um the way coach Dorne runs this program I think it was a perfect fit and um whenever I took my visit I found out exactly that and um then I was able to sit down with the offensive coaches um coach n and coach roer and learn more about the system and how they would Implement my style of play into the offense and um something that that really intrigued me and something that was really exciting so um confident I made the best decision and uh just really grateful for the opportunity quarterback play is something that kind of was missing you know consistently for this team in recent years how do you feel feel that you translate with what you did at Coastal and and what you did at Porter Ridge right sir yeah I remember that uh how does that translate for you I think just uh just me being myself playing the same style of football that that I've played that that's got me to this point and um I think I just have to continue to grow continue to to to enjoy the process and the day-to-day grind and the preparation week to week that um that that's led me to a lot of success in my career and um just going out there and being myself and not not second guess and just letting it rip and having fun shortly after you committed the expect level inreased is there added pressure with that welcome it I mean you're just one guy change yeah I mean I I I mean I love it I think the expectation in in Raleigh is to win and uh to win the league and um it's something they've been so close to doing the past couple years and um I think it was just accumulation of me and the other guys they were able to acquire in the transfer portal was just exciting it's an exciting time in Raleigh obviously with the the men's and women's basketball team and uh baseball Going On The Run and um things like that it's just a lot of Buzz and Raleigh and people are excited we have an unbelievable fan base and um a lot of support so um the people love football and I think they're ready to to see a championship in Raleigh put your quickly did offers come interests come for you yeah um my phone is ringing before I walked out of the compliance office um so that was a little stressful um but it it it's good to feel wanted you know to to to know that that people believe in me and to give me the opportunity to play at some prestigious schools such as NC State is um it's a great feeling something that I I knew I always had in me um and was able to play some good ball and put myself in that position so um definitely a whirlwind of an experience in the transfer portal but um you know grateful that it's over and grateful to be in in such a great spot at NC State build that relationship with yeah man it's awesome Casey another Charlotte guy obviously so so some things like that a lot of local guys a lot of instate guys but it's been awesome man I mean I have nothing but Playmakers around me and um you turn on the tape from last year and you see that and then all the guys that we've added I mean it's exciting so it makes my job a whole lot easier uh I just got to distribute the ball to the fast guys at the right time and um so love working with Casey he's going to have another great year and just all the guys around me have been great I know you and coach you know comp the defense with some good offense this year kind of have you and the other offensive guys kind of approach that this offseason and how you guys on deal with that dur during this year yeah I think uh it started in the spring and with iron sharpening iron it's something that coach talks about all the time and um there's always been strong defense in Raleigh and um just just competing against those guys every day and making each other better the the competition levels extremely high every day and um we know there's a lot of expectation on the offensive side of the ball and um we've been working extremely hard to to be able to execute at the highest level possible so um really excited to get going and to be to be under Center really excited so Grace I know you're new to the ACC conference what do you know about the UNC NC State rock you know man not too much um I know it's a lot of good football games uh was able to go to the the UNC NC State basketball games that was cool uh y'all got us in that one obviously but uh but yeah man excited for it uh we get to come to you guys this year so looking forward to and good to see you brother Myrtle Beach guy right here Myrtle Beach I know you and Coach both talked about winning the ACC in the first year of the 12 team playoff is how much excitement is there from a player level that you don't have to get into the top four to get into that thing and it's going to open the door for a lot more teams to have a chance yeah I mean I think it's exciting for a lot of programs um you know smaller schools these G5 schools that go and and have these crazy runs you know it was the the coastal in 2020 and you know it was the Liberty team last year that was was able to go and do it and um it's just it's there's so much room for opportunity you go and handle your business in your league and uh you get an unbelievable opportunity to do something that's you know really never been done before that that's been able to be done before so um it's definitely exciting we know that it's still a week toe process and something that we can't just solely focus on but um at the end of the day we know if we take care of our business take care of the league that we have an unbelievable opportunity year you look at it like ACC state that way um I mean I do I think you kind of have to right it's it's a prestigious league and um a lot of really good football teams but um for me it's just I'm I'm the same guy you know I I've gotten better in terms of my mental and my body and and just as a quarterback in general but um it's going to be the same guy out there playing you know a lot of energy uh chip on my shoulder toughness grit just um out there having a lot of fun doing what I love and um being a great team at the end of the day want be a great teammate and um you know bring all those guys along with me and and try to make them as best as they possibly can on chip on your shoulder from what sir you said a chip on your shoulder yeah just I think it's just kind