Grayson McCall has fast track to start 2024 season for NC State
Posted January 6, 2024 5:00 a.m. EST
Raleigh, N.C. — Next year’s NC State Wolfpack football team will likely start a transfer quarterback for a second consecutive season.
In December, Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, a four-year starter and three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year (2020-2022), announced he will transfer to NC State.
Brennan Armstrong, the 2023 starter who transferred from Virginia, is out of eligibility. M.J. Morris, who played four games at NC State in 2023, transferred to Maryland.
Here’s a look at McCall and the two other scholarship quarterbacks on the Wolfpack’s roster.
Grayson McCall
McCall will likely have the first opportunity to start given that incoming freshman Cedrick Bailey and redshirt freshman Lex Thomas each have yet to take a snap in a college football game.
“We have a starter coming in here,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said of McCall in December.
In December, Doeren said “it depends” whether he would seek to add more quarterback depth in the transfer portal with spring football approaching.
“We have the benefit of spring ball coming up, and we start the last week of February and go through March, and there’s another window,” Doeren said. “So, if we come out of that timeframe and feel like we need to, then there’s an opportunity to do that.
“We might not feel that way, but we have time to figure that out.”
The first transfer window closed on Jan. 2, 2024.
A second window runs from April 16-30. Players can officially enter the transfer portal at midnight and declare their intentions after that.
McCall, who completed 69.9% of his passes for a total 10,005 yards with the Chanticleers, is a North Carolina native. He missed the final five games of the 2023 season with a head injury after starting the first seven games.
Coastal was 38-11 while McCall was the starter. He was 5-3 in 2023.
While McCall did not play, Coastal Carolina beat San Jose State 24-14 in the Hawaii Bowl.
McCall had 88 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in his time with Coastal.
Former NC State offensive coordinator Tim Beck was head coach at Coastal Carolina in 2023.
McCall initially entered the transfer portal after the 2022 season, but returned to Coastal.
Cedrick “C.J.” Bailey
Incoming freshman quarterback C.J. Bailey led Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, Florida, to three straight state championships. He had a 39-2 record over that span.
Bailey is listed at 6 feet, 6 inches.
“I was at his championship game,” Doeren said on National Signing Day. “[He’s] a really talented quarterback. [He’s] tall, can throw, escape [and] moves his feet really well.
“He’s a leader. He’s got kind of a charismatic attitude where guys gravitate to him. [He’s] competitive. And so, [I’m] excited about C.J. on that side of the football as our quarterback.”
In January 2024, Bailey will enroll at NC State.
Lex Thomas
Thomas redshirted in the 2023 season. The Wake Forest native is listed at 5’11” and 195 pounds.
Thomas played quarterback at Heritage High School for coach Wallace Clark.
Walk-on quarterbacks
Three other quarterbacks were on NC State’s 2023 roster: Ethan Rhodes, Reed Charpia and Cole Wilson.
