NC State Insider Podcast: Wolfpack Football Back for 2025

In today's episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, we get to know the basics of the Wolfpack football program, specifically the coaching staff.

To watch today's episode, view below.

Head coach Dave Doeren spoke to the media earlier this week. Here is a partial transcript of what he had to say:

Q: To see Isaiah Shirley, Caden Fordham, and some of those guys playing for us again. It was fun to see, and they look great. You can see there’s some continuity with CJ (Bailey), different from last year, being a returning starter with his receivers.

Doeren: "I think we’re all offensively excited to see Duke Scott. He had a really good spring. He’s building off of a tremendous summer in the weight room. Spike Sowells, young offensive lineman that did a really nice job early in the spring and had a good summer.

Defensively, there’s just a lot of new parts that came in, and so whether they’re new or, I guess, they’re all new when you talk about transfers and freshmen, but it’s good to see Brian (Nelson II), the corner, transferred in here. He had a good day today, very smooth mover. Ronnie Royal, I thought, took advantage of a lot of reps today, did a nice job in there.

It’s going to be a process, getting these guys into a lot of situational football and competitive drills, to see how they handle the load. It’s the first day of practice, not a lot of install, but there’s a lot of competition coming in this training camp. But, I’ll be able to give you a lot more detail with guys after that."

Q: This is the first time in a long time you’ve had to replace a couple different coordinators. Does that change where you expect things to be?

Doeren: "No. In my tenure here, I’ve had several new coordinators.

I look at (Kurt Roper) differently maybe than the outside world does, because I’ve been with him for so long. He knows our players. He knows our terminology and how he wants to change it. He has relationships built. So, offensively, it’s not the same as bringing in a new face that knows nobody in that locker room.

On defense, obviously, it’s a different conversation. For me, I’ve known DJ (Eliot) a long time, so I knew what he was going to be about. There’s a lot of new faces, because we had graduations and guys leave. There is an evolution over there, from a schematic standpoint and personnel, so it’s an opportunity. That’s how I look at it, more than a challenge."

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