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#UNC's Bill Belichick, N.C. State's Dave Doeren and Duke's Manny Diaz during Q&A at Pigskin Preview
Jul 24, 2026
MC David Glenn asks questions to those three coaches and coaches from ECU and N.C. Central, but the video only. #NCState #Duke #Pack #BlueDevils
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0:00
Do you believe the sport you dedicated
0:02
your life to, football, is that greatest
0:05
team sport of all? What would you say?
0:07
>> Coach Orgeron.
0:09
Uh you know, we always say it's the
0:10
laboratory of life. And it's a locker
0:13
room of 120 plus guys
0:15
from all walks of life,
0:17
religious backgrounds, home backgrounds,
0:19
you name it. And you're trying to get
0:21
them all to work together towards a
0:24
common goal.
0:25
And the things that these young men go
0:27
through,
0:28
uh from an adversity standpoint, the
0:30
obstacles,
0:32
and all of the challenges bringing
0:33
together, and then it's really unique
0:36
to, you know, way different than hockey
0:37
where your whole team is rotating and
0:39
flying all the time. Not everybody gets
0:41
to play. And so you're trying to keep
0:43
all those guys in line
0:45
and fighting for each other for a common
0:47
goal makes it an incredible challenge.
0:49
But also, when it happens, it's a really
0:51
magical thing.
0:53
>> Coach D'Amigo.
0:54
>> Yeah, I um
0:55
I love me some hockey. And uh game two,
0:57
the third period, [clears throat] is
0:58
maybe the most exciting thing I've seen
1:00
in person in in in my life. But um
1:02
but not everybody gets to touch the
1:03
puck.
1:04
Right? In our sport with one ball,
1:07
um
1:08
two thirds of the ones that have the
1:09
ball, they very they don't even have to
1:10
touch the ball. Like they have to go get
1:11
it from somebody else. And then, you
1:13
know, you have on our offense, you got
1:14
five guys who are ineligible to touch
1:17
the ball. Uh there's no other sport
1:19
that's like that. So,
1:20
uh the word to me is sacrifice, right?
1:22
Because you have to sacrifice. Everybody
1:24
wants to score, they want to touch the
1:25
ball, they want to be the star. And and
1:27
football is, you know, there is just
1:29
such a different
1:31
uh job description between different
1:33
people. And the only way the team wins
1:35
is if everyone has to do their job with
1:37
without the ball. And so, respect all
1:39
the sports. We all love watching all
1:40
sports. But there's nothing quite quite
1:41
like our game.
1:43
>> Coach Belichick.
1:45
>> Uh I think that you know, football is
1:47
really a reflection of life. And uh one
1:49
of the things that we all deal with in
1:50
life is the team teams.
1:53
So, in football, you have a hands team
1:54
that goes out there. You have a whole
1:56
line offense team that goes out there.
1:58
Uh I'm going to say guys probably play
2:00
on the football team. So,
2:04
and why do you have your team of teams?
2:06
Do you have a lawyer of a dentist or a
2:07
doctor or a
2:09
accountant?
2:10
You're part of a team, your family, your
2:12
faith,
2:13
business, they work for you or you work
2:16
for them, but you also have your team of
2:18
teams
2:19
that help you personally. So, I think
2:21
that there are a lot of great life
2:22
lessons in football, but
2:24
you know, you might not have gotten
2:25
knocked out back up. That happens to all
2:27
of us, but
2:28
in terms of putting together a team of
2:29
teams, how to be a good teammate and how
2:31
to build your team.
2:33
I [clears throat] very much enjoyed what
2:34
happened tonight.
2:37
>> Coach Shank Walsh.
2:38
You know, if I could this next question
2:39
will start with Coach Oliver and work
2:41
our way back in the other direction.
2:44
When I started covering sports in this
2:45
state, North Carolina was not one of the
2:48
greatest producers of NFL talent.
2:51
Meaning North Carolina high school
2:53
football players who went on to the NFL.
