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 24-17 win over Clemson and its upcoming matchup versus Miami.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference.
Opening Statement
Starting just recapping the game in the win over Clemson, I’m very proud of our team and our staff, and I'm thankful to them for their ability to commit and reinvest in spite of the failure we had the previous game. The disappointment coming out of the Duke game would be the biggest understatement ever for me. We had a very heartfelt, transparent meeting as a team and as a staff after that loss. To me, winning or losing matters, but what matters a lot to me is how hard we play, how hard we fight, how tough we are, and how dedicated we are to the team that you chose to be on and that you chose to coach. I thought this week was a great response. Our identity at this school is about playing hard, playing tough, and playing together, and I'm proud of the guys the way they did that. For four quarters, they put it on tape, and we played clean on top of it: plus-two turnover margin, zero pre-snap penalties on offense or defense, and defensively gave up zero explosive plays for scores. The kids battled, fought, and believed, and they showed grit, and we're learning and growing. There’s a lot to work on, a lot we need to get better at, but it was great improvement and meaningful.
On offense, I thought K.C. [Concepcion] was a huge spark. He’s a very explosive player. It's impressive to me. I can't say enough about how he's able to do so much as a freshman. To play in the slot in this offense is a lot. There's a lot that goes on in there in [Robert Anae's] offense as a slot receiver, but then to be able to get into the backfield and run the football, to be able to go outside and play the way he did [was huge]. Overall, we played hard, played together, and played against a good defense. Although we didn't have as many points as we wanted, we played cleaner. We played harder. We didn't beat ourselves with pre-snap things, drops, and things like that. We didn’t have a drop until that last drive, and obviously that did hurt us there. We capitalized in the red zone. The negatives, we gave up too many plays in the backfield that we can correct. They were in our backfield eight times; we were in there as nine, so you had two defenses really getting after it that way. I think [it’s about] just being more efficient, getting more first downs, being efficient on the plays that gave us that four yards or more.
Defensively, we two takeaways and the fourth down stop at the end. We constantly pressured their quarterback and played in their backfield a lot. We didn't give up an explosive for score, and Payton Wilson's touchdown was an expletive great play. I think Payton is playing better than anybody in college football at his position, and he's obviously a spark. He’s fine. We’re excited about the news on him. He was sore after the game, but good news: he'll be back this week. Defensive negatives, when you get into coverage situations, there are always route concepts and things you can play better down the field, intermediate, and underneath. We'll continue to work on different things with our guys, and we had some guys out of position once Payton went down. We moved some guys around at linebacker, and so they were playing, not out of position, but playing where they hadn't practiced some of those schemes, and I think that showed up a little bit. I'm really impressed just with how hard we played.
On special teams, Brayden [Narveson] continues to kick the ball well, and Collin Smith went 100 percent on touchbacks. On kickoff, they had zero return yards which against Clemson, as we know, isn't easy to do. They always have talented returners. I thought Anthony Smith emerged as a missile on our SWAT team; he had a really nice play covering a punt. We’re excited about to win and thankful. To get a win like that on homecoming for my 100th [career win as a head coach] meant a lot just personally, and I thank the team and staff for that.
In the postgame regarding my comments, I felt it was very important to stand up for our program and for our team, and I do feel that duty and that responsibility as a head coach. In the moment, my feelings were very raw and authentic, and I have great respect for Steve Smith. After the game, he texted me and sent me a video congratulating me on the win, and as a man, I thank him for that. It takes a lot of humility to do stuff like that, and I know he was not trying to disrespect our program, even though that's how I felt, and I appreciate him for that and invited him to come down and spend time anytime he wants. Hopefully, he'll do that, come be on our sideline. He's a great player for the [Carolina] Panthers, a great player for Utah, and a great representative of the game, and I think him being on our sideline, feeling the energy of our fan base, would be awesome, so hopefully we'll get that done.
Furthermore, as I stated in my press conference after the game, NC State has a lot of great sports, and football is one of them. Supporting my program and doing that was my intentions, and that's what I was doing: standing up for my football team. I know, in the aftermath, things sometimes land differently with certain people. Because of that I did call, [head basketball] coach [Kevin] Keatts, and Kevin's a great friend. I love the guy, and I definitely have so much respect and admiration not just for him but for his program. That’s what makes NC State different. I've worked in a lot of schools, and our administration and fans — It’s unique to be at a school where you can go to a football game, a men's basketball game, a women's basketball game, a baseball game, a wrestling match, etc, and have a sold out crowd and to be able to cheer on a national champion in cross country and track and field and swimming. It's impressive, and it's rare to be at a school like that, so yeah, it does irk me when people label us as a one-sport school because we're not. We’re not, and I think the proof is in what I just said: the ability to be productive in so many sports. It’s a well-rounded athletic department, full of competitive winning teams. Since I am the football coach, I'm going to defend my post for football. That’s what that was and will continue to be.
