NC State’s Cyrus Fagan providing ‘a lot of flare’ in his new role – The Fayetteville Observer
RALEIGH — This was not how Cyrus Fagan pictured the return to his home state.
A native of Dayton Beach, he left Florida in December after four turbulent seasons at Florida State. He transferred to N.C. State for a chance at playing time, and with two years of eligibility remaining, he hoped a change of scenery would reignite his love of football.
His first game with the Wolfpack was an example of what he could bring to the team this season, finishing with seven tackles and an interception against South Florida. The early flashes of talent showed the misuse of his abilities at FSU and his capacity to be a linchpin in N.C. State’s secondary.
But the football gods are cruel.
During a tackle in the first half against Mississippi State the next week, Fagan came down awkwardly on his right arm.
“It’s just a cramp,” he thought as he tried to play through the pain.
It was not a cramp. Fagan had torn his bicep.
He would need surgery and four to six months to fully recover. Season over. Just like that.
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“I’m not going to lie, I cried in the training room when I got the results back,” Fagan told the USA Today Network. “Football is all I know. I love football with everything I have. It hurt to have it taken away.”
Sitting alone at his locker with tears streaming down his face, he called the one person he knew would fully understand his pain: his mother, Samantha Hepburn.
“Why is this happening to me?” he whispered through the phone.
“It’s okay to feel sad, but baby, there’s always somebody who’s got it worse than you,” Hepburn answered. “Some people would do anything to switch places with you. You remember that. When you feel this way, you have to remember that now it’s time to work.”
Her words sent Fagan on a new path, and while Saturday’s road game against Miami may not be the triumphant return he had hoped for, the way he’s embraced a new role on this team shows how he’s grown and matured since coming to Raleigh.
“All I can do now is get in where I fit in,” he said. “Just be there for my teammates in whatever way I can.”
It may seem like a small contribution for a team with ACC championship aspirations, but Fagan has devoted himself completely to his new team, finding his voice as a leader in the locker room and a motivator on the sidelines. And as coach Dave Doeren said after last week’s 33-7 win over Boston College, Fagan is providing, “a lot of flare, man.”
“He (Fagan) is definitely a leader. He loves the game. He loves his teammates. He loves the journey that we are on together,” Doeren said. “He knows that he can only control what he can right now, and the best thing that he can do is help his brothers.”
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‘Hang in there Cyrus. If you need me, let me know.’
For Fagan, getting in where he fits in still means he stands out.
He’s a hype man. The locker room DJ. The loudest guy on the sideline during a game. A sounding board for N.C. State’s wide receivers and defensive backs.
“He gives us all the love. And a lot of advice” redshirt sophomore wide receiver Devin Carter said this week.
It’s a frenetic energy that Fagan brings to his new team. Sometimes he’s shouting rap lyrics in the locker room or sprinting out of the visitor’s tunnel at Boston College like his hair caught on fire. If TV cameras pan to the sideline during games, there’s at least one shot of Fagan jumping up and down or swinging a towel around his head.
“Even when he’s not playing, he brings so much energy to the field,” defensive back Aydan White said.
“I want these guys to know that they worked hard for this moment, that they trained for this,” Fagan said. “They deserve what’s coming to them. I just like winning. I’ll be a cheerleader if that’s what it takes.”
Fagan brings a joy and excitement to N.C. State’s locker room that he struggled to find during his time at Florida State. Three coaches in four years left him at odds with his place on the depth chart and the constant turnover kept him from building any significant relationships with the coaching staff.
“He’s a people pleaser, but he also really values relationships,” Hepburn said. “I think he got lost in the shuffle at FSU. But now, I think he’s already built some solid relationships with these coaches. He trusts them.”
That trust was built from the coaching staff’s response to his season-ending injury in September.
When he returned to Raleigh the night after the loss to Mississippi State, Fagan received a text from head coach Dave Doeren.
“Hang in there Cyrus. If you need me, let me know.”
When he got out of surgery a few days later, he received a call or text from almost every N.C. State coach.
“I remember him saying, ‘when I got hurt at Florida State, nobody ever called or texted me,'” Hepburn said. “I was really impressed with how they treated my son. I know it meant a lot to him.”
The emotional investment in Fagan has sparked the energy that he’s returned to the program.
“The sideline we have, and I told the team this, when we line up for the opening kickoff, their sideline should be jealous of the energy that we have on ours … Cyrus leads that group over there.”
For Hepburn, she loves seeing her son enjoying football again, even if it’s from the sideline.
“When I saw him dancing, I knew that he was happy,” Hepburn said. “He was running around and yelling and just having fun. I haven’t seen that Cyrus in a long, long time.”
Still a happy homecoming
Obviously, Fagan wishes he was returning to his home state in full uniform, especially early next month when the Wolfpack travel to his old stomping grounds to face Florida State.
But he’ll still have some familiar faces in the stands on Saturday at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Most notably, his mother and younger sister, who will make the three-hour drive south to watch him play.
Although Fagan won’t suit up, he still feels considerable pride to be a part of a nationally ranked team that has become a frontrunner to win the ACC Atlantic Division.
No. 18 N.C. State (5-1, 2-0 ACC) enters this weekend on a four-game win streak as it faces a Miami team (2-4, 0-2 ACC) that is quickly fading from contention in the ACC Coastal Division.
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“The last thing I want to do is be selfish,” Fagan said. “All I want to do is show these boys that I still care, that I want to travel with them, be there at practice. These boys are doing something special like I said they would all along. I’m just happy I can still be in the mix with them.”
David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at dthompson1@gannett.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.