Our staff is closing pretty strong and this class is looking a lot better than it did a month or two ago.

Would definitely like to see us consistently with top-25 classes, but I also like TOB's history of producing results with unheralded recruiting classes.

1/25/2011 10:12:37 AM

Flowers already said that he is a possession receiver anyways. So as long as he can come down with a jump ball on 3rd and 10, I don't care what his 40 time is.

It's not like JW5 ever burned anybody.

1/25/2011 10:39:51 AM

Yeah I think our staff did a good job addressing needs and locking up solid role-players with good upside. Next year's class looks to be more "star-laden" so hopefully another productive year and we can turn some more heads. It seems to be our style of higher-ranked classes followed by lower ranked classes, seems to be an up-and-down trend.

In regards to why Scout and ESPN have Noel listed as 2-stars, I think Rivals is basing his 4-star ranking on pure athletic potential. I'm not sure about ESPN, but Scout was ranking him based on playing OLB, and I think he made the move this year to S and I believe we want him as a S. We have trended towards wanting a bigger OLB/S in each class(D. Coleman - 6'0, 207, DJ Green - 6'4, 204, Noel - 6'3.5, 206). So he fits what TOB is trying to do at SS. Should be a solid player 2-3 years down the road. Plus those OLB/S hybrids are GREAT on ST coverage.

1/25/2011 10:40:52 AM

Quote :

"3* TE Benson Browne commits (according to a media report)"

Great pickup!

Quote :

"Walnut Hills senior TE Benson Browne has verbally committed to North Carolina State. Browne, who is 6-foot-6 and 242 pounds, was one of Ohio’s top uncommitted players in the 2011 class. “It was just mainly the security of the head coach, the security of the offense and the relationship with the coaches that came through,” Browne said moments ago. Browne took an official visit to North Carolina State in December. Browne said the coaching staff told him he would play tight end. Browne was told he would redshirt the first year. Browne also considered Illinois and Louisville among his final choices. He also had offers from Marshall, West Virginia, Kansas, Minnesota, Miami University and Central Michigan."

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/preps/2011/01/25/breaking-news-browne-commits-to-n-c-state/

1/25/2011 11:18:55 AM

For this page, 3* TE Benson Browne commits. 6'6"ish, 250 lbs.

That's 4 commits in a week.

[Edited on January 25, 2011 at 11:28 AM. Reason : ooops, i was lolly-gagging around]

1/25/2011 11:27:41 AM

O'Brien has a ton of contacts in the Ohio area, it's just hard to pull the good ones away from big ten/eleven/twelve/xx country.

Tight ends are always a good commodity.

1/25/2011 11:29:48 AM

Quote :

"Jones is the first commitment in the current N.C. State class from Florida. The Wolfpack still ranks last in the ACC ratings for the Class of 2011 on recruiting sites scout.com and rivals.com. Read more: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/florida-dt-chooses-nc-state#ixzz1C48io2HB "

1/25/2011 11:37:51 AM

^ not just O'Brien - Dana Bible and Don Horton have contacts there too. They've pulled in Ohio recruits every year they've been here except for 2008, when we focused a lot on the local talent.

1/25/2011 11:38:38 AM

^^ Just picked up 3* Benson Browne AND passed Wake Forest for next to last place in the ACC!

1/25/2011 11:46:59 AM

^^We're last because we don't have that many commitments. I believe our average "star" rating has us at 7th. Which is not that great, but still better than last.

1/25/2011 11:47:07 AM

from Wolfpacker

Quote :

"Walnut Hills football coach George Kontsis was teaching physical education a few years ago when one of his students was a 6-foot-6 basketball player named Benson Browne that looked like he had the makings of being a good tight end in football. After developing a strong relationship with Browne, Kontsis convinced him to try out for the football squad last year as a junior. After just one year on the gridiron, Browne had 10 offers. Browne verbally committed to play football for NC State this week after he had narrowed his choices to include the Pack, Illinois and Louisville. West Virginia had been eliminated after announcing a coaching change that would take place after the 2011 season. "In the end NC State was chosen because No. 1 he had a great visit obviously," Kontsis noted. "He had very good visits to all his schools. He had a great visit to NC State. Really impressed with the coaching staff. Tom O'Brien is entrenched at NC State. The fact that he's won 100 games in 14 years I think speaks volumes. The consistency of his coaching staff, he does not have a revolving door with his assistants, which again says a lot. "Tom O'Brien, [offensive coordinator] Dana Bible, [offensive line coach] Don Horton are all from Cincinnati. That's a big deal. I think it is. Benson feels like it is. His mom feels it is. That's important because those guys come back to town. The whole offensive staff there at one point or another visited Benson. They were really on the ball. Coach O'Brien was the first head coach to visit. Coach Bible visited. Coach Jim Bridge, tight ends coach visited, and of course Don Horton. Don Horton did a great job throughout the whole entire recruiting process, the whole thing. The coaching staff was huge." Browne also liked the Wolfpack's tight end friendly offense, and he was attracted to the fact that he would be the only tight end signed by NC State in the 2009 or 2010 classes. "He'll have a chance to redshirt, which I think is best for him," Kontsis stated. "He's 6-6, 248 pounds and he's still growing, and he's only played football for two years. He's been a basketball player all this time.""