This week is another great opportunity to play another really good football team in Miami. They're athletic. They're very talented. They've always been that way. They're playing hard. When you watch them on offense, they're fast, which as you'd expect. They’re deep at the running back position. I think [Shannon Dawson] does a really good job. Their offensive line is big and well coached. The receivers, as you would expect, are playmakers. Their defense is led by their defensive line, and they've got a freshman defensive lineman; [Rueben Bain, Jr.], is one of the best freshmen D-lineman I've ever seen. He's really playing well. He’s a guy that you like watching. We wish he’s not on their sideline, but it's going to be a great opportunity to play against another great defensive lineman. The DBs are guys that can run, tackle, and cover. It’s another great opportunity and great challenge, and we’re looking forward to it.
We're excited to have them here at night at Carter-Finley. I know it'll be a great atmosphere, and our fans will show up and help us. We need your help. Last week, phenomenal crowd noise when we needed it for our defense at the end of that game, that was big. We’re just calling on you again to come be a part of winning a game, helping us win a game with your noise for our players and against theirs, and that's what this has to be for us to continue to grow as a program.
Lastly, I just want to thank the media, on the call and off the call, that have helped cover and support Payton Gibbs, her efforts, and her family's efforts. It’s been awesome seeing that and a lot of messages, emails and letters coming our way thanking us for that, but that's just the right thing to do. I know they're going to continue to battle back where they're at in Florida to get her back on the sideline, but I just thank you guys for doing that. You don't have to; I know you get to pick what you write about and cover, and so to be a part of a feel good story, when it's not always that way, it means a lot to me.
On having Wilson healthy…
It's so fun watching Payton play, and I'm just thankful for him. First of all, he's the one that's been through it medically. He's put in the time, the effort, and the hours to play the sport, and it means the world to him, and you can see that in his play. We're thankful that he's healthy. Thank the Lord for that. I look forward to seeing him play again and continue to do what he's doing. I don't know if there's anyone in college football that's having the impact he is in the game. I haven't seen [someone else like him] yet. I’m not saying I haven't seen a lot of good players this year — I have — but that guy is just a wrecking ball out there. What he's doing in so many ways — his effort, his energy, everything else, and his leadership, I’m so thankful that he gets to continue the journey with us.
On what areas he wants the team to improve upon collectively…
I'd like to just learn from what just happened. I told them this in the meeting: we need to play like we lost the game. We need to practice like we just lost the game: just learning from the the outcomes of the weeks that we've had, taking the information that we've gained through wins and losses through adversity and through success, and building on it. You shouldn't have to suffer to always learn the right way to do something. To me, that's the biggest area: just being able to look at, “Man, I really played well this game. I played better. I played hard. What happened? I had to go through a humiliating loss and practice a certain way. Well, okay. Let's repeat that with a win.” That's the growth. It’s sometimes hard with these young people to get them to strain the way they need to all the time until you get them in a really adverse situation like we were in. It's just the growth of that: taking success and failure, treating them the same when it comes to your preparation for a game.
On the trend of losing after wins and winning after losses…
That's what it looks like. I said this before: I did not see the performance coming that we had against Duke, based on our practice. We practiced well that week, and so obviously, not well enough. In years past, you could see it. “Man, we weren't very clean this week.” Then I would be really nervous. That's not what I saw. I saw a team that practiced hard and was actually executing well, and guys had energy. They weren't uptight at the hotel. Sometimes, it's just harder to read certain guys than others. The thing I like about this team is that they're resilient. They've learned a lot. Whether it's a trend or not, we've got four games left. I told them it was a five-game season. We’re 1-0, and we're going to put everything we got into this next one.
On Robert Kennedy’s performance versus Clemson…
Yeah, Rob's done a great job this year. He's been super consistent. He works hard every day. He goes about his work the right way. He's focused. He’s not up and down. He's easy to coach. He's here for a reason. He knows what his role is, and he's done it. Each week, there's little things that he's working on. Coach Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay does a good job with him, narrowing down his focus onto those things. We’re excited for him. He has another challenge this week. One of Miami's best players is their slot receiver, [Xavier Restrepo]. He's a really good player. It’ll be a great matchup.
