NC State isn’t afraid to search high and low to improve its roster, even in getting a preferred walk-on long snapper from Tulsa, Okla.
An unusual set of circumstances came together and Cade Davis of Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College verbally committed to the Wolfpack on Sept. 11. NCSU special teams coordinator and running backs coach Todd Goebbel and special teams quality control coach Jackson White were able to bring Davis to a camp last June, and he impressed them.
Star long snapper Joe Shimko will move on to chase NFL dreams this year, and freshman Aiden Arias is his backup.
Davis will arrive in January and compete for the job, and plans to major in sports management or marketing.
Football is in his blood, with his father Richard Davis playing on the defensive line at Arizona State.
“I followed Coach White, the special teams analyst, on Twitter,” said Davis, 21. “I was going through and any coach I could find, I’d give a follow. The worst thing that could happen is that they don’t follow me back.”
White invited the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Davis to compete at a camp last June.
“I did pretty well and I’ve been in touch every day since then,” Davis said.
NC State has proven over the years to reward their specialists. Punters Trenton Gill and Caden Noonkester both went from PWO to scholarship.
“It is a huge opportunity for sure, if I go in there and take care of business,” Davis said. “I could end up on full scholarship.”
NC State has been spoiled at long snapper under Doeren. Shimko has handled the duties for five years, and before him, Tyler Griffiths and Scott Thompson handled it from 2011-18 All three were scholarship recruits out of high school.
Shimko has been hailed as one of the top long snappers in the country for several years. There is a difference when one snapper gets the ball in 0.65 vs. 0.70.
“What can really separate you is how fast your ball is,” said Davis, who started long snapping in the eighth grade.
Davis attended Tulsa Bishop Kelley High, and then attended Oklahoma State for a year. He landed at Hutchinson C.C. this fall, so he missed on meeting current NCSU cornerback Terrente Hinton, who attended the school.
“I’m hoping there can be a pipeline from Hutch to NC State,” Davis said.
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