Camaraderie building at N.C. State?

Over the past week or so, a handful of insiders at N.C. State's football practice have offered opinions that the current team is building exceptional chemistry and camaraderie.

They say the previous three teams under coach Tom O'Brien haven't necessarily lacked togetherness. But they say the teamwork on the current team is just different, in a good way.

"We’re trying to do a couple things different here and there," quarterback and team tri-captain Russell Wilson explained Thursday. "Nothing in particular. But we’re just trying to have fun out there and compete every day, in individual drills and team drills. And just get better. And this is a fun game."

Asked about that topic today, O'Brien had a mixed reaction. He is reluctant to proclaim the chemistry and teamwork improved because it hasn't been tested yet in adverse situations.

At the same time, he hopes the camaraderie people are talking about is a sign that the team building he has been trying to promote since he arrived finally is taking hold.

"Hopefully all our efforts to get it more team oriented, more selfless, more about everybody else than the 'me' factor, if that's taken hold, that's obviously a good thing for us," O'Brien said.

O'Brien also said offensive coordinator Dana Bible, who was treated for leukemia during the offseason, recently received another clean bill of health in his latest tests. O'Brien plans to have Bible call plays as he has throughout his tenure at N.C. State before he missed the last two games of last season because of the illness.

After getting caught off guard at first when Bible was hospitalized last season on the day the team traveled to Virginia Tech, O'Brien said other staff members will be more alert to the possibility of taking on more responsibility. But he said all the information Bible has received on his health has been positive.

"There's no reason to believe he won't be able to assume the same duties that he's done in the past," O'Brien said.

Ken Tysiac