Dave Doeren: "You Want Your Guys To Come Out Healthy"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the start of spring practice, his coordinators, and much more.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

Opening Statement...
What an awesome win for Coach Moore and the women's basketball team the other night against Notre Dame. It was awesome to watch them play, beating the number one team in double overtime. So shout out to the women's basketball team and Coach Moore, it was awesome. Really enjoyed watching them and really showcased NC State's grit in that game. 

Segway to football, it's been a good winter. You come in in January, we started right away, January 6th, we started back. There’s a different edge about this group. I think any time you go through a tough season, the returners have a different mentality. Maybe you don't take things for granted. You understand how hard it is, how demanding you need to be on each other.

The accountability piece, I thought Coach Thunder and our strength staff did a really nice job increasing that in the off-season program and there was a lot of good leadership learned and a lot to prove for me, for our staff, for the players. So exciting time going through the winter program today, obviously we're not in pads yet, but it was fun to see the new coaches coach for me, it's great to be out here, beautiful day weather-wise and see Coach Eliot and Coach Warren, Coach Moore, Coach Shaw, Coach Locklear, see these guys in different roles.

Obviously some of them are new to our staff, some of them are elevated and doing really good things on the field. A lot of learning, a lot of things we've got to do better, obviously. A lot of guys had their first college practice and it was so fun to see that group of kids that graduated high school early that got to play football today for the first time. So excited about that.

With spring football, 15 opportunities, I told the team this the other day, there's only 365 days in the year, you play 12 games that you're promised, you only get to play football 15 times in the spring, and so they're very valuable. Every rep matters for these guys, and so it's really good to get out there, just get a measuring stick on day one where we're at. Our practices this spring, obviously the two new coordinators are going to be closed to the public and nothing will be televised.

We use each opportunity on our weekends. Some will be scrimmages, some will be thug, some will be situational, but we're going to play and we're going to get better this spring, and for obvious reasons, you don't want your stuff out there if it doesn't have to be, so you don't have to see me as much.

What do you say, everything is closing in the spring game as well? 
Yeah, like I said, all 15 are closed. 

As far as CJ Bailey, this offseason, obviously completely different than where he was starting the spring last year. What have you seen from him from a development standpoint, from a leadership standpoint this offseason that tells you that he's ready to take over full-time, all-time? 
Well, he was 170 pounds last year, he didn't know anything about anything, he knew how to throw a football, but he's 200-plus pounds, he's experienced, he's learned how to lead, and that's been a big thing in the offseason with him and I, and using his voice, he's always used it on the field, but learning how to use it off the field, not just with guys you throw the ball to or remind them in the block, but using it with the team as the alpha leader, which your quarterback needs to be.

It's not fair to put a true freshman in that spot, and he came in and played his butt off. He learned a lot, experience is one thing you can't give a player, you can't, and as good as he is, and talented as he is, those reps are precious. So, excited to see him at a different body weight and a different mindset, have an experience under his belt, knowing his teammates, understanding the lessons we learned last year and how this team needs to step forward.

Two new coordinators coach, how much does that make practices even more important to nail things down? 
Yeah, it's critical. All these reps that you do in walk-throughs and in meetings, you have a lot of meetings in the offseason, but there is no replacement for actually playing these sports, right?

And so, even conditioning, like football shape is different than weight room and running and conditioning, playing the game is different, and the mental part of it, the emotional toughness that you have to have, and the two new coordinators obviously installing systems, but also their style of play and teaching the football IQ that they want these guys to have, how to communicate, and the fundamentals is really a big, big thing, there's different words probably, and this coach uses this word, and the other coach uses that word, they might make, Spanish and French, it's the same word in English, right?

But you got to learn new things as a player, and I think that's great, you know, I tell them all the time, if you're fortunate enough to play in the NFL, they have a lot of turnover in the NFL, I mean, they get new assistant coaches, I mean, I was talking to Chubb last year, he's had five D-line coaches in his career already, and so you have to learn how to adjust, and I think it's really good, for these guys to have that opportunity, and to learn new things.

