NC State coach Dave Doeren recognizes team buy-in during fall camp

That's no different for NC State this August, but head coach Dave Doeren noted how proud he was of his team for being ahead of schedule one week into fall camp.

"It's gone well," Doeren said Tuesday. "The first two days, we were blessed with some really kind weather. The last three, we've been getting used to the intensity of the heat and the humidity. Those have been good things for our guys.

"We're way ahead, just from an install standpoint, from where we were a year ago at this time, which has been nice to see. ... I think the ability for the staff to put a little more heat on these guys in practice, a little more of a mental challenge I guess you'd say."

One factor that has helped the Pack take great strides this summer is the veteran makeup of the team. NC State returns 19 starters from last season's 8-4 campaign, and the coaching staff has regularly touted the team's depth this summer.

"I've been very pleased with the attitude, the effort," Doeren said. "I talked a lot about the chemistry of this team. That's very obvious, watching them coach each other on the field and pick each other up. Back and forth, offense, defense is always very competitive in training camp.

"The fun part about this team is when they get off the field, they're helping each other. You see [graduate transfer cornerback] Derrek Pitts Jr. and the receiving corps, [redshirt sophomore wide receiver] Devin Carter and them talking. You'll see [redshirt junior center] Grant Gibson talking with the nose guards, you'll see [fifth-year senior defensive end] Daniel Joseph and [graduate transfer defensive tackle] Cory Durden and [redshirt junior defensive tackle] Savion Jackson talking with our offensive tackles.

"Not just talking, but talking football about what they're doing and how they're doing it and ways they can get better. I've really enjoyed that part of camp."

Fall camp has been a success thus far for the Wolfpack, according to Doeren, but the head coach also admits his team has an important week ahead of it.

The team has practiced in just helmets, limited pads and shorts during the first week of camp, but it will begin practicing in full pads beginning Wednesday. NC State's academic fall semester also begins Monday, which makes this week the football team's last without juggling classes and homework.

"We've got a lot of work to do, a lot of things we need to clean up," Doeren said. "This is an important four-day stretch coming up. ... This is an important four-day window coming up as we start school next Monday. This is really our last week without academics involved to get the rest of our stuff in."

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Other NC State football notes of interest

• Senior wide receiver Emeka Emezie, who has led the Pack in receiving yards in each of the past two seasons, was notably absent from the first session of fall camp that was open to the media last Wednesday. The veteran pass-catcher has been with the team, but has sat out of practice for the first week of fall camp while he nurses an injury.

"He's close," Doeren said. "Obviously, we want to be smart with him, and we've got to get him to the opening game. Emeka's worst enemy is his own work ethic sometimes, he just goes hard and you can re-injure yourself in that scenario. We just have to really be patient with him.

"He's working, he's out of practice, he's watching, but I'd say he's probably a week or two from being released into what everyone's doing. You just have to go day-by-day with him and understand it's a marathon, not a sprint. We're talking about getting him back for the season because he was out for quite a while."

• Doeren was also able to properly comment on what he has seen from Florida State graduate transfer defensive lineman Cory Durden after one week of fall camp. Durden was a late arrival to campus this summer, so fall camp has offered the coaching staff its first up-close look at the versatile defensive tackle as a member of the team.

Prior to Tuesday, Doeren admitted he wasn't able to give good answers to questions regarding Durden because he had yet to see him play except as part of the competition. The 6-foot-4, 310-pounder was a notable producer in Tallahassee over the past three seasons, accumulating 68 tackles, including 13.0 for loss and 7.5 sacks, in 26 games.

"Cory is going to help us a lot," Doeren said. "Right now, we're trying to get him used to how we do things. He's trying to get back in football shape. He didn't go through spring ball at Florida State, so he was rusty. He's working hard. He loves learning. He's coachable, I like that about him. He'll make mistakes, and we can critique him, be constructive with him and he wants to get better.

"He can play inside and outside in our scheme, so he brings a lot of versatility there, similar to [freshman defensive tackle] Davin Vann that way, a guy that can move in and out of our packages. We're very excited he's here. ... I think he could have a major role on our front."

• The head coach has also been reminding his team daily that it needs to stay vigilant in making smart choices related to the COVID-19 pandemic as the Delta variant has increased cases across the country and at home in North Carolina.

Although fall camp feels much different than it did a year ago, when the college football season was still far from a certainty due to the pandemic, the risk of bringing the virus to the locker room still exists, especially when the general student population returns to class Monday.

"We've talked a lot about it," Doeren said. "Last year, we were very good here from a COVID numbers standpoint until the student body showed up. Not to blame them, it's just what happens when you put 30,000 young people on a college campus. You're going to have a lot of germs brought in and people are going to get sick. So we spend a lot of time discussing that.

"Even if COVID wasn't here, we would be discussing that because we don't want guys missing for other things, colds and a variety of other things you can get. I'm very hopeful that we learned our lesson from watching that horrible movie last year when that went down. I told them, I don't want to watch it again. There's been a lot of education here, there has been a lot of discussion. There's been a lot of conversation, and we're in a very good place when you talk about vaccination rates and all those things with our program.

"So it's really a small group, I guess you would say in the unprotected area of our team. Daily, unfortunately, I'm still talking about that with these guys because I don't want to watch that. I don't want to watch a kid that's completely healthy and has worked so hard get contact traced out because he was in class with somebody that was coughing or has a roommate that's not vaccinated or whatever it might be."