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WATCH: Dante Daniels Talks About Getting Engaged This Past Week (with transcript)

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6 days ago

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Junior Tight End Dante Daniels met with the media after practice today leading up to NC State’s game against Wake Forest. He shared about getting engaged this past week, and the transition from the JUCO ranks to NC State. You can watch the video ABOVE, and read the transcript BELOW.

So how big has this week been on and off the field for you?

It’s been pretty big, honestly. I played a lot more snaps this week, and I got engaged. My girlfriend, my fiancee now, is a great woman. She helped me honestly through this whole process from JUCO to here, and it’s been honestly amazing, and this week has been a blessing.

What has that experience been like for you, going from JUCO to kind of fitting in here?

It’s been great, it’s a big change. But everyone here has helped me a lot growing as a person, as a husband soon, and as a teammate. Coming from JUCO, you don’t have much. So coming here, I was more grateful coming here.

And then honestly, I felt more complacent at the beginning when I got here, and I realized, ‘Hey, my fiancee was telling me, ‘Hey, you need to get back on your edge. Like, come on, work.’ Davin always works me every practice, saying ‘Dante, let’s go, work it, work it, let’s go.’

You popped the question last week, guys, in case you didn’t hear that husband-to-be thing. Well, tell us about that. How did you pop the question?

I’ve been with her for three and a half years now. She’s amazing, and I decided, she works at a hair salon right now. And I was like, ‘Let’s go to a botanical garden in Duke and I had my friends Justin Joly and Aiden Arias take pictures. I took her to the garden, got down on one knee, and I was shaking trying to put the ring on. It was nerve-wracking, but the best thing that ever happened to me. It was raining. Coach 2J said that’s a good luck, so I had to do it.

Have you gotten used to calling her fiance yet?

No, I say girlfriend all the time still.

How’s your NC State experience been so far?

Amazing, I’ve never been around a group of people so amazing, like the coaches and the teammates. I’m always nervous getting to a new group of people, and the team has brought me in and treated me like I’ve been there for years. I’m already close friends with Reid Mitchell, one of our tight ends, and Justin (Joly), and Juice (Vereen).

We’re all close, and everyone’s been so welcoming and so amazing. And then the coaches have been extreme. They’ve been texting me here and there if something’s wrong, they text me if I’m okay.

Coach Doeren called me at 10:30 at night, congratulating me, and I’ve never felt that before.

Coach Doeren has said in the past that junior college players appreciate the perks when they get to NC State. I would say with your background, coming in from Canada, are there moments where you just kind of pinch yourself when you look around and you see all the opportunities that are right here?

Yeah, every day I wake up, I thank God.

Obviously, God brought me here. Since I was a little boy, I’ve dreamt of playing at Clemson. I cried going on that field. I cried before going onto the field at Panther Stadium.

Just a blessing, my situation growing up, I didn’t have much resources. I was adopted late, and my foster family gave me a chance to play football in junior college, went over there and played stadiums that are smaller than high school. So coming here, getting the food you get here, the perks you get here, like the hot tub, cold tub treatment, all that stuff is just out of this world.

What would you tell the younger version of yourself now that you’re in this position?

Work harder at school. One thing, work harder at school for sure. Just be positive all the time.

I thought growing up with my situation, I always said to myself, ‘Why me? Why me?’ And I think now I would tell him, ‘Hey, God chose you for a reason to be in this spot you are,’ and I wish that I got closer to God younger. But it still happened to me later in my life, and it still worked out perfectly. My fiance has helped me grow closer to God too, so helpful.

When did you start playing football?

I played football here and there when I started at the age of eight, nine years old, and I didn’t really like it. I was a baseball player, a pitcher. And my uncle lives out in Arizona State, and he got me an offer for baseball.

And I was gonna play that until my UCL started hurting. And I was like, ‘Okay, I gotta play another sport. And then in Canada football, I just started dominating.

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Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Football

NC State vs. Cal Kickoff Time & TV Network Announced

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3 mins ago

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October 8, 2024

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NC State and California will kickoff on the West Coast at 3:30pm on October 19th. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.

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Under Dave Doeren, NC State is 9-16 at the 3:30 time slot. If you include 3pm and 4pm kickoffs, the Wolfpack is 14-17 between 3-4pm since 2013.

2023

Virginia Tech – 35-28 (W)

2022

Syracuse – 9-24 (L)

Boston College – 20-21 (L)

UNC – 30-27 (W) (2OT)

2021

Clemson – 27-21 (W)

FSU – 28-14 (W) (4pm)

Syracuse – 41-17 (W) (4pm)

2020

Duke – 31-20 (W)

Georgia Tech – 23-13 (W) (4pm)

2018

Clemson – 7-41 (L)

FSU – 47-28 (W)

2017

South Carolina – 28-35 (L) (3pm)

Notre Dame – 14-35 (L)

Clemson – 31-38 (L)

UNC – 33-21 (W)

Arizona St. – 52-31 (W) (3pm)

2016

Wake Forest – 33-16 (W)

2015

Clemson – 41-46 (L)

UNC – 34-35 (L)

Miss St. – 28-51 (L)

2014

South Florida – 49-17 (W)

FSU – 41-56 (L)

Clemson – 0-41 (L)

Boston College – 14-30 (L)

Louisville – 18-30 (L)

Wake Forest – 42-13 (W)

2013

Central Michigan – 48-14 (W)

Wake Forest – 13-28 (L)

Syracuse – 10-24 (L)

FSU – 17-49 (L)

Duke – 28-30 (L) (4pm)

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NC State Football

NC State vs. WFU: Offensive PFF Grades Report

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1 hour ago

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October 7, 2024

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NC State lost to Wake Forest 30-34 on Saturday in Carter-Finley Stadium. Here’s a PFF Grade Report for the Wolfpack Offense in Week 6.