On early leads influencing the game flow…
It helps a lot to have a little bit of a cushion. We haven't had a lot of a cushion, but it does help to be playing from ahead versus behind. We're still young. When you look at who's out on the field at times on offense, there's some young dudes out there playing. M.J. [Morris] is just in his second year still. K.C.’s a freshman. Kendrick Raphael is a true freshman. You’ve got some youthful guys out there when it comes to that. I think the one thing that we really talked a lot about getting ready for this last game was just that in-play mentality of playing together, then breathe, next play. Let everything else go until we get to the sideline, and just focus on what you can do and not let things compound because that's where it gets hard. You start having negative talk, and you start thinking negatively because it's something that might've happen. They've got good players at Clemson; they're going to beat you at times. You've just got to compete your butt off, go to the next play, and win the next play. If you do that more times than they do it, usually the scoreboard is a collection of your wins individually over time. That's been our focus, and it worked for us. We’ll stay probably in that process, getting ready for another great team with Miami.
On evaluating the defense…
Well, the most important stat in defense is scoring defense, and so our goal is to get back into the top three in our league and top 20 in the country in scoring defense. The next-most important goal is number of takeaways that you force on defense. Can you keep points off the board, and can you get the ball back? Obviously, third-down defense is getting the ball back as well. Our fourth-down defense is getting the ball back as well, but those takeaways are big momentum plays. They're usually field-position gainers, not always but usually. We're doing really well on third-down defense, doing really well taking the ball away. Our disruption and chaos that we create throughout the game, there are a lot of plays in their backfield with sacks and tackles for loss, like you mentioned. Now it's just eliminating big plays for touchdowns; that was a huge emphasis, and that happened last week. You're going to give up some explosive plays. Clemson had seven of them, but none of them were for touchdowns. That, to me, is what it's all about because you stop them, hold them to a field goal, they may miss which you saw. Those are the things that matter and to see if they're good enough against a defense like ours to keep grinding it out. That's where everything is though to me: scoring defense and takeaways.
If coaches care about total yardage…
I think coaches care about everything, but I agree with you: I don't think that stat equals wins like the other ones do.
On the tight ends…
Hopefully, we'll have Trent [Pennix] back. We’re not sure yet. They were testing him in the training room a little bit before I came up here. I haven't heard from our trainer yet, but we’re hopeful we'll have him. As far as Juice [Vereen], we're continuing to develop him, try to get him reps where he can help us. He’s growing. He's improving. Obviously, I know he would love to have made that play there on third down. It was a good job by M.J. throwing it with the blitz, and he just didn't have his head back for it quickly enough. He’s a young player, again, out there, and sometimes when you play them, they're going to have some youthful mistakes. He's just got to get his learning curve to speed up a little bit, but he's working really hard. He's got a great attitude, and he's grown up a lot this year. He's got a lot of growth still, but from where he was at week one to where he is now, he's maturing. He’s got to keep taking it one day at a time.
On Sean Brown…
He's a ballplayer, man. His football IQ is high. His attitude, his effort, his athletic ability, and his toughness, it's all exactly what you want. If I could go recruit 10 more of Sean Brown, I would. Whatever special team he goes on, he makes plays, too. He's a playmaker. He's got a really bright future, and he can do a lot. He can play in the back end, as you see, but the closer he gets to the ball, whether he's blitzing or fitting the run, he makes plays. He's got a really long wingspan. He's strong. He's a good tackler. He's learning how to play faster and faster. Things are really clicking for him with his vision and what he's looking at.
On Steve Smith’s messages to him after the Clemson game…
No, he hasn't committed [to coming to an NC State game] yet, and I'm hopeful he will. He said when he gets back — he's traveling — that we'll connect and try to work some things out on when we could get them here. I don't know when that'll be. It was a great conversation. Like I said for a guy with his accolades, just coming on and congratulating us on the win — He said, “Coach, I didn't mean anything by [the ‘basketball school’ comments] — it means a lot. There's a lot of people's egos that wouldn't allow them to say stuff like that. I don't know him, and for that to be our first conversation meant a lot to me. As far as when I saw it, it was actually the last thing I saw leaving the locker room. I don't know why at the end of the game… you guys don't understand, most people don’t, what it's like to coach a football game and go through 3-1/2 hours of that, and you are mentally wiped. It’s a blowout, and every possible emotion you have, and in that moment, I felt like defending my team. I was hurt by it, and I don't know. Sometimes, things just happen, but that's what happened right there. Again, my intentions were to protect this football team and stand up for it, nothing more than that. I felt like I did that. I'm not on social media very much. I don't know what the response was. My sons told me it was good. It's like to tell people all the time: when you speak, there's going to be a percentage of the country that thinks you're right and a percentage that thinks you're wrong immediately. That's just where we are right now, so I know that that happens. Whenever I talk, there's going to be people that think I'm wrong and people that think I'm right. Ultimately, you have to do what you think is best and right for the group that you lead. For me, as the head coach of this football team, I'm going to stand up for 11 years of hard work, all the players that helped me do it, the coaches that helped me do it, and the fans that believe in it. Until they told me I don't get to do that anymore, that's the kind of coach you're going to have.
On the players’ response to Doeren's postgame comments…
They liked it. Again, it wasn't about calling out Steve in particular. I think we all agree; he's a tremendous guy. It was more about just the statement itself. Like I said, man, this university is different. You come around here in the wintertime, and for me, I try to get to an Olympic sport whenever I can. I'm always in awe, when you walk into a wrestling match, or you go over to a baseball game or whatever, at just how many people are there. I've been in universities where it's just not like that. It really is a one-sport school in some places, from a fan base standpoint, not from an effort, an attitude, or a skillset with the teams. Some places don't have the on-site support that you get at NC State, and we're in the Director's Cup with all the different sports, how that adds up. Like I said, people can say what they want. Do your homework, know what you're talking about, and be critical when that's what you should be. I have no problem with people throwing darts at me after the Duke game. I earned it. We didn't do a good job, and that falls on me, but when you look at the program and the university overall, people have to understand what we've built as a program, and it started way before I was here. The success of this place — football, basketball, track, everything else — has been going on a long time.
On Morris handling Clemson’s blitzing…
It starts there. We're getting a lot of pressure, period. Going back to Notre Dame, we've been seeing blitz from everybody, and it's just kind of what it is right now. M.J. is doing some really good things at times. There's other times where things collapse on him pretty quick and has to get rid of the ball faster maybe than he wants. I thought he did a tremendous job on one of the third downs where he kind of moved around, backed up in the pocket, slid over to his left, and hit Keyon [Lesane] for a first down. I thought that was really good job by the O-line and running back as well. The timing of all this, continuing to chemistry with his receivers, and just reps reps, reps, you just keep working on that and know that we're going to keep seeing the things that we're seeing pressure-wise. That’s just how it is right now. We do the same thing; we’re blitzing people all over the place. You see it from Miami; they’re a big-pressure team. There's going to be a lot of that coming.
On Kansas City Chiefs players he’s admired in the past…
It's funny. There were two players that I loved with the Chiefs when I was a kid, and one of them's local, so that'll be good. First, non-local was Derrick Thomas, the defensive end. He was just a phenomenal pass rusher. I loved watching D.T. play. The second is Dino Hackett, former Appalachian State linebacker. I had the privilege of meeting him actually in the offseason, but he was a middle linebacker for the Chiefs. I think Bill Cowher might have been coaching there then on defense when Marty Schottenheimer was their head coach. He had the big neck roll, and shoot, all of us high school players in Kansas City, everybody wanted to look like him. Man, he was mean. He was tough. At a young age, watching those two guys play, I loved them.
On Jordan Poole playing on offense…
Jordan was a really good high school running back as well. He and I have talked throughout the season, just trying to find ways to utilize what he can do to help the team win. About two weeks before the bye week, he brought it up. I said, “Let's get to the bye, and we'll sit down and talk some more about it. I want to spend time with the staff. The last thing I want to do is move a guy, and [that move] doesn't really help them from a depth standpoint.” During the bye week, he got some reps there. You can immediately see his ability to help, not just as a blocker which is what you saw this weekend, but he ran the ball well in practice, and he caught the ball well out of the backfield. Now, it's just getting him caught up on all the vernacular with Coach [Todd] Goebbel and Coach Anae. I think it's a good move for him and for us. He’s going to bring value there. He adds a dimension to the backfield, and he's really physical. It just gives us a running back that can go fill and fit like a linebacker or an old school fullback but a guy that can run. If you watch that long run by K.C. early in the game, you can see him tracking him down the field. He can run.
On the trust gained for his comments regarding Steve Smith…
I don't know if I can answer that; you're asking me what other people think, and you probably know better than I do. You're reading their comments. There just comes a point in time as a competitor where you're sick of it, and I was sick of it. You can either stand there and take it, or you can fight. I’ve been asking our players to fight, fight, and fight, and I told them I would. I thought that was an opportunity to show that, and I know that's meaningful in the locker room. How it is outside of the locker room, I really don't know. I'm not going to say I don't care; I do. I want people to respect what we do here, but it wasn't meant for them. It was meant for our team and, like I said, for the 11 years of players that have helped me here and given a lot. There just comes a point in time where, if something's said that's not true, it needs to be corrected, and that's it.