Weekly defense notebook: Calvin Hart Jr. prepared for opportunity
NC State redshirt freshman linebacker Calvin Hart Jr. understood what competition was like because of where he went to high school.
Hart has been able to find a way to help the Wolfpack early in his college career, despite being a Rivals.com two-star prospect in the class of 2018, thanks to his prep career.
Hart helped Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage to back-to-back undefeated Class 5A titles. American Heritage was ranked No. 4 in the country his senior year by USA Today and was No. 6 nationally according to MaxPreps.com.
“It prepared me a lot, and we had a great coaching staff with a lot of coaches that played in the NFL,” Hart said. “I think that contributed to me being able to play at this high level.”
American Heritage is coached by former NFL cornerback Pat Surtain, whose son is a cornerback at Florida State.
“I think I had better development than some players did because of the good coaching and good strength and conditioning coaches I had back then,” Hart explained.
Hart earned his first college start against then No. 5-ranked Clemson last Saturday, responding with seven tackles, including 1.5 for loss. The 6-1, 225-pounder has played in every game this season and has 28 tackles, 5.5 hits for loss, one sack and one fumble recovery in 197 plays.
The Wolfpack started Hart, redshirt freshman Payton Wilson and freshman Drake Thomas at linebacker in light of injuries to junior Louis Acceus and redshirt sophomore Isaiah Moore.
“It was a long-time dream,” Hart said of earning his first career start. “I’ve been working hard and got the opportunity. Coach always tells me to prepare for every game as if I are going to start. It was a great opportunity to be able to play.”
It remains to be seen what Hart’s role is this Saturday against Louisville, but he knows some of the Cardinals players that are from South Florida. He expects a lot of speed on the field, which fits his style of play.
NC State’s switch from a 4-2-5 alignment to a 3-3-5 also created opportunities for Hart to contribute in a reserve role this season.
“It definitely opened up more doors, especially getting on the field and having more speed on the field,” Hart said. “We have a whole lot of great talent in the linebacker room.”
Hart noted that the defensive playbook is complex, but he’s learning the multiple linebacker positions. He was helped by playing in four games last year, while still preserving his redshirt season.
“It’s not a huge difference [between linebacker positions], but you have to take time and study,” Hart said. “I remember my first kickoff was against Marshall [last year]. I was like, ‘The speed is definitely different than it was in high school.’ It was definitely a big awakening for me.”
Hart goes by C.J. with his friends, but his family is proud that he’s Calvin Hart Jr.
“She [his mom] was like ‘I want you to be called as Calvin. I want the world to know you as Calvin and not C.J.,’” Hart said. “She wanted me to be more professional. All my friends call me C.J.”
Walk-On Alex Gray Gets Rare Chance
Redshirt freshman linebacker Alex Gray's original intention was to be a regular student at NC State, but the lure of football proved too strong so he took a chance. This past Saturday, that led to Gray being on the field for the first time in his career — receiving 20 snaps against the reigning national champ, Clemson, of all teams.
Gray, by his own admission, was a pretty good football player at Page High in Greensboro, N.C., but not good enough to warrant Football Bowl Subdivision offers. He had some smaller options, but Gray was not too keen on those choices. Thus he decided to be a regular student at NC State.
"I room with one of my best friends from home," Gray added.
But a few weeks into the summer, Gray's itch to keep playing football was too much to ignore, so he got in touch with Henry Trevathan Jr., NC State's Director of High School Relations. Gray explained to Trevathan how he missed football.
"He found a way to get me on," Gray recalled. "They just got me over here, but I could tell if I didn't do some good the first year then I probably wouldn't be here the next year."
Life as a walk-on is not easy, something Gray quickly discovered.
"The first year was definitely a grind," he said. "It just wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting to get a lot more opportunities, but they gave scholarships to guys. They are obviously going to get more reps than me.
"You just got to wait your turn and really stick with it."
That's what Gray did, and during the Clemson game week he sensed an opportunity might be looming. Two starters — redshirt sophomore Isaiah Moore and junior Louis Acceus — were out with injuries. That meant that Gray was potentially a couple more injuries away from seeing action.
Then during the game, that's what happened. Redshirt freshmen Payton Wilson and Calvin Hart Jr., redshirt junior Brock Miller and freshman Drake Thomas were all banged up by the end of the game. That left freshman Jaylon Scott as the last scholarship player standing, and then the walk-ons.
Thus Gray heard his name called.
"At first I thought they were just messing with me, telling me it was time to go in," Gray remembered. "Right before I went in I was pretty nervous, but the minute I got right on the field it just felt like football to me.
“Early in the week I was just thinking, talking to my friends, 'Wow the first game I might get in is against the No. 5 team in the nation, which is kind of crazy.' When I got in I just felt like I was playing another bunch of other dudes.”
Considering the circumstances, Gray held up well. He was the eighth-highest graded defensive performer in the game for NC State according to PFF. He had four tackles, including two solo stops.
“When it happened in the game it just felt normal, but afterward it was, ‘Oh my God, I actually got a tackle in the game,’" Gray recalled. "All the dudes on the team were going crazy, especially other walk-ons, just because for them seeing another walk-on on the field making plays is pretty crazy. That was really cool.”
Also fun was the reaction after the game. Gray had his parents, two good friends from high school, his sister and a friend of hers at the game. Gray said his mother was "freaking out" afterward. Friends he had not heard from in years were reaching out to tell Gray they saw him on TV.
One person though missed out on the fun. It proved too cold for his sister to stick around long enough to see Gray play. She tried to originally to play it off like she did not leave early, but Gray will relish reminding her in years to come she missed seeing her brother play.
"I don't blame her because it was freezing that night," Gray added.
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