Way-Too-Early Look: NC State Wolfpack
Head Coach: Dave Doeren enters his ninth season leading the Wolfpack program,
Between 2017-20, 13 of his players have been drafted by the NFL - including an ACC-best seven in 2017 - the sixth-highest total nationally. And Doeren’s players aren’t just prepared for the NFL. During his tenure, 262 members of his team have graduated and NC State’s graduation success rate for football is at an all-time high and continues to rise.
The Wolfpack has boasted 35 Academic All-ACC performers under his guidance and in 2018 had a player named to the prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Team.
Last season, with five new coaches on staff (not to mention a global pandemic to contend with), the Wolfpack made one of the most inpressive turnarounds in college football, posting an 8-4 record and earning the sixth bowl bid of his Wolfpack tenure. Doeren led his resilient squad to seven ACC victories - a new school record.
That successful campaign followed a season that saw the Wolfpack decimated by injuries with seven players (including five starters) lost for the season. Because of injuries, a Power 5 conference-leading 45 players started games in 2019 and the Pack played the nation’s second-highest total of freshmen.
Wolfpack on offense: Tim Beck enters his second season at NC State, where he was a nominee for the 2020 Broyles Award - given to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Despite starting two different quarterbacks, the Wolfpack posted some of the top offensive marks in school history: passing yards (3,154, 11th), passing yards/game (252.8, 9th), completion pct. (.628, 5th), scoring (363 pts, 12th), first downs (267, 10th), fewest turnovers (19, 10th), fewest fumbles lost (4, 1st).
Both starting quarterbacks in 2020 finished the season with some of the top passing efficiency marks in school history. Devin Leary’s 148.33 mark is second in school history only to Philip Rivers, while Bailey Hockman’s 138.08 mark ranks sixth in school history.
Wolfpack on defense: Tony Gibson enters his second season as solo defensive coordinator, after sharing the duties in 2019.
RS-sophomore Payton Wilson returns as one of college football’s top tacklers, with the stats (if not the recognition) to prove it.
In 2020 - his first season as a full-time starter - Wilson led the ACC in both total tackles (108) and tackles per game (10.8). He finished fourth in the FBS in total tackles, seventh in solo stops (57), and 13th in tackles per game. In the final regular season game, he dislocated both of his shoulders, but continued to pop them back in and play.
Wilson was named an All-ACC first-team selection by both the ACC and AP, and was named ACC Linebacker of the Week three times in 2021, including each of the Pack’s last two games of the regular season.
