O'Brien Happy With In-State Recruiting Results

In his first full season of recruiting, Tom O’Brien inked 26 newcomers, half of them from the state of North Carolina.

“One thing that we set out to prioritize is that we wanted to recruit this state and recruit it hard,” O’Brien said. “As the chancellor said, we are the people’s university.”

Depending on your website’s ranking, N.C. State has anywhere from the 20th best class in the nation (ESPN.com) to the 31st (Rivals.com). Scout.com ranked it 28th best.

The headliner of the class is quarterback Mike Glennon, younger brother of Virginia Tech’s Sean, whom all three websites list as one of the nation’s top five quarterbacks. Glennon racked up the accolades in his final season, earning spots on two All-American teams and the MVP in the Under Armor All-American game.

“He’s very talented, he has a lot of potential,” O’Brien said. “He’s been very successful at the high school level, he’s been very successful in every high school all-star game he’s ever played in,” O’Brien said. “He’s a talented individual.”

O’Brien said even Glennon wasn’t sure whether he preferred redshirting or playing during his first year on campus, in either case it will be his performance that will dictate what happens to his eligibility.

“If he’s the best kid for the job, he’s going to play,” O’Brien said.

It was no secret that the Wolfpack was dominated upfront on both sides of the ball throughout last year. O’Brien addressed the need with 10 lineman, six of whom are listed at 300 pounds or more, and five of whom could play right away after joining the team straight from the junior college ranks.

With four of those junior college players coming on the defensive line, O’Brien said that he might move defensive tackles Teddy Larsen and John Bedics to offensive line in the spring to bolster the depth there.

“We did not control the line of scrimmage very much at all last year on both sides of the ball, so those were priorities for us to go out and find those type of players,” O’Brien said. “We looked for older, more mature players to come in and play right away. It’s better for those young offensive linemen that we signed, the high school guys, to be able to redshirt until they mature and grow a little bit.”

The most notable player on the list from the state of North Carolina, linebacker Terrell Manning, is expected to be redshirted his first year in Raleigh due to injury.

“Not getting into any injury reports, but if you look at recovery time he may be returned to full go at some point during the season,” O’Brien said. “He wouldn’t be able to pick up everything he has to do to play so I think he’d have to sit next year.”

Charlotte Independence’s Mario Carter missed the entire season with a knee injury, but O’Brien said if everything “went perfect” Carter would be ready to play in the spring.

Two in-state players with the ability to play almost anywhere on the field, Bunn’s Brandon Barnes and Pittsboro Northwood’s Tobias Palmer, were listed as running backs despite many websites listing both as defensive backs or the enigmatic title of “athlete.”

It’s unlikely both will remain at that position for long, if O’Brien’s response to a question about the two is any indication.

“Well that’s what they think they are,” O’Brien said with a smirk. “So they’ll start there and we’ll go from there.”

For the second time in two seasons as the Pack’s head man, O’Brien brought in a player from outside the U.S. Last year’s foreign player was Germany’s Markus Kuhn, while Canadian Ahmad Jaradat from Ontario has already enrolled at State for the incoming class of 2008.

“We’ll go anywhere we can to find players that we think will fit into our system that are good character kids and good students,” O’Brien said.

Jaradat is one of four members of the class to enroll early. He is joined by Wendell’s Dominique Ellis, Taylorsville’s Kyle Linney and Shelby’s Dwayne Maddox.

Each player, according to O’Brien will be well ahead of the rest of the class.

“They’re going to get 15 practices and they’re already in the strength and conditioning program,” O’Brien said. “Those four kids are behind the total, but they’ll be way ahead of the class that comes in August.”

Two players have left the program since last year, tight end R.J. Armstrong and fullback Cedric Hickman. Hickman was charged with five counts of breaking-and-entering motor vehicles on Dec. 11.

Four more who were on the team last year received scholarships this year – wide receiver Koyal George, punter Bradley Pierson, defensive tackle Jamaine Clemmons and defensive tackle Keith Willis, who transferred to State from Boston College along with O’Brien.

And one more player has the possibility of coming back onto the team next year.

Geron James, a wide receiver who had 91 yards and a touchdown in a 2006 win over Florida State, could be reinstated by O’Brien after being kicked off the team by former coach Chuck Amato later that same year.

But first, he must meet unspecified requirements set forth by O’Brien.

“He has some things to work through academically to put himself in good standing,” O’Brien said. “He has to meet some benchmarks [to play in the spring].

Next year the Pack will have just 14 seniors, and six of them were former walk-ons or transfers and that number would be even smaller had not Anthony Hill redshirted this past season with a knee tear.

O’Brien hopes this large recruiting class has more staying power.

“I don’t know how many they signed five years ago,” O’Brien said. “But the whole key to recruiting its you have to coach them and you have to graduate them.”

In comparing this year’s recruiting process to last year’s, O’Brien said things his staff had a much better jump on things from start to finish. For State, hopefully it’s a sign of things to come after last year’s 5-7 campaign.

“We’re way ahead today than we were a year ago today,” O’Brien said. “In recruiting for next year or in any phase of the football program.”