Caden Fordham Finishes NC State Career in Style
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TAMPA, Fla. — NC State's Gasparilla Bowl victory marked the end of several careers across the Wolfpack roster. It was a perfect way for those players to cap off their collegiate journeys, snapping a bowl losing streak that stretched back to 2017, when coach Dave Doeren led the Wolfpack to a win over Arizona State in the Sun Bowl.
The team's defensive captain and star linebacker, Caden Fordham, had nothing left to prove other than getting it done in the postseason. His lengthy list of accomplishments earned from a stellar 2025 campaign became even longer on Friday, as he earned the Most Valuable Player award for his performance in the 31-7 win over the Memphis Tigers.
Fordham's dominant outing
After he suffered a significant knee injury during a midseason practice in 2024, Fordham's career looked more uncertain than ever before. He was in the midst of his first campaign as a full starter and appeared ready for the task before disaster struck. However, he worked diligently and trusted the staff around him to get him prepared for a comeback in 2025. No one was prouder of the linebacker's return than his head coach.
"I'll miss you, quite a bit man," Doeren said, turning toward Fordham after the win.
M V P#1Pack1Goal pic.twitter.com/98wjhpll1j
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) December 19, 2025
While Fordham's season-long impact was massive, he set the tone for the defense in the dominant performance over the Tigers. Late in the first quarter, he made the play of the game. Memphis quarterback Brendon Lewis fired a pass that ended up bouncing off the receiver and into the open field. Fordham soared into the play and grabbed the ball just before it hit the ground.
The senior linebacker got loose and sprinted toward the opposite sideline before turning upfield. He came up just a few yards short of a touchdown on the return, but freshman quarterback Will Wilson punched it in to put NC State up 21-0. That was just one of many key defensive plays from the Wolfpack's very own tackling machine.
Who said Caden Fordham only makes tackles.
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) December 19, 2025
📺: ESPN#1Pack1Goal pic.twitter.com/X3qTEyMmLb
"Coach (Doeren) always talks about tips and overthrows. We've got to get those," Fordham said. "I was covering my guy and saw the ball thrown and then reacted. One of our DBs made a great play on that and deflected the ball and I just caught it. I was wanting to score. I tried my best, but at the end of I kind of ran out of gas."
Fordham finished the afternoon with one of his best performances in a Wolfpack uniform. The senior racked up 13 total tackles, including five solo takedowns and 1.5 tackles for loss. That effort, combined with his interception and general leadership of a defense that had the Tigers' number throughout the entire game, earned him the first-ever Gasparilla Bowl MVP award.
"This whole offseason, I just told myself, 'You've got to work your tail off. That's the only way you're going to get to where you want to go.' And I feel like I did that and played some ball at the end of the year," Fordham said.
Respect from the others
The overwhelming defense from the Pack helped the offense hang 31 points on the Tigers. Sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey watched Fordham fly around the field from the sideline, as the veteran linebacker took significant pressure off of the young quarterback by wrecking Memphis's offensive game plan.
"It's a great to see and I was kind of disappointed when he got caught and did not score," Bailey said of his teammate. "... It's great to see our defense play good, get our offense going... I like seeing that."
Doeren got to know Fordham for five seasons and watched him grow into the elite linebacker he became in 2025. That process only made his performance in the Gasparilla Bowl even more special for the coach.
"You want them to come back whole, and you want them to be able to realize their dream and become the best version of themselves," Doeren said. "And Caden absolutely did that as a man, as a leader, as a football player. And so, you know, that's heartwarming for me... And I would tell you he was better than he was before, which is pretty cool."
A Wolfpack great
2025 GASPARILLA BOWL CHAMPS 🏆#1Pack1Goal pic.twitter.com/lvbouzCrv7
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) December 20, 2025
Even after earning All-ACC first team honors and even All-American honors from various outlets, Fordham solidified his legacy as the latest member of a line of talented Wolfpack linebackers with his final few weeks as a member of the team. 66 of his 130 tackles came in the final five games of his career. With numerous seniors at other programs walking away from bowl opportunities, Fordham could have easily done the same and gotten a head start on his future.
"I never even had a thought of not playing," the linebacker said. "Coach Doeren, these guys on this team have given too much to me for me not to even want to play... I love this game so much, I want to play anytime I can, and to play with these guys and these coaches, I don't see how you could opt out. I love these guys, so I wanted to play every second."
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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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