What was the process like for you in December to make a change at offensive coordinator?
It just felt like, as a group, we needed to be able to score more points, we needed to play more unified football, I love Coach Anae, I love working with him, he's a great man, and did a lot for our program, it just felt like Kurt is a unifying force over there, I think he's, and I like the fact that both of my coordinators have chips on their shoulders, one time they were both guys that were really hot in the business, and sometimes things happen, and you gotta work your way back up, and they wanna prove themselves just like I do, or our players do, and I like that about them, but I just felt like it was the right move at the right time for the team, and for what we're trying to get done. 

Have you made any changes to how you approach the spring, given revenue share, and ever changing more with NIL? 
No, you got what you have at this point, and obviously there's potential to add or subtract in the spring, but I'm not gonna let the transactional side of the sport dictate how we coach young men, we're here to mentor, we're here to lead, we're here to develop, and we're here to teach these guys how to play the sport the right way, help them grow into better men, and help them be college graduates, and that's my duty as their coach, and I do it with pride, and the other part of the game is there, but the relational piece matters, and so we're gonna continue down that track, and be there for these guys, and help them. 

What was the connection with Coach Eliot, and how the family found him, and brought him in? 
Yeah, I've known him a long time, when I was in the Midwest as a coach, he was also, he was working with the Mark Stoops brothers at that time, and Brent Venables and I talked a lot of ball together over the years, and we all recruited the same area in Dallas, so we'd stay at the same hotels, and recruit against each other in the daytime, at night, and be sitting around talking ball, and so I've known him for 20-some years, followed his career, and really have so much respect for what he's done coaching different position groups, and your coordinator's been a D-line coach, a linebacker coach, and he can install and understand the stress points of every position, and then being with Dave Miranda last year, who's one of the best, in my opinion, football coaches defensively around, and learning what he's learned from Dave,

I've cliniced with Dave over the years, and then learning what he's picked up from the Eagles, I thought it was the right time to evolve, and bringing in a guy that has been in the 3-3-5, which he has, but has been in a 4-2-5, has been in a 3-4, he understands how to move the parts and translate, so it's just a really good fit, and there's a lot of trust there, because of our relationship.

Coach, I know it's only Day 1, but what does a successful spring look like for you guys? 
The first thing is you want to be healthy at the end of it, you want your guys to come out healthy, each day I want them to improve on little things, we call it our one more, but finding something in your game that you can take off the film, or add to your film from Day 1 to Day 2, Day 2 to Day 3, it's aggregate improvement, if there's 100 guys out there getting better at the end of 15 practices, that's a lot of improvement over the course of the spring.

As a staff, it's installing your systems, it's figuring out who your top 22 on both sides of the ball and special teams units are, so you have a depth chart going into the summer, and again, this is just going into the summer, all this is going to be fluid for us until we get through fall camp. 

You had to restock the secondary last year, and then once again this year, how have (Jamel) Johnson and JJ Johnson... kind of helped in that regard? 
Yeah, they're really humble kids, I like their background, they're tough, they want to prove themselves, it's Day 1, so I can't really give you a ton about how they did, I know JJ had an interception today, so it was good to see him make a play, but we also got some good high school DBs in this class,

I'm excited to see them, and excited to see Brody Barnhardt, Ronnie Royal III, Jivan Baly, guys that we redshirted last year, and see how they've grown up and improved, so you don't necessarily have to go portal to fix when things leave, if you've done a good job in your high school recruiting, and as you know, our development is well-documented, you can grow these guys in the program like you've always done. 

On the rising sophomores...
A much better version of what they were a year ago, you know, I mean some of them have gained a ton of weight, some of them have changed their bodies in good ways, their football IQ, learning how to practice, finishing plays, maturity, not having big eyes,, and it's different, you know, you've got guys like Keenan (Jackson) and Terrell (Anderson) that played a lot, and so where are they, they're a lot further ahead than a guy that maybe only played in 4 games, but didn't play at all.

So over the spring, seeing that young freshman that's now a redshirt freshman, earn the trust of the coaching staff that they can be a part of the 2-deep from travel, it's going to take time,, and this is one practice, but it's growth, I mean it's physical growth and emotional growth.