The big news of the week was obviously the change at defensive coordinator, with long-time coach Dave Huxtable out and the rather quick announcement that Tony Gibson, formerly Huxtable’s co-defensive coordinator, taking his place. The nature of the timing suggests that the plan was to promote Gibson was a formality, but our conversations lead us to believe that was not necessarily true.
We had one source suggest that head coach Dave Doeren at least checked in with his good friend from college and former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash, but Ash is in conversations to be potentially the next defensive coordinator at Texas.
That said, what’s next? Our truthful answer is that it remains unclear. All current coaches have been on the road recruiting, along with director of high school relations Henry Trevathan since the staff is down a coach. Most continue to believe that further changes will happen (and we picked up one anecdote during the week that would point towards that), but there is a thought process it may be after the December signing day if it does occur.
So in other words, stay tuned.
Two storylines to follow this weekend on the recruiting trail:
• From a distance, what happens with two-star junior college defensive line commit Pheldarius Payne’s official visit to Nebraska. Payne is fresh off having two tackles for loss and a fumble return for a touchdown in the junior college national championship game. He is slated to officially visit NC State on Dec. 18.
Our sense is that NC State’s chances of holding onto Payne are better than some of the other decommits who took visits (Nate McCollum, Stephen Gosnell and Jonathan Adorno), but obviously Payne is leaving a door open for Nebraska. This is also a different situation than defensive tackle Jaylen Smith from Hertford County High in Ahoskie, N.C., who was craving attention.
Payne is somewhat of an important recruit. Our understanding is that should NC State stick with a three-man front (which seems to be the case), it will feature a defensive tackle, nose tackle and defensive end. Payne would be very ideally suited for the defensive tackle role, as would incoming commit Davin Vann and freshman C.J. Clark, who redshirted.
Larrell Murchison ably filled that spot this year but without much depth. There are high hopes for Clark, especially when he gets completely healthy, but NC State would certainly welcome an older player to help.
• Will NC State get any commits this weekend? Our guess is that chances are good with kicker Ian Williams from Weddington High in Matthews, N.C. and three-star cornerback Joshua Pierre-Louis from The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Going into this weekend, Oklahoma led for defensive back Justin Harrington, a Raleigh native playing at Bakersfield (Calif.) Community College, and there was a sense that Kentucky still might have an edge for four-star offensive lineman R.J. Adams from Woodbridge (Va.) High.
Adams will announce his decision on Dec. 18. There is no word on what Harrington’s announcement plans will be.
Recruiting is always fluid, and at this point NC State is choosing to keep its plans close to the vest. The conventional wisdom is that the Pack will sign around 22 players in the class. The numbers can be tricky, but that’s the best bet for now.
The harder part is guessing what the breakdown will be. Based on offers, it’s a safe assumption that NC State is going to target a receiver, offensive lineman and defensive back. We still continue to believe that a defensive lineman if not two is desired, one edge and one interior. NCSU has looked at some junior college players as well as some prep prospects in the past week, but no offers have come out yet.
One name that is worth following is defensive tackle Luis Medina from Summerville (Ga.) Chattooga High.
NC State has also been examining some junior college options on the offensive line, which we have previously noted. It is important to note though that it can be difficult finding junior college prospects that have the necessary transcripts to get through admissions. That was an issue last winter when the Pack was examining junior college offensive tackles.
There has been a wave of players entering the transfer portal across college football. We had one source tell us that there could be another mass entry into the portal after the Christmas break.
We had one source suggest that head coach Dave Doeren at least checked in with his good friend from college and former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash, but Ash is in conversations to be potentially the next defensive coordinator at Texas.
That said, what’s next? Our truthful answer is that it remains unclear. All current coaches have been on the road recruiting, along with director of high school relations Henry Trevathan since the staff is down a coach. Most continue to believe that further changes will happen (and we picked up one anecdote during the week that would point towards that), but there is a thought process it may be after the December signing day if it does occur.
So in other words, stay tuned.
•••
Two storylines to follow this weekend on the recruiting trail:
• From a distance, what happens with two-star junior college defensive line commit Pheldarius Payne’s official visit to Nebraska. Payne is fresh off having two tackles for loss and a fumble return for a touchdown in the junior college national championship game. He is slated to officially visit NC State on Dec. 18.
Our sense is that NC State’s chances of holding onto Payne are better than some of the other decommits who took visits (Nate McCollum, Stephen Gosnell and Jonathan Adorno), but obviously Payne is leaving a door open for Nebraska. This is also a different situation than defensive tackle Jaylen Smith from Hertford County High in Ahoskie, N.C., who was craving attention.
Payne is somewhat of an important recruit. Our understanding is that should NC State stick with a three-man front (which seems to be the case), it will feature a defensive tackle, nose tackle and defensive end. Payne would be very ideally suited for the defensive tackle role, as would incoming commit Davin Vann and freshman C.J. Clark, who redshirted.
Larrell Murchison ably filled that spot this year but without much depth. There are high hopes for Clark, especially when he gets completely healthy, but NC State would certainly welcome an older player to help.
• Will NC State get any commits this weekend? Our guess is that chances are good with kicker Ian Williams from Weddington High in Matthews, N.C. and three-star cornerback Joshua Pierre-Louis from The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Going into this weekend, Oklahoma led for defensive back Justin Harrington, a Raleigh native playing at Bakersfield (Calif.) Community College, and there was a sense that Kentucky still might have an edge for four-star offensive lineman R.J. Adams from Woodbridge (Va.) High.
Adams will announce his decision on Dec. 18. There is no word on what Harrington’s announcement plans will be.
•••
Recruiting is always fluid, and at this point NC State is choosing to keep its plans close to the vest. The conventional wisdom is that the Pack will sign around 22 players in the class. The numbers can be tricky, but that’s the best bet for now.
The harder part is guessing what the breakdown will be. Based on offers, it’s a safe assumption that NC State is going to target a receiver, offensive lineman and defensive back. We still continue to believe that a defensive lineman if not two is desired, one edge and one interior. NCSU has looked at some junior college players as well as some prep prospects in the past week, but no offers have come out yet.
One name that is worth following is defensive tackle Luis Medina from Summerville (Ga.) Chattooga High.
NC State has also been examining some junior college options on the offensive line, which we have previously noted. It is important to note though that it can be difficult finding junior college prospects that have the necessary transcripts to get through admissions. That was an issue last winter when the Pack was examining junior college offensive tackles.
•••
There has been a wave of players entering the transfer portal across college football. We had one source tell us that there could be another mass entry into the portal after the Christmas break.
