Dave Doeren spared no detail from his first Signing Day with N.C. State.
Doeren broke down film of each of the 25 players N.C. State added in the recruiting class on Wednesday. He talked for almost 45 minutes about the whirlwind since being hired on Dec. 1 and finding 13 of the new players for the program.
All of Doeren’s assistants attended the impressively thorough press conference-slash-infomercial, which was streamed live on the athletic department’s web site, and Doeren thanked everyone from the university chancellor to the Murphy Center cooks.
Doeren, who was hired after leading Northern Illinois to a 12-win season and the Orange Bowl, didn’t have a lot of time to sell N.C. State to recruits but he made quick work.
“We were able to meet a lot of needs,” Doeren said. “You’re never perfect in a class, especially in a six-week window like we had, but I think we made a lot of strides.”
There were nine in-state recruits, including a pair of top 25 prospects in Bunn receiver Johnathan Alston, who chose the Wolfpack over North Carolina, and Charlotte Independence cornerback Jack Tocho.
Tocho (No. 22) and Alston (No. 24) are the only two recruits ranked among the top 25 in the state by Rivals.com. It was the third straight year N.C. State did not land one of the top 10 recruits in the state, which is one of the main reasons Doeren was hired to replace Tom O’Brien after a 7-5 finish to the regular season by the Wolfpack.
Doeren will have to wait until the 2014 season for an impact from his two high-profile additions, quarterback Jacoby Brissett, a Florida transfer, and receiver Travares Copeland, a West Virginia transfer.
Brissett was a top-100 recruit nationally coming out of the state of Florida two years ago and, Doeren said, was one of the main reasons N.C. State was able to get nine players from the state of Florida.
Matt Dayes, a running back from Cypress Bay High in Weston, Fla., could be the prize. Dayes, who’s 5-8 and 190 pounds, originally committed to O’Brien then re-upped with Doeren after re-opening his recruitment. Dayes, who rushed for 1,864 yards and 31 touchdowns for all-state honors, chose the Wolfpack over Vanderbilt.
Dayes was one of three running backs in the class with six receivers and two quarterbacks. To go with the transfer or Brissett, freshman quarterback Bryant Shirreffs, from Jefferson, Ga., was a late addition to the class by Doeren.
“Those were three position groups we felt we needed to answer in this class,” Doeren said.
Doeren said the next class, which his staff has already started working on, will focus more on the offensive and defensive lines.
Doeren said there was some ambiguity with recruits about what type of offense and defense N.C. State will use in 2013. Those questions will be easier to answer before next year’s Signing Day.
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