anthony Belton and Tim McKay came back. Had a chance to leave early for the NFL, and they are developing nicely. Jacarrius Peak’s really a guy that’s worked hard in our offense. He’s getting better, and we need him to continue to do that. Zeke Correll joining us, the 30-game starter from Notre Dame, is a huge get. Losing Grant Gibson and Dylan McMahon…Garrett Bradbury before that…we’ve had a string of Centers that have been really good players and great leaders. Zeke steps in and he’s no different. He’s in command and has great confidence and volume in his voice. He’s seen a lot as a player. That O-Line is gelling nicely. I think the backups are a really critical piece as you know. Your 6th, 7th and 8th guys are big on the O-Line. We feel really good about where that’s going as well. There’s a big competition at our Left Guard spot. We’ve got 3 or 4 guys that are competing. That will be a big part of training camp to see where that ends up.