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Redshirt sophomore defensive end Xavier Lyas announced Monday that he is leaving the NC State football program and entering the transfer portal. Lyas saw action in eight games this season, but didn’t make a start.
Thank you Ncstate coaching staff for giving a kid from the middle of nowhere a chance to play football at their school. I have growin so much here at state. I have decided to enter the transfer portal in order for me to reach my full potential both academically and football. pic.twitter.com/Yu69zl6Sff
— Lightspzzd_97 (@xavierlyas) November 11, 2019
When asked about Lyas’ departure, Dave Doeren said today, “It’s life, some of these kids don’t play as much as they want and [that’s] how it goes.”
Lyas carved out a role primarily as a pass rushing specialist: he was on the field for 82 snaps in 2018 and has been in on 88 plays in 2019 and had a season-high 19 snaps against Wake Forest. Even in the limited time, he is fifth on the team with 4.5 tackles for loss and third with 4.0 sacks. Dude was pretty good in his role.
But he’s only been out there for a little over 13% of the defensive snaps, and it’s not surprising that he’d want to look for a better opportunity. Perhaps he would have developed into an every-down player here, but alas, now we will never know. All the best to him at his next stop.