N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien doesn’t expect Russell Wilson back, he said Wednesday, which means the Wolfpack will have a different look as it heads into spring practice and the 2011 season. The loss of Wilson to baseball obviously means Mike Glennon moves into the starting quarterback job, but the real change here may be the heightened importance of Mustafa Greene.

This past year, the Wolfpack’s first official depth chart included unheralded Dean Haynes as the starting tailback. That said a great deal about State’s personnel at running back, since the coaches switched a DB over to offense and he wound up being anointed the starter. But it also said a great deal about the emphasis on offense. If you were planning on building your offense around Wilson, then you could live with less of a running game. What you needed was someone who could catch and block and wouldn’t fumble.

State’s offense won’t have Wilson at the wheel this season – or at least, State isn’t planning on it. Glennon has height and talent, but the Wolfpack is likely to have a more conventional attack than what it had under Wilson. The hunch here is State will look to build more of a running game into its offense, and that means more emphasis on Greene.

Greene showed star potential in 2010. It’s asking a great deal of a true freshman to understand blocking schemes and route-running in addition to carrying the football, and that’s one reason why Greene wasn’t on the field all the time. But this fall could be different. He led N.C. State with 134 carries for 618 yards and four scores while averaging 45.9 yards per game.  Significantly, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry, which is a pretty stout number for a freshman.

Wilson averaged 33.5 yards per game rushing, but you won’t see that from Glennon. Wolfpack coaches love to credit Glennon with being more mobile than you’d expect, but still, he won’t be weaving through defenses like Wilson did. We expect Greene to emerge as a critical part of the Wolfpack offense, and potentially as a good a runner as State has had since Ted Brown. This wasn’t stated Wednesday, but keep in mind that N.C. State built its offense around Wilson long before outside observers realized how good Wilson was going to be.

The hunch here is Wolfpack coaches believe they have a star in the making in Greene, and he’ll be a major part of the Wolfpack offense in 2011.