of been my blueprint growing up you know coming out of high school won a lot of football games put a lot of really good stuff on tape and had you know four four offers coming out and then um you know get the opportunity to go play Coastal Carolina um have three really good years put you know play a lot of really good football went a lot of big football games and just kind of still flying under the radar you know just um just kind of still feel a little disrespected like I like I don't um exactly get the respect that I deserve um you know that's why I'm here I'm I'm here at n state to prove that and um to be the best quarterback and the best leader that this team needs so um just just kind of always been my Mantra and my style of play to to have that chip on my shoulder you feel like the mullet is a source of power I do I do yeah I think so I uh whenever I showed up in Raleigh and I didn't have the mullet guys were a little confused so uh got a lot of mullet request so I guess we're going to let it fly one more time how much longer will it get it's going to get long I'm going to let it go so here in about a month or so it it'll be pretty long but yeah I'm going to let it go I'm all in a barber shop downstairs I'm thinking maybe maybe I get one let's go yeah we can I'll go down there whether we get it done yeah are you adult doing it together one day oh yeah yeah I'm uh I think I've got Zeke in now Zeke Carell uh he's got his growing out so we just got to shape up the sides and hopefully he'll be in with me too what do you think of all the weapons that they've uh they've assembled around you it's exciting man um a lot of a lot of really good football players a lot of fast guys that um you get the ball in their hands they can do special things and uh makes the job of the quarterback much easier you know what uh what did you know about KC concepion before you got to NC State and what are your impressions of him now that you're there and you've been throwing the ball to him yeah like I said uh Charlotte guy grew up in the area so knew the name coming up obviously was a a really highly recruited guy that that played a lot of really good football in high school um you watch the kid play I mean he's electric I mean you guys saw it last year for the first time being such a young guy and um doing what he was able to do is impressive and just um you get there and you work with him and his you know his football IQ and his spatial awareness and the kid just understands how to get open you can tell he wants the ball and um you put the ball in his hands and good things happen so love KC and love working with him excited what specifically about yeah I think it was important for me in the process to find a program that that um had a standard you know set in stone and a coach that um has some stability that's been there for a long time and obviously coach doranne going into year 12 now I believe um the program and and the standard set and um having a coach like that to lean on a guy that knows the area and um knows the university like the back of his hand is important for me so um I I I love coach Dorne and love his coaching style and how he goes about his business so what about the what about the differences in scheme from Coastal heading into G yeah I mean obviously different um looking forward to it obviously got to be in a new system last year um and do some different things but um I think I fit great into the system the spring was great um learned a lot and was able to to you know play smoothly um in that system so I think what they're able to do with me in the system is going to be special think about your time at coool unbelievable memories man um you know kind of like I said one of those schools that that took a chance on me and um you know whenever I got there it was 5 and seven 5 and seven and then um you know we come on the scene in 2020 and have an unbelievable year and just kind of you know kind of change the program around and um that place is special to me it always will be um and I really really enjoyed my time there never really wanted to leave but at the end of the day I had to make a decision that was best for me but um love Coast Carolina love that place and um yeah you mentioned 2020 frustrating was it to you and your teammates to not even really be considered for the playoff and now that it is a 12 teams I have to think you are yeah I mean you know understandable right like you put in strength of schedule and all those things like that like understandable um we have a good football team that that uh won some big games and um uh you know something that we were looking forward to and obviously you know won the league that year and and played with some unbelievable guys had a lot of Talent on that team but um you look at it now in the landscape of it now you know if a team goes and does that I mean the possibilities are endless and opportuni just roll in so um definitely wish we would have got that opportunity but you know definitely looking forward and excited for this year grayon who won the Kendrick uh Drake beef I have no idea honestly I don't even I didn't even keep up with it honestly I think I heard Kendrick's song or something but like I couldn't even tell you much about it honestly good question because of what you did to Coastal is there a self-confidence Factor even you're changing leagues and changing teams that you know you kind of have a belief you you know you can do a good job yeah I mean I'm I'm extremely confident um in myself and my teammates and I know I can get it done I I've known for a long time that I could play football at this level and uh yeah I mean I think for anybody you go out and you have a lot of success your confidence is boosted and um the the self-confidence is so huge especially for young players you know you go out there and you um you see that you can do it and then it's just football and then you're just playing football again so uh my confidence has never been higher I'm in a great spot I'm excited does this feel like a fresh start not to be first time in a while you've enter a year not as The Branding player of the year is there less pressure on yourself knowing that uh I don't know man I think um you know doing it three