VIDEO + QUOTES: Dave Doeren's Weekly Quotebook
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media via Zoom Monday afternoon to discuss the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus Clemson.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference.
Opening Statement
It was a good time for a bye week. It was a great week for the staff and the players. It came at a good time after seven straight weeks. Bye weeks are about a lot of things. It starts with reflection and study: internally looking, as coaches, at our calls, our systems, and our rules, going to your personnel on areas that you feel good about, areas you want to improve upon, then the modes and avenues to do that, studying your plays, studying your coverages, your blitzes, all the things that you do — “Here's where we're efficient, here's where we're not and why” — taking some things out, adding some things, identifying those strengths, identifying those weaknesses, looking at your scheme and your personnel... Then, you turn to your health: using the time wisely for recovery and for a reset mentally, allowing the guys to have some time, having a good mix of improving, getting on the field and getting off the field, allowing these guys to reset for the next five weeks. I think we did a good job of that. The guys got some time off and also got some time to really look at film and talk with their coaches. With the coaches, it’s the same thing. We got some really good time in the meeting rooms together, and we got to good practices last week on us.
We’re working on fundamentals, back to the basics at every position group, focusing on what we call our “one more”: those things in your game that you want to be better at, the one-percent improvement. We know that we’ve got a five-game season coming up, starting with Clemson at two o'clock on Saturday. We’re excited for the opportunities and the challenges that are in front of our football team. I look forward to competing and helping these guys. Each day you come into the building, it's about finding ways to get better, overcoming the things that are a challenge.
When you play Clemson, they always have a talented football team; this one's no different. They’re very well-coached. They have tremendous players. They're an up-tempo offense. They've always been no-huddle, but you can see with what they're doing now: fewer formations, a lot faster on the football, going up-tempo with Garrett Riley. They have incredible running backs. We know a lot about Will [Shipley] and think the world of him. He’s a tough kid. He's done a great job for them. The receiving corps, they've had some guys banged up, but you can see the guys making plays. I thought, last week, [Cade Klubnik] played really well in their loss to Miami. I thought he looked comfortable. He had good poise in the pocket. He used his legs when he needed to. He had some good throws on the run and threw the deep ball with touch. You can see that he's improving. They had a bye week a couple of weeks ago.
Defensively, they’re very talented. They have a good defensive line that’s always aggressive in what they do. The scheme has changed a little bit, but you know they're still multiple in their fronts and coverages. They play a lot of man-to-man. Defensive line has a lot of depth and good players on it.
We’re excited to get back to work and get ready for a great opponent here at home. Yesterday, it was good. The guys had the weekend off. They came back in, refocused, and got ready. We got a little bit of a head start on the grass, giving them some basics, letting them watch Clemson's last game. Today, guys will get out of here and then get back to it tomorrow. We’re excited for what's coming up next, and we look forward to the opportunity to play against this team.
On the areas where the team improved the most over the bye week...
[We improved on] efficiency on offense. I felt like we had answered the bell there in the Marshall game and then took a step back in the Duke game. There were self-inflicted things, pre-snap or post-snap, whether it's a false start or holding penalty. Those were issues that we did a great job in the three days we went out on the field and worked: making routine plays routine. The crazy thing about the Duke game is we caught the ball at the best — we chart everything: targets, completion rate, number of drops, drop rate, all the things that you can collectively put together. That was our best week on the season, throwing and catching the ball. I think the guys got to cut it loose over there in practice: working on different things on the line of scrimmage, O-line, tight ends, running backs, the timing, but the bottom line is, it's executing. We score 48 points two weeks ago and do that. A week later, it takes you seven drives to have a drive without a penalty or a drop. It's pretty obvious when you come out of the game like that what you've got to do. I think, defensively, you start to press when you're not getting points, then you start trying to do someone else's job, and inevitably, you give up a big play. It's everybody locking in on the little things at each spot that they can do better. Collectively, we get better by individually getting better. That's the thing that we're focusing on. Going back to our “one more,” if I'm playing left guard, right guard, right tackle, left tackle, or whatever it is, there's a part of my game over seven games of study that you look at and say, “You know what? This is an area that's reoccurring that I have to fix.” You’ve got to work on that. That's what I'm asking each guy to do. I know that doesn't answer your question, but that's what we're doing. It's about being efficient through 11-man football. Each guy doing his job a little bit better.
