Dave Doeren: "These Guys Have Been Intentional About Getting Better"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media following practice Wednesday afternoon as the Wolfpack progresses through fall camp ahead of the 2024 regular season.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s interview.
If practices have felt like a grind with the season opener still two weeks away…
I don't think so. These guys have been really intentional about getting better. It's not like a repeat of the same words every day. You're moving into situational football, two-minute drills, end-of-game situations, and special things with special teams. There's not a lot of monotony in the learning. The routine can be, but you're changing up the learning. You’re changing up the guys that are speaking to them. Our staff all gets a chance to speak. Coach [Ruffin] McNeill talked last night for the team. They get different messaging every day, and I think that helps. You’re not just trying to get them ready for the game physically. There’s a lot of mental capacity that you have to push and try to get them to be able to focus with that stress that's going on from the learning side.
On what he learned from the scrimmage…
It was good to see the finish of plays. That's the biggest thing. Where are we at tackling? Where are we at breaking tackles? Where are we at with contact catches? We had a full ref crew there, so, where do you need to clean things up with penalties? There's a lot of things in that first scrimmage. Hopefully, tomorrow, we will be in the stadium under the lights that you can see improvement in the areas that we didn't do well the week prior. The guys’ biggest goal coming out of that scrimmage is, seven days later when we play again, we get better and show those signs of improvement.
On Jayden Scott…
He’s really consistent. He’s ahead of the curve mentally. He’s a really strong runner, hard to tackle, and he catches the ball better than we saw in high school. He's a really good receiver out of the backfield so far, too. He's a quick learner, and he's very consistent. For a young guy to come in and be the same guy in practice everyday is hard. It’s just a different pace of everything. He's done a really nice job integrating into the needs and the wants of what the coaches have for those guys in that position room.
On Davin Vann returning…
There's a lot of things. I think you start with where can you get better when you're having that discussion with a guy that's deciding to come back or go pro. There were things that he wanted to work on in his mental game. There were things in his stamina game he wanted to work on. He wanted to have more production to move himself up in the sack game. Some of that is technique. Some of that is what he does wellness-wise away from here. He’s got a really good routine, similar to what Bradley Chubb was like. These guys that are really good D-linemen, sometimes their temper can control them, and you want to control it. Learning how to have that mentality to be the best “me" ever play, that it doesn't matter what else is going on, and to have that stand on mentally and physically, Davin has worked really hard on that, and we've seen great strides from him as a leader because of that.
On C.J. Bailey…
He’s doing a good job. He has learning moments like you'd expect out there, but he's got a lot of charisma. He's very positive. He enjoys playing football and enjoys studying football. He's a good teammate, and he's got arm talent. Now, it's just getting him the reps and situations and soaking as much as we can. He's done a good job. The progress from day one to now, you really can't quantify it. He's gotten a lot better.
On the specialists…
Collin [Smith] has always been a placekicker, but he's our starting kickoff guy. He's the backup to Kanoah [Vinesett] as far as our placekicker goes. There’s been a good competition between Aiden Arias and Jacob Mann for the long snapper, and that's continuing as we go. We feel like we have two really good snappers right now. Tomorrow will be an important day for those guys in the stadium, but we like where we're at in the specialist room. [Caden] Noonkester has done a really good job punting the football. There's high standards in that room. As you guys know, we’ve had a lot of talented specialists, and so they know coming in there, it's their job to continue that and not let that standard drop. They’ve done a nice job.
On who will return kicks…
I don't know. We haven't even returned a kick in a [scrimmage]. There's a lot of guys that can run.
On the competition at left guard…
Obviously, we're excited about Matt McCabe; he’s done a good job. Anthony Carter, he's got a lot of game reps. Those two guys will both be able to play for us in there. It's been a good competition. It's back and forth. You don't see a lot of drop off either way. They both do good things. Both have things they need to get better at. I like where both of them are at. They worked hard in the offseason to get better.
On the overall team health…
It’s good, knock on wood. It’s little things, and I’d like to keep it that way. There have been some bumps and bruises, but nothing major.
On McNeill…
I told the team this last night: we're so fortunate to have him here. He's a national treasure, in my opinion, in many ways: coaching knowledge, the way he just treats people, his humanity, his love for people in general —not just players and coaches — he's a great human being, and his loyalty. He wants to help people, and it’s personal to him. I love being around him. It’s so awesome to me just go beyond his office every day, sit on the couch, and talk. We're talking about life, talking about our dads because our dads both passed away during the last few years, talking about the players, talking about the coaches, talking about the opponent, talking about our families. It's awesome to have that. It’s like being at Grandpa's house. I love Ruffin McNeill, and I’m so thankful that I work with him everyday.