North Carolina State University Athletics
Beyond the Game Plan: Des Kitchings
8/23/2019 7:35:00 AM | Football
By Chad Wylie, Special Contributor
RALEIGH, N.C. -Â Long before Des Kitchings moved to Raleigh, he knew what it took to beat the Wolfpack's biggest rival: the UNC Tar Heels. As a player for Furman in 1999, Kitchings took Chapel Hill by storm, catching two touchdown passes and racking up 169 receiving yards in the Paladins' 28-3 drubbing of the Heels.
Since joining the Wolfpack coaching staff in 2012, Kitchings has continued to post a winning record against UNC, going 4-3 against the Heels in seven seasons. More importantly, NC State has won the past three meetings between the rivals and one of the running backs under his direction has posted 100+ yards in each of those games.
The longest-tenured assistant coach at NC State, Kitchings was actually on staff when Dave Doeren was named coach in December of 2012, having worked under Tom O'Brien that season. Â Early during the coaching transition, Kitchings met with the new head coach and discussed his future.
"When Coach was hired, we were in preparation for a bowl game against Vanderbilt," Kitchings said. "We were getting ready for the game and going out recruiting. We had a conversation and he offered me the opportunity to stay on the staff, which I was ecstatic about."
Since that commitment from the head coach, Kitchings has measured up to the standard set by the new leader of the program. As running backs coach, he has mentored three consecutive 1000-yard rushers for the first time in school history. Matthew Dayes in 2016, Nyheim Hines 2017 and Reggie Gallaspy, III last year all achieved the mark for a position that has become a crucial element of the Wolfpack's powerful offensive attack.
Born and raised in Wagener, South Carolina, Kitchings began playing football in middle school and made his varsity high school team at Wagener-Salley High School as a freshman. Playing at both wide receiver and defensive back all four years of high school, Kitchings turned down multiple offers to play defense at schools including Air Force, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, because he always gravitated toward the offensive side of the ball.
"I enjoyed offense more, scoring the ball and catching passes," Kitchings said. "When Furman recruited me to be a receiver instead of a defensive player, that made my decision pretty easy."
Robert Lamb was the wide receivers coach at Furman at the time, and Kitchings continues to look back on his leadership now that he is a college coach.
"We were a small, high academic FCS school and people think smart guys don't play good football," Kitchings said. "We won our conference, and we beat UNC. We strived to maximize ourselves every day to be the best we could and took pride in that. Those are the same things that Coach Doeren talks about here. There are going to be ups and downs, but the goal every day is to be better than the day before. If you meet those goals, you're putting yourself in the position to be successful."
After his senior year, Kitchings was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 7th round of the NFL Draft. He bounced around from 2000-2003 with the Chiefs, New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts and Saint Louis Rams, before hanging up his cleats.
"I knew that time had come to an end," Kitchings said. "That dream was ending fast, so it was time to transition."
Kitchings volunteered at a local high school near Furman as a coach. After a year, he was offered a full-time coaching job at his alma mater and since then, his career has taken him to Vanderbilt and the Air Force Academy, and he is now going into his eighth season with the Wolfpack. Kitchings is continuing to pursue his goals, helping engineer the offense and developing the Wolfpack's next 1000-yard rusher.
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RALEIGH, N.C. -Â Long before Des Kitchings moved to Raleigh, he knew what it took to beat the Wolfpack's biggest rival: the UNC Tar Heels. As a player for Furman in 1999, Kitchings took Chapel Hill by storm, catching two touchdown passes and racking up 169 receiving yards in the Paladins' 28-3 drubbing of the Heels.
Since joining the Wolfpack coaching staff in 2012, Kitchings has continued to post a winning record against UNC, going 4-3 against the Heels in seven seasons. More importantly, NC State has won the past three meetings between the rivals and one of the running backs under his direction has posted 100+ yards in each of those games.
The longest-tenured assistant coach at NC State, Kitchings was actually on staff when Dave Doeren was named coach in December of 2012, having worked under Tom O'Brien that season. Â Early during the coaching transition, Kitchings met with the new head coach and discussed his future.
"When Coach was hired, we were in preparation for a bowl game against Vanderbilt," Kitchings said. "We were getting ready for the game and going out recruiting. We had a conversation and he offered me the opportunity to stay on the staff, which I was ecstatic about."
Since that commitment from the head coach, Kitchings has measured up to the standard set by the new leader of the program. As running backs coach, he has mentored three consecutive 1000-yard rushers for the first time in school history. Matthew Dayes in 2016, Nyheim Hines 2017 and Reggie Gallaspy, III last year all achieved the mark for a position that has become a crucial element of the Wolfpack's powerful offensive attack.
Born and raised in Wagener, South Carolina, Kitchings began playing football in middle school and made his varsity high school team at Wagener-Salley High School as a freshman. Playing at both wide receiver and defensive back all four years of high school, Kitchings turned down multiple offers to play defense at schools including Air Force, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, because he always gravitated toward the offensive side of the ball.
"I enjoyed offense more, scoring the ball and catching passes," Kitchings said. "When Furman recruited me to be a receiver instead of a defensive player, that made my decision pretty easy."
Robert Lamb was the wide receivers coach at Furman at the time, and Kitchings continues to look back on his leadership now that he is a college coach.
"We were a small, high academic FCS school and people think smart guys don't play good football," Kitchings said. "We won our conference, and we beat UNC. We strived to maximize ourselves every day to be the best we could and took pride in that. Those are the same things that Coach Doeren talks about here. There are going to be ups and downs, but the goal every day is to be better than the day before. If you meet those goals, you're putting yourself in the position to be successful."
After his senior year, Kitchings was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 7th round of the NFL Draft. He bounced around from 2000-2003 with the Chiefs, New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts and Saint Louis Rams, before hanging up his cleats.
"I knew that time had come to an end," Kitchings said. "That dream was ending fast, so it was time to transition."
Kitchings volunteered at a local high school near Furman as a coach. After a year, he was offered a full-time coaching job at his alma mater and since then, his career has taken him to Vanderbilt and the Air Force Academy, and he is now going into his eighth season with the Wolfpack. Kitchings is continuing to pursue his goals, helping engineer the offense and developing the Wolfpack's next 1000-yard rusher.
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Players Mentioned
RB
/ FootballCoach Doeren Signing Day Presser (Dec. 3rd)
Wednesday, December 03
FB Players Postgame Presser vs UNC
Sunday, November 30
Coach Doeren Postgame Presser vs UNC
Sunday, November 30
Coach Doeren Weekly Press Conference (Nov. 24)
Monday, November 24