We’re getting there, everybody. Camp starts next week, and next month is August, and there’s football in August. Dave Doeren, CJ Bailey, Justin Joly, Brandon Cleveland, and Caden Fordham were in Charlotte yesterday to discuss the upcoming season at ACC Kickoff.
Justin Joly was perhaps the sharpest-dressed man of the week, sporting a custom NC State red suit.
NC State TE Justin Joly on how his red suit came together. All the details. pic.twitter.com/C4pA2cDYx7
— Cory Smith (@RCorySmith) July 24, 2025
It’s the bowtie that makes it, I think.
Justin’s a funny guy, too:
I remember when CJ first took the helm over, you know, became QB1, I was, like, hey, fam, if you need someone to rely on and you need a reliability factor, you can come to me, like, for anything. That relationship has grown. He’s relied on me for things that — sometimes there’s some routes I shouldn’t have ran, but he’s going to give me the ball in an open moment.
And CJ, I love you for it; don’t stop ever.
Expecting big things from the Boogeyman this year.
Former Iona Prep TE/WR Justin Joly. He will forever be known as the “Boogeyman” from the looks I saw from opposing HS coaches. And that suit fits perfectly. He should be on @seniorbowl watchlist. @ionafootball pic.twitter.com/Y2wNP2DAzj
— Coach Hawkins (@BrianHawkins4) July 24, 2025
Dave Doeren spoke about a bunch of different topics, from NIL to roster tampering, scheduling, the college football playoff, the new injury report requirements (he doesn’t like them), and, oh, uh, this caught a little attention:
Dave Doeren's still mad about the brawl at the end of last year's Military Bowl vs. ECU, which has put a big focus on this year's opener... vs ECU. Strong words.
— ️♈️ (@ADavidHaleJoint) July 24, 2025
"I don't want to just win that game. I want to beat the s*** out of that team. Not because of them but because of how…
Damn, that bowl performance was so egregious that it’s got Dave swearing in public! There’ll be no lack for urgency in the opener, it’s fair to say.
Dave’s conversation with Adam Gold included some enlightening remarks. Dave said last year’s team suffered from a lack of on-field leadership after Caden Fordham and Grayson McCall got hurt, and that he’s worked with guys this offseason to address that. He also talked about CJ Bailey, the changes defensively, and his belief that leagues shouldn’t bother with title games in the era of the expanded playoff.
I can’t say for sure that this comment is about Kamal Bonner and Miami, but it probably is:
“The hardest thing is the poaching that’s happening illegally. When you have a kid that starts on your team, that’s happy on your team, that’s paid well on your team, and he’s only leaving because some agent called his mom and said ‘we can get him triple to go somewhere else’ but he is under contract at your school ... in any other business, that’s illegal.”
On the subject of the injury reports, Dave doesn’t like that other teams could have specific injury information and potentially use that to target players. “I think the coaches don’t tell the truth on them anyway,” he added.
He said as well that he was surprised Clemson wasn’t on the schedule, and that he thought that game should be played every year. But he does appreciate the added variety of the league schedules.
CJ Bailey:
Cleve and Caden:
More from backingthepack.com:
- Is it okay for your football coach to be good at golf?
- Ep4: Around Raleigh with Coach Wade – Meet Ven-Allen Lubin
- NC State makes big splash with addition of former Vanderbilt forward Khamil Pierre
- Is NIL posing a problem for NC State’s prep recruiting?
- Six members of the 2025 Pack9 are selected in the 2025 MLB Draft
