NC State quarterback Bailey Hockman is ready to return to Tallahassee
No script is better for an athlete than to come back and defeat the team he used to play for. Whether it is just bragging rights or to show what previous team is missing out on, it’s a time-honored tradition.
NC State redshirt sophomore quarterback Bailey Hockman could find himself in that position at Florida State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“It would be awesome,” Hockman said. “It would be great.”
The lefty started his college career at FSU before leaving after his redshirt freshman year for Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he didn’t play to preserve three years of eligibility at NC State.
“I’m excited to see some of the guys,” said Hockman, who is especially good friends with Florida State senior kicker Ricky Aguayo. “It is still a long time, but I’m focused on what we have going here at NC State, and building our culture with the guys on the team.”
Hockman, who played for Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern High, originally verbally committed to Georgia before signing with Florida State in the 2017 class. He redshirted that fall and then made his debut among the Seminoles fans at the 2018 spring game, throwing for 203 yards and a touchdown.
But when fall camp was winding down, it became apparent that he wasn’t going to be named the starting quarterback, and he transferred.
“It caught everybody by surprise here and probably shouldn’t have,” recalled Ira Schoffel, the managing editor for Warchant.com, which covers FSU for the Rivals.com network. “They probably should’ve realized that when he didn’t win the job.”
Former Seminole DeAndre Francois was the starter for FSU in 2016, and current starting quarterback James Blackman took over for Francois in 2017 when Francois was injured in the season opener against Alabama. Ironically, Blackman’s first career start was against NC State.
By the end of the 2018 fall camp, those two had established themselves as the top two on the depth chart, with Francois starting.
“I think Bailey saw himself as a third-teamer and felt like a lot of quarterbacks now do that, ‘Hey I need to find a place where I can play,’” Schoffel said.
Hockman committed to NC State on Sept. 17, 2018, and was in Raleigh when the Wolfpack trounced the Seminoles 47-28 on Nov. 3.
“He was down on the field during pregame, and I was impressed,” Schoffel said. “Probably a dozen Florida State players went over to him and hugged him and shared some time with him. I think that told you that they didn’t hold it against him. That the players still liked him as a guy, so he must’ve not left on too bad of terms.”
Ironically, there could have been a need for Hockman in Tallahassee. If he had stayed at FSU, he maybe would be preparing to play against NC State this week. Francois was dismissed from the team in January, and Blackman is possibly out with an injury.
Schoffel noted that after losing both Hockman and Francois, the depth at quarterback was pretty dire this spring. Blackman was the lone scholarship quarterback left on the roster.
“They did have high hopes for him and it suddenly got really thin at that position,” Schoffel said.
Florida State had to turn to Wisconsin graduate transfer Alex Hornibrook and Louisville transfer Jordan Travis, who received an NCAA waiver for immediate eligibility this season, to alleviate those depth needs. Hornibrook will start Saturday if Blackman cannot play.
After Hockman made his brief stop at Hutchison, he enrolled for the spring at NC State. He made a run at the starting quarterback job in the fall, but redshirt sophomore Matthew McKay proved to have too much of an early lead to overcome.
The 6-2, 208-pound Hockman though came in for a pre-scripted first-half series against Ball State last Saturday and the offense was humming along until he threw an interception.
“I think I did well and made a big play on third down,” Hockman said, referring to a 20-yard scramble. “I just have to keep working, keep preparing and be ready.
“Matt is a great player, and he is doing a great job and leading the team. I’m excited for him. We are real close and friends. There are no hard feelings between us.”
Hockman is 7-of-10 passing for 47 yards and an interception, while he has also rushed three times for 10 yards this season.
“I’m just working my hardest and Matt is too, and so is [redshirt freshman] Devin [Leary] and all those guys,” Hockman said. “That is all that we can do.
“Every day I feel like I’m getting better. That is all that I want to do, just keep getting better every day.”
McKay pointed out that even though he might be competing with Hockman, it doesn’t affect their friendship.
“We definitely block all this stuff out,” McKay said. “We always pick each other up, watch film every single day together. We just stay within the stadium, our community, block out all the noise.”
One area where Hockman has been of assistance is explaining to teammates who have never played at Doak Campbell Stadium what it is like.
“We’ve been talking about that ever since he got here,” McKay said.
Hockman played coy on whether he’d get more playing time in his return to Tallahassee.
“I don’t know if I can say that,” Hockman half-joked. “I have no idea, and it’s all up to Coach [Dave] Doeren.”
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