NC State Defensive Line Coach Charley Wiles met with the media today after practice. You can watch the video ABOVE, and read the transcript BELOW.
Fall Camp
“It’s been good. Once you get rolling in camp you forget what day it is exactly. It goes pretty quick. This camp went pretty quick. Stayed healthy, that’s so important. We got better. We’ve got to continue to improve to reach our goals.”
Red Hibbler
“Hopefully he’s going to do as well as last year, or better. We have goals. He changed our dynamic on 3rd down. Gave us a really effective pass rush guy who can really win a 1-on-1. Red proved throughout the year that he could win a 1-on-1 contest.”
“Quickness. Red has gained a little weight and gotten a little bigger, a little stronger. He continues to get better as a 4-technique as well playing in our base defense. He was a dynamic addition to our 3rd down package.”
Brandon Cleveland
“Unfortunately he did not get to practice a couple of days in the middle of game week (bowl game) because of the flu. That was bad. Got him hydrated. When he was fresh he really did play well against a very good offensive line. Brandon has continued to work hard on his body position and his technique. He’s a hard out in 1-on-1.”
“He can win a 1-on-1 block, which is important. If they can single our nose then, we’re in trouble. Brandon can win a 1-on-1. Bigger, stronger, faster in our conditioning program. Through reps he’s continued to improve.”
Importance of Depth on D-Line
“You’ve got to have depth. You can’t have drop-off. You want your 1st and 2nd group to be really close together. We had that last year. That’s been the goal through camp. Be consistent with the 6, 7, 8 guys we’re playing.”
DJ Jackson & Chazz Wallace Backing up Cleveland
“DJ, he’s improved markedly from Spring to Fall. What he did this camp was solidify himself as a quality 2nd guy at nose. Quickness. He’s different than Brandon. Where Brandon is a little heavy handed, a little thicker, DJ is a little twitchier, a little more athletic from that standpoint movement-wise.”
“Chazz, from week 1 to week 2 in camp, he jumped a lot. We’re going to need Chazz. He’s going to play a significant role on the football field. He improved through camp.”
5 Years at NC State
“This is the 5th year I’ve coached most of these guys. Davin (Vann), Travali (Price), Brandon, these are guys that we recruited into this system. Davin was here, but he’s really a 4 technique. You think about Davin, he can play in the 5 technique. He can play in the C-gap. He can play in the B-gap. Has the ability to play inside some too.”
Going against the Running Backs
“That room has really flipped. Coach Goebbel has done a great job. You got guys that are 225 pounds…205 pounds…big, heavy, strong backs. That makes everybody better in terms of trying to tackle those guys.”