2:56
We were a good state, but not a great
2:58
state. Last year
3:00
on opening day NFL rosters,
3:03
there were only four states in the
3:05
country
3:07
whose high school ranks produced more
3:09
NFL guys on opening day. And part of
3:12
this is related to population, but part
3:13
of this is related to culture.
3:15
It was Texas, Florida, California, and
3:17
Georgia. North Carolina was fifth for
3:20
the first time in my 40 years covering
3:22
this stuff.
3:23
My question to you guys, four of you
3:25
have been in this state for a long time.
3:27
Coach Doran's one of the longest tenured
3:29
head coaches in all of America. Like
3:31
Coach Diaz was a Wolfpack assistant many
3:33
years ago, had to recruit the state of
3:36
North Carolina. Coach Shank three or
3:38
four decades. I know Coach Belichick
3:39
it's a little different for you, so you
3:41
can take this question in whatever
3:43
direction you like. But Coach Oliver
3:44
played and assistant coach and now head
3:47
coach right here in North Carolina.
3:50
How do you describe the evolution of
3:52
that
3:53
of high school football here in North
3:54
Carolina in your time observing it and
3:57
how do you describe how you utilize
4:00
in-state talent
4:02
to build your college program?
4:04
Coach Belichick?
4:05
>> Yeah, I'd just say following up on that
4:08
a little bit.
4:09
You know, this past June,
4:11
you know, we had almost close to 4,000
4:13
high school kids on campus.
4:16
7-on-7 camps, individual
4:18
camps and so forth.
4:20
There's a lot of activity, a lot of
4:21
participation from
4:23
the students, the coaches that bring the
4:26
7-on-7 teams in there
4:28
and
4:29
you know, just the participation levels
4:31
are high so I think that's where you're
4:33
going to get the players from.
4:34
>> Coach Diaz?
4:35
>> I I do think the state is increasing in
4:37
terms of population in the 20 years
4:39
since that I've been around. I think the
4:40
one underrated aspect as well is is how
4:43
you evaluate and recruit. So, when I was
4:46
at NC State, I had Eastern North
4:47
Carolina as one of my recruiting areas
4:49
and the only way you could get a player
4:50
out there is you had to drive your car
4:53
to the school, hope that the coach was
4:54
there, hope to meet the kid.
4:56
Now, you can do all that digitally and
4:57
so there's so much more access and so
4:59
much easier to be discovered and once
5:01
kids recognize and so much easier to get
5:03
a scholarship to be discovered, then
5:05
maybe instead of chasing that bouncing
5:07
ball that you shoot at that 10-foot rim,
5:09
they may be trending more to playing
5:10
football. I can't tell you how many
5:11
schools 20 years ago you'd see the kid
5:13
that'd be 6'4, 6'5 looks like an NFL
5:15
defensive end walk by and the high
5:17
school coach would shake his head and
5:18
say, "I can't get him off the basketball
5:19
court." So, I think there might be an
5:20
avenue now it's easier to see why those
5:22
guys are are being steered towards
5:24
football because it's easier for them to
5:26
be evaluated by anybody nationally
5:28
through the internet.
5:30
>> Coach Doeren?
5:31
>> Yeah, I mean, the only thing I would add
5:33
is just I've seen the high school access
5:36
for these coaches change to their
5:38
players as well.
5:39
It was very, very limited when I got
5:41
here 14 years ago.
5:44
Their ability to coach the guys in the
5:45
off season, how many hours they were
5:48
allowed to be with them and and there's
5:50
more access from the high school coach
5:51
to their players so they can develop
5:53
them more now.
