NC State QB Jack Chambers ready to accept another challenge — this time, on bigger stage
For Jack Chambers, it’s all about new challenges and new experiences.
That’s why he transferred to N.C. State from Charleston Southern this year.
That’s why the Wolfpack quarterback is stoked about the Thursday night game against Virginia Tech on ESPN, with the nation watching.
To hear Chambers tell it, perhaps his biggest challenge came in his decision to play high school football, and that came after a few biting words from his older sister.
Chambers was about to enter his sophomore year at Parkview High outside Atlanta and content playing on the baseball team. Some buddies were urging him to try out for football, which he quit as a fifth-grader, but he wasn’t buying it.
“I was pretty close to not going out. I was sure baseball was my future,” Chambers told The News & Observer Tuesday. “Besides, I was too small and those guys were too big.”
That’s when his sister, Amanda, stepped in.
“My sister said, ‘Jack, if you’re really not going to go out because you’re a wimp, then just say that,’” Chambers said.
Wimp? That hurt.
“I’m not a wimp,” Chambers said, smiling. “I said I’d go out for football and see how it goes. If it wasn’t for her …”
If it wasn’t for her, Chambers might not be starting for the No. 24 Wolfpack. He might not be the guy coach Dave Doeren and Pack fans are counting on to help spur a strong finish to a season that has had disappointments and the loss of quarterback Devin Leary to a pectoral injury.
He’d probably like to think he might be playing the infield for a major-league team or close to getting to the majors. He had a strong arm and could hit and was a good athlete. Who knows?
But Amanda Chambers, who played softball at Georgia Southern, helped change his path. He starred at quarterback at Parkview. He played parts of four seasons at Charleston Southern, passing for more than 5,700 yards and 40 TDs, and said he could have returned for his final year of eligibility this season with a scholarship.
But Chambers, an older college athlete at 25, wanted more.
“I felt like I had gotten to a point where it was just time to leave,” he said. “I just wanted to see something new and experience something new.”
Something like Power Five football and playing in a Thursday night game on ESPN?
“Of course, of course,” he said, smiling again.
‘All about an experience’
Yes, Chambers was aware Leary was returning for the Pack this season. He was aware of what his role would be, that there were other QBs in the program, that he would be a graduate walk-on transfer and have to prove himself.
“This was all about an experience,” he said. “I wanted to go out there and experience something that I know I can get to. And I know I have the capability to play at this level and that if that chance came, just go out and show it.”
For Chambers, that chance came Oct. 8 against Florida State. Leary went down with the pectoral tear that would end his season, although at the time Chambers did not know if he would be in for a play or two before Leary was back on the field.
“Devin’s such a tough guy,” Chambers said.
Either way, here was no time for nerves to kick in.
“A lot of the guys and coaches were saying, ‘Hey, you’ve been playing football for a million years, you’re 35 years old, just go out there and do what you’ve been doing,’” Chambers said. “The guys were saying, ‘Hey, Jack we’ve got your back’ and I just went out and trusted in those guys. Football is football.”
The Pack rallied to top the Seminoles 19-17, but faced a bigger task in going to Syracuse to face the then-unbeaten Orange in a road game at JMA Wireless Dome. The din of the Dome, and a tough Orange defense, caused problems for Chambers and the Wolfpack offense in a 24-9 loss.
Chambers said it did help in having Leary on the sideline, pointing out defensive tendencies and advising on coverages.
“He gave me extra eyes. He did wonders helping me out,” Chambers said.
‘Cool, calm and collected’
With an open date this past Saturday, the Pack (5-2, 1-2 ACC) was able to look at different things this week with Chambers, who passed for 160 yards, rushed for 58 and did not have a turnover in his first start at Syracuse.
“We’re not going to (start) running the triple option but we do have a quarterback who can do some things and we’re going to utilize that,” Doeren said Monday.
Asked if he considered himself a better runner than passer, Chambers said, “I’m a better passer because I’m a runner. I can throw the football but everything opens up to me because I can use my legs. So it’s kind of a win-win.”
Doeren and offensive coordinator Tim Beck have used the phrase “cool, calm and collected” in describing Chambers, who is listed at 5-10 and 180 pounds.
“He’s competed in a lot of settings in his career and nothing is too big for him,” Doeren said. “... He doesn’t get rattled and I think that’s good for the guys to see.”
Chambers doesn’t disagree. He also describes himself as “super competitive,”saying that part of his nature comes from his parents and especially his mother, Rhonda, who Jack said did not play sports in high school but is proud of being “first chair” in her school band.
“She has always encouraged me,” Chambers said. “She’s always said, ‘Do whatever you can and everything will work out.’”
Words he’s keeping in mind in the final games of his college career.
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 6:10 AM.