years in a row in the sunbell there was definitely some pressure built up but um yeah I mean it's extremely refreshing to be in a new spot um and I mean the pressure is always there you know but um I would say yeah it's a little bit off that you know all the lights not on me you know how it was for 3 years but um definitely refreshing man and it's been great so far so I'm really excited to being has there been any former inate quarterbacks that reached out to you and like hey good luck yeah I've uh I've spent some time with Mike Glennon um got to talk to Mike a good bit and um was lucky enough to be able to go to Philip Rivers Hall of Fame induction got to sit down and talk to him and um a lot of good quarterbacks have played in say you know so um was able to talk to those two guys great dudes obviously unbelievable quarterbacks but really good guys have you been able to talk to Jamie Chad well since your departure how how has that been life yeah yeah I uh I talk with those guys every once in a while and um keep up with those guys you know their family to me um and and you know they're important to me so talk to those obviously they're doing their own thing and extremely busy but um yeah keep up with those guys much as I can and love hearing from them what's your reaction to the the video game and being in it you use yourself it's pretty sweet dude yeah it's it's like it's kind of hard not to you know um yeah it's unreal dude like just just playing with myself in a video game just doesn't seem real but uh it's addicting I'm trying to like not let myself play it so much cuz like once I get on I feel like I can't get off but um definitely pretty cool you guys your Valley what does it me you to be a yeah I mean uh it's going to be unbelievable atmosphere um I'm excited for it I mean it's definitely going to be a tough one on the road in Death Valley like one of the best atmospheres in college football um yeah I mean I'm really looking forward to it um obviously have some big games before that so we're going to take it week by week but um that one's definitely cired on the calendar and we're definitely excited to go on there play because you've got both Tennessee and clemon in in September is there a sense that this team has to really kind of hit the ground running and be be ready to go and not just kind of EAS him the season there yeah I think that's always the mindset you it doesn't matter who you play you have to prepare with the same mindset every week and um that week one game against Western Carolina is just important as the week four game at Clemson I mean season's here camps here so we're hitting the ground running and um here in a month be ready to go so yeah we're we're going into it full steam ready to go what's your favorite freegame snack that's a good question um I love pistachios love pistachios and always got to have a banana um for someing but yeah a pistachio guy I love pistachio talk about that Clon game just sort of the unique vial that you're entering into it stting them have you gotten any Impressions from your teammates about that or just what have you heard about what this C Bradley has been building for the last couple weeks yeah um was able to watch the game last year and just the environment and um you know it's a big game every year obviously two Traditions that have been very rich in college football for a long time and um two extremely relevant programs so anytime the red and the orange go against each other it's big game so um haven't heard too much about it but was able to watch the game last year and just feel the energy from both sides um really excited to go on there and play those guys some of the injuries that kind of dealt with just how difficult was to get back yeah yeah um had a a rotator cup injury in my throwing shoulder in uh 2021 and had a repair on that and then obviously the the head injury the conion last year probably the two biggest ones but um you know a little bit of a mental roller coaster especially last year with the head injury but um just so grateful to be healthy and and be fresh and ready to go and I I think it's just just makes the story that much sweeter at the end of the day you know what I mean but um yeah those were tough but just grateful to be here and be healthy and be ready to are you going to take fewer hits this year the coaching staff said maybe you don't take as many gruesome hits as you took it co I mean yeah that's always the plan right um you get out there and you play football and things don't always work out like that but yeah it's my job to to be available and uh to take care of myself out they're obviously going to bring the aggressive play style that I bring running the football but um when it comes down to it I can protect myself and get down on the ground something I definitely want to do how much do you consider entering the draft after last season yeah that was always the plan um after last season was to to enter the draft and see what happened and then obviously the injury kind of set me back and um you know everything was kind of reset I didn't know what I was going to do if I was going to play football again what that next step was going to be and um just sitting down talking to my mentors and my coaches and my family and just ultimately came up with a decision to enter the portal and um I wasn't just going to enter the portal and go somewhere to go somewhere I was going to go in the portal and make sure I found a perfect fit before I went I think I found exactly that you might not play football again you wor you might not play football again I mean just just dealing with a a brain injury you know bad concussion you know it comes into the conversation you know doctors will definitely kind of shy away from that just because that's their job I mean the brain's nothing to play with you know what I mean and football's is f and you're going to have that but yeah I mean definitely came up into conversation that there was a possibility I wasn't going question video first how much do you play more than I should probably no I'm just kidding I uh I I I started a Road to Glory so I've been doing that but haven't gotten into the other modes but unreal video game pretty cool your player rating