5:54
With with the population increase, it's
5:57
uh and also how easy it is to evaluate a
5:59
kid now for
6:01
if you're coaching Texas, all you got to
6:02
do is
6:03
get on your computer and you can watch
6:05
every kid in North Carolina, right? So,
6:07
it's a lot easier for people to see the
6:09
talent here than it used to be. And it
6:11
has gotten a lot better. And
6:13
you know, the coaching has always been
6:15
good in my opinion. It's just hard when
6:17
you're a high school coach and you're
6:18
not allowed to coach your guys in the
6:19
off-season and then you go recruit
6:21
Florida and Georgia and
6:23
Texas and those guys are out there in
6:24
spring practice, you know, and they're
6:26
all these different periods during the
6:28
school day where they can coach them and
6:30
teach them and help them get stronger
6:32
and faster. And the state's always been
6:34
paramount to our success. We recruited
6:36
in-state as hard as anybody and had a
6:39
lot of success with in-state players.
6:41
>> We'll stick with Coach Doeren and and
6:43
work our way back with this next
6:45
question. A larger percentage of your
6:47
rosters than ever are transfers. The
6:50
transfer portal has grown and grown and
6:52
grown.
6:53
The question is, you guys often have
6:55
told us in the past that you'd like to
6:56
getting to know a high school prospect
6:58
over a year or two years or your staff
7:01
got to know a young man really well over
7:03
two years. So, you're evaluating both as
7:05
a football player but also as a person.
7:08
How do you do that in the speed dating
7:10
nature of the transfer portal where you
7:12
just don't have much of a ramp there and
7:14
these guys sometimes make their
7:16
decisions within day or two or a week or
7:18
so of putting their name in the portal?
7:21
>> Yeah, you know, there's a lot of these
7:22
guys that end up in the portal from a
7:24
lot of schools we recruited in high
7:26
school and so it's part of it. You're
7:27
tracking guys that you don't get
7:29
that you loved in high school, you know,
7:31
and you knew them. So, that if they go
7:33
in, there's already a built relationship
7:35
and that's one thing that you can do is
7:37
you try to find that connection.
7:39
In In cases, there's no connection and
7:41
and that's where it's challenging. You
7:43
know, I mean, it literally is a 24-hour
7:45
visit with the young man and whoever he
7:47
brings with him, and you're trying to
7:49
make sure he fits the culture of the
7:50
locker room, and not just the need that
7:52
you have, but it's just, you know, it's
7:54
the climate we have. We have more
7:56
outflow from your roster than you ever
7:59
have, and so that creates more inflow,
8:01
and you can't fill it just with high
8:03
school the fighters, you know, you can
8:04
have to replace the age that leaves with
8:07
appropriate age coming back in so that
8:09
you don't go from senior to the freshman
8:11
on your roster all the time.
8:13
>> Coach Diaz?
8:13
>> Yeah, we we want to build the majority
8:15
of our program through high school
8:16
recruiting, but we have to go to the
8:17
portal. I think what what helps us is we
8:19
do have, you know, academic restrictions
8:22
that they have to meet, and I think
8:24
that, you know, the people who are
8:25
attracted [clears throat] to Duke for
8:26
that reason, for the degree and maybe
8:28
for a graduate degree,
8:30
that tells them a little something about
8:31
their personality. We we we start to
8:32
notice the parents. The parents kind of
8:34
tell a story in terms of, you know,
8:37
usually there's a reason why the son
8:38
acts the way he acts,
8:39
and the raise right and you can kind of
8:41
see that in those first 48 hours, but
8:43
but it's a it's a guessing game. Anybody
8:44
that says it's not is is only telling
8:46
half truths, and and we've been
8:48
fortunate that we have we feel like
8:49
we've hit on our portal guys, not just
8:51
for what they do on the field, but but
8:52
how they blend with our culture in the
8:54
locker room.
8:56
>> Coach Belichick.
8:58
>> Um
8:59
Yeah, I mean, I agree with, you know,
9:01
Dave. I mean, he said that that that
9:03
certainly those kids are more, generally
9:05
speaking, mature,
9:07
have played college football, and you
9:09
know, just have a little a little bit of
9:10
a stronger background
9:12
than the high school kids. So, in that
9:13
respect, it's a little bit easier to
9:14
evaluate, but
9:16
to your point, yeah, it's interesting.