In his video i'm trying to compare him to George Bryan and he looks faster of course, but you can tell he's a good receiver, he doesn't have concrete hands and it looks like he knows how to run routes. Supposedly his high school is like one of the most prestigious public schools in the country

1/25/2011 11:58:35 AM

hopefully that basketball experience translates to good hands.

1/25/2011 12:15:54 PM

http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/teamrank/2011/ACC/all

Still last according to Rivals

1/25/2011 1:19:14 PM

I'm trying to figure out how that ranking works? What arbitrary system is in place that puts our class below Duke, WF, Maryland or even Miami?

1/25/2011 1:23:13 PM

yeah, i'm really not concernted that we're "ranked" last.

i think some of it is based on # of commits, and we have 18 commits (only 19 total schollies to give)

but we have more commits and a higher star average than WF, which is 2 spots ahead of us?

1/25/2011 1:30:35 PM

fuck rankings, im just glad we are filling out the class. the boys will get it done.

1/25/2011 1:34:55 PM

I'm convinced TOB knows what he's doing in grabbing these recruits.

1/25/2011 1:39:15 PM

that sounds sexy

1/25/2011 1:47:57 PM

If we're going by avg star rating, we're 7th in the conference. If I recall correctly, alot of the guy's we're targeting are 3 and 4 star guys so that should help if we nab a few of those.

1/26/2011 9:09:47 AM

Blake Countess commits to Michigan
Xzavier Ward commits to Georgia

1/26/2011 4:11:26 PM

While not thrilled, im not down about this class. It does seem odd that we had our first respectable season this year under TOB... and recruiting seems like it wasnt really impacted. maybe too short a time between the two?

maybe if we can start out hot next year, we land a few early 4/5 star commits?

1/26/2011 7:22:23 PM

in theory, a good season will have its impact most on the class a year later. it's generally too late in the game to impact recruits who are signing right after the season

1/26/2011 7:24:30 PM

I was really worried about this class (flashback to Chuck's classes with big gaps) until I started looking at the depth chart and saw the genius of this coaching staff. We are absolutely stacked on the o line with some really athletic players that have been waiting in the wings learning the system. These coaches do recruiting like a business rather than a lottery that hinges on the whims of some spoiled 5* hs kid.

1/26/2011 7:29:13 PM

^the OL, and we're adding depth to pretty much every position, mostly w/ 3* guys. and we hit the special-teams jackpot (hopefully).

1/26/2011 7:41:01 PM

Quote :

"TOB is entrenched at NC State"

A-freaking-men

1/26/2011 8:23:07 PM

The only area where we seem to be lacking depth and recruiting wise is DT. Some of that is not completely their fault. Raynard Randolph and Fre'Shad Hunter were academic casualties, and Deion Roberson unfortunately lived in an area where there probably wasn't a good podiatrist or orthopedist to work on his ankle and give him the necessary rehab, so he ended up having to go on medical hardship. Kyle Linney and Marty Everett were also casualties. Throw in the fact that Wayne Crawford was moved to the O-line, and you can see why we are thin at the DT position.

1/26/2011 9:12:08 PM

^ you know too much about state football

1/26/2011 9:34:32 PM

I'm impressed, I had never even heard of any of those people.

1/26/2011 9:50:54 PM

Brass Monkey; whats the deal with Hunter? Is he in prep school or out of the program completely?

1/26/2011 10:48:26 PM

Wow Kyle linney. What a sad story that turned out to be

1/26/2011 10:49:03 PM

Hunter is going the JUCO route. Georgia Military College iirc.

^ I forgot what exactly happened with him.

[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 10:54 PM. Reason : ]

1/26/2011 10:53:45 PM

^^ appears that about 11months ago, Linney was arrested for armed robbery

http://www.whky.com/news.asp?mode=detail&articleID=10700

1/27/2011 1:00:06 AM

damn, that sucks about Hunter. He was supposed to be really good (4-star DT). I remembered his recruiting back then, but I had forgotten about him since then. Hopefully he can be like Tobias Palmer and get his shit together and join the team in 2012.

Brass, what about Roy Mangram from the c/o 2008? I know he went to GA Military too, but any news on him?

1/27/2011 9:09:25 AM

^ I feel like I remember hearing that Mangram wasn't making the grades at GA Military and that the staff backed off on recruiting him as it was doubtful he'd ever be able to qualify for admission to State.

1/27/2011 10:33:00 AM

Quote :

"While not thrilled, im not down about this class. It does seem odd that we had our first respectable season this year under TOB... and recruiting seems like it wasnt really impacted. maybe too short a time between the two? maybe if we can start out hot next year, we land a few early 4/5 star commits?"

tom always get the people that hardly anybody is after and them molds them into good players. (with the exception of tj graham). the only position i could see us consistently getting 4/5 start players is at o-line cause that position is basically ranked on size.

1/27/2011 10:41:14 AM

i dont have PackPride premium, but i'm hoping we extend an offer to OL Mark Harrell from my high school!! He's a 2012 boy, and he seems to want to come to State. TOB could offer soon.

Quote :

"Monday, January 24, 2011 Catholic lineman Harrell named top 25 national football recruit Charlotte Catholic lineman Mark Harrell was named one of the nation’s top underclassmen recruits by national analyst Randy Taylor, diretor of football for the National Collegiate Scouting Association. Five hundred of the nation’s top underclassmen gathered in San Antonio this month for the U.S. Army All-American combined. Harrell was named one of the top 25 overall and one of the top three offensive linemen. Read more: http://prepinsiders.blogspot.com/2011/01/catholic-lineman-harrell-named-top-25.html#ixzz1CFfftrXk "

http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/a.z?s=178&p=2&c=1042242&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fnorthcarolinastate.scout.com%2f2%2f1042242.html

1/27/2011 10:54:22 AM

wasn't linney's dad killed in a car crash on the way to pick him up after Linney decided to leave the program?

1/27/2011 10:54:51 AM

mark it down guys but i really think this 2012 class is gonna be one of the best we've ever brought in.

1/27/2011 11:22:04 AM

Harrell has some good looking video on youtube.

1/27/2011 11:26:20 AM

dudes pass blocking two defenders on his own, in open space, at the 2:20 mark

1/27/2011 11:34:51 AM

pretty good looking run blocking right tackle

makes sense too since his HS coach is a former NFL o-lineman

1/27/2011 11:37:04 AM

^Oddo also played at NC State

1/27/2011 11:41:08 AM

shit I wasn't even thinking about him, I was talking about Garcia

yeah they have multiple former NFL offensive linemen in the coaching staff

1/27/2011 11:44:59 AM

can't say I've ever seen the 7-8 OL offensive scheme

1/27/2011 11:54:30 AM

Looks like a solid player, hopefully we can get him

1/27/2011 12:22:35 PM

So we have Ty McGill and Tyrrell Burriss visiting this week correct? Anyone else?

Whenever I hear the last name McGill, all I can think about is that mean kid from the Mighty Ducks that knocked out the Adam Banks character in the championship game.

"What'd you do?"

"My job."

1/27/2011 12:31:26 PM

Just doing my job

1/27/2011 12:33:37 PM

haha awesome

classic movie

Queen's "We are the Champions" just came on the radio

[Edited on January 27, 2011 at 12:41 PM. Reason : ]

1/27/2011 12:38:40 PM

Quote :

"I feel like I remember hearing that Mangram wasn't making the grades at GA Military and that the staff backed off on recruiting him as it was doubtful he'd ever be able to qualify for admission to State"

Still amazes me that some people can't academically qualify at State, especially for athletes, who I assume get some.....slack. I literally did not know how to study in high school, rarely paid attention in class, and didn't even make great grades, but I still got into this school.

It took me a little while once I got here, but I finally figured out this whole academia thing.

1/27/2011 12:49:40 PM

N&O story on our in-state recruiting this year: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/01/28/949907/top-nc-players-bypass-wolfpack.html

Quote :

"...this season, none of the Charlotte Observer's top 25 prospects in North Carolina have committed to N.C. State. Nine have chosen North Carolina, and 14 have declared their intentions to play football at out-of-state schools."

1/28/2011 10:13:26 AM