Dave Doeren: "We Need to Finish"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media Thursday afternoon ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus Syracuse.
NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s interview.
On practice this week...
It's been nice outside. It's been beautiful weather. Not having humidity and making that part of the grind. It was good to get back on the grass Tuesday. The guys were great. The effort was really good. Obviously, C.J. [Bailey] is getting the majority of the reps going through that. He's excited, but he's still young. There's still learning that takes place on the field. That was a tough loss. It takes time to get over games like that. Practice is the best way. That Sunday and Monday after a game like that suck. When you get back on the grass and start working towards the next game it's very helpful."
On the team motto for this week...
Hard work is our core value this week. “Finish” is what we're talking about, no doubt. It's been everywhere and said by everyone multiple times. What do you do when things aren't working well? You don't stop working. You work harder. For us, we need to finish. There was some emotional drainage that took place during that 15 minutes when Grayson [McCall] was down. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough left in the tank to finish that game. We’ve got to fill the reserve back up. These kids, they're young. They're capable of that much more than adults. That was a tough, tough window of time that sucked some of that out of us. I'm glad we get to play this week. I'm glad we get to get back on the field, go compete, and get back to it.
On getting players regrouped after McCall’s injury...
You talk openly about it. It was hard on me, too. It was hard on everybody: his parents, the fans, crowd, you name it. I was proud of the guys fo rallying back. Grayson being out at practice yesterday, cheering guys on, helps, seeing he's okay — not that he's okay, he's had a concussion — but not as bad as he could have been from a hit like that. He's doing well; seeing that helps. He's going to be a good coach. That guy's really good at the game of football. It's good to see him get back that way."
On surprise standouts in practice this week
Noah Rogers has had a good week. K.C. [Concepcion]'s had a good week on offense. Hollywood Smothers practiced well today. It was good seeing him running around again. Dante [Daniels] has really had another good week. He's getting better each week at tight end. Terente Hinton did a really good job at practice yesterday. I’m really excited about his progress. Kelvon McBride had a really good day yesterday. Seeing guys get better is one of the things I love about this sport still, the progress that young players make. Those are a few that shot up.
On the night game at Carter-Finley Stadium...
I'm happy for the fans. They get a full day of drinking. It's nice for them to enjoy that. It's been three straight early ones. It's hard when you can just have a Bloody Mary and some eggs. Now, they get the whole day. Maybe they'll stand up on third downs, help us this week, and be loud. I know the students are usually phenomenal in a night game. It's supposed to be beautiful weather too. All those things combine to make for a good crowd. The all-black uniforms look really good. I'm excited for the guys to break those out. They're excited to wear them. It's a great team we're playing. They're 4-1. They just came off an overtime win. They've got a lot of energy and a good quarterback. It's going to be a good football game.
If the ACC is underrated...
It's always been that way. Media-wise there's more pull from a network contract standpoint with the SEC. Obviously, the Big Ten Network's been what it has been for a long time. It's been great football the whole time I've been in the league. Our bottom is way better than other people's bottom. You look at some leagues and there's a lot of teams that aren't very good. You don't see that in our league. It's competitive each week. There's a lot of close games. There's a lot of good football coaches. There's a lot of athletic players. Some of these kids go to some of their schools because of the higher academics that you see. They're really good football players at those schools as well. As long as I've been here, the battle you see week to week with the teams that are fighting to get into bowl games, there are some really good games. You don't see a lot of blowouts.
On takeaways from Stanford versus Syracuse...
We're going to blitz no matter what. That's what we do. That doesn't change with who we're playing. We watch everyone's game and study everyone's attack. Whether they're dropping eight or blitzing or both, three down, four down, what line stunts work, what pressures, what coverages, what gave the O-line more problems... Holy Cross did some good things. They had five sacks. We watch everybody. They didn't blitz hardly at all. Players have got to do their job. We've got to have good enough coverage to make him hold the football. We've got to react well to screens. We know they're going to screen us to help them with pressure that we might bring. We've got to mix it up. Tony [Gibson] does a great job. The games that he's called the best, it's a constant mix of pressure, drop eight, rush four, bring five, bring six, bring them all, drop eight, just roll it, and disguise. We've got to do a good job of that. The guys have got to make plays.
On his thoughts on NCAA eliminating national letters of intent...
No, I have zero thoughts on that. I'm trying to win a game.
On learning from previous matchup against Oronde Gadsden...
He's a good player. Big guy, catches the ball well, good catch radius. He was Coach [Robert] Anae's offense at that time. They moved him all over the field against us. He was in the backfield. He was in the slot. He was outside. He’s really versatile and has a high football IQ to be able to manage all that stuff. Coming back from the injury he had, he's probably hungrier because you gain perspective on the game when you can't play it. He’s a really talented guy who we have a lot of respect for.