On Tim McKay shifting to guard on depth chart...
Many of these guys, at this point in time, have a thing here or a thing there. He practiced yesterday, but like many offensive linemen, you go through some things sometimes with a hand or a finger [injured]. Tim's no different. We've played him at guard some this year and at tackle. Going through the games that we have, I feel like Jacarrius Peak has really strained and fought, and he gives us an opportunity to get Tim inside some. If you look at what we're blocking on the line of scrimmage, we want to get an opportunity with him to match up with these really good defensive tackles, too, but we will rotate in different spots. By any means, is there a final end-all, be-all with any of these positions? No, but coming out of the seven games, we felt like that was an opportunity for us to get Peak, a guy that's really straining and fighting and bringing great energy, on the field and allow Tim to match up inside with some guys. I wouldn't be surprised to see him back at tackle throughout the game as well.
On the offense responding from a poor output versus Duke...
They were embarrassed after that game. I think there were a lot of heartfelt conversations about stepping up and guys owning what they need to do better. I think leadership starts with ownership. Like I said after the game, it starts with me, then my coaches, my players, and this team. I think that happened. The guys on offense had some really good conversations about what they need to do and how to go play for each other better. I think when you're playing like that — I call it playing not to lose instead of playing to win — there's a little hesitation. You’ve got to cut it loose in this sport to play well. You got to let it go. If you make a mistake, make it 100 miles an hour, and then learn from it, and move forward. I think that's part of what's going on. M.J. [Morris] has done a nice job speaking to those guys. Dylan McMahon has done a nice job in that role as far as that. I look forward to the response. That's one thing as a coach that you hope for: that they'll keep fighting. This team has never shown that it won't.
On Anthony Smith...
Anthony came out of fall camp, and he really wasn't playing fast. He's a fast kid. I think there were a lot of things going on. We put him on the scout team and told him to go down there, work, get better, and get back to being who we thought he could be. To his credit, he did that. He rolled his sleeves up. He went down and really competed hard against our defense every day. Over time, one week, two weeks, three weeks, he started being consistent and playing with more confidence. We got him on a couple of special teams, and he started to show that confidence and physicality there. Then on offense during the week, Joker [Phillips] brought him up, and he was getting behind people. He was making plays again as the guy that we thought we would have. I'm proud of Anthony. He's really worked hard. He hasn't given up on himself. Because of that, he was rewarded with the playing time. You're right; he did get behind and almost made a great catch. I look to hopefully seeing him continue down this road. He's really had a good mindset in the last month.
On importance of recharging during bye week...
It is important. I think the reset is real. You can get really hung up in seven games. Here's where we're at: the good, the bad and the ugly. What you have left is five games. That's where the focus has to switch. We gave those guys enough time to, if they can, go home, to get away, and really contemplate their body of work. What do they want the next five to look like? I think that's the most important question. It's not what the last seven were. You want to identify the things you want to improve and create that mental picture of what do you want the next five to be. Take it one at a time. Do everything you can to win the next game. I think that's the focus of this team right now. By the energy and enthusiasm and the presence of the guys yesterday in the building, I would say that the guys came back feeling good.
On sign stealing in college football...
