Dave Doeren ready to welcome large group of early enrollees

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NC State sixth-year head coach Dave Doeren, who was at Northern Illinois for two years before coming to Raleigh, has never had 16 early enrollees in one class, but he has that luxury this year. Sixteen of the 19 prospects that signed with the Wolfpack will be at NC State in the spring, including 15 of the 16 in-state products.

In fact, it’s much easier to list the players who are not enrolling early — three-star offensive lineman Ikem Ekwonu from Charlotte Providence Day, three-star defensive back Jakeen Harris from Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military School and three-star offensive lineman Dylan McMahon from Savannah (Ga.) Christian Prep — than to go over those that will be in Raleigh starting in early January.

It was not necessarily planned that way, but it was also not purely a coincidence either.

“Part of it is just it’s becoming more normal,” Doeren explained. “It is strategic. It’s important when you are losing good players to get them in earlier to develop them and teach them the systems. It’s also a personal choice.

"It’s not a deal where we say, ‘Hey, this F-lineman, this quarterback is early, this one isn’t, so we’re not going to recruit them.’ We don’t go that way with it. It just happened that a lot of the guys we were going after were early, and we had a lot of early spots [available].”

Doeren cautioned against assuming that could mean more players would play early next season. He noted that one high school signee in the 2018 class he felt could play soon was cornerback Taiyon Palmer, but he was injured in fall camp and never got onto the field this season.

One early enrollee who will get plenty of reps this spring, provided he’s healthy, is three-star running back Zonovan Knight, who goes by the nickname “Bam,” from Southern Nash High in Bailey, N.C. The running back room is thin with the impending departures of Reggie Gallaspy Jr. and Brady Bodine.

"I told him, ‘Bam, you better be ready because you are going to get a lot of reps this spring.’ … He’ll have an awesome opportunity to be in the mix there,” Doeren said.

You can listen to Doeren's full signing day press conference below.

Doeren was proud of the fact that NC State was able to land its first choice at many position groups. That is especially true at the defensive line where the Wolfpack signed, in Doeren’s opinion, the top four defensive linemen in the state — four-stars C.J. Clark from North Stanly High in New London, Joshua Harris from Person High in Roxboro and Savion Jackson from Clayton High, plus three-star Terrell Dawkins from Cox Mill High in Concord.

It’s not a coincidence that came a year after NC State put four defensive linemen in the NFL draft, just the third time that has ever happened for any program. Being “QBU” has helped with quarterback recruiting, and Doeren has a hunch that wide receivers will start lining up soon. Already four-star receiver Porter Rooks from Charlotte Providence Day, Rivals.com’s No. 1 player in the state’s 2020 class, has committed to NC State.

“I think when kids can see it, it’s different from when you just talk about it,” Doeren said. “I can tell you right now if you are a quarterback or a defensive lineman or a wide out — we are the only school in ACC history to have two first-team all-conference receivers with a 1,000 yards — why wouldn’t you want to come here? Those things sell themselves.”

As for the defensive linemen, they may be a little more college-ready than the group that signed in 2014 and were all eventually drafted. That said, there’s still plenty of room for physical development under strength and conditioning coordinator Dantonio “Thunder” Burnette.

“Josh is big. Now you want that weight to be really good weight so he can be explosive fast and have sustainability and not be tired,” Doeren noted. “For Thunder, it's not going to be let’s get bigger, it’s going to be let’s make your weight really good weight. I think C.J. can definitely grow and get bigger and stronger.

“I think Terrell Dawkins has a frame that Thunder can do a lot with it. Savion is probably further along, he’s 260-some pounds already. It’s refining his weight to be the kind you want to carry.”

NC State signed 16 players from the state of North Carolina and won the bragging rights in the 2019 recruiting cycle. Two new coaches — ECU’s Mike Houston and UNC’s Mack Brown — will try to change that in 2020. Doeren is not backing down, however.

“What we’ve done is build a place where they can come and go to the NFL, graduate with an incredible degree and go to a place where you are surrounded by wonderful people. Plus, we just happen to be living in one of the best places in the world to live,” Doeren said.

“There’s competition, and I love it. We’ll get out on the road and compete with anybody. I’m not afraid of any of those guys and look forward to competing with them. They got their job to do and we have our job to do, and may the best man win.”

NC State did lose one member of its recruiting class when three-star offensive tackle Triston Miller from Charlotte Country Day backed out last week. He announced Wednesday he was headed to UNC. Miller cited former NC State offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford’s departure to become Louisville’s offensive coordinator as a reason for his switch.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Eli Drinkwitz also took a new job, becoming head coach at Appalachian State. However, the Wolfpack class remained firm despite the changes. Doeren noted that he makes sure to personally take an integral role in the recruiting process.

“At the end of the day I want people that want to be part of the program,” Doeren said. “I’m obviously the head of that. I hired everyone that is in the building now. Everyone in the Murphy Center that works for our football team has come through me. If they loved them, they know that I brought them here. And if they leave they know I am not going to bring somebody in that makes us worse. My goal is to be better every year.”

Doeren added he was not surprised to lose some assistants. He thought it was unique that the Pack finished in the top 25 with nine wins last year and did not lose a coach. It helped having a commitment like three-star linebacker Drake Thomas from Heritage High in Wake Forest, N.C., to keep the class together.

"I thanked him for that last night," Doeren said. "I think his leadership as a player is so strong. People want to play with him … He’s got a magnetic personality. People like the way he plays. They like his confidence."

One hire has already been made in quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper, whom Doeren noted has a lot of ties to the state. Roper’s father lives in Cary, and his wife is from High Point. Roper coached previously at Duke (2008-13) as head coach David Cutlciffe’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Running backs coach Des Kitchings and receivers coach George McDonald have been elevated to co-offensive coordinators and will run the offense in the Gator Bowl against Texas A&M on New Year’s Eve in Jacksonville, Fla.

“Those guys are going to work together on game day and will put the game plan together,” Doeren said. “It’ll flow through Des and George. … Des will be up on the box, George on the field and they’ll communicate. That’s kind of how I see it going.”

In other team-related news, redshirt junior receiver Jakobi Meyers has not received feedback from the NFL about his draft stock, and there is nothing new to report on his status, Doeren noted.

Doeren also confirmed that sixth-year senior quarterback Ryan Finley will play in the bowl.

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