Dave Doeren: "There's Nothing Better Than Getting a Big Crowd Quiet"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media Thursday afternoon ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming Textile Bowl matchup versus No. 21 Clemson.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s interview.
On C.J. Bailey…
He’s building off of what he did in the second half [against Louisiana Tech]. He’s ready. He’s had a great week. The guys are playing hard around him. It’s a great opportunity for C.J. We’re excited for him.
On what sets Bailey apart from other freshmen…
He’s consistent. There isn’t any moment that we’ve put in front of him where he hasn’t responded as you’d hope, regardless of age, any player for that matter. When you go back to the spring game, he went against the first defense the whole day and had a really good day. Any time we’ve put him in a challenging situation, he’s been the same guy. He’s been consistent. He’s been uplifting. He’s had energy. He bounces back if something happens. He’s very coachable. Those are habits, and you always fall back on your habits. It’s not about rising to the occasion — I saw someone write that — that’s not what happens. The guys return to habits they’ve created, and he has a lot of winning habits.
On straddling the line of scrimmage…
It’s something I wanted them to understand: the value of winning the line of scrimmage, regardless of play call. A lot of people get into, “You should’ve called this or that.” Wrong. You should’ve executed better. You can handoff an inside zone, block it up, and have a touchdown. You drop back on a pass and execute, and it’s going to be a good pass. On defense, it doesn’t matter [Tony Gibson] calls. When 11 guys play hard and play together, it’s going to be a good defensive call. The line of scrimmage gives the quarterback more opportunity. It gives the running back more opportunity. It gives the receivers more time to get open. Conversely, defensively, when you win the line of scrimmage, they have less time to throw and smaller holes to run. That’s where we have to win games. I don’t care what you’re running on offense. It always starts and ends up front, including tight ends, backs, DBs, and linebackers. Whoever’s in that box in the trenches, they’ve got to win. Being on that line and looking at which way that thing’s going is a measuring stick of our toughness. That’s something we need in this program to be the team we want to be.
On facing Clemson…
They’re talented. They’ve been in the same system. The continuity that [Dabo Swinney] has had is longer than me, obviously. They have a system, and their kids know it. So do we; we have a system. The crowd noise, always on the road, in particular when you’re down there, can be a part of distracting guys and guys not focusing on the right things with all the things around them in that environment. Conversely, there’s nothing better than getting a big crowd quiet. When you have to do that, you have to earn that through the way you play the game. We’ve got a big challenge in front of us, going into someone else’s stadium that has the fanfare that they do.
On Lex Thomas…
He’s done a great job. I’m really impressed with Lex’s preparation. I said this the other day: he’s not taken reps physically behind the one and two, but mentally, you can tell he’s taken reps every snap. He jumped right in, no mistakes, directed guys the right way, encouraged his teammates, made good decisions, and functioned. He’s ready to play. We feel good about Lex, and I’m really excited about what he’s shown us as far as preparing to play the game, and I’m not surprised. The family he’s in, that’s what those guys are about. They’re about working and doing all the stuff it takes to get ready.
On Bailey enrolling early…
It helps. It’s just reps. It’s reps against college defenses, the speed of the game, the system, the nuances of the system, and the terminology. Even though he might’ve run a lot of similar concepts, they were called different things. Football is a foreign language. It’s funny. You go from school to school, even in the NFL; one guy calls “inside zone this,” and the other guy calls “inside zone [that].” There’s translation. The earlier you’re learning the language, the faster you can process information.
On Grayson McCall helping Bailey and Thomas…
He’s a great teammate. He jumped right into helping those guys in the meeting room, on the field, talking to them between series, walking in the huddle with them, listening to them talk, making sure he’s saying the right thing. He’s done a great job preparing these guys as well.
On the noon kickoff adjusting travel plans…
It’s no different than playing here last week. The fact we just played a noon game helps because you have a routine the guys have already been through. We are a morning practice team, as you know, so we’re used to waking up early and playing football. Noon kicks are actually a good thing for us when it comes to the normalcy of playing earlier in the day.