Last season is one State fans want to forget. Under head coach Dave Doeren’s first year with NC State, the Wolfpack had one of its worst seasons in school history, finishing with a 3-9 record, and not winning a single conference game. No one expected to be in contention for a conference title, but certainly no one expected to go through the conference schedule winless.
One of the biggest areas of deficiency for the Wolfpack last year was quarterback play. The season opened with graduate student transfer Brandon Mitchell as starting quarterback. He went 3-3 and 93 yards in the season opener against Louisiana Tech before getting injured and missing the next 5 games. Starting duties then fell to Colorado St. transfer Pete Thomas, who clearly struggled in a system that did not match his style of play. Once Mitchell returned from injury, things did not improve, and the end of the season just couldn’t get here fast enough.
Coach Doeren has seemingly put all of his eggs in one basket in Florida transfer QB Jacoby Brissett. The program has seen 3 quarterbacks transfer since the end of last season (Thomas, Manny Stocker, and Bryant Shirreffs) leaving sophomore Garrett Leatham and freshman Jalan McClendon as backups, with one of them most likely redshirting this upcoming season. At Florida, Brissett was the first true freshman to take his first collegiate snap as starter and did so against then top ranked LSU. He later lost the starting job and decided to transfer. He will have two years of eligibility at NC State. Brissett’s style of play is far more suited to the fast paced, run- first spread offense that Doeren and offensive coordinator Matt Canada like to run.
There has been a lot of turnover in the program since the end of the season, and the staff has worked hard to fill those holes and appeal to the younger recruits. They recently revealed new black alternate helmets for the upcoming season, something that appeals to the younger generations and joins the nation-wide trend of developing “fresh” uniforms.
The real question is however, with all these changes, will the results be any different? It’s hard to say. Pack fans certainly hope so, as does the staff. Looking at the schedule, it does not favor the Wolfpack with most of the tougher conference opponents in Clemson, UNC, and Louisville being road games. The Pack will have Florida St. at home as well as non-conference opponents Georgia Southern, Old Dominion, and Presbyterian. All things considered, this is not a schedule to write home about, but it may just be what the Wolfpack needs to turn the tables back around and headed in the right direction.
