The N&O has reported this morning that the rumors that have been circulated for a few weeks are true – backup quarterback Mike Greco is leaving NC State and is transferring to Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, MS.
Greco, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound left-hander from Lighthouse Point, Fla., was redshirted as a freshman last season. Greco had a 60-yard touchdown pass and 60-yard scoring run in the Pack’s spring scrimmage in April, but was expected to enter preseason drills behind junior starter Marcus Stone and competing for the backup position with sophomore Daniel Evans and incoming freshman Justin Burke.
“Mike has nothing but good things to say about N.C. State and the coaching staff,” Hatten said. “He just had a feeling he may not be in the mix at quarterback and there had been talk of moving him to another position.
First, a hearty good luck to Mike in his future endeavors.
Greco’s overall athleticism was impressive, but his passing ability needs some developing. Make no mistake that his presence in the program would have been nothing but a positive…but, let’s be real honest here about this situation — as long as Marcus Stone AND Daniel Evans don’t get hurt this season, Greco’s departure probably will never truly impact NC State football.
Greco is leaving because he wants the opportunity to play more at quarterback – an opportunity that he doesn’t feel exists in Raleigh among the following depth chart:
Marcus Stone, RS-Jr
Daniel Evans, RS-So
Mike Greco, RS-Fr
Justin Burke, Fr
The goal is to redshirt the highly recruited Justin Burke to prepare him to take over as the future of the program. After this season, Greco would have potentially fallen to 4th on the depth chart for his Sophomore campaign, and would have run the risk that he would have remained down there in future years if you project future talent committing to the program that is consistent with the kind of high school talent that is reportedly (in this offseason) intrigued by Marc Trestman.
Therefore, as long as Stone and Evans avoided injury this year, Greco would have realistically never seen the field here. That doesn’t make him a bad football player, but his timing compared to Stone, the under-appreciated Evans, and Burke just doesn’t match-up in his favor.
As long as he is leaving the program in good academic standing (and not hurting our APR), then he probably did the best thing for all parties in the long run., but I selfishly wish that he would stayed one more season as insurance to help insulate Burke from burning his red-shirt if Stone and Evans get hurt this season.
