7/12/2021 football Edit

NC State QB Devin Leary is back to ‘100 percent’ ahead of 2021 season

Justin H. Williams • TheWolfpackCentral

Staff Writer

NC State football has high expectations entering the 2021 campaign.

That makes sense considering most of its production is returning from an eight-win season in 2020 that included a program-record seven conference victories.

Whether or not the Wolfpack reaches those goals, however, will depend in part on the performance of redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary, the team’s starter who is coming off of a campaign in which he appeared in just four contests due to a season-ending leg break he suffered last October.

Naturally, the biggest offseason question for the Pack has been the health of its starting signal caller coming off of months of rehab.

But NC State fans can find refuge from the feelings inside the Wendell Murphy Center this summer. Based on the progress from spring practice and summer conditioning drills, there is a consensus belief inside the Wolfpack locker room that Leary is healthy and ready to lead the offense this fall.

“My leg feels amazing,” Leary said. “I'm back to 100 percent for sure. I was cleared on the first day of spring practice, and it's been a full go ever since it started.

"It's been a great opportunity for me to really get my speed back, all my strength back. As far as playing ability and where I'm at with my leg, I'm back 100 percent. It feels back to what it used to be before I broke it.”

NC State Wolfpack football Devin Leary — NC State quarterback Devin Leary started in just three games in 2020 due to a season-ending leg break he suffered in October. (Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports)

Belief in self is a prerequisite for a starting ACC quarterback attempting to lead his team to a conference championship at a school that hasn’t won one in football since Jimmy Carter was the president, but Leary isn’t alone in his confidence.

Head coach Dave Doeren and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck also share the belief that the Pack’s starting quarterback has been back to his usual self this offseason.

"I think he's 100 percent,” Beck said. “I mean, he went through spring and didn't miss anything at all. He also wasn't limited in any capacity. So he did a really good job, as did Justin Smith, our main trainer, [associate football athletic trainer] Alyse King, they just were fantastic at getting him back. I haven't noticed any real difference in him from the injury."

“He came back very healthy,” Doeren added. “He ran around well, very confident on his leg. That always was great to see. That’s the first thing you see when he comes out of recovery. I feel like Devin is in a good spot, as good as I’ve seen from him, and I think his teammates really believe in him. It’s now just taking advantage of that opportunity, which I fully expect him to do.”

Assuming health won’t be an issue for Leary, the surrounding context sets up perfectly for the quarterback, now in his fourth season with the program, to have a career year.

For one, he’ll be surrounded by experienced offensive weapons. The Wolfpack returns all of its running backs and receivers on scholarship from last season, and each of those position groups are projected to be among the best in the ACC.

Phil Steele’s College Football Preview magazine considers the Pack's running backs the best in the conference, and Athlon Sports ranks the team's receivers second in the league.

NC State will also return a combined 73 starts on the offensive line, which includes two preseason All-Americans in sophomore tackle Ikem Ekwonu and redshirt junior center Grant Gibson.

Along with the personnel situation, there should be greater familiarity with the offense entering year two under Beck. For the first time in his college career, Leary will have the same offensive coordinator for the second year in a row.

"His command is better,” Beck said. “That happens as you get older, it happens as you gain more confidence within a system. This will be his first year having the same coach two years in a row.

"He had Eli [Drinkwitz], then Kurt [Roper] and me. In three years, he had three different guys, so there's now some consistency there. I just noticed in spring his presence, his command, he just seemed a lot more comfortable, a lot more in control."

“He’s very confident and understands the system,” Doeren said. “You can see the continuity with Coach Beck and Coach [Kriss] Proctor and the entire staff returning.”

Those high expectations are welcomed by Leary, who has not just put in the offseason work to physically recover from his injury but has also self-admittedly developed a stronger mentality coming out on the other end of what he considered a life-changing event.

“I was very excited to get back,” Leary said. “If anything, my confidence level rose even higher because I was sitting and watching football for so long. As soon as I got word that I was cleared and I was going to be able to play spring ball, I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to give everything that I had every single day.

“It's something that my mom always instilled into me that everything happens for a reason, but it's really about how you respond to what happens to you. There were obviously multiple different routes that I could have taken after this injury, whether it was giving up on myself or just losing hope down the line.

"This injury honestly changed me, not only as a player, but as a person. Just from a sense of not taking anything for granted, and all the little things really do matter because they can be gone at any second.”