Robert Anae is the new offensive coordinator at NC State, which will have an opening at QB1 with preseason ACC Player of the Year Devin Leary in the transfer portal.
Brennan Armstrong, who passed for 4,449 yards under Anae at Virginia in 2021 before floundering in first-year offensive coordinator Des Kitchings’ system in 2022, could make an interesting fit there.
Word out of Raleigh is that Leary, who many had assumed to be headed to the NFL Draft, decided to transfer out because of questions about his health, one, and two, the emergence of his backups at State, freshmen MJ Morris and Ben Finley, who took over at QB after Leary went down to a season-ending injury in October.
Leary had put up bonkers numbers in 2021, throwing for 3,433 yards, 35 TDs and just five INTs as State played to a 9-3 finish.
That’s why he was the preseason player of the year.
Morris, in relief of Leary, had strong outings for the Pack in wins over Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, throwing for 200+ and three TDs in each game.
After he then went down to injury, Finley had a middling game in a 25-10 loss to Louisville, going 16-of-35 for 201 yards, a TD and an INT, but he rebounded nicely in the regular-season finale: 27-of-40, 271 yards, two TDs and no INTs in the 30-27 win over North Carolina.
But that was all in the system of Tim Beck, who is now the head coach at Coastal Carolina, part of the coaching merry-go-round that started with Auburn poaching Hugh Freeze from Liberty.
If Armstrong were to land at NC State, and Anae were able to retain both Morris and Finley, the Pack would have, easily, the deepest QB room in the ACC, and one of the best in the country, with Armstrong able to mentor the rising sophomores in Anae’s system.
And if Armstrong goes down to injury, good news, you’ve got two guys to choose from to insert into the lineup.
I can see this happening and making a lot of sense for everybody involved.
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Chris Graham