what was it what was your reaction to the rating and and maybe just the way you look at the game some guys don't like the the pictures yeah um I mean I'm pleased with my rating 88 uh I like it they made me kind of fast too which I respect I don't know if I still got wheels like that but I like it um my guy can throw the ball which I love um yeah please with the rating the guy looks nothing like me but um still pretty cool to see my name the jersey and uh they got the game day swag and everything on point so pretty good Grayson when you look at the position groups or individual players who do you think has a chance for us to be talking about him in the season that maybe we're not thinking yeah I think um I mean coach Doran talked about a little bit but obviously Noah Rogers and Wesley Grimes in the transfer Quarter Two really good players um that grew up in the area that are going to be really good um obviously Jordan Waters is unbelievable guy and a really good football player and um some of these guys we brought in on defense in this late portal cycle with with DK from from Auburn and and and those guys are are some studs and really looking forward to playing with those guys Grayson how long did it take you to get over what you suffered last year with the the concussion there at the end of the year yeah um I mean it was a setback for sure it was it was a lot of a lot of mental a lot of a lot of adversity that that I wasn't expecting obviously um I mean it was just first of all anytime you have to watch the sidelines and you can't be out there with your teammates is tough and then um just so much going through my head about what the future looked like and what my plans were and um at the same time trying to still prepare and get back on the field it was a lot um I grew so much from it though and so grateful to be healthy and a fresh start it's been great how do you balance the desire to want to keep playing and any concerns he might have had about the future and keep you know taking care of yourself and yeah I mean I think whenever the day comes where I have to stop playing football it's going to be a tough day it's a game that I love a game I've loved my whole life a game that changed my life really changed my family's life and um that's going to be a tough day whenever that comes but having that conversation come up is just surreal that you know any moment it can be taken away from you and um just kind of completely changing my mind said just just being so grateful for the opportunity to wake up and walk in the building and play football is is it's unbelievable and something I'm really grateful do you worry at all about taking another hit or I don't man I think if I have that mindset it'll just hinder me you know I think I just got to go out there and let it rip and um and just play fast and prepare myself and put myself in the best possible position to stay healthy and um do everything I can off the field to to keep my body healthy and in shape but no man I I I feel great my my my head's clear and uh I don't really have any worries so I'm ready to go how crazy was the week when you played BYU when you look back how much do you think your profile naturally changed because of that game yeah um unbelievable year obviously the co year um weren't supposed to play him I think they scheduled a game on like a Wednesday or Thursday um playing on college game day was Unreal um pretty surreal and obviously got the wi in a crazy night but yeah I think kind of just my whole life changed you know that game the bullets everything um unreal I mean I can't say enough good things about Coast Carolina that 2020 team it really kind of molded me into the player I am you ever talk to Jeffrey Gunter at all about his NC State time yeah absolutely man I love Jeff um obviously Jeff grew up in Durham and it spent some time Inc stay and um yeah me and Coach Thunder were actually talking about Jeff a few weeks ago uh love Jeff blessing to be able to play with a guy like that it was crazy how it all worked out with Coach back and and his staff and um coach tricket knows Tony Gibson I mean it's like yeah you were surrounded by people in a small circle yeah small world but um you know everything happens for a reason and God is good and put me in a great spot so really grateful to you when you hit the portal how many schools did you hear from and how quickly yeah I mean a good bit um I tried to narrow it down as quick as I could just because I had a short window and everything was so hectic um only took two visits went to Raleigh obviously and then went down to Orlando and visit UCF um I think I had like four or five in mind South Carolina was in there Oregon State started talking to the Baylor coaches late um but yeah man I mean it was a whirlwind of an experience and um the year before previously when I kind of sprinkled in the transfer portal I was able to talk to the N State coaches and kind of develop a relationship so it's kind of like they were ahead of everybody going did you have like an agent helping you through the process cuz there are a lot of considerations with nil and all that like how do you sort of navigate yeah I have a a marketing team that had all the nil conversations um when I got on the phone it was strictly football and and you know quarterback and offense and um what what your program is and what it brings and how I can go there and contribute and um didn't want to talk anything about nil with coaches or anything like that just um wanted to talk football I wanted wanted to be recruited so after watching some of the tape from last year um what kind of areas did you see it to stay fall short what you do yeah I mean I think it's it's just a team effort I I think some guys were put in some tough positions and um you know they still won a lot of football games everybody talks about the offense being down but I mean the offense played well to an extent obviously couldn't get over the hunk to win 10 games and win the league and things like that but the offense played well and I think the guys were bringing in really get us over and and get us where want to go ACC how familiar are you with other teams yeah I mean not much really going into it obviously a lot more now um