Joe Scelfo speaks in a nearly perfect, unadorned broadcast tone. Somehow, the N.C. State center did not inherit his father's distinctive Cajun, southern Louisiana accent.
The passion for football, however, did not skip a generation in the Scelfo family. The son of a son of a football coach, the game is in Scelfo's blood.
Monday's Independence Bowl matchup between the Wolfpack (6-6) and Vanderbilt (6-6) will be equal parts bowl game and Scelfo family reunion.
Scelfo (pronounced SELL-fo), who grew up in New Orleans while his dad, Chris, was the head coach at Tulane, expects to have more than 40 family members in Shreveport, La., for his last college game.
"The Scelfos, man, we travel and we're a close family," Scelfo said. "It will be a little crazy."
It will be the first bit of chaos in what has been a seamless transition for Scelfo, a graduate transfer from South Alabama.
N.C. State went into the season needing three new starters on the offensive line. A pair of reserves last year, Tyler Jones and Garrett Bradbury, emerged from the roster. Scelfo did his homework and found his way to N.C. State from Mobile, Ala.
An all-conference center last year for South Alabama, Scelfo graduated in May and started looking for schools that needed offensive line help. He picked N.C. State, whom he played against during the 2015 season (a 63-13 Wolfpack win), and enrolled in the summer. It didn't take long for him to ingratiate himself to his new teammates.
"The first day Joe got here, I knew he was going to be a great leader," junior tight end/fullback Jaylen Samuels said. "He's just a great person. He's always in a great mood and ready to work."
Scelfo's outgoing personality and impeccable football knowledge helped him fill an immediate role in N.C. State's offense.
Like quarterback Ryan Finley, Scelfo was walking into a new situation with new teammates as a graduate transfer. Unlike Finley, he didn't have a pre-existing understanding of offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz's scheme. That didn't matter.
"Joe's a really smart player," Finley said. "He was able to pick it up and then help everyone else. He definitely has a passion for football."