9:17
You know, as you said, some of these
9:19
kids will make a decision within
9:21
24 to 48 hours of being in the portal
9:23
based on where their agent directs them,
9:25
and
9:26
it's really not even the kid's decision.
9:28
It is his decision, but
9:30
he's he's transferred that to the agent.
9:32
Where do you think is the best fit for
9:33
me? And then sometimes those are the
9:35
ones he picks, but
9:37
you know, to me it's point of things
9:38
we're trying to know the kid, but that's
9:40
a prior relationship or
9:43
you know, whether it's a visit with
9:44
parents as much you can find out. Make
9:46
sure he's the right fit for you, but you
9:48
know, academically
9:51
in our case it's hard in North Carolina
9:52
to transfer in unless you're a graduate
9:55
student or unless you're a freshman. The
9:56
kids are right in between.
9:58
Just had too many credits to make up
9:59
that it's just doesn't fit. So, we're
10:03
you know, our guys are usually on the
10:04
older end.
10:06
>> Coach Belichick,
10:07
in college football, what would those
10:10
highest priorities be? And just to let
10:12
everybody know, as we speak in front of
10:14
the United States Congress, there is
10:15
something called the Protect College
10:17
Sports Act.
10:19
And the NCAA after 100 years of telling
10:21
Congress to stay out of its business,
10:23
the NCAA is kind of begging for a new
10:26
framework that would govern college
10:29
sports moving forward. It involves an
10:32
anti-trust exemption. It involves
10:34
capping agent fees. It involves
10:37
one penalty-free transfer, right? The
10:39
current rules you can keep transferring.
10:41
You can go to five different schools in
10:42
five years. So, this proposal includes
10:45
capping one free transfer, and if you
10:47
want to transfer again, you'd have to
10:48
sit out like the old rules.
10:51
What comes to mind on the long list of
10:53
things that you might want to change? If
10:55
you had a magic wand, what are those
10:57
highest priorities for you? Coach
10:59
Belichick.
11:01
>> Um, you know, I think it's a pretty
11:03
complicated problem. Um I don't think
11:05
there's a real simple answer, but I
11:07
think that Coach Saban, Senator Cory
11:10
Booker, Senator Cruz,
11:12
Senator Thune,
11:12
>> [clears throat]
11:12
>> all people that are involved in in
11:15
legislation are trying to do the right
11:16
thing. It's hard when
11:19
you have an NCAA that legislates for
11:22
30-some sports.
11:24
So, football is one component of it, but
11:26
you have other components as well.
11:27
Certainly in our conference it's
11:29
challenging for teams from Miami to
11:32
Boston, from North Carolina to Stanford
11:35
and Cal,
11:37
to SMU, Louisville, and in the middle
11:39
part of the country.
11:41
So, we're calling those schedules out
11:42
together in in you know, the 28, 29
11:45
different sports. So, it's it's hard.
11:49
I think that the state laws are a little
11:51
complicated, too. So, then a federal
11:53
legislation is probably a good idea and
11:55
I think the people who are working on
11:56
it,
11:57
you know, are doing the best they can,
11:59
but I think it's a hard problem.
12:01
On the other side of it, the one thing
12:03
I've always advocated is for
12:06
college football and pro football to
12:08
have the same set of rules. I think that
12:10
would make it a lot easier, a lot better
12:11
for the fans,
12:13
for the players, the coaches, the
12:14
officials,
12:15
everybody that watches the game. But,
12:17
you know, you watch multiple games on
12:19
Saturday and see one set of rules, pass
12:22
interference penalties,
12:25
overtime rules, and so forth and so on.
12:28
Timeouts.
12:30
There are multiple
12:32
and you don't see that in other sports.
12:34
And then you turn on the game on Sunday
12:36
and you have a different set of rules.
12:39
You know, the clock stopping after every
12:40
first down or not stopping after every
12:42
first down, things like that. I think if
12:44
the NCAA and the NFL can get together
12:47
and consolidate the rules to the best of
12:50
whatever they can agree on.
12:52
College has a targeting rule.