getting familiar with how the league plays defense and schematically what they want to do but um not that much I mean growing up in Charlotte always watch a lot of football um but I mean not too familiar with the defense obviously watching a lot more now but not too much is there any individual guys on the defensive end you're just looking forward to playing maybe some you respect think the best best in the league I mean nobody in specific man I'm just excited for the challenge week in and week out to play such a prestigious League uh a lot of really good football ex being from Charlotte how special be for you to play Tennessee at Bank of America Stadium Sur real man full circle moment um you know Stadium I grew up as a kid going to watching the Panthers play um that's going to be a crazy one Stadium's going to be rocking um two really big fan bases that love football so really looking forward to that how much will team M have in the stand a lot a good bit yeah um people have been asking for tickets for months now so um that I'll have a big crew there for sure unbelievable dude uh authentic he's real what what you see is what you get and um he's the same person every day great leader um a great motivator and a really good football coach really smart um understands it from every aspect offense defense special teams um the the guy that you see on the media and you talk to is the same guy that comes in every day and coaches us um a great guy that leads theb team to where they want to go and a great guy to be around speak Dave dor in the Carolina Panthers um you grew up watching the Carolina Panthers you know that it's very smart to uh um have a healthy fear of Steve Smith and what he says last year Steve Smith came after NC State a little bit Dave Doran stood up to Steve Smith in the state of North Carolina and defended his team what does it mean to be following somebody out there who's not afraid of the mighty Steve Smith yeah um I mean coach dor loves NC State and um he's put so much into the program in the football team over the years that um you know people want to talk bad about the program he's going to make sure to stand up for him and um after such a big win like that I think he was just fired up and wanted to get some things off his chest but um that that's that's him that's coach Doran the energy he brings and um that's him every day so he's awesome to be around have you been to a game with not what other adults in the room put make an impression on you some of the other coaches people put interacting with uh say that again I adult coaches I didn't St making a great impression yeah I think just just it's a group effort and the the whole staff in general has been unbelievable um Kurt Roker my quarterback coach is phenomenal one of the best in the country and so smart he's been around a lot of really good quarterbacks has developed a lot of really good quarterbacks and um just the staff and the family environment as a whole I mean the guys we came with today the media team to the photographers and the videographers it's just like everybody is all in in this thing together and bunch of really good people in Raleigh you chance her in how long before it became in state became your normal before that was yeah um I think it took about a month to really get settled in um the first week was kind of crazy trying to understand how they do things and meeting all the people but um you know 3 to four weeks I get there and start feeling really comfortable and everybody's welcoming me and um yeah I would say about a month then I started feeling really comfortable and just kind of started you got now you're almost in t- minus mode you're almost counting backwards to the regular season how geeked are you for that and then when you get in game week prep how exciting is I'm extremely excited man almost want to slow down time a little bit you know it seems like once you start the season everything just kind of flies by and days get mix and things like that but um I'm excited man I can't wait to to to kick off Thursday night and C Finley and get this thing rolling have you already kind of form the connection with one particular wide receiver um I don't think so man I think just the whole group it's a really good room um and and some guys that have played some really good football that kind of lead the guys um I mean I have a close relationship with all of them even the young guys and the Freshman that just came in um we're kind of all in thing together and I spent a lot of time with the white outs so I love Grayson what's excited you the most or what have you been most impressed about with like KY and even Jordan on this offense yeah just just getting out there in you know in spring camp with them and watching them play football close you know you watch him on tape and and on TV what KC was able to do last year um just his understanding of the game his spatial awareness the kid knows how to get open and he wants the football and when you get him the football good things happen uh Jordan I mean he's a veteran when he's a unbelievable guy to have in the backfield with me it's like having another quarterback out there um played a lot of snaps and knows what it takes on a week toe basis so um Jordan's definitely a bet and I'm glad he's in the back field with you uh you're coming to NC State 10,000 yards passing I think probably nationally people are looking at this and saying oh NC State's like leveling up or they got their guy but the truth is you probably throw about 25 times a game on average in your career you're going to a team that two years ago 36 times a game last year 30 times a game um this might be opening things up for you um did you feel like when you were were looking for schools looking at NC State that this was going to give you an opportunity to show a different side of your game no doubt I think I have to continue to to put new things on tape and um you know we're going to do what we're good at if that's throwing the ball 40 times a game that's what we'll do if the the Run game is carrying us to where we need to go and more RPO based things like that you know I'm really comfortable doing anything right now um I've been training it this offseason under Center stuff