The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1534227
36 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY NOAH FLEISCHMAN C State entered last spring with sky-high expecta- tions, and those hopes continued to rise over the summer going into the fall. The season didn't go ac- cording to plan, though, with key injuries leading to a 6-7 finish. Now, as the Pack prepares for the 2025 season, coach Dave Doeren believes his team is hungry to leave last season's dis- appointment in the background. He was able to witness firsthand the Wolfpack's intense drive to improve over the course of 15 practice sessions. "When you come off a season where you didn't like the results, you were short of where you wanted to end up record-wise and you lost some close games, what you usually get is a bunch of guys who don't want to go through that again," Doeren said. "They're coachable. Their attention to detail, their 'want to,' it's better. That's been really refreshing. The practices have been high-energy. There's back-and- forth competitiveness, offense and de- fense." On top of the desire to grow from last season's results, NC State worked to in- stall new schemes on both sides of the ball after promoting quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper to offensive coordinator and bringing D.J. Eliot aboard as defensive coordinator. With that in mind, here are a few highlights of how the Wolfpack fared during its spring practice slate, which concluded on April 4. New Coordinators Get To Work NC State opted to make a change at offensive coordinator following the 2024 campaign, which led to Roper's installation as the team's play-caller. Eliot, meanwhile, arrived in Raleigh after Tony Gibson departed to become Marshall's head coach. This spring was critical on both sides of the ball, with Roper looking to install his high-tempo offense and Eliot hard at work retooling the 3-3 stack shell with a more disruptive attack to get after the quarterback. The practices were a key opportunity for the Wolfpack players to adjust to the new systems, while the co- ordinators were able to learn what they had to work with this fall. "That's what spring is when you're a new coordinator at a school," Doeren said. "You have a system, but your sys- tem has to evolve to fit the pieces that N PROGRESS REPORT NC State Uses Spring Practice To Adjust To New Coordinators And Improve On The Field Graduate linebacker Tra Thomas (No. 4) arrived from Temple in January and said he's "ready to roll" as he prepares for his first and only season at NC State. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE FOOTBALL