This past week kicked off NC State’s 2024 Fall Football Camp. Here’s a breakdown of some of the main highlights of what Wolfpack Head Coach Dave Doeren had to say. You can watch the full video of his time with the press ABOVE .
Highlights
On the first day of practice on Wednesday, without being prompted, Doeren went out of his way to give praise to two young new members of the Wolfpack.
“It was good to see Tamarcus Cooley make some plays today. Had some nice interceptions. Keenan Jackson had some nice catches. Those two guys stepped up today. I thought they looked good in practice.”
Cooley is a Redshirt Freshman Defensive Back, who transferred in from Maryland this offseason. In practice, he was running with the 2nd Team Defense as the Nickelback. Cooley was High School teammates with Wolfpack Receiver Noah Rogers, who transferred in from Ohio St. this offseason.
Jackson is a True Freshman, who flipped his commitment from UNC to NC State on National Signing Day back in December. He was a 4-Star prospect out of Weddington High School in Matthews, North Carolina.
Doeren also gave an update on Junior Sean Brown moving from Safety to Linebacker.
“Really well. He’s a smart football player. In-game last year we had to move in there when Payton (Wilson) was out in the Clemson game. He had eight tackles in the fourth quarter. He showed us that he can play there in a game. He’s built for it. He can run. He’s physical. He’s got really good instincts, vision. He understands coach [Tony] Gibson’s defense and what he wants. That position has to have a guy in it that can really run and erase things. Sean is built for that.”
Brown has big shoes to fill, moving into the void that was left at WILL Linebacker. Payton Wilson used to wear those shoes. Back in the Spring, Brown had put on 10 pounds of muscle, and from the looks of things this past week, he might have put on a few more pounds of muscle since then.
Dantonio Burnette, NC State’s Strength & Conditioning Coach, shared this tweet last week, sharing that Brown ran a 4.43 40-yard dash this offseason.
Check out our 2023 Highlight Reel of Brown.
Doeren said there are a few areas on the team where position battles are taking place.
“On the offensive line there’s some competition there. Looking forward to seeing that at the guard positions and the position of left guard in particular. There’s some really talented young receivers. Want to see how they come along and what they can do to help in some spots. On defense we brought in some older DBs. There’s a competition there.”
On Wednesday, former Walk-On, Redshirt Junior Matt McCabe was starting at Left Guard, and Redshirt Junior Anthony Carter Jr. was backing him up. Carter Jr. was the starter last season, and he has been recovering from offseason surgery. On the Right Side, Senior Timothy McKay was with the 1’s, and I expect him to remain there, serving as the starter last season.
On Wednesday, Sophomore KC Concepcion, Redshirt Freshman Noah Rogers and Redshirt Junior Dacari Collins were the starting Wide Receivers. I expect them to be the starters in Week 1 against Western Carolina, but expect a lot of the young talent behind them to fight for playing time as the year progresses. In my opinion, I can’t foresee any player behind Concepcion or Rogers taking their starting roles, but it will be interesting to see if someone pushes Collins for his job.
Obviously Aydan White will be starting at one of the Cornerback spots, and it looks like Sophomore Brandon Cisse is poised start on the other side, but I’m sure Corey Coley and Devon Marshall, who both Transferred in this offseason, are going to fight tooth-and-nail for that spot.
He had some kind words to say about McCabe’s journey from Walk-On to Scholarship Player.
“I’m really proud of Matt. Matt’s worked really hard. He does everything we ask him to do. He plays really hard. He trains really hard. He handles himself well in the community, in the classroom. It’s a great story.”
McCabe was awarded a Scholarship prior to the 2023 season.
Finally, Doeren thinks that NC State and Quarterback Grayson McCall are a perfect match.
“We’re very, very grateful that he’s here, one. Excited for him. Impressed by him. He understands the game. He’s a quick learner. He’s a really good teammate. Goes hard, holds himself to a high standard. Has no problem holding guys accountable and he does it in a good way. He’s demanding but not demeaning with people. He’s got great touch on the football. His game management skills, his clock management, everything. He’s a vet. He’s a great fit in our program.”
This past week, the ACC Network stopped by NC State’s practice for their ACC Football Road Trip, and chatted with Doeren as well.
A couple of notes from that:
Kevin Concepcion will be a part of the return game in some way this year on Special Teams. He was working with the Punt Return team in practice last week.
He also alluded to the fact that opposing Defenses won’t be able to simply focus on KC this year, because if they do, it will open up things for Noah Rogers, Justin Joly, Dacari Collins, Wesley Grimes and the Running Backs.
