The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1343401
30 ■ THE WOLFPACKER "We had to do a lot of virtual recruit- ing and these guys did a tremendous job," Doeren said. "They worked hard to build relationships and stay in touch with not only the families but the coaches. A lot went into it that was very different in signing a class — very different." The end result, however, is a class that Doeren is excited about, even if there might not be the same level of familiarity as a normal signing group. "One thing we don't do is try to sell them anything," Doeren noted. "We tell them who we are, we tell them what we're about, our coaches get to know them, and I feel really good about that part of it — that they know what they're getting, and we know what we're getting." Using The Transfer Portal Reflecting the modern times of college football, NC State actively recruited trans- fers to provide an immediate boost into the program. The result was four players will be arriving in Raleigh from other four-year colleges: offensive lineman Chandler Zavala (Fairmont State), defensive lineman Cory Durden (Florida State), and defensive backs Cyrus Fagan (Florida State) and Derrek Pitts (Marshall). Fagan and Zavala each have one year of eligibility left, while Durden and Pitts have two. Both Durden and Fagan are looking to regain their 2019 form after a difficult 2020 year for many surrounding the Florida State program. Going into the 2020 season, The 6-5, 315-pound Durden was considered a poten- tial top defensive lineman nationally with a chance to head to the NFL. Pro Football Focus (PFF) graded Durden as the No. 5 in- terior defensive lineman returning to college football from 2019. "Durden has an incredible motor as a pass rusher and barely came off the field," PFF wrote. Fagan is a former consensus four-star recruit who was a Rivals100 member in the 2017 class. He was a part-time starter at Florida State in 2019 and had 41 tackles, an interception, two passes broken up and one fumble recovery. THE PANDEMIC RECRUITING CLASS NC State Relies On Technology And Transfers To Boost 2021 Recruiting Class 9TH Is where Rivals.com rated NC State's class in the ACC (44th nationally). The Pack ranked fifth among Atlantic Division teams, behind Clemson (tops in the ACC, seventh nationally), Louisville (fifth, 27th), Florida State (sixth, 28th) and Boston College (eighth, 30th). It should be noted, however, that the four trans - fers do not count towards the final class rankings, and that another signee — junior offensive tackle Anthony Belton from Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Ga. — was not assigned a star rating. The Wolfpack is 12th in average per-star rating in the league (2.8), but if just Belton was awarded a three-star designation, NC State would tie Louisville for eighth. Here is how that compares to head coach Dave Doeren's previous full classes at NC State: NC STATE'S RECRUITING CLASSES UNDER DAVE DOEREN Average Year ACC Rank Division Rank Stars Rank 2021 9th 5th 12th 2020 7th 4th 9th 2019 4th 3rd 4th 2018 7th 4th 7th 2017 10th 4th 10th 2016 8th 4th 9th 2015 7th 4th 8th 2014 6th 3rd 8th BY MATT CARTER T here's nothing easy about running normal operations during a global pandemic, college football recruiting included. Making matters more difficult for NC State was that it had a coaching staff featuring five new assistants who were forced to bypass face-to-face meetings in favor of virtual conversations. That put a lot of pressure on the recruiting staff, led by Billy Glasscock, and the graphics team of Chanelle Smith-Walker and Emmitt Carden, the latter duo whom head coach Dave Doeren labeled difference-makers, to facilitate the most unusual of recruiting cycles.