How NC State Attacked the Northeast During the Recruiting Process
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RALEIGH — Historically, NC State head coach Dave Doeren and his staff have focused heavily on recruiting their home state of North Carolina and the neighboring states aggressively, trying to keep as much talent home as possible from those areas. However, with changes to the staff during the 2025 offseason, some of those tendencies changed, perhaps for the better.
With the Early Signing Period open and the Wolfpack's 2026 recruiting class in the final stages of being completed, it became clear Doeren showed some adaptation when it came to regional recruiting, particularly attacking the Northeastern region of the United States. The main reason for the change? Defensive coordinator DJ Eliot and his roots from that part of the country.
Trusting Eliot to help adapt the Pack for the future
The 2026 class included two players from New Jersey, one from western Pennsylvania and another from Maryland. The Wolfpack showed its willingness to move beyond the Carolinas, Virginia and even Tennessee with those additions. To compete in the world of modern college football, teams have been forced out of their comfort zones. Eliot allowed Doeren to explore different regions with his connections.
"It had a lot to do with DJ (Eliot) being in Philadelphia, coaching at Temple and then living there and recruiting that area and having some relationships up there," Doeren said. "I also have from my time recruiting up there, when George McDonald was here, we went up there pretty hard... It was a productive area for us for a while."
Doeren's successes in the Mid-Atlantic for recruiting included standouts like wide receiver Kelvin Harmon, one of his best playmakers during his 13-year tenure, and quarterback Devin Leary, who helped Doeren to arguably his best season in Raleigh during his two-year stint with the program. As he indicated, McDonald, who was the wide receivers coach for a few seasons, had a background in that region. But Eliot changed things for the Wolfpack once again.
"When DJ started getting interest from guys up there and getting them on campus, it was easy for me as well to get back in there."
Done deal!
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) December 3, 2025
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Doeren mentioned linebacker Jordan Moreta as an example of those relationships being rekindled, as the Wolfpack coach had a longstanding history with Moreta's high school coach at Paramus Catholic in New Jersey. Because of the renewed interest from players in that area, Doeren reconnected with many coaches in the Mid-Atlantic.
"That's what recruiting is. It's relationships... Most families want to know their kids are going to be taken care of relationship-wise and that means there's trust," Doeren said. "When you have long-standing relationships with high school coaches in an area, it does make that area easier to recruit in. And DJ has obviously allowed us to do that in the Northeast."
On top of the relationship aspect of things, it doesn't hurt that Doeren seems to like the kids from the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, crediting their toughness as a common thread between many of the ones he's recruited from there over the years. As for why, the NC State head coach believes it might stem more from watching football than playing.
"The way they're brought up, maybe the communities they're in, their fan bases, you know, the Giants and Eagles," Doeren said. "You look at the fan bases up there, and they're pretty intense. These kids are used to competing and being around tough, hard-nosed people."
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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