2/27/2020 football Edit

NC State opened spring practice Thursday

Jacey Zembal • TheWolfpackCentral

Writer

NC State head coach Dave Doeren was finally able to see his revamped staff work together on the field Thursday.

The Wolfpack opened spring practice, which usually means five practices, then some time off for spring break and then a build up to the Kay Yow Spring Game on April 4. Doeren noted just in general it has been a long time since they’ve practiced and the program hopes to bounce back from last year’s 4-8 overall record.

NC State head coach Dave Doeren and the Wolfpack players began spring practice Thursday. (Ken Martin/The Wolfpacker)

“To see them come out with the energy they had, encouraging each other, working hard, a lot of good teaching on the field,” Doeren said. “Today was the first day I could see them [new assistant] coaches work. That was fun for me on the field. They have good good chemistry. Three of those guys were together already [at West Virginia] on the defense. Coach [Charley] Wiles has been doing this a long time [as defensive line coach]. [NCSU offensive coordinator] Coach [Tim] Beck has good energy out there and is in charge of what’s going on.”

The team had on helmets only, so only so much the players could do, but it was a good start.

“It was a good first day with a lot to build on,” Doeren said. “You can’t get too excited about day one because there wasn’t a lot of contact.

“The energy, cohesion and chemistry, all the things we really worked hard on in the offseason, you could see it on the field.”

Doeren said the theme of the offseason was competing at an elite level and how hard would they compete.

“How hard would we compete against ourselves and against each other,” Doeren said. “You see that when you come out to the practice field. You see the encouragement, with the offense and defense encouraging each other. You see the competition.”

The other aspect that will come during spring practice is seeing individual improvement from last year.

“You want to see the things they were doing since the end of last season, that we’ve been talking about being different when they get out there,” Doeren said. “Some of it is even confidence.”