12:54
Players have learned that targeting rule
12:56
for their entire college career and they
12:57
go to the NFL and the rules are a little
13:00
bit different for targeting.
13:01
So,
13:03
I think that the more that they can get
13:04
together and if I can wave a magic wand,
13:06
we'd have one set of rules
13:08
for the NFL and for college football.
13:10
>> Coach, do you [clears throat] have
13:12
>> I think the kind of quarterback play
13:13
that we've been getting in the 11th hour
13:14
of the transfer portal
13:20
>> [laughter]
13:23
>> I think I think look, I I think in along
13:25
line with that,
13:26
one simple thing we can do, because
13:28
we're not we're not alone in that and
13:30
you dealt with that last year with your
13:31
secondary and
13:33
um
13:34
you know, it's even to to Shakes point,
13:35
if you want to be a developmental
13:36
program, which we do, and if somebody,
13:38
you know, wants to be blessed and go to
13:40
a different school, which they have the
13:41
right to do, it's inherent. What I think
13:43
would be fair, if we believe
13:44
[clears throat] in contract law, right,
13:47
is that the school, the money that one
13:49
school pays the other school for their
13:50
player, that school gets to reinvest
13:52
that
13:53
dollar figure into their roster.
13:56
Right? So, that now he's a buyout and
13:58
that buyout then can be used to replace
14:01
the player that left. And and so,
14:03
whether you always want to get young
14:04
players and and bringing young guys, but
14:06
if if if East Carolina or NC State or or
14:09
Duke or whoever
14:10
signs a player that nobody saw,
14:13
right, and develops him in a way that
14:15
better than anybody else can, and he's
14:17
there for 3 years and then all of a
14:18
sudden he decides, you know, some school
14:20
wants to double his salary, that that's
14:22
his given right. I think the school that
14:24
did the developing developing and
14:25
evaluation should get something back.
14:28
Right? So, that they can actually use
14:29
and and and and money that can go above
14:32
the cap. You hear about the Thursday rev
14:33
share cap. We ought to be able to go
14:35
above the cap with all your buyout. That
14:37
way you get a chance to reinvest in the
14:38
roster and in a weird way, it's actually
14:40
a positive.
14:41
Right? We want our quarterback in Duke
14:43
to play so well that either the National
14:46
Football League or every team in the
14:47
country wants to come get him every
14:48
year. Now, we want to keep him,
14:50
right? But God forbid if we lose him,
14:52
I'd like to have something that we can
14:53
go get next year's quarterback based off
14:55
of what we what we've earned by
14:56
developing this guy.
14:59
>> Coach Doran.
15:00
>> Yeah, I mean, for me, I think the the
15:02
level playing field of the salary cap
15:04
slash third party money,
15:06
uh would love to just see, you know,
15:08
whether it's different in Power Five or
15:10
G6, but
15:11
for the 69 Power Five teams to have the
15:15
same amount of money, you know, and
15:17
let's see who can recruit, develop,
15:19
coach,
15:20
retain,
15:21
but it's so not that way right now.
15:24
And and NCAA is supposed to be about
15:27
creating a level playing field with the
15:29
rules. And
15:30
there is nothing level about
15:33
the amount of money schools have to go
15:35
get their rosters and retain their
15:36
rosters right now. So,
15:38
you know, if there's a way that they can
15:39
actually have, like the NFL, a salary
15:42
cap
15:43
that everyone has to adhere to,
15:46
I would love to see that change in
15:47
college football.
15:48
>> You guys are probably want to be short
15:50
with this one, but and you can, but all
15:53
coaches talk about tampering.
15:55
That's when another school contacts one
15:58
of your players who has not yet put his
16:00
name in the transfer portal.
16:02
And yet you don't seem to have much of
16:03
an incentive to call others out
16:05
publicly, right? And there's a not only
16:08
the Miami and Darian Mensah left Duke
16:10
and the lawsuit and all that stuff, you
16:12
know, they had to have previous
16:13
conversations, right? They just had to.
