The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1536961
JULY/AUGUST 2025 ■ 23 to help you as a coach. When you're a head coach and you've been at a school as long as I have, you've recruited every kid in the locker room. You know what they need. The hires I made reflect that." Doeren put quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper in charge of the offense and went outside the program to land D.J. Eliot as defensive coordinator. Both assis- tants have plenty of experience calling plays; Roper did it at Duke and South Carolina, while Eliot oversaw defenses at Kentucky, Colorado, Kansas and most recently Temple. Offensive Focus The coaching moves were among Do- eren's biggest staff decisions in quite some time, but he felt as though the time was right, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Those one-possession losses have hung over the Wolfpack since the season ended, and Doeren aims to make sure they don't happen again due to the offense. "Kurt is a galvanizer. He's great in front of the guys," Doeren said. "There's tal- ent on that side of the football. The key is, I don't want to be an offense that just has talented players. I want to have tal- ented players who play well in the offense together. I felt like last year we were an offense that didn't play well together at times and were dysfunctional. In the fourth quarter, we were really good, but it took us too long to get going." NC State was outscored 287-208 in the first three quarters of its 13 games last season, while it owned a 76-point advantage in the fourth quarter. Now, Roper is tasked with getting the most out of a young and talented offense led by sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey. It wasn't a tough decision for Doeren to insert Roper into the top job on offense. After all, Roper helped develop Bailey last year. This was a chance for him to con- tinue that process while also helping the Wolfpack offense take a step forward. "I knew he was the right one," Doeren said. "He'd earned that opportunity, and I'm excited for him. He's been a play- caller for many years, and he hasn't had that role in a while. I know he's hungry to do well in it." ■ When it takes the field this fall, the Wolfpack will be looking to regroup from only its third losing season in coach Dave Doeren's 12-year tenure. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE FOOTBALL Pos. Name Cl. Ht. Wt. QB 11 CJ Bailey So. 6-6 210 2 Lex Thomas R-So. 5-11 196 RB 3 Hollywood Smothers R-So. 5-11 195 4 Jayden "Duke" Scott R-Fr. 5-10 214 TE 7 Justin Joly Sr. 6-3 251 44 Cody Hardy Sr. 6-4 268 WR 8 Keenan Jackson So. 6-3 200 9 Terrell Anderson So. 6-2 204 WR 5 Noah Rogers R-So. 6-2 205 84 Je'rel Bolder So. 6-0 195 WR 6 Wesley Grimes Sr. 6-2 193 12 Teddy Hoffmann Fr. 6-1 172 LT 65 Jacarrius Peak R-Jr. 6-4 298 64 Rico Jackson R-So. 6-6 323 LG 75 Anthony Carter Jr. Gr. 6-3 315 66 Matt McCabe Gr. 6-6 308 C 74 Jalen Grant Gr. 6-1 294 72 Spike Sowells Fr. 6-2 300 RG 69 Val Erickson R-Jr. 6-5 316 79 Kamen Smith R-So. 6-5 323 RT 54 Teague Andersen R-So. 6-5 319 78 Trent Mitchell R-Fr. 6-5 319 Pos. Name Cl. Ht. Wt. DE 25 Joseph Adedire R-Jr. 6-3 265 88 Isaiah Shirley R-So. 6-3 276 NT 44 Brandon Cleveland Sr. 6-4 315 52 Chazz Wallace Gr. 6-2 317 DE 13 Travali Price R-Sr. 6-4 283 54 Sabastian Harsh R-Sr. 6-3 251 SLB 4 Tra Thomas Gr. 6-3 228 8 Cian Slone Gr. 6-4 250 MLB 10 Caden Fordham Gr. 6-1 232 41 AJ Richardson Jr. 6-1 245 WLB 0 Sean Brown R-Sr. 6-0 216 36 Kelvon McBride R-So. 6-3 227 CB 6 Devon Marshall Sr. 5-11 200 7 Brian Nelson II R-So. 6-0 191 CB 21 Jamel Johnson Sr. 5-11 191 22 Jackson Vick R-Jr. 6-0 182 FS 16 JJ Johnson Gr. 5-10 190 2 Ronnie Royal III R-Fr. 5-9 185 SS 3 Rente Hinton R-Sr. 6-3 211 20 Daemon Fagan R-So. 6-3 190 NIC 14 Jaren Sensabaugh R-Fr. 6-1 179 8 Isaiah Crowell R-Jr. 5-11 184 Projected Depth Chart