In May, we started a countdown to NC State football's season and ACC opener against Louisville, a game that was originally scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 3.

In mid-June, the game was moved up a day to Wednesday, Sept. 2 in order to not conflict with the Kentucky Derby which was postponed from the traditional first Saturday in May to Saturday, Sept. 5 over Labor Day weekend.

Today, July 18 marks 46 days from the Wolfpack's season opener, for now.

Each day, The Wolfpacker will do a countdown to the season with a reflection on the significance of that number to NC State.

Kelvin Crooms was a linebacker for NC State from 1983-1986 and was a key piece in the program's transition to the Dick Sheridan era which began in during Crooms' senior season.

As a junior, Crooms set a school record for single-season tackles with 161 in 1985, a total that was good for fifth in school history at the time and still holds seventh all-time since David Merritt broke his total with 167 tackles in 1992 and Levar Fisher broke it again with 166 in 2000.

While the Wolfpack suffered back-to-back 3-8 seasons in 1984 and 1985, Dick Sheridan turned the program around in Crooms' senior season in 1986 with an 8-2-1 regular-season record and an appearance in the Peach Bowl. Crooms was a captain on the team and an essential piece in the bounce-back season.

For the dramatic turnaround in 1986, Sheridan won the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Trophy becoming the first-ever ACC coach to win the award.

Thirty years later, NC State honored Sheridan at Carter-Finley Stadium during a game against Florida State in which Crooms and the rest of the season's captains joined in the celebration.

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