The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1137844
38 ■ THE WOLFPACKER FOOTBALL PREVIEW 2019 In a situation like this, is there any benefit to naming a starter before the opener? "I think there's a benefit if it's obvious just to keep people from talking about it anymore. You let everybody know here's our guy and let's get behind him. If they know, it can help the rest of the team be- cause now they are not going to get asked that question. They know who the guy is. "At Northern Illinois when Chandler Harnish graduated Jordan Lynch was the guy. There wasn't a competition. There were other players, but we knew he was the guy. "That whole offseason we had a starting quarterback even though he wasn't a re- turner. There is a benefit in that for the guys playing with him, we just don't have it yet." Is it more annoying to get asked ques- tions about the quarterback competi- tion or more stressful to make the right choice? "I don't know if it's a stressful decision. If it's handled the right way, I won't have to make a decision. The stats will tell me what to do. "If it isn't that, then that's hard. If these guys are all even, then that's really hard. Then it's probably not going to be a decision. "It's going to be, 'I am going to have to go into some games and see who handles game day.' That would be a bad situation. If that's where we are, we'll handle it. "In Ryan and Jalan's case, Ryan's stats told us he deserved to start. Was it hard to break the news? Yes, but the stats were telling. These are things that we have done for 20 practices, and he's in front of you." Your offensive coordinators, Des Kitch- ings and George McDonald, are new to that role. How do you see that working? "Every coordinator I have worked with has been different. Eli [Drinkwitz] leaned on his staff a lot on game day. He called them and would ask, 'What do you want? What pass, what run?' "In between drives, he was getting notes from those guys, setting up his call sheets, additions and subtractions. "Watching these guys in the spring, George and Des worked really well to- gether. I anticipate they'll be asking [Kurt] Roper or [John] Garrison or Todd [Goeb- bel] for suggestions based on what their areas of expertise are for the game week." What positions do you feel good about from a talent and depth standpoint, and conversely where are you not where you need to be? "I like our linebacker and DB depth on defense. On offense, our tight end and wide receiver depth are areas where I have the answers. I've seen enough to know we're going to be pretty good. "I like a lot of our returners on the O-line and D-line, but we're just young behind the guys that you know about. If we had inju- ries, we could be playing a freshman. "We know who the starters are, the rota- tional guys are. We know our top five on the O-line, or six or seven or eight, even. On the D-line we have a pretty good two-deep. "But we are an injury away from that backup being a true freshman. That's a little scary. They're good players, like [freshman offensive linemen] Dylan McMahon and Ikem Ekwonu. "These are guys that are physically de- veloped. They are not 260-pound guys that need to be in a weight room for a year. These guys are 300 pounds already." What is a key for you on offense and de- fense to be as good as you want to be? "I think defensively we need to get more takeaways, whether they are interceptions or fumbles — the opportunistic plays. We have defended well. We've limited explosive plays in the last three years. We've played good in the red zone. We've played good on third downs. We've been in the top in rush- ing defense. I'd like to see us get a few more possessions through turnovers on defense. "Offensively, I think finding that explo- sive running game again like we had with Nyheim [Hines] will help our quarterbacks. We are going to have it in the pass game with [receivers] Emeka [Emezie], C.J. [Ri- ley], Thayer [Thomas] and Tabari [Hines]; I think we are going to be able to throw for explosive plays. "Reggie [Gallaspy] was phenomenal for us, but he wasn't an explosive runner. He was a grind-you-out, wear-you-down guy. With Nyheim, every time he touched it you could score. "Does that happen with Ricky [Person], with Zonovan [Knight], with Jordan Hous- ton? Those three guys are home-run backs. Getting that figured out on offense will help our quarterbacks a lot." What competition besides quarterback are you most looking forward to seeing this fall? "The DBs, because there is some good competition in the back end. It'll be that or the running back spot. There is talent and depth in both rooms, and I look forward to seeing how that plays out." ■ Doeren has led the Wolfpack to five consecutive bowl games, which is the second-longest postseason streak in school history. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN