NC State 2024 Special Teams Preview

The NC State Football Season Opener is only hours away at this point. Before kickoff, here’s a preview of the Wolfpack’s Special Teams.

Place Kicker – Redshirt Sophomore Kanoah Vinesett

Punter – Redshirt Junior Caden Noonkester

Kickoff – Redshirt Senior Collin Smith

Long Snapper – Redshirt Freshman Aiden Arias

Punt Returner – Redshirt Junior Jalen Coit or Sophomore Kevin Concepcion

Kickoff Returner – 1) Redshirt Freshman Hollywood Smothers 2) Redshirt Freshman Noah Rogers

Vinesett apparently connected on a 53-yarder in a scrimmage recently. Coach Goebbel calls him the Freddie Couples of kickers.

Noonkester returns as the Wolfpack’s Punter in 2024, after averaging 42.7 yards per punt in 2023.

Smith returns for kickoff duties in 2024, having served in this role for the Pack the past two seasons.

Arias has been in a battle with Redshirt Junior Jake Mann for the starting Long Snapper position. Doeren said it’s been a good battle in Camp. Arias has big shoes to fill, with Joe Shimko winning the award last year for best Long Snapper in College Football.

Coit averaged 10.4 yards per punt return in 2023, which ranked 3rd in the ACC. As good as Coit was last year, you can’t help but be excited to see an “or” in between his name and Kevin Concepcion. Doeren has stated that both will be active in Punt Return. It seems like the staff wants to find a way to get the ball in KC’s hands in space in as many ways as humanly possible. Concepcion did return a kickoff for a touchdown as a Senior at Chambers High School.

While Smothers will have to work his way up the Depth Chart at Running Back, with an “or” in between his name and 2nd String back Sophomore Kendrick Raphael, he is getting the starting Kickoff Return job from Day 1. He was the Offensive Player of the Year in the state of North Carolina as a Sophomore and Junior, and he was on the same team as Concepcion. He is electric, and far hard to get your hands on when he has space.

It’s also exciting to see Noah Rogers name listed as the 2nd String Kickoff Returner. As a Senior at Rolesville, Rogers averaged 27.5 yards per kickoff return, taking 1 to the house. Standing 6’2″, with 4.4 40-yard dash speed, opponents wouldn’t want to let Rogers get going full speed on a return.

Make sure to check out our other position group previews:

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends