The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532241
34 ■ THE WOLFPACKER that trust takes work. That's what he's focused on for the first couple of months in his new role, and he thinks his background will help. "You have to get buy-in right away, because kids can smell it from a mile away if you're full of crap," said Warren, who most recently served as North Car- olina's assistant head coach for defense. "I want to earn their trust through meetings, through seeing my knowledge of the game, through being able to talk to some of the pro players and guys I've developed in 20 years. "More importantly, I want to earn their trust by pouring into them away from football," he continued. "We don't play a football game for a really long time around here. I'm going to pour into them as humans more than as football players because I have more time right now. That's how you build trust." Warren was the final assistant coach to be hired as part of NC State's defen- sive leadership overhaul. He joined El- iot, while Elisha Shaw was promoted to co-defensive line coach. Eliot, who hasn't overlapped with Warren through each of their stops at the collegiate level, spoke highly of him a few days after the hiring. "Charlton's a tremendous coach with great experience across the country," Eliot said. "He's very detailed, very high energy. … He has great discipline, a plan of how he's going to attack every day, and I think some of that comes from his military training. It's great to have a guy like that on our staff." While Warren had two stints at UNC, NC State's archrival, he didn't make the move to the Wolfpack just because of the proximity to his current family home. In- stead, it was the Pack's culture and rabid fan base that stood out the most. Warren knows what it feels like to stand on the opposing sideline inside a sold-out Carter-Finley Stadium, and that experience was part of his decision to join the Wolfpack's staff. "When you have a program that's built on toughness, when you have that fan base and you walk into the stadium, you know you'll have to deal with them on the opposing sideline, and the play- ers just grind and work for 12 months — any football coach in their right mind would want to run this way," Warren said. "For me, it wasn't just about lo- cation. … It was about the culture, the climate and the fan base. Those things really excite me as a football coach." ■ " You have to get buy-in right away because kids can smell it from a mile away if you're full of crap." Warren Warren came to NC State from North Carolina, but he developed much of his approach to coaching during his time at the Air Force Academy. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE FOOTBALL