As a six-foot-four defensive end playing at a school with a reputation for producing NFL defensive linemen, redshirt senior defensive end Willie Young had every reason to forego his final year of eligibility with the Pack and enter the NFL Draft, especially considering his graduation from N.C. State last May. But he decided to play one more season in Raleigh, and after playing 1,667 career snaps for State, Young returns for his fifth season as the team’s most experienced player.
Coach Tom O’Brien said he is thrilled with Young’s decision to come back for a final season.
“It’s a great thing for us. He was our best recruit when he decided to come back,” O’Brien said. “He’s an important leader on our defense and I think he has prepared better than he has prepared [during] our previous two camps since I’ve been here.”
Young said he is not the only player sticking around because of high expectations for this veteran-laden squad, which features 22 starters–11 of them seniors.
“We have a lot of guys that could have made that step,” Young said. “But deep down inside, a lot of guys also know that this is a great year for us.”
With redshirt junior linebacker Nate Irving out for the season and the team having elected Young as one of three captains, Young, who ESPN.com rated the 9th best player in the ACC, said his focus is on leading the team and defense with his actions on the field.
“It’s a role that you have to take and it’s not a role that you can prepare for or practice for,” Young said. “It is something that happens and I just want to do the best I can to try and lead by example.”
The preseason media attention Young has received has been second only to the hype surrounding redshirt sophomore quarterback Russell Wilson, and has only intensified in the wake of Irving’s season-ending car wreck. Young’s accolades from this preseason include his place on pre-season watch lists for four different awards, including the Chuck Bednarik Award for national defensive player of the year and the Lombardi Award for lineman of the year.
The most experienced team of O’Brien’s three-year tenure features no position group more grizzled than the defensive line, where Young, redshirt senior tackle Alan-Michael Cash, senior tackle Leroy Burgess, and senior end Shea McKeen form one of the most tenured defensive fronts in the nation.
Young said the team has too many veterans for inexperience in the secondary and line-backing core to give the team an excuse to repeat the mistakes that plagued the Wolfpack at times last season.
“We feel that the mistakes that were made last year can easily be fixed,” Young said. “Although we do have a few young guys, those young guys have a lot of veterans around them, so there is no excuse for us not to come out and perform to our best every Saturday, starting this Thursday.”