I mean Pro style play action all that stuff so um I'm really comfortable doing anything and um whatever's best for the offense and the team you know I'm ready to do it and um just really excited you know they're kind of giving me the keys and letting me take this thing so I'm excited cool yeah I think um no matter where you are just experience is great and the more football you play the more you learn and um you know the sunb bel's a great league with a lot of really good football teams and um you have to prepare every week you can't just you know roll the football out and expect a win and um I think it kind of you know really molded me into what I am now and the player I am and um just understanding the preparation it takes to to go win a football game there's so much more that goes into it other than what you guys see on Saturday and um just getting that routine in that schedule and just seeing more snaps and different defenses is has been great and uh I think I'm in a great spot to do some good things different coach Chadwell and Coach D yeah I mean they're definitely different uh you know different coaching styles for sure but um two great guys two unbelievable leaders two really good motivators and two good football coach Coes that have done it for a long time and and won a lot of football games so definitely grateful to play for coach chowell and obviously now coach Grayson um I think NC State across all sports is one of the most underrated fan bases as far as like their passion and um their enthusiasm for their team what is Wolf Pack's nation's impression beinging you so far yeah I mean just just a lot of support um you you watch what the basketball teams were able to do and the support they got from the community and um got to go to some basketball games and got to go to the the baseball games when we hosted the regional and um the community is just they're great so much support and um they love football so I know they're excited and um you know the the HomeField advantage in Carter Finley is real and um you know that's just kudos to to our fan base and Wolfpack nation and what they bring every week did you have a dream of playing in power five football yeah always I mean I think you know you want to you want to play on the biggest stage possible and um I knew I always had it in me uh took me five years to to get here but um I think the football that I've played in years past is given me this opportunity so definitely always been a dream and really grateful to be able to do it that the fact that it took five years you were underestimating yeah for sure I think it it's always been like that and um that's where I get my my style of play from just being an under recruited guy and even now man just the success I had at Coastal and um just kind of being overlooked kind of swept under the rug sometimes definitely motivates me and um I know I can do it man I put in the work and kind of bet on myself throughout this thing and um it's gotten me this far and that's why I play with the chicken mus over do you have any sense why you were kind of overed when you um we ran a unique offense in high school right so I threw the ball maybe 10 times a game so that definitely you know hindered my recruiting um so if I wanted to get offered I had to throw in front of the coach or go to a camp or something like that um but then again won a lot of football games in high school and you know put some good things on tape but um I don't think they think they didn't think I could throw the ball um so obviously had to show them that I could do that and some of the schools took a chance on me gron you talked about the unique offense you ran in high school you also had a unique offense at coasta Carolina under uh Jamie Chadwell um how did that transition over the last couple years help prepare you for this offense here under yeah I think just just doing different things and doing unique things and just continu to grow my game in all aspects um and then you know putting new things on tape showing people you know in the league and at the next level that I can do it all that I'm an allaround quarterback and can really get it done so I think that system really molded me and you know pushed me into the the player I am today and um you know being in this new system in the spring was great I feel really comfortable and um you know confident I can get done and Tim Beck obviously was a coordinator under Dave Doran for a couple of years was that parallel like notice did Beck give you a hard time or Doran a hard time no man coach Beck was was great throughout the process he had nothing but good things to say about NC State and um whenever I told him that I was taking the visit there you know he he was he was great throughout it all told told me that I was going to love it had nothing but good things to say um was obviously excited that I made the decision to be with that awesome thank you what's the what's the coolest thing you say you played in your per this far when you think about a game like Clemson de Valley stuff like that yeah I mean um got a chance of playing the Rose Bowl week one last year against UCLA so um that was pretty cool obviously uh you know a stadium that you grow up watching and being there it doesn't even feel real um but yeah just you know the teams that um getting the opportunity to play against and the different places we're able to go obviously week four in Death Valley is going to be pretty surreal you know one of the better environments of college football and um this game will take you crazy places I never thought I would go so just um you know really excited for it so Grayson what be big hon being in State starting quarterback or two years ago winning our award for football player of the year yeah yeah yeah um first of all good to see you yeah um that was awesome uh in honor um really cool night to to go out there and do that but um yeah man I I think it's a pretty big honor to be the quarterback at NC State so I'm looking forward to that but um um definitely an honor to to take that award in good SE thanks for being here so why are you bringing back the sir why are you bringing back the M you know it's uh yeah it might be um you know just kind of a football thing