Coming off a career year in which he tallied 40 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and four sacks, defensive end David Akinniyi had positioned himself to have a huge senior season at Northeastern University.
The Huskies had a subpar 3-8 season, but had just won their final game of the season against the University of Rhode Island and Akinniyi was one of the many players who believed they had a chance to greatly improve the next season.
However, just a day after the football team’s season finale, Northeastern Athletic Director Peter Roby informed Akinniyi and his teammates that football was being dropped from the school’s athletics programs, eliminating the chance for the senior to play his final season in Boston. Upon hearing this, Akinniyi said he remembers feeling a sense of bewilderment and lack of understanding.
“I was really shocked,” Akinniyi said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen and what my options were. I was just really confused and didn’t know whether I was going to have to sit out a year or the rules.”
After the shock wore off and the dust settled, the senior found out that because the football program was dropped, he was not required to sit out a year in order to transfer and was free to choose any school to go play for. Akinniyi reopened himself up to recruitment, something he had not done since his junior and senior years in high school.
”A lot of schools came out to Northeastern and I basically tested the waters,” Akinniyi said. “And N. C. State looked like the best option, in terms of both school and opportunity.”
Fellow transfer and senior defensive end Michael Lemon understands what Akinniyi is going through during his first year with a new team. The former Georgia Bulldog just finished his first year with the Pack and said once Akinniyi gets adjusted to the flow of how the Pack operates, the game will slow down for the senior and he will be able to show off his talent.
“We both came from different places and it’s tough,” Lemon said. “But the main goal is trying to get adjusted and trying to get used to everything and he has done a pretty good job at doing it. Things move kind of fast when you first get here, but the longer you are here, the slower it becomes.”
Akinniyi’s arrival on campus could not come at a better time this season, as the defensive end’s experience playing college football will help usher in a new era on the defensive line. His experience will be welcome on unit that is not returning a single starter from last year and attempting to help improve a defense that gave up 31.2 points per game a year ago.
“We are hoping to just do our best,” Akinniyi said. “We are all competing and trying to make everyone better and help the team win this year.”
Coach Tom O’Brien admits that Akinniyi has looked lost at some times early on during practice, but said he believes in the senior’s skill set and ability to help the team out this year.
“He is learning,” O’Brien said. “His head is swimming and there is a lot thrown at him. Everyday something new goes in, so there is a learning curve that he has to catch up with. But he has talent. He certainly looks like he is going to be a skilled enough player to help us down the road.”
Since enrolling at State in the spring semester, Akinniyi is continuing to adjust to not only the higher level of play, moving from Football Championship Subdivision to the ACC, but to adjusting to the weather, which is much hotter and more humid than what he experienced playing up north.
“It is a lot more competitive and hot here compared to the Boston area,” Akinniyi said.
