The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JULY 2019 ■ 41 FOOTBALL PREVIEW 2019 Perhaps no player on the current roster understands the blueprint better than fifth- year senior defensive end James Smith-Wil- liams. He watched the four NFL defensive linemen develop before leaving after the 2017 campaign — ends Bradley Chubb and Kentavius Street with tackles B.J. Hill and Justin Jones. NCSU lost two more starting defensive linemen from the 2018 defense. "I think the coaching staff around us has done a great job of getting guys in here who every year we see what we did the year be- fore and build upon that," Smith-Williams said. "We don't want to do the exact same thing we did the year before; we want to be better. Two years ago we lose four draft picks on the defensive line and that was a big deal, but last year we had success up front. "We had success as a defense last year and we had success as a team." Doeren pointed out that the defense had 35 sacks and 83 tackles for loss last fall despite having to replace so much from the 2017 season. That told him something about what is needed for the 2019 campaign. "What I took from that is that the kids that need to be good for us, that have played a lot of foot- ball, need to take advantage of the platform that is there for them, and then it is up to us to find the answers in the other spots," the coach explained. "There's a lot of competition for some places right now." Several NC State assistant coaches essen- tially lived through having a certain standard met when they were players. Defensive line coach Kevin Patrick went 42-6 from 1990-93 at Miami (Fla.), with a national title in 1991. But Patrick isn't alone in suffering few losses in college. Nickel backs coach Aaron Henry played at Wisconsin from 2007-11, missing 2008 with an injury. The Badgers went 41-12 during his four healthy seasons, which overlapped some when Doeren was in Madison (2006-10). "After my very first college workout, I threw up," Henry recalled. "I came in with the mindset — and every kid has a different mindset — but mine was 'I am going to play, and I don't care who is in the secondary.'" Henry and his fellow Wisconsin seniors had a barbeque party for the freshman when they arrived on campus, and some of it was to create team building, but another part was to deliver a powerful message. "I thought it was the coolest thing in the world for us to get to know them," Henry said. "That is when we really started to bond and watched a young man make a transition from home to school. "The seniors just kind of broke down the rules and by-laws of being a football player at the University of Wisconsin — go to class and handle your business. That wasn't a coach telling you that." Henry said it's important to recruit players with the right mindset. The guys that want to party or chase after the opposite sex didn't always last long or live up to their potential. "Just because he's a four-star or five- star kid and a really good player, he might not fit your program," Henry said. "We've done a great job here at NC State finding the guys that fit our program specifically." Henry said a successful team has to de- velop the mentality of reaching double- digit wins or bust. "It just becomes the norm," he noted. "We are training or working out for more than just a handful of wins or a coach gets a bonus. We wanted to leave a mark on that university." First-year NC State offensive line coach John Garrison played at Nebraska from 1999-2002, going 40-12 during his four years with the Cornhuskers. "I've had the experience at both levels [playing and coaching]," Garrison said. "When we took the field as a player — and this might come out the wrong way — we had already won the game. The fans were a little spoiled from the 1990s, so it just became a mindset for us. "I got to live that part of that, playing in the Fiesta Bowl and in the Rose Bowl and the national championship game [in 1999]." However, Nebraska struggled his senior year in 2002 after losing Heisman Trophy- winning quarterback Eric Crouch. The les- sons learned from his playing days and that 7-7 season still reverberate today. "We had a significant drop-off and it was a great experience, but a tough experience at the time," Garrison said. "In no way, shape or form was that acceptable at that program. "I got to see things at the top, at the pin- nacle, when everybody was your friend. I got to see things at the very bottom for Nebraska my senior year." Garrison became the assistant offensive line and tight ends coach at Nebraska in 2011-12, and then helmed the offensive line in 2013-14 under head coach Bo Pelini. The Cornhuskers won nine games or more all four years, going a combined 37-15. Pelini and his staff were still fired two days after the 2014 regular season ended, and Garrison got another indoctrination of the wild world of college football. Ne- braska went on to lose the bowl game un- der an interim staff to finish a 37-16 stretch that was not good enough. Garrison went on to be the offensive line coach at UNLV and Florida Atlantic before arriving at NC State this winter. He hopes his life experiences will help the Wolfpack become a perpetual winner. "Expectations are high and I know that the bar has been raised here," Garrison said. "I understand that and what my re- sponsibility is. I have a younger group [on the offensive line] and it's a group that is going to be developed." The Wolfpack has to replace the afore- mentioned Bradbury, plus left tackle Ty- ler Jones and left guard Terronne Prescod. They were part of a group with 2017 starters Richardson and Tony Adams that helped set the tone for offensive line play at NC State under former assistant Dwayne Ledford, who became the offensive coordinator at Louisville this past offseason. "There has been no, 'We have to rebuild things,' instead it is 'Let's reload,'" Garrison said. "That is the expec- tation around here." Henry believes the current play- ers have benefitted from watching their peers develop into NFL Draft picks over the last two years. "Guys who are in our program, they've watched and worked out, hung out, ate, slept and been around the dudes that were previously here before, outside of the freshman that just arrived," Henry said. "They know what it takes to get to that level. They have the recipe." Smith-Williams pointed out that just be- cause some players aren't racking up pres- tigious honors in the offseason, that doesn't mean they won't be when the Wolfpack play East Carolina Aug. 31 or that they can't develop into award winners. "You may not know them yet, don't rec- ognize the names yet, but guys are stepping in and the goal is to replace the guy — and, of course, be better than the guy before," Smith-Williams said. "I think we're doing a good job of that." NC State's 2019 class finished No. 28 nationally in the Rivals.com team recruiting rankings and checked in at No. 18 in the land for the class of 2020 as of June 21. The more talent that makes its way to Raleigh, the better the chances to keep reloading. "The cool thing is that I've seen a very passionate fan base here and I've been part of a passionate fan base before," Garrison said. "We have the facilities, we have a great location and an awesome university. "We have a great coaching staff here, so why not have that mindset [to reload]? Why should we expect anything less?" ■ "We're going to end up being the team that we deserve to be. … We never look at our team like we are going to rebuild." Head coach Dave Doeren