16:16
Um but there's a case of conscience that
16:17
signs a player that the man is young man
16:19
is actually enrolled in school. Like he
16:21
is taking classes at Clemson after
16:24
accepting their invitation and their
16:26
monetary offer to transfer there, and
16:29
then an SEC school signed that guy away
16:31
after he enrolled.
16:33
And Dabo Swinney actually chose to be
16:35
public, which 99% of the time does not
16:37
happen. As brief as you'd like to be,
16:40
we'll go with Coach Dorin and come back.
16:41
Do you just throw your hands up and say
16:43
there's no way to solve this? There's no
16:44
way to enforce it?
16:46
Um or do you have an idea that's
16:47
actually doable?
16:49
>> Well, I think it's
16:50
uh the actual accountability on that
16:53
situation and others like it
16:55
becomes paramount where coaches are
16:57
afraid to do that. And
16:59
you know, right now there's a bunch of
17:00
rules around tampering, and so far
17:03
there's been no accountability around
17:04
the ones that are breaking those rules.
17:07
And so, you know, it doesn't help to
17:08
have guardrails if nobody pays attention
17:10
to it.
17:11
>> Coach Gantt, I mean, you need proof,
17:13
right? And yeah, that's hard to get. Uh
17:15
there's a lot of ways in and through the
17:16
back channels and
17:17
um probably it's hard to govern those
17:19
that don't want to be governed.
17:22
>> Similar to the example you had, we
17:24
signed a player and the following day he
17:27
signed the same contract to an ACC
17:29
school and ACC schools didn't release
17:33
him. I mean, you can take him to court,
17:35
you can fight it and all that, but at
17:37
the end, I mean, by the time you win the
17:39
case, the guy is already enrolled in
17:40
school anyway, so there's not really
17:42
much recourse to that.
17:44
But I think that they at this point once
17:46
you have a set of rules, you got to find
17:47
a way to enforce them, but
17:48
>> [clears throat]
17:49
>> the conferences don't
17:51
necessarily support um
17:54
they're not going to they're not going
17:55
to turn against the team in their
17:57
conference. And
17:58
I think our situation in the ACC, when I
18:01
say our man is
18:03
you know, in losing a player to a
18:05
conference team
18:08
at the 11th hour is, you know, I think
18:10
our conference should
18:13
you know, we should find a way to keep
18:14
that from happening.
18:16
It's about my pay grade.
18:18
>> Coach Shaquille Waller.
18:20
>> [applause]
18:22
>> Yeah.
18:24
>> The audience asked us to ask about your
18:26
quarterback situation.
18:28
I know this is not fun for some of you.
18:30
Practice has not even started yet,
18:32
preseason practice.
18:34
Um but many of these guys were in spring
18:35
drills. You can take it in whatever
18:37
directions that you like.
18:39
Just to give you the overview, C.J.
18:41
Beathard, one of the best quarterbacks
18:43
in the ACC, is back for coach Fedora.
18:45
Uh and it's his situation.
18:47
>> [applause]
18:48
>> Who is the starting quarterback at East
18:50
Carolina?
18:51
Coach Diaz, coach Belichick, and coach
18:53
Shaquille Waller saw their starting
18:55
quarterbacks transfer to other schools.
18:58
Some cases maybe you're sad that he
19:00
left, in other cases maybe not. I don't
19:02
expect you guys to comment on that part.
19:04
I believe your starter was a graduating
19:06
senior, so you you fit a different
19:07
category. My question, and again, take
19:09
it in whatever directions that you fit
19:12
you feel justified in your unique
19:13
situation. But, um if you know who your
19:16
starter is, tell us a lot about that
19:19
person and maybe just a sentence about
19:20
the backup. If you don't know who your
19:22
starter is, you know, give us a little
19:25
bit on three guys or whatever whatever
19:28
you can share that is not violating
19:31
Pentagon secret rules.
19:34
>> All right, uh this is my first
19:36
>> Coach Belichick, I know you love this
19:37
question.