I I've carried for for the last couple of years and um was going to go without it but all the guys wanted it back so uh so I'm bringing it back grew up you new County I was over at Marvin we were yeah and so how cool was it to be back here in this and knowing this could be the first hopefully three trips to sh yes sir um it's awesome man it's always refreshing to be able to come back home obviously um see the family but just being in in the city I grew up in is awesome and um obviously really looking forward to coming up here week two and playing and um hopefully making some more trips up here fun questions for you day game or night game sir day game or night night game for sure wide out wide out out um you could change about theate uniform that's tough our uniforms are really nice um I don't know man um maybe like a maybe like a red and black camo or something would be cool okay so if you're a pro wrestler what songs playing as you walk to a pro wrestler song Whatever It Is oh man I don't know maybe some uh I don't know maybe some Creed hire by Creed I'll walk out to some Creed all right scooters on campus great idea or just terrible misfortune bad idea bad idea no student athlet should be on those things I've seen some some pretty bad wipeouts on those things all right most important question what is your cookout tray oh that's a great question um so I I I definitely mix it up but I'll go uh big double burger um got to go chicken quesadilla and depending on how hungry I am I'll either go bacon wrap or chicken ranch wrap and the side of cheddar bites you got to go side of cheddar bites because you get the cheddar bites in your tray they short you yeah but if you get the side then they load you up in the bag that that's what I got for you no shake no no drink no shake no shake I heard you say you had four offers coming out of high school where were they uh Army West Point uh Tennessee Chad Eastern Kentucky and Gardner how'd you get to the coast uh I went to a camp um they were one of the the last schools to come in um had a pretty heavy quarterback room at the time but um a system that I ran in high school that translated over to what they were doing and it took a chance on me and it worked out it was a great fit they so they gave you a scholarship you got where were you going to go instead I don't know man I don't know if those were the four offers you didn't have a favorite at I took it I I went to West Point it was absolutely unbelievable um um really well did they had a great staff over there and everything I just didn't think it would be a great for me um I don't know we'll say Chattanooga um went up there and took a visit and like the area and um either that or stay home and go to garer web so so you hadn't decided no yeah yeah that's a good question I never ask that question speaking of stay at home we got to get an Indian Trail question yeah yeah it's just traffic man y it's been a while since uh you've been there full time what do you think of some of the changes ah it's crazy man it seems like ever since they uh they put the pass through and everything's changing but um think they put like a new roundabout near my house and Indian Trail so that's like helping things out a little bit but it's good to see the town I grew up in grow and continue to change and um you know it seems like more and more people are moving towards that way um it's awesome to see it's like I go to school and come back six months later and it's like when did this get here and where did that go it's it's always changing so it's good to see I like to see it I got a random one I'm Arizona State alone believe it or not there's like a Grayson M fan club probably everywhere style play but there is a there's a big podcast that covers the Southwest called speak Dev okay and they're they do like Grayson SE really yes yes I was Wonder shout out to Brad Denny and speak of the Devils yeah uh shout out to uh Brad Denny speak of the Devils uh what do you guys say Forks up there you go Forks up app all right so I've heard about this well I got to talk to me do you have like a special hair routine like like special shampoo like I don't so I get these curls from my mom so I'm blessed with that and uh kind of just let it go I do have to condition it though if I don't it'll be all crazy um but yeah just got to kind of keep this thing Ted because if I don't the curls kind of go crazy but um yeah I get the curls for my mama and it works out okay quick questions team Drake or team Kendrick gosh somebody already asked me this question I I'm not really in the lube I'll say Drake I don't know if that's a bad answer but I wasn't really in the loop with all of it I think I heard Kendrick's song but uh I don't have a great answer for it what food should not exist gosh olives all right if you can invite any celebrity to come watch you play who would it be and why oh my gosh you guys got good ones um to come watch me play you said that's such a tough question what would you say a quarterback to place that's now an executive in the NFL Maybe I got to give you something um gosh I don't even have like the Panthers um I'll say um I'll say Morgan juong because it's real right he should be there week too so maybe I'll get a chance to run into him all right would you rather me go through your text messages or your camera Ro whatever you want I got nothing to hide uh camera roll I got some good ones in there thank you yeah good questions appreciate you said you and him are kind of bonding over country music it was really good like like click with the guy that on day one kind of yeah no doubt man it's always uh it's always good to bond over music and um Davin ever gets the the speaker in the locker room he's usually playing like some Luke Holmes or some Morgan wallins so uh yeah no doubt and and he's always singing too if you hear anybody singing in the locker room it's DB for sure good he's got a good voice he's got a good voice you have to ask him to sing for you Grayson I just wanted to say what's up I interviewed you last year while at Coastal yeah yeah yeah how are you huge fan I'm doing pretty good good to see you think about um your journey and it's had nothing but success right to reach this level play in the