RALEIGH - N.C. State opened spring football practice Tuesday on a cool, cloudy day that felt a little more like early November than March.

The Pack also had an abundance of quarterbacks in attendance. State coach Tom O'Brien hopes one of them will be leading his team to a successful season come November.

Three quarterbacks were in uniform and will compete this spring -- redshirt freshman Russell Wilson, junior Harrison Beck and sophomore Justin Burke. Another, Daniel Evans, had a big red cross on his jersey after undergoing shoulder surgery.

O'Brien wouldn't comment on the nature or extent of Evans' injury -- when was he injured, did he play with an injury last season? He did say Evans, who graduated after the fall semester, should be ready for fall camp.

Then there was Mike Glennon, who was in street clothes. The prized recruit from Centreville, Va., won't enroll until the summer, so he was an interested, 6-foot-6 bystander, watching, listening to the coaches, staying close to the other quarterbacks.

Though Evans has started 17 games the past two seasons and Beck goes into spring drills listed as the No. 1 quarterback, the most intriguing player could be Wilson. Just 5-11, he's a good athlete who cocks the ball quickly, puts plenty of zip on it, throws a tight spiral and is accurate.

In an 11-on-11 drill, Wilson fired a 40-yard strike to wideout Owen Spencer, catching him in full stride.

"Sitting out last year and being redshirted was a little tough," Wilson said. "But I'm tons more prepared because I redshirted. Going against the first-team defense every day in the fall ... really prepared me for going against good defenses."

Wilson also plays infield on the Pack's baseball team, saying he'll jump back and forth between the two sports during spring drills.

"It's not that bad," he said.

If sitting out the 2007 season was tough on Wilson, it was a nightmare for senior tight end Anthony Hill. Projected as a potential All-ACC player, Hill badly injured his left knee just before fall practice began and underwent major surgery.

But Hill is back. He's wearing a bulky brace, but he said he was "90 to 95 percent back" physically and would participate in all drills except contact work.

"I feel like I'm back and part of the team," he said. "I feel I'll be a better player than I was before."

Another player back on the field after missing the 2007 season is junior wide receiver Geron James, who had some academic work to do in order to return to the program.

Tailback Toney Baker, who injured a knee during the Pack's opener against Central Florida, will miss spring work. However, tailback Andre Brown, who missed the last six games with a broken foot, is back.

The Pack was 5-7 in O'Brien's first season, dropping the last two games after an emotional win over North Carolina. The lack of a consistent running game and a slew of turnovers hurt, as did a defense that gave up too many big plays.

"I don't think there's any question we're better than we were last year," O'Brien said of the first practice. "Everybody knew where to go, they understood what the drills and periods were. It was very fundamental-oriented today."