19:39
>> Yeah, they're one of my favorites.
19:40
>> [laughter]
19:41
>> Um well, we have a we have a very
19:43
competitive situation at quarterback. Uh
19:45
Tory Newcomb is a returner.
19:47
Um
19:48
you know, had a great career in in uh in
19:50
Virginia Beach, uh undefeated state
19:52
champion team high school.
19:53
And uh Travis Purdy is is a freshman
19:56
from uh outside of Atlanta.
19:59
Um another very productive high school
20:01
player um
20:02
who had an ACL injury and is coming off
20:04
of that. So, uh we're excited to see uh
20:07
those two young players
20:09
along with Miles O'Neill, who's
20:10
transferred from Texas A&M,
20:12
uh out of high school, and uh Billy
20:15
Edwards, a transfer from Wisconsin who
20:18
uh was second in big 10 passing
20:20
uh 2 years ago at Maryland. So,
20:23
uh it was very competitive spring and uh
20:25
we look forward to uh competition
20:27
continuing in in training camp and
20:29
um whoever is
20:32
whoever has the best production will be
20:33
the player.
20:34
>> Coach Diaz, we're we're pumped about our
20:36
quarterback situation. Uh we're never
20:38
going to be victims. Uh and we did we
20:40
won nine games back-to-back here with
20:42
two different quarterbacks and we're
20:43
just trying to have a year to keep
20:44
breaking uh NCAA's records. The school's
20:47
records have been done
20:48
um last few years with two different
20:49
quarterbacks.
20:50
Um
20:51
we were able to get Walker Eggers,
20:53
uh transferred from San Jose State, who
20:55
did the 3,000 yards last year. He threw
20:56
for over 5,000 yards last 2 years. The
20:59
only reason why he was available when we
21:00
were shopping in the in the store that
21:02
already saw us shopped out, he was
21:04
ineligible. He needed an extra year of
21:05
eligibility and and by the blessing of
21:07
the NCAA somehow they slipped up and
21:09
gave it to him.
21:10
Um and uh he's recovering from an
21:12
injury. He should be ready to go by the
21:13
season opener. And then Ben Finley,
21:16
um a local product, uh we thought very
21:18
highly of him in the program. We really
21:19
felt like he would be the guy.
21:21
Um
21:22
just has to be the guy a little sooner.
21:23
So, we're just kind of you know, just
21:25
trying to turn up the the heat in the
21:26
oven, maybe get him cooked a little bit
21:28
sooner than than than than we than than
21:29
this little basin we had we had planned
21:31
on. But uh both those guys will battle
21:32
out uh in August and and like I said,
21:35
we're going to be
21:36
good with whatever guy that is.
21:39
>> We're excited. You know, it's rare. You
21:41
know, 17 schools in the ACC, and you
21:44
know, only two of us can say we have a
21:45
three-year starter at quarterback. And
21:47
so, it's rare in college football, you
21:50
know, to have that kind of longevity.
21:52
And as a head coach, it's great when you
21:54
have young men you've been able to
21:55
develop. Players on the team respect
21:58
him, trust him. Coaches say things, got
22:00
great relationships. And you know, CJ
22:03
had opportunities when the season ended
22:05
to go to other schools, and he felt like
22:07
you know, just like I did, there's meat
22:08
on the bone at NC State. There's things
22:10
that we can do that haven't been done,
22:12
and he wants to be the guy to do it. So,
22:14
we're really fortunate to have him. And
22:16
And at our back at quarterback, Will
22:17
Wilson, rushed for 11 touchdowns as a
22:20
true freshman.
22:22
Uh we nicknamed him Fourth and Will. Uh
22:24
the guy's been a great short-yardage,
22:26
goal-line type player for us, and he's
22:28
gotten better. So, we're really excited
22:30
about what we have in that room.
22:32
>> How about a round of applause for these
22:33
guys?
22:35
>> [applause]
22:40
[applause]
22:41
>> We are coming to the end of today's
22:42
program.
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