NC State made a big move in recruiting with five verbal commitments over the past week. Here are some behind the scenes details on how some of it went down.
The most recent commit was three-star linebacker Brock Miller from Fort Pierce (Fla.) John Carroll High. From talking with Miller last night, it sounded like his choice came down to Virginia Tech and NC State as many had speculated. Two factors led Miller to the Pack.
First was position. Miller was told by Virginia Tech that they wanted him at defensive end. NC State liked Miller at weakside linebacker. Miller had a strong preference towards standing up rather than putting his hand on the ground.
Secondly was head coach Dave Doeren’s strong connection to the region. When Doeren signed the duo of safety Dravious Wright and corner Sean Paul in the 2014 class, he noted that one of his best friends was the Vero Beach (Fla.) High head coach. Vero Beach is technically where Miller lives.
Miller told us last night that his coach and Doeren were also good friends to the point that they were on a good texting basis. Thus Doeren had a good resource for access to Miller throughout the process.
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We shared some details on receiver Daeshawn Stephens of Durham (N.C.) Hillside High in last week’s War Room. Stephens and Tahj Deans, an East Carolina commit from Southern Nash High in Bailey, N.C., were the two in-state sleepers at receiver that State really liked. Stephens though had the advantage of camping twice at NC State in June to give the Pack a first-hand perspective of his abilities.
Offensive lineman Kollin Byers of Shelby (N.C.) Crest High was lesser-known going into his commitment on Friday, but he has been on the radar. Byers was one of two in-state linemen that NCSU was quietly taking a close look at during camp season.
The other was J’Quan Breeden from Laurinburg (N.C.) Scotland High. Breeden tests very well in a combine setting. The 6-foot-4, 248-pounder was clocked at 4.88 seconds in the 40-yard dash, had a 9-foot-3 broad jump and registered a 29-inch vertical leap.
However, while Breeden can move around well, after his workout the vibe was that Byers performed better when he camped, and Byers turned out to be a good athlete in his own right. He matched Breeden on the vertical and had a 9-foot-1 broad jump. His 40-time was 5.03 seconds.
As one source noted to us after Byers committed: “He’s a really good player, he’s just got to get bigger.”
***
The Pack had a good in with class of 2017 tight end commit Damien Darden from Pikeville (N.C.) C.B. Aycock High: his high school coach Scott Brooks.
We will have a story next week with more extensive thoughts from Brooks on his prized prospect, but he acknowledged to us that he has a strong relationship with Wolfpack running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Des Kitchings. It was through that connection that Brooks made it a point to let Kitchings know about Darden early in the process.
Thus NCSU quietly was able to do the groundwork on Darden and get him into camp while most others did not. Duke and ECU kicked around the tires, but as Brooks noted C.B. Aycock does not get a lot of looks from colleges.
Once Darden worked out for tight ends/fullbacks coach and special teams coordinator Eddie Faulkner and then twice played for C.B. Aycock at 7-on-7’s at State, the Pack considered it a no-brainer to offer Darden.
***
Getting three-star corner Chris Ingram from Mooresville (N.C.) High to commit this early was a significant coup for State but one that has been building.
There was some nervousness last Friday when Ingram had not shown up on time for the start of the Alpha Wolf Showcase, but there was a logical explanation for it: traffic. Ingram and his family got stuck in traffic jams, including a multi-car wreck on I-40 just past where the Durham Freeway merges on it.
The feeling had been that Ingram was getting close, especially based on his social media habits. When he finally showed up at State decked out in NCSU gear, that was a clearer sign of what was impending.
***
Continuing with our series of the assistant coaches breaking down the freshmen, but true and redshirts, here is part I of offensive line coach Mike Uremovich.
Is incoming freshman left tackle Emanuel McGirt going to get a chance to play right away?
“We offered him early and he works at it. He works at it in the weight room. He works at it in the class room. He’s a heck of a football player and I’m excited to get him here. He’s a guy that could end up helping us this fall.
“He’s a mature kid and a lot like Tony Adams coming in. He’s a very good student, very mature, strong and can move and bend. The only difference is that Tony was here for the spring. That is a huge difference.
“Because where we are at, McGirt has a chance to be in the two deep. Eventually, whether he gets a chance to play is predicated on him and how he performs when he gets here.
“I would like to play 7-8 guys and rotate guys and keep them fresh. That makes our team better. It’s hard when you have the depth issues we have, but in a couple of years, it won’t be hard. He’s a guy that can get into the rotation, even if it’s just a series a half or two series a half to get him out there and ready to play.”
How athletic is McGirt and his ability to reach the second level?
“He is going to be fun to watch for the next 4-5 years, I can tell you that. It’s just a matter of how fast we can get him ready for this year.”
What drew you to tackle Aaron Wiltz and to recruit him from Louisiana?
“His athleticism. He is an athletic kid with a great frame. He’s long, physical and was a wrestler, who went to state in wrestling. He is what we want at that position from an athletic, size and range standpoint. We just need him to develop and gain some weight. People will like watching him play whenever he gets out there because he’s a physical and intense dude.”
Rangy Philip Walton will be one of those depth guys to develop. What do you like about him down the road?
“He has a great frame. He’s big and long, and he’s not as far along as McGirt as far as size and strength standpoint, but he is a lot bigger and longer. He’s a kid who was a big-time swimmer for a long time. He’s athletic and he played both ways a lot at his high school [Charlotte Christian]. He played defense early in his career, and then started to play defense and offense.
“He looks exactly the way we want them to look, and you have those three young tackles with McGirt, Wiltz and Walton, you feel good about those three guys being the future tackles down the road. How soon they play is really up to them and how fast they develop. Those are three big, long, tall guys. We don’t have a lot of those guys in the meeting room right now.”
