‘He’s built for it:’ How Sean Brown fills a void for NC State football at linebacker

The N.C. State players came bounding down a slope and onto the football practice field Wednesday morning, the temperature quickly rising at 9 a.m. and the strains of Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” blaring over the loudspeakers.

“It’s exciting to be back,” junior linebacker Sean Brown said of the start to fall camp. “You go through the summer and you’re just wishing for the fall and for football to be back. The first thing that (went) through my mind today was I’m glad to be back with my brothers on the field.”

Wide receiver Kevin Concepcion was in the mood, feelin’ it. The guy they call “KC” was seen during a break dancing to Sexyy Red, rapping to Lil Baby & Lil Durk.

Photos: Get your first look at NC State football as practice begins for 2024 season

Later, he was kidding around with defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, telling him if the defense needed an extra safety on a long passing down, to look his way. Gibson laughed, although he might have liked the thought of it.

Concepcion, one of the best freshmen in the country last season and the ACC rookie of the year, can be a game-breaker in so many ways. He’ll also have some help this season with such wideouts as Rolesville’s Noah Rogers, a transfer from Ohio State and former 5-star recruit, and freshman Jonathan Paylor from Burlington in the mix at wide receiver.

“It’s definitely a talented group. There’s size and speed, and they can catch the football and run,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said Wednesday. “I’m excited about what’s there but we haven’t played any football yet.”

Which is a good way to sum up the Wolfpack. Doeren has to be excited about his roster — including quarterback Grayson McCall, the transfer from Coastal Carolina — but the Pack hasn’t played any football yet.

How good can N.C. State be this season? After another nine-win campaign, the Pack has heard all the preseason chatter of N.C. State possibly being good enough to win its first ACC title since 1979 and reach the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Brown, for one, believes it’s possible, not unrealistic.

“We can be as good as we want to be,” he said. “Everybody has to be bought-in to the plan. Everybody has to believe every word the coaches are saying. When everybody buys in, we can reach that goal of being in the national championship.”

A year ago, Brown went into the season as a safety and started 10 of the last 11 games. He had 546 defensive snaps and another 123 on special teams, keeping him in the field a lot, and he earned the team’s Michael Hardy Award as the player with the best winning attitude.

In practice before the Pack’s Pop-Tarts Bowl game, Brown said Gibson suggested the move to linebacker. Payton Wilson, the ACC defensive player of the year, opted out of playing in the bowl and Gibson turned to Brown, who had been used a few times at linebacker during the season.

“Me just trusting him, I did it,” Brown said. “It could be a great move for me, for my future.

“I said, ‘I’m cool, I trust you.’ For me to get where I want to be, at the next level, I trusted him and what he was saying.”

After going through spring ball at linebacker, Brown said he added 10 to 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason. It shows. He’s very fit at 6-foot, 215 pounds.

“He’s a smart football player,” Doeren said Wednesday. “We had to move him (to) linebacker when Payton was out in the Clemson game and he had eight tackles in the fourth quarter. So he showed us that he could play there in a game.

“But he’s built for it. He can run. He’s physical, he’s got really good instincts, vision. He understands Coach Gibson’s defense and what he wants. That position has to have a guy in it who can really run and erase things and Sean’s built for that.”

Wolfpack strength and conditioning coach Dantonio Burnette posted on social media that Brown had posted a time of 4.43 seconds in the 40 and a vertical jump of 38.6 inches, noting, “As a former linebacker I’m extremely excited about watching him roam the field.”

Brown, who played at Hough High in Charlotte, said he has watched such pro linebackers as Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers and Patrick Queen of the Pittsburgh Steelers and how they handle the position

“Guys who move around and play with their hair on fire,” he said.

Wilson, an alpha type on the field, could look that way for the Pack, running down players in the open field. Brown, who will wear No. 0 this season and is called “Beez” by his teammates, intends to do the same.

“I just want to lead the team, be one of those guys who does everything right and sets the standard for the young guys,” Brown said.

Doeren, 52, is starting his 12th season at N.C. State has has seen his job morph into being a coach, fulltime recruiter and now a fundraiser with the advent of NIL collectives. But Wednesday, it was all about football and the first day of practice.

“Any time as a head coach you get to put your phone in your locker and go outside and be a part of football again is a great opportunity,” he said. smiling.