THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408180683
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Operation ACC Football
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
When North Carolina State opened preseason camp a year ago, the players were giddy about their new-found freedom.
Life under Mike O'Cain, who had been shuffled up to head coach when Dick Sheridan resigned because of health reasons a few weeks earlier, was more relaxed.
O'Cain, who had been quarterbacks coach under Sheridan, was no patsy. But he didn't rule the team with an iron fist, either.
Sheridan was a disciplinarian with rules etched in stone. O'Cain preferred to treat the players like men, and even permitted them to smile occasionally on the practice field.
That was last August, when the Wolfpack was about to embark on a season of ups and downs that ended with blowout defeats to Florida State and Michigan.
The atmosphere is considerably different now. There aren't many smiles, and no one is speaking about how much easier it is playing for O'Cain.
``You are only as good as your last game, and our last two games were both disasters,'' says split end Eddie Goines. ``The winter was very long and tough. Losing those two games the way we did was all you could really think about. A lot of people just remembered us for those last two games, and I can understand that.
``We are always talking about moving up to the top level in college football, and those are the type of games you have to win, or at least play tough, to be considered for that. Hopefully, this season we'll come out and play like the N.C. State Wolfpack can play.''
If the Wolfpack, which finished 7-5 last season despite the humiliating finish, doesn't perform better, it won't be because of a lack of effort.
A week after the pounding by Michigan in the Hall of Fame Bowl, Wolfpack players were at work preparing to making amends this season. They were roused out of bed for 6 a.m. conditioning workouts through the winter. That was followed by spring practice and summer conditioning.
``The early morning workouts brought the team together because everyone was there and the coaches were there as well,'' Goines recalls. ``With everyone being together like that, working hard together, it just forms a bond. In the past, we had winter conditioning in the afternoons where we had 3 o'clock sessions, 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock, and we had about 15 people at each session and the coaches were never out there.
``This is the hardest-working team I've been apart of since I have been here. The guys have a lot of dedication.''
No one is blaming last season's collapse on O'Cain's running a slightly looser program. But most players agree there was a distinct lack of senior leadership.
``When we stepped on the field, it was like 11 individuals trying to play,'' says defensive tackle Carl Reeves, who missed the first seven games with a broken leg. ``That was a big difference than what it had been like my other seasons here. There definitely was a big lack of senior leadership.
``Preseason camp last year was weird. It was like we didn't know what to do. Maybe it was insecurity because we had been used to Sheridan's strict discipline. We just fell apart. We were not a close group.''
O'Cain admits he made mistakes during his rookie season as head coach, but he doesn't think giving the players more responsibility was one of them.
``I believe players have to get themselves ready to play,'' he says. ``Too much is made about Knute Rockne-type speeches. Those things last about two seconds. Once the players run out onto the field, they have forgotten what was said in the locker room.''
This year's seniors, who include co-captains Goines and Reeves, say they already have accepted the responsibility of making sure they are ready to play.
``It's not a question if we can turn our attitude around,'' Reeves says. ``That already has been taken care of.''
The problem was solved shortly after the team returned from the Hall of Fame Bowl.
``We had meeting and talked about our attitude,'' Goines says. ``That is one of the differences between a good team or an average team or a great team, the attitude you take onto the field.
``We talked about no matter who we play, we need to go out there expecting to win. Against Florida State, we went down there in awe. Then, the bowl, we lost that game when they announced we were playing Michigan.''
O'Cain says he sensed a different attitude by his players at the beginning of the early morning winter workouts.
``This is the best-conditioned team I've ever seen at State,'' he says. ``But whether that converts into wins, I don't know.''
Reeves can't be sure how many victories it will be worth, either. But he is positive about one thing.
``We are going to restore our pride,'' he promises. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
The Wolfpack went 7-5 last season under coach Mike O'Cain. The last
two games were big losses.
by CNB