Dave Doeren: "I Want To Do What's Best For Our Football Program"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media today to discuss his team's preparation for East Carolina and much more!

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the highlights.

Dave, got to ask the question. So apologies ahead of time, but Bill Belichick, going to UNC.
That's the first question I'm going to get today? Shocker.

Any thoughts just on what that means for ACC football all over here in the Triangle, anything like that? 
Well, one, welcome to the ACC, and excited to compete against the coach.

Obviously, all coaches in the business have a great amount of respect and know what he's done in the profession. So, for me, as a competitor, I'm excited to compete, you know, and that's about all I have to say about it because I'm really not thinking a whole lot about that program. I'm thinking about my own. 

You guys had some turnover at the slot. Is this going to maybe open up some spots for the outside receivers to bump in a little bit? 
Yeah, no, we'll have to move some guys around and we'll give guys opportunities. And at the end of the day, you want to get your best guys the most reps, and so that's what we'll do. We'll shift things, move guys around, and there'll be opportunity for the outside room and also for some of the younger slots. Now, you don't worry about redshirt count when you get into the postseason. So, some of those guys that played in, you know, four games can play in the bowl game. So, a lot of guys are getting reps right now.

Speaking of guys getting opportunities, what have you seen from Jonathan Paylor in his opportunity with the ones so far? 
Yeah, yesterday, he had two really good catches. Good to see him. As you know, he was a running back and a receiver, a jet-sweep guy in high school.

You could see that he got better catching the ball, being on the scout team, playing against our DBs every day. But he made two really nice contact, turn-your-body type catches with his hands yesterday. So, that was great to see.

We all know how fast he is, but learning how to play that position and it's not always fast.  Sometimes it's about the nuances of route running and how to get open and recover. So, you've seen improvement in him.

Isaiah Moore has a chance to become a linebackers coach. What is that like for you to go see him? 
Yeah, it's fun to watch. For me, I'm excited for the players to have him in there. Obviously, a guy that cares deeply about this program and puts his heart and soul into it as a player. And now he gets to pour that into those guys and lead them on the field. I know he's excited and he'll do a great job.

What about him kind of made him the right choice to step into that spot? 
Well, I mean, this is what he wants to do for a living.  Football's told him he's not playing anymore and he's told football that I'm going to coach guys that can. He's passionate about it. He loves the sport. He loves the program. So, it was natural. And I knew, when he was a player, when it was time, that this is where we want him, somewhere in our program helping us win. 

What have you seen from Freddie over these past, you know, few days as he stepped into that role, just in terms of preparation, how the team has rallied around him? 
Yeah, so putting the gameplan together will be later in the week. It's just been good on good work and fundamental work so far. And he takes pride in what he does, you know. And yesterday, our first practice was a little bit rusty over there. And so it was good to see the guys come back and have a better day. They definitely responded.

I know how much NC State means to him, just like Isaiah, and that's one of the reasons I love hiring alumni. It's different when it's your team, your school. The pride factor is important, and so there's value in that. I'm excited to see, you know, just over the next three weeks because there's a lot to that job. It's not just two practices. So excited to see him put it all together.

You've had a high defensive standard. And as you said, the job is very popular right now. Are there certain things that you're looking for, like having someone that does a 3-3-5 or you pretty much just open to whatever is the best? 
I want to do what's best for our football program. And we've recruited to this scheme. So, you know, being 3-3-5 or 3-4, I want to stay multiple, present a lot of different fronts, coverages, pressures.

I'm not a big bend-that-don't-break guy. And so being able to do those things. But also, we've had success. And so it's not a makeover. But there is going to be an evolution of sorts, you know, where we, whether it's Freddie or somebody else, take this thing to another place. And that's our goal. You know, any time you have an end of a year, whether it's a retention coach coming back or a new coach coming in, you want to be better than you were, and that'll be the goal, whether it was a new hire or not, to improve the scheme, improve the guys, and develop the players. 

I think over the years, you've been kind of fluid in the sense of, I remember you telling the story, you watched Eli Drinkwitz play for, or coach for Boise State against Northern Illinois. You didn't really know him, I don't think, but then you've also hired coaches that you've coached against. And then coaches, obviously you know. Is it always interesting how it organically happens? 
It's a process.

Having new ideas in the program is great. You know, and so I'm not necessarily, I've got to hire a guy I know to trust him. I don't believe that. But I am a good, I think, judge of character. And I know what our program's about. I know the type of guy I want in the room with the players. And so it's a conversation when you don't know him. It's calling people that have worked with him that you trust and do know. Obviously, watching their teams play matters. You can see the style of play, whether it fits, not just what style of play we want to have, but, you know, maybe we want to grow into.

In Eli's case, that was a time where I really wanted to be able to throw the football more, and he was able to do that and have a run game. And so, you know, he was creative. And that's the thing I love about Robert is his creativity. And so you're always looking not only for the fit schematically, but the fit personality-wise, and it's a process.

That's why I don't need to rush it in this situation. We've got great guys here working with the players. We'll see where it goes.

You hear, whether you or coaches in general talk about, like, how important these full-game practices can be. Is there any kind of specifics you try to look for in this time frame in terms of, like, you mentioned good-on-good and anything else like that? 
Well, it starts with fundamentals. And so we had however many days off after the UNC game and you go out there and there's rust. And you want to get the guys back into the timing of running plays, footwork, route depth, all the things, the timing of throws for the quarterback. And then you want to see them compete.

And sometimes you'll see a guy make a play that is just a confidence booster. And I've seen that with Noah Rogers. You know, the catch he had at Carolina has built him up. He's had back-to-back days. He had a game-winning catch today in the two-minute drill that we did.

And so you see that, or at least confidence plays happen in a practice. And I always think about that. What if we wouldn't have done that drill today and that play wouldn't have happened? How could that have changed the climb that you want to see in a guy, and that's what development is. It's not just the weight room and running and practice. It's the plays that they make and the lessons that they can take from those plays and the confidence that's gained. Because this is a confidence game, this, and there are certain positions in particular that are huge confidence positions.

Jackson Vick made a great play today, and he played a lot in the last game.  So you're seeing that young man gain confidence and become who we want him to be, and that's awesome. That's why he's out there.