This weekend has the potential to be extraordinary weekend for NC State Football Football. Johnny Frasier will be taking his official visit to Raleigh as he displays all the tools a college coach can dream about. Frasier is a program changing recruit with his dynamic running back skills that can move the chains with ease and be the athlete who can make the big time plays in key games. Not only can Frasier run the football at a high pace but has the skills to catch the ball out of the backfield. His awareness in space is top notch plus displays the tools of being a workhorse and a every down back. Although if he picks The Pack, Frasier next season will have to accept the fact of sharing the load of carries in the backfield with: Shadrach Thornton, Matt Dayes, Jaylen Samuels, Reggie Gallaspy plus Nyheim Hines.
Frasier recently played in The Shrine Bowl as well as an Army All American selection, is a very soft Florida State commit as he has been wavering on his commitment with The Noles for months now. Frasier currently holds a list of: Alabama, Duke, Florida State and NC State. The consensus on Frasier’s recruitment is he is deciding between The Seminoles alongside The Wolfpack. Frasier canceled an official visit to Tuscaloosa last weekend since The Tide landed another top rated running back in the country, Damien Harris. Alabama’s old linebackers coach Kevin Steele who was Frasier’s recruiting coach from Bama recently accepted the defensive coordinator job at LSU. These latest developments have helped NC State in their efforts of persuading him to stay close to home and come help NC State build something special in the future. Frasier’s only official visit left is currently just NC State this weekend. After this weekend I doubt he takes another official visit as next weekend is the last weekend for recruits to officially visit a school before signing day in February.
His upcoming visit to Raleigh is significant since it could really put that exclamation point on what Coach Doeren is trying to preach to top high school players in North Carolina, stay at home and come compete for an ACC Championship in Raleigh. When Debbie Yow hired Doeren he immediately stated that he wanted to build a fence around the state. Well Doeren has definitely came through with his word. This summer looked promising for NC State as The Pack was in good standards with Darian Roseboro plus Emanuel McGirt. McGirt ended up committing to The Tarheels in June which was a major blow to NC State as he was regarded as the prize of the offensive lineman targets in The 2015 class. McGirt visited NC State the most out of any school but his parents and sisters attended Chapel Hill. I could only imagine the degree of pressure to attend the same school as his family. Though McGirt visited NC State the most of out any school, he announced his intentions to commit to Larry Fedora in June. Two months later McGirt decommitted from North Carolina as The Pack knew they were back in it. The coaching staff fought diligently for McGirt’s commitment as the staff had to fight off SEC Powerhouse Georgia for his commitment. Although McGirt hasn’t played a game yet in Carter-Finley Stadium, he is easily my new favorite player switching from The Tarheels to The Wolfpack.
Leading up to Darian Roseboro’s college decision in August, State was trending for his commitment among sources but Michigan for the most part all summer long was his consensus leader. In front of a major crowd in Lincolnton, North Carolina Roseboro selected a Michigan . This hurt because his cousin, CJ Wilson played football for The Pack and he mentioned that NC State was his runner-up to The Wolverines. The coaching staff non stop recruited Roseboro before and after his decision since he is considered one of the top players in the state. This is part where I applaud the coaching staff greatly and give them plenty of credit for not giving up. NC State kept up their recruiting efforts with Roseboro as Michigan’s season was tanking with losses and other rumors about a player being put back in a game with a severe concussion. Roseboro visited for The Florida State game and a couple of weeks later he ended his recruitment for good, committing to NC State for good before The Boston College game.
Roseboro and McGirt are recruits that can be program changers for any college football team in the country. The efforts of the coaching staff never giving up and continuously recruiting players who they want is why I have the utmost respect for this NC State football staff. Building a fence around the state should be the most important aspect of recruiting at any university, as top players in the state should stay at home and play for their state school. Coach Doeren unlike Tom O’Brien at times, makes this his main priority. Tom O’Brien didn’t have this mindset as great players such as DJ Humphries (Florida), Xavier Nixon (Florida), Todd Gurley (Georgia), Keenan Allen (California), Stephone Anthony (Clemson), Keith Marshall (Georgia), Kris Frost (Auburn), Christian LeMay (Georgia), Jonathan Bullard (Florida), Carlos Watkins (Clemson) left the state. Still give credit to O’Brien since he still landed Robert Crisp, Brandon Barnes, Terrell Manning, RJ Mattes, Tony Creecy and David Amerson. Doeren makes it a point to land the top players in North Carolina, making every effort he can possible as landing Johnny Frasier will make a even larger statement in his pitch to recruits in North Carolina.
If Frasier does pull the trigger and switches to The Pack this weekend, that will send a massive signal to other ACC Schools that NC State will be making noise in the near future. The staff has done everything they possibly can to persuade Frasier in staying close to home since he announcement to commit to Florida State this past summer. The key moment in my opinion with Frasier’s recruitment with NC State ironically was The Florida State game, when Frasier took an unofficial trip to Raleigh. Although The Pack didn’t end up winning that game, it helped NC State open up recruit’s eyes that State can contend with premier college football schools such as Clemson and Florida State annually. People didn’t realize it but losing that game wasn’t such a heart breaker as it was in the moment but it started a new trend among top rated recruits in North Carolina that they can stay at home and build a dynamic program in their backyard. Coach Kitchings and Coach White are recruiting him making every possible visit down the road to Princeton to visit him. These specific coaches have made it well known that he is wanted in the red and white. Other Pack15 commits as well made Frasier aware they want him to join this class and compete for an ACC Championship. Four star running back commit Reggie Gallaspy has made it clear that he doesn’t mind giving up a share of his carries to play with Frasier in the backfield. These are the type of players you want in a program, non selfish athletes who just want to win. This speaks volumes of Gallaspy who has the potential to be a workhorse in the backfield for The Pack but wants to share it with someone else. Hopefully Frasier realizes this weekend that Raleigh can be his home for the next three to four years.
Johnny Frasier would be special to this recruiting class due to the fact he would give NC State four of the top rated players in the state of North Carolina to commit to The Pack. Frasier could join other Top Rivals 250 recruits: Darian Roseboro, Nyheim Hines plus Emanuel McGirt. Besides the fact how incredible this would be if Frasier joins Pack15, it sends a giant message to younger recruits in the state of North Carolina, stay at home and come play for your in state school. These younger recruits take notice of where the top in state players ahead of them go and by seeing top talent in North Carolina select NC State, this helps The Wolfpack in the future with upcoming star recruits. Give Coach Doeren and his coaching staff a lot of credit here of never giving up with Roseboro, McGirt, tirelessly recruiting Nyheim Hines and continuously recruiting Johnny Frasier. Here’s to hoping Johnny Frasier turns on the red light this weekend.
As The Late Jimmy V Would Say, “Don’t Give Up; Don’t Ever Give Up” as Coach Doeren plus his staff have lived up to these words. The future is looking extremely bright in Raleigh. Go Pack.