Freshman Quarterback CJ Bailey – 84.8
Redshirt Senior Left Tackle Anthony Belton – 77.9
Junior Tight End Justin Joly – 75.7
Sophomore Running Back Kendrick Raphael – 71.9
Redshirt Freshman Wide Receiver Noah Rogers – 68.0
Redshirt Junior Left Guard Anthony Carter Jr. – 67.3
Freshman Wide Receiver Keenan Jackson – 63.9
Redshirt Sophomore Right Tackle Jacarrius Peak – 63.0
Redshirt Senior Center Zeke Correll – 62.7
Freshman Wide Receiver Terrell Anderson – 61.8
Junior Wide Receiver Wesley Grimes – 61.4
Redshirt Senior Running Back Jordan Waters – 59.9
Sophomore Wide Receiver Kevin Concepcion – 57.3
Redshirt Junior Wide Receiver Jakolbe Baldwin – 54.1
Redshirt Senior Right Guard Timothy McKay – 53.3
Junior Tight End Dante Daniels – 39.7

Notes

  • This was the highest grade of CJ Bailey’s career.
  • This was Anthony Belton’s highest grade of the season, and the 2nd highest grade of his career.
  • This was Kendrick Raphael’s highest grade of the season, and the 3rd highest grade of his career.
  • Wesley Grimes started instead of the injured Dacari Collins.

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NC State Football

NC State vs. WFU: Defensive PFF Grades Report

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3 hours ago

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October 7, 2024

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NC State lost to Wake Forest 30-34 on Saturday in Carter-Finley Stadium. Here’s a PFF Grade Report for the Wolfpack Defense in Week 6.

Redshirt Freshman Nickel Tamarcus Cooley – 77.8
Senior Safety Bishop Fitzgerald – 77.3
Senior Defensive End Davin Vann – 69.6
Redshirt Junior Safety Rente Hinton – 69.3
Junior Nose Tackle Brandon Cleveland – 69.0
Redshirt Junior Defensive End Travali Price – 67.9
Senior Linebacker Devon Betty – 65.9
Redshirt Freshman Defensive End Isaiah Shirley – 65.7
Senior Cornerback Aydan White – 61.9
Senior Nose Tackle Chazz Wallace – 61.4
Senior Safety DK Kaufman – 61.3
Redshirt Freshman Linebacker Kamal Bonner – 58.9
Redshirt Senior Defensive End Noah Potter – 58.9
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Caden Fordham – 55.2
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Sean Brown – 54.9
Junior Cornerback Devon Marshall – 48.8
Senior Nickel Ja’Had Carter – 44.1
Redshirt Senior Safety Kerry Martin Jr. – 42.1

Notes

  • Tamarcus Cooley started for the 2nd straight week at Nickel, despite the return of Ja’Had Carter.
    • This was the highest grade of his career.
  • Bishop Fitzgerald returned to his starting position at Strong Safety (KJ Martin started last week).
    • This was his highest grade of his career.
  • NC State only had 2 defensive players with a grade of 70+.
  • This was Rente Hinton’s highest grade of his career.
  • Travali Price returned to his starting job at Defensive End (Isaiah Shirley started last week).
    • This was Price’s highest grade of the season, and his highest grade since Week 9 last year against Clemson.
  • Devon Marshall started in place of the injured Brandon Cisse, rather than Corey Coley Jr.
    • Unfortunately, he posted a grade of 48.8, which is the lowest grade of his career.
  • This was Ja’Had’s 2nd lowest grade of his college career.

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NC State Football

NC State vs. WFU: Defensive Snap Count Report

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12 hours ago

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October 7, 2024

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NC State lost to Wake Forest 30-34 on Saturday in Carter-Finley Stadium. Here’s Snap Count Report for the Wolfpack Defense in Week 6.

Redshirt Junior Linebacker Sean Brown – 66
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Caden Fordham – 66
Senior Cornerback Aydan White – 66
Junior Cornerback Devon Marshall – 62
Senior Defensive End Davin Vann – 57
Junior Nose Tackle Brandon Cleveland – 53
Senior Safety DK Kaufman – 52
Senior Linebacker Devon Betty – 51
Senior Safety Bishop Fitzgerald – 48
Redshirt Freshman Nickel Tamarcus Cooley – 44
Redshirt Junior Defensive End Travali Price – 38
Redshirt Senior Defensive End Noah Potter – 27
Senior Nickel Ja’Had Carter – 20
Redshirt Freshman Isaiah Shirley – 18
Redshirt Senior Safety KJ Martin Jr. – 18
Redshirt Junior Safety Rente Hinton – 14
Redshirt Freshman Linebacker Kamal Bonner – 9
Senior Nose Tackle Chazz Wallace – 7
Redshirt Sophomore Cornerback Jackson Vick – 5
Senior Cornerback Corey Coley – 5

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