ACC for a perennial winner are you able to kind of take stock of where you are right now as a quarterback and where you were yeah man um unbelievable Journey you know going into year six playing for NC State um here at ACC media day kind of feels like a dream you know um always wanted to play football at the highest level um always knew I could always knew I had it in me um it only took me what 6 years to get here but we finally made it um but yeah I mean I'm confident man I'm so grateful to be here for this opportunity um to be healthy and to be in such a great spot in Raleigh it's been unbelievable and um just so excited to to go out and represent the wolf pack and you think about specifically here in Charlotte and your people uh how how meaningful was it to them has has that kind of washed over you in the last few months as you approach yeah it's special man um you know being in the home state is obviously cool and um closer to home all my you know my family's going to be able to come to all the games which is awesome um everything happened so fast in the process of the transfer pull on everything and obviously some of my family members took the visits with me and stuff like that but um I was back at school um whenever I talked to Coach Dorne and decided I was going to go to NC State and um kind of just you know sent my my family group had a quick text and said you know like we're going to stay in the home state this year and before I get on the phone like you know this is all about to happen really fast and um they're fired up and they're excited for me you know they're they're you know my kind of my backbone through all this um my biggest support system I go out and play a bad football game and um seems like the world's coming down and everybody hates me and I have a great family to go back home to great parents and unbelievable support system um speaking of family my sister's actually in the hospital right now she could have had her baby like any minute now last last I heard um that thing was coming out so excited to to uh I'm already an uncle but excited to to have a nephew and and meet the little one here soon last one for me you look at the you no no I just walked up right you look at the just the incredible Charlotte pedigree Daniel Jones Drake Sam and you're in that you're in that mix now and and your career has earned you a spot to be in that mix uh how much do you think about that is like just the inner city competition or friendly competition you love those guys but um yeah so actually you know played against both of those guys in high school and two unbelievable quarterbacks obviously played against Sam um starting you know Middle School basketball middle school football all the way up so always played those guys um you know it was it was tough in high school is like you know all the big schools come to town they drive right past my school and they go see those guys respectably right touchdowns um you know really good five star you know d da whatever but I mean it was tough on me to you know try my best not to compare myself to those guys um the success they had was awesome but just to you know have my name in the conversation with those guys is special and wish those guys nothing but the best and you know really looking forward to obviously Drake kicking off his NFL career and seeing what Sam does in Seattle now so um it was a crazy time but you know love those guys love watching those guys play and you know extremely happy for them that they're getting their chance in the NFL appreciate you yeah curious have you played college football 25 I have yes sir I uh pleased with the rating pleased with the rating 88 uh I respect it um but yeah it's uh try not to play it too much it's like I get on there and feel like I can't get off so um no it's fun it's it's it's pretty cool to to be playing as myself in a video game so I've enjoyed it DAV said he played as you yeah oh yeah yeah it's like uh some of my teammates coming to the locker room and complain to me about throwing interceptions on the video game and I'm like well that's you that's not me you know so um it's kind of been the talk of the locker room for the past week or so so it's been pretty fun man yes sir talking about your trash talking yeah practice where does that come from you always been a trash talker what makes you comfortable TR yeah I think just just um just kind of not taking crap from anybody I just like to I'm so competitive and um it just comes out it's always out of respect and U but I'm just so competitive man and get out there and the juices start flowing I just uh I like to talk a little bit and um it's fun and I enjoy it and hopefully Jordan will will join me and back me up on that here in the fall I guess how quickly did you feel comfortable doing that show up to stay like immediately like vocal guy or take a while to kind yeah I think when I first got there I just wanted to to earn the respect of the guys around me and um show them that I'm in Raleigh to win football games and to be a leader and be the quarterback of the football team and um once I was able to to kind of gain their respect and show them that I mean business then I started becoming more vocal and um kind of leading those guys but um it was a great transition and all the older guys like Davin and the veterans that have been there really helped me through all of it you mentioned earlier that you maybe didn't really want to leave Coastal what made you decide okay I I I do want to leave and in states where I want to go yeah I think um just a place like Coastal Carolina that that kind of took a chance on me when a lot of other schools didn't and um that was my home for so long and a place that that I love and it's just hard to leave it's it's hard to leave people you love and places that you love and um so that was obviously tough but at the end of the day I had to make a decision to um to go to go elsewhere whether that was to you know try it out in the NFL or a professional League or or go play somewhere else and um NC State gave me an unbelievable opportunity to to go up to Raleigh and be the quarterback and um it's it's such a special opportunity I couldn't pass it down so um really grateful and really excited