There’s nothing easy about running normal operations during a pandemic, college football recruiting included. Making matters more difficult for NC State was that it had a coaching staff featuring five new assistants who were forced to bypass face-to-face meetings in favor of virtual conversations.

That put a lot of pressure on the recruiting staff, led by Billy Glasscock, and the graphics team of Chanelle Smith-Walker and Emmitt Carden, the latter duo whom Doeren labeled difference-makers, to facilitate the most unusual of recruiting cycles.

"We had to do a lot of virtual recruiting and these guys did a tremendous job,” Doeren said. “They worked hard to build relationships and staying in touch with not only the families but the coaches. A lot went into it that was very different in signing a class. Very different.”

The end result however is a class that Doeren is excited about, even if there might not be the same level of familiarity with a normal signing group.

"One thing we don't do is try to sell them anything,” Doeren noted. “We tell them who we are, we tell them what we're about, our coaches get to know them, and I feel really good about that part of it: that they know what they're getting and we know what we're getting.”

How the players came to NC State’s board ranged greatly. Star quarterbacking signing Aaron McLaughlin from Denmark High in Alpharetta, Ga., has been on the Pack’s radar since he was a ninth grader. Doeren can recall how McLaughlin explained his transfer from state powerhouse Buford (Ga.) High to a newly established school at Denmark as fulfilling a desire to help build a new program. Doeren thought that answer was something you don't hear a lot from young players.

“First thing you notice is his size, his arm strength,” Doeren added. “Came to one of our camps early in his high school career and ran really well, ran in the 4.6s. So he's very gifted from an athletic standpoint.”

The highest-rated prospect in the class is four-star receiver Micah Crowell from East Forsyth High in Kernersville, N.C. Doeren sees a potential playmaker in Crowell.

“He's a very versatile guy on offense,” Doeren said. “He's a really good receiver. He's big [6-foot-2, 220 pounds], so he can do a lot of different things at that position.

“I think he's also a good runner with the ball. You see him carrying the ball a lot, if you watch his highlights, on jets and out of the backfield. So there's a lot of versatility there with him, and with his size it allows you to be creative and do some different things with him.”

Some players almost accidentally emerged on the radar, as Doeren explained in retelling how three-star defensive end Zyun Reeves, Crowell’s teammate, came to the Pack.

“I was at the state championship game a year ago,” Doeren noted. “They were playing Cardinal Gibbons, my son was on that team. So I was watching the game, and this kid just kept making plays. I'm looking at the roster and I'm like, ‘Who is this guy?’ Because I had a list of players to watch in the game from our recruiting staff.

“He made a bunch of plays, and so as the game went on I'm texting Billy, ‘Who is this guy, number whatever he was at the time? He's making plays and sacking the quarterback. He looks gigantic.’ They had him listed at 6-7, or 6-6, whatever it was.

“And then we got the background, that this was his first year playing football. I'm like, ‘We got to get some details on this kid because he's really athletic, he's long, he plays hard. He's got a great upside.’ And so as we got to know him and learn the story, just a guy that was on the basketball court that a good recruiter at the high school figured out that they need somebody on defensive line over there at East Forsyth.”

The recruiting class also included one officially announced transfer in Fairmont State offensive lineman Chandler Zavala, a Division II All-American who will be immediately eligible.

"Very physical, very aggressive, he's a finisher,” Doeren described. “Obviously a decorated player at the school he's at. His mom actually works at NC State, so he's a young man that wanted to be here and had family ties to the university.

“We were looking for an experienced guy that wants to compete at a high level, is going to come in with a chip on his shoulder and he has all the tools."

Despite the challenges, Doeren and his staff pieced together a class of 18 high school players and a transfer that looks like a typical signing day haul. Moving forward, Doeren doesn’t know what the future classes will look like since the NCAA froze eligibility this fall.

“Last year's class is technically considered freshmen again,” Doeren noted. “So you have two classes in the same classification. It’s really: how is that going to play out over a five-year window with your numbers?

“The NCAA has got a lot of things they need to look at, and they're the ones that granted this year and now they've created kind of a log jam, I guess you would say, on how we're supposed to classify and look at our numbers. We’ll see what they end up doing. Until then we'll just keep on going.”

Doeren and the coaches now turn their attention to the looming bowl game. The coach left little doubt about NC State's desire to participate.

"Our guys are excited.... to play, our coaches are excited to play," Doeren said. "Unless, you know, COVID takes the opportunity away from us, we plan on playing and look forward to playing.”

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