Jarvis Byrd: 'Taking Off The Redshirt'

The original plan was to redshirt true freshman Jarvis Byrd. After starter Rashard Smith went down with a knee injury in the Boston College game, the coaching staff had to do some serious thinking about taking the redshirt off of Byrd. He had been playing exceptionally well on the scout team all season long, acting as the opposing teams best defensive back every week. In fact, Byrd was the scout team defensive player of the week before the Murray St. game, after he picked-off the first team offense 4 or 5 times that week.

"Playing on the scout team each week really helped me get better because I was working against guys like Owen Spencer and Jarvis Williams everyday," Byrd said. "During the bye week the coaches went back and watched film from practice and saw how well I was doing against the 1st team.

The coaching staff had a tough decision on their hands, because if they took off Byrd's redshirt, he would have already missed a good portion of the season. Byrd was a top recruit for the Pack, considered to be the best player in NC State's 2009 recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. Some people might consider taking off a redshirt after 7 games as wasting a year of eligibility for the particular player, but Coach O'Brien and his staff were in desperate need of assistance in the secondary.

When Coach Reed called Byrd during the bye-week and asked him if he was ready to play. Byrd knew he was ready to play, but had thoughts about holding on to the redshirt.

"At first I thought about holding on to my redshirt, but then I realized that the experience would really help out next year," Byrd said. "I feel like it was a good thing because I am playing nothing but the top teams left in the ACC."

Byrd was considered one of the hardest hitting defensive backs in his recruiting class, and his aggressive style showed up on the field this past Saturday in Tallahassee. In the 14 snaps that Byrd played, he recorded 4 solo tackles, looking extremely confident in his collegiate debut.

It was fitting that Byrd made his debut against Florida State, the team that he grew up idolizing. This past Saturday was also the first time that the true freshman had been back to his home state since coming to Raleigh earlier this year.

"I grew up a FSU fan, so I was real energized to step into that stadium for the first time," Byrd said. "It was homecoming for FSU and it was kind of like a homecoming for me too, because I haven't been home since I came to Raleigh. Getting to play my first game with my mom and dad in the stands was really special."