27 Minutes of NC State HC Dave Doeren at ACC Football Kickoff
NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren met with the media in the breakout session at the 2025 ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte. Here is 27 minutes of unfiltered conversations between Doeren and members of the media.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch Doeren’s discussion. Below is a collection of quotes.
Opening Statement…
I'm on the academic side with One Pack Empowered. Sara and I. I'm not just a coach, you know, I'm somebody that cares deeply about the university. I've shown that, and I've had one of my sons, Luke, graduated from this. So we look at this as our place, and I care deeply about what we do. No one hurts more than I do when we don't perform the way that I want us to. So we've put a lot of time, blood, sweat, and energy into this place. We've built it the right way. I'm really excited about the group I have coming back and how hungry they are. And it's okay that we're under the radar. I think that fits us. We need to go prove who we are.
What are the things you do to avoid that kind of burnout, that kind of thing that you've seen coaches get out of it just because they can't handle it?
Yeah, it's hard. You know, I think things have changed a lot in three years, and unlike other changes we've had, there's been a lack of, here's how you need to do what's coming. It's been very, I don't know, just thrown at us, and in some cases with no leadership around it. It's not coming from the NCAA, it came from the courts. It was a decision that, not that anyone likes it or doesn't like it, it doesn't matter. Nobody gave us a roadmap on the best way to do it. And so you've kind of had to get into this differently than everything else in the profession. You know, for 29 years if a rule changed, it changed because the NCAA wanted it to. All the coaches had to follow the rules, there was people enforcing the rules, and you didn't want to be one of those coaches that was caught doing something wrong because you publicly were humiliated. You've got to show cause and not be able to coach anymore. In this new space, a lot of the stuff that's happening, it's not even being looked at. It's sad. It's sad to watch, but it hasn't changed what I love. I love the player relationship, I love the coach-to-coach relationship, I love the competition. So I just try to lean into the lane that I'm comfortable in, and that's building culture, competing, