The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1525890
28 ■ THE WOLFPACKER the linebacker's 40-yard dash at 4.43 seconds and his pro agility drill at a blistering 4.02. Brown knows that will set him apart from other outside linebackers. Redshirt junior linebacker Caden Fordham joined the Wolfpack in the same recruiting class as Brown, and they emerged into starting roles last season alongside each other. His conversations with Brown about the position change started out as a joke between the two players and Gibson. The former safety is very vocal. Fordham appreciated that quality when his teammate played safety, a n d i t ce r ta i n ly h e l ps n ow t h a t they're right beside each other. He's thrilled to have Brown with him in the linebackers room. "Coming into the spring, he told me that he was going to be making the switch, and I was really excited, knowing that I was going to have a dawg like him playing next to me," Fordham said. "I couldn't ask for anything more." To prepare for his new role, Brown watched San Francisco 49ers stand- out Fred Warner, Pittsburgh Steelers star Patrick Queen and other line- backers who "play with their head on fire." He planned on establishing the tone of fall camp through his own example and broke down his goals for the first four weeks of practice. "Just lead the team, be an alpha male on defense, just be one of those guys that does everything right, set the standard for young guys, show them how the [first-teamers] are supposed to play," Brown said. After the first day of fall camp, Doeren praised the Pack's new Will linebacker, calling back to the for- mer safety's performance against Clemson. That game proved he can handle the role in high-pressure situations. Now, Brown is ready to step into the spotlight. "He can run, he's physical, he's got really good instincts, vision, he understands Coach Gibson's de- fense and what he wants," Doeren said. "That position has to have a guy in it that can really run and erase things, and Sean's built for that." ■ Tony Gibson Envisions Another Strong Season For Defense When NC State reported to fall camp on July 29, defensive coordinator Tony Gibson put his unit's stats from the past three years on the board. The Wolfpack leaned on its defense to win games during that span, and Gib- son was not shy about pointing out how high the bar had been set. "We have a standard here on defense," he told reporters, describing his message to the team. "We don't hide behind it. I put it out there and challenged them. Here's what was built before you. Our goal is to be bet- ter than we were a year ago. Can we do that? There's a lot of work that needs to be done, but I feel really good about these guys." Gibson's guys are a mix of returning veterans and new faces who are working to smooth the transition to the post-Payton Wilson era. A do-it-all linebacker during his five seasons in Raleigh, Wilson made 402 total tackles, including 48 for loss and 15 sacks, and added 7 interceptions. He's now moved on to the NFL, and the Pack has to adjust to life without him. The good news for NC State is that Gibson has built considerable depth. Losing the winner of the Bednarik and Butkus awards will certainly hurt, but the Pack's defensive coordinator is confident in what he is working with this year. Senior defensive end Davin Vann is the team's proven commodity on the defensive front, and he is joined by senior cornerback Aydan White in the secondary. The Pack, however, will have redshirt junior Sean Brown in a new spot after moving from safety to linebacker, while a pair of transfer safeties, seniors DK Kaufman and Ja'Had Carter, are expected to have major roles in Gibson's 3-3-5 scheme. Although Carter and Kaufman arrived after spring practice concluded, the Pack identified them as players who could make an impact in a youthful secondary. For Gibson, it was an easy decision to bring those proven collegiate players aboard. "We needed to fill some holes," he said. "We had some guys who graduated, some guys who left, some guys who got injured, and we needed to fill some spots. They were OKGs — our kind of guys. That's what we look for, a plug-and-play type of guy." While Gibson has adjusted to his new-look defense, the expectation of an elite unit remains the same. He will not accept anything less, and his players are expecting another strong performance this fall. "With Tony Gibson being our coordinator, I feel like we're always going to have a high-caliber defense," White said. Gibson, who has been the architect of the defense since he arrived at NC State in 2019 after six seasons at West Virginia, thinks the new players can maintain the Wolfpack's high standard in 2024. "We lost guys, but we feel good with the guys who are here right now," he said. "We've been building this thing over a five-year period, and I don't expect us to dip anytime soon." — Noah Fleischman Gibson is entering his fifth season as defensive coordinator at NC State. His unit allowed 332.1 yards per game last season to rank 29th in the FBS. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN