The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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16 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK T he Wolfpacker Podcast records at least once a week and hosts postgame reflec- tions episodes with former players and expert analysts. The show is always available to listen to on TheWolfpacker.com, Spotify, the Apple Podcast App, Google Play and most everywhere else podcasts can be listened to. Video streams of the show are also available on The Wolfpacker's YouTube channel. Here are some excerpts from when former Wolfpack offensive lineman and 2021 NFL Draft prospect Joe Sculthorpe joined the show to talk about preparing for the draft and his favorite memories at NC State. What has life been like after the end of your senior season at NC State? What have you been doing to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft? "After the bowl game ended in Jackson- ville against UK, we got back to Raleigh, and I packed up all my stuff. I drove down to South Carolina, dropped all my stuff off and got my luggage. It wasn't even 48 hours after the ballgame, I was flying up to Bos- ton to start training. "I trained there for three or four weeks before I heard I got an invite to the Hula Bowl. Then I began the very long and frus- trating process of flying across the country, with a few four-hour layovers. Getting to Hawaii, it was everything that you'd always expect it to be. Hawaii is such a beautiful state. Unfortunately, due to COVID, we didn't get many chances to go out and ex- plore the other islands. "It was good getting out there and meet- ing some other players from across the country, showcasing what I could do to any scouts that were there watching. It was a great opportunity and I really was fortunate enough to get the chance to go out there. That was pretty much the midway point in my pro day training. "After that, I flew back to Boston, and finished off training there. I got a lot of the personal attention that I needed to go out to pro day and do the best I can. After pro day, I went back home, tore up some fried chicken and just training, going to a local gym and getting on the field. I'm just stay- ing sharp before draft day." What was the training like in Boston and how different was it from the strength and conditioning program you had under Coach Thunder (Dantonio Burnette) at NC State? "I don't want to say I was surprised, but it was pretty crazy how similar our training programs were from NC State with Coach Thunder going into pro day training. It was dang-near identical stuff to what we were doing at NC State. "Coach Thunder does a great job; I'm a big Coach Thunder fan. He does a great job with our strength and conditioning program at NC State, giving the guys the fundamen- tal groundwork to be able to perform on the field. "I would say the only difference was there was a little bit more individualized attention. When you're training 120 guys at NC State, you can't really get that luxury, but that was pretty much the only difference. "Other than that, I felt like I hit the ground running up there. I didn't feel like I had to play catch up. It was an easy transi- tion from our college strength and condi- tioning to pro day training." How do you feel you performed at your pro day? "I felt like I had a solid pro day. Some things I wish I could have done a little bit better on, but I don't think it was all that bad. I got to showcase and check some boxes that people were kind of hesitant about in terms of lateral movement, foot speed, stuff like that. Being able to show- case that I am an athlete, I can move. "I just tried to move, show off that lateral movement as much as possible and give myself the best chance I can to get my foot in the door at the professional level." You were a consistent starter in both the 4-8 2019 campaign and the turnaround 8-4 2020 season which included a pro- gram-record seven conference wins. From your experience in the locker room, what do you think the biggest difference was between those two seasons? "It was our approach in the offseason. Af- ter the 4-8 season, no one was happy. It was a terrible season. We knew we were better, we knew we should have performed better throughout the whole season. It didn't really click for us that season. "We come in the following winter, Coach Dave Doeren comes in and he's like, 'No, we're changing. We're going to focus on two things: competing and coming together, like brothers.' He put a big emphasis on winning, put a big emphasis on getting after it and making each other better. And he made a big emphasis on getting to know one another to build a stronger, cohesive team. "When COVID hit, we unfortunately didn't get to finish spring ball. We had to face some major adversity. How were we sup- posed to come together when we can't be to- gether? We really put an emphasis on holding each other accountable throughout the whole thing. We started a group chat with the whole football team to hold each other accountable, making sure you're getting your workouts in and not just vacationing in quarantine. "That really showcased our cohesive- ness because that wasn't everyone across the country. I don't feel like every college program did that, and that's what gave us an edge." ■ Former NC State Offensive Lineman And 2021 NFL Draft Prospect Joe Sculthorpe PODCAST HIGHLIGHTS Sculthorpe was a two-year starter at offensive guard for the Wolfpack. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN