NC State football signed the majority of its 2021 recruiting class Wednesday, with 19 players sending in their letters of intent. This year’s crop of North Carolina players was a special one, and while UNC took the lion’s share, the Wolfpack still ended up with a solid haul.
The class, ranked 32nd in the nation according to the 247 composite, was led by four-star prospects receiver Micah Crowell, linebacker Jordan Poole and quarterback Aaron McLaughlin. McLaughlin’s a sizable play-caller at 6-foot-5, 219 pounds and his physical ability jumps off the page.
“Not only is he a big guy that can run, with a strong arm, [but he’s] very competitive, smart guy and just a great person,” said offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Beck. “He’s going to come in here and push the guys, which is good. You love competition. Everybody knows that every day, when they come to work, they’ve gotta put their best foot forward and the cream’s gonna rise to the top.”
Crowell is one of four pass catchers in the class along with Jakolbe Baldwin, Julian Gray and tight end Fredrick Seabrough. Crowell fits the mold of a typical NC State receiver — big, strong and can make contested catches. Gray is a small speedster and Baldwin exists somewhere in between the two. The versatility group gives wide receivers coach George McDonald a lot of options to fill needs.
“In the past, since I’ve been here, we’ve tried to get big, physical guys that can match up on the edge,” McDonald said. “The last couple years with coach Glasscock’s help, we’ve really tried to get more guys with speed who can do a little bit more after the catch. All these guys have that trait with Gray being track fast; Crowell, he does a really good job of creating plays and spacing;.. and then Jakolbe, we’ve had him at camp, he does everything well.”
With NC State’s three-linebacker defense, a lot of emphasis is placed on the unit both in run support and coverage, and defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson got a couple of guys that can do both in Poole and Caden Fordham. Poole, while undersized, is a great athlete. In high school, he showed off both his speed, while playing at running back, and his affinity for violent collisions, while playing at safety.
“Both of those kids fit our scheme really well,” Gibson said. “They’re very athletic, both of those guys are converted safeties… Those guys have great ball skills — just great football sense and savvy — they’re very athletic… they’re both midyear [enrollees], so [I’m] looking for them to get a lot of reps in the spring and they’re both going to have great careers here.”
The Wolfpack added some much-needed secondary depth with four defensive back signings, led by Panther Creek safety Chase Hattley, in addition to the eventual transfer of Florida State graduate safety Cyrus Fagan. It also put an emphasis on pass-rushers.
Zyun Reeves and Travali Price, the team’s defensive end signees, get to quarterbacks in differing but effective ways. At 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, Reeves overpowers offensive linemen with his size and length, while Price is impossible to get hands on because of his speed. Reeves is more of a raw prospect, but Price will push for immediate playing time as one of the more underrated members of this class.
On the offensive side, the Pack added three new players in the trenches, including 315-pound Lyndon Cooper, a do-everything lineman from Georgia, and Thornton Gentry, a top center prospect for running back signee Demie Sumo to eventually rush behind. The crown jewel, though, is Chandler Zavala. Zavala transferred from Fairmont State and with just a year of eligibility left and pro potential, Zavala’s looking at Raleigh as a springboard to the NFL.
Between the early signees and incoming Florida State transfers Fagan and defensive tackle Cory Durden, the Wolfpack has four spots left in this class, though it has ample reason not to use them. Eligibility is not affected by this season, in an effort to aid players affected by COVID-19, meaning the 2020 recruiting class and the 2021 class will, for all intents and purposes, be the same.
Without any further additions, the Wolfpack will have 39 scholarship freshmen on roster next year, 14 higher than the 25 scholarship cap for incoming players. It seemed like a no-brainer decision by the NCAA to give players another year, but it’s going to have future ramifications that head coaches like Dave Doeren are going to have to deal with.
“It’s a question I can’t answer; I think the NCAA’s going to have to help us with that,” Doeren said. “You have two classes in the same classification. How’s that going to play out over a five-year window with your numbers? The NCAA’s got a lot of things they need to look at. They’re the ones that granted this year and now they’ve created kind of a log jam [with] how we’re supposed to classify and look at our numbers.”