The most recent commit was three-star linebacker Brock Miller from Fort Pierce (Fla.) John Carroll High. From talking with Miller last night, it sounded like his choice came down to Virginia Tech and NC State as many had speculated. Two factors led Miller to the Pack.
First was position. Miller was told by Virginia Tech that they wanted him at defensive end. NC State liked Miller at weakside linebacker. Miller had a strong preference towards standing up rather than putting his hand on the ground.
Secondly was head coach Dave Doeren’s strong connection to the region. When Doeren signed the duo of safety Dravious Wright and corner Sean Paul in the 2014 class, he noted that one of his best friends was the Vero Beach (Fla.) High head coach. Vero Beach is technically where Miller lives.
Miller told us last night that his coach and Doeren were also good friends to the point that they were on a good texting basis. Thus Doeren had a good resource for access to Miller throughout the process.
***
We shared some details on receiver Daeshawn Stephens of Durham (N.C.) Hillside High in last week’s War Room. Stephens and Tahj Deans, an East Carolina commit from Southern Nash High in Bailey, N.C., were the two in-state sleepers at receiver that State really liked. Stephens though had the advantage of camping twice at NC State in June to give the Pack a first-hand perspective of his abilities.
Offensive lineman Kollin Byers of Shelby (N.C.) Crest High was lesser-known going into his commitment on Friday, but he has been on the radar. Byers was one of two in-state linemen that NCSU was quietly taking a close look at during camp season.
The other was J’Quan Breeden from Laurinburg (N.C.) Scotland High. Breeden tests very well in a combine setting. The 6-foot-4, 248-pounder was clocked at 4.88 seconds in the 40-yard dash, had a 9-foot-3 broad jump and registered a 29-inch vertical leap.
However, while Breeden can move around well, after his workout the vibe was that Byers performed better when he camped, and Byers turned out to be a good athlete in his own right. He matched Breeden on the vertical and had a 9-foot-1 broad jump. His 40-time was 5.03 seconds.
As one source noted to us after Byers committed: “He’s a really good player, he’s just got to get bigger.”
***
The Pack had a good in with class of 2017 tight end commit Damien Darden from Pikeville (N.C.) C.B. Aycock High: his high school coach Scott Brooks.
We will have a story next week with more extensive thoughts from Brooks on his prized prospect, but he acknowledged to us that he has a strong relationship with Wolfpack running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Des Kitchings. It was through that connection that Brooks made it a point to let Kitchings know about Darden early in the process.
Thus NCSU quietly was able to do the groundwork on Darden and get him into camp while most others did not. Duke and ECU kicked around the tires, but as Brooks noted C.B. Aycock does not get a lot of looks from colleges.
Once Darden worked out for tight ends/fullbacks coach and special teams coordinator Eddie Faulkner and then twice played for C.B. Aycock at 7-on-7’s at State, the Pack considered it a no-brainer to offer Darden.
***
Getting three-star corner Chris Ingram from Mooresville (N.C.) High to commit this early was a significant coup for State but one that has been building.
There was some nervousness last Friday when Ingram had not shown up on time for the start of the Alpha Wolf Showcase, but there was a logical explanation for it: traffic. Ingram and his family got stuck in traffic jams, including a multi-car wreck on I-40 just past where the Durham Freeway merges on it.
The feeling had been that Ingram was getting close, especially based on his social media habits. When he finally showed up at State decked out in NCSU gear, that was a clearer sign of what was impending.
***
Continuing with our series of the assistant coaches breaking down the freshmen, but true and redshirts, here is part I of offensive line coach Mike Uremovich.
Is incoming freshman left tackle Emanuel McGirt going to get a chance to play right away?
“We offered him early and he works at it. He works at it in the weight room. He works at it in the class room. He’s a heck of a football player and I’m excited to get him here. He’s a guy that could end up helping us this fall.
“He’s a mature kid and a lot like Tony Adams coming in. He’s a very good student, very mature, strong and can move and bend. The only difference is that Tony was here for the spring. That is a huge difference.
“Because where we are at, McGirt has a chance to be in the two deep. Eventually, whether he gets a chance to play is predicated on him and how he performs when he gets here.
“I would like to play 7-8 guys and rotate guys and keep them fresh. That makes our team better. It’s hard when you have the depth issues we have, but in a couple of years, it won’t be hard. He’s a guy that can get into the rotation, even if it’s just a series a half or two series a half to get him out there and ready to play.”
How athletic is McGirt and his ability to reach the second level?
“He is going to be fun to watch for the next 4-5 years, I can tell you that. It’s just a matter of how fast we can get him ready for this year.”
What drew you to tackle Aaron Wiltz and to recruit him from Louisiana?
“His athleticism. He is an athletic kid with a great frame. He’s long, physical and was a wrestler, who went to state in wrestling. He is what we want at that position from an athletic, size and range standpoint. We just need him to develop and gain some weight. People will like watching him play whenever he gets out there because he’s a physical and intense dude.”
Rangy Philip Walton will be one of those depth guys to develop. What do you like about him down the road?
“He has a great frame. He’s big and long, and he’s not as far along as McGirt as far as size and strength standpoint, but he is a lot bigger and longer. He’s a kid who was a big-time swimmer for a long time. He’s athletic and he played both ways a lot at his high school [Charlotte Christian]. He played defense early in his career, and then started to play defense and offense.
“He looks exactly the way we want them to look, and you have those three young tackles with McGirt, Wiltz and Walton, you feel good about those three guys being the future tackles down the road. How soon they play is really up to them and how fast they develop. Those are three big, long, tall guys. We don’t have a lot of those guys in the meeting room right now.”