It happens. I think that's part of the game right now, to be honest, with all these no-huddle offenses. When you're not huddling, there's a lot of signaling going on. Defenses have always had to signal. I don't know what the NCAA can do, to answer your question about this. I think as long as there's going to be signals from the sideline, there's going to be people trying to decipher what they mean. I know that that is frowned upon, but you see it everywhere. You hear about it from the NFL all the way down through college. How do you get rid of it? I guess the headset communication would be a possible way moving forward. It's either that, or you're always on wristbands where you can change those every half, every quarter, or whatever you want to do so that people can't get a beat on you. It's been an issue for a long time. It's a headline now because of the investigation at Michigan, but I look at it as part of the game, to be honest. For us, we’ve got screens, we’ve got dummy signalers, we’ve got live signalers. We change who they are throughout the game. You try to have as many different things as you can for what is the signal, what is the fake signal. You try to do the best you can with that for the guys, then you change your signals up so that they're not the same every week. Guys can't try to call people and figure out what they are on you. It is a reality in football. Maybe it'll change when they give us the electronic communication piece. I know that's on the table to be discussed after this season.
If the Wolfpack has had its signals stolen...
Absolutely, people get your signals. It happens all the time. That's just part of the deal. What do we do? Like I said, we try to change it up as much as we can and use different means. There are some games where I feel like they didn't have them, some games where you think, “Yeah, they probably knew what a couple of these plays were.” That's part of it.
On addressing eligibility and redshirts during the final stretch...
Each week, we'll look at who's got how many games under their belt so that we're cognizant of that going into the next game. From a special team standpoint, for example, we used Isaiah Shirley in his first game last week rushing punts and trying to get a bigger body in the A-gaps doing that. We know we've used one of his games. You do have those conversations. We still have the developmental work on Fridays when we can with the guys. Not on Thursdays, but that's something we still do at the end of practice on Fridays; I think this is the third year of this rule. You try to stay on top of it where you're at, then communicate with the players when you can about it.
On Lyndon Cooper...
I think Coop is going to play. He's going to play at guard and possibly play at center. He's got a bright future here. Looking at the body of work for not just him but other guys, it's trying to give some guys an opportunity to compete that have shown that they deserve that opportunity as well. We fully expect Coop to compete his butt off and try to win his job back. He might, by the end of the week. You don't know that. We're asked to put out a depth chart on Monday. You don't play until Saturday. Going off of a game where he had three penalties in the first half, getting guys in that are playing a little bit more without that, that's the mindset there. That doesn't mean we're giving up on him at all. I'm excited to work with him every day and help him continue to get better. He's gone in there and played really well at times for us. You'll continue to see him out there. If he's the competitor that I know he is, he'll compete super hard to win that job back.
On using the bye week to see what other college and NFL teams are doing...
Anytime you get to study, put yourself on the sideline, not being in the game, and watch, it's good. I also see some creative ideas that are happening or learn from mistakes that you see other teams have. There was a lot of talk about some end-of-game things that have happened this year in college football. Those are great teachable moments for your team, too. Whenever you see another team do something good or not good, it gives you a chance to show those. We do that on Friday mornings with our team: showing them plays to learn from in college and pro sports. Those moment-of-truth-type things are thought out ahead of time. I think it's a great time, especially where it's happened. Seven games, I think it's the latest bye week we've had since I've been here, in the eighth week of the season. They were ready for a break. You think from all of fall camp all the way through seven games, that was a lot of consecutive work there. I think, staff and player alike, it was a good time to have that reset.
On the defense's response to Payton Wilson's call for more toughness after Duke game
I think toughness is multiple things. The first thing you think about is the physicality piece. Then, you have your mental toughness and your emotional toughness. I think all three of those are things that we need to be better at. When you're beating yourself with penalties and drops, there's a lot that goes into that. It's not that we're not good enough. It's we have to be more focused, finish catches with your eyes, see the ball touch your fingertips, the basics. Believe. You have to have great confidence on the field when you step out there. Like I tell them, I wouldn't put you on the field if I didn't believe in you. I think there's a lot to that. You're catching a player after an emotional loss, and he's giving you his guts right there. We need to play harder because that's what that guy does. He plays so hard. He's right. This football team needs to go exhibit that “leave it all on the field” mentality that Payton possesses. As a coach, you stand back and watch in awe of how hard he plays.