NC State cornerback Nick McCloud wasn’t expecting to play football for the Wolfpack in 2020, but then few things went to plan for him this past season.
McCloud confirmed Wednesday that he still won’t be playing for NC State next year, but in a different twist. The senior will graduate and use his not planned for fifth year of eligibility at a new institution.
In a perfect world, McCloud would have been training for the NFL Draft in stead of finding a new school. Nothing about his first senior year went to plan.
McCloud was voted a team captain and then suffered a knee injury in the first game of the season against East Carolina on Aug. 31. He returned to play Clemson in the ninth game of the season Nov. 9, only to again get shut down for the season. By playing less than four games combined with earning his degree, he was able to put himself in a position to be a graduate transfer. McCloud finished the year with seven tackles, two passes broken up and he played 90 snaps in two games.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder from Rock Hill, S.C., would have been playing for a new cornerbacks coach and defensive coordinator at NC State. Tony Gibson was elevated to being the lone defensive coordinator and NC State hired former Virginia Tech cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell.
McCloud accumulated 106 tackles, 20 passes broken up, three interceptions and one fumble recovery in 36 games (21 starts ) at NC State. McCloud was coming off a junior year where he had 51 tackles and two interceptions in 11 starts.
The cornerback position was decimated by injury, four cornerbacks total. Rising senior Chris Ingram and junior Teshaun Smith both were injured six games into the season. Redshirt sophomore Taiyon Palmer suffered a season-ending injury the week before at Florida State, which is the second year in a row for him to suffer a serious injury.
NC State also lost sophomore cornerback De’Von Graves following the season. He transferred to Northern Arizona. The Wolfpack signed four defensive backs during the early signing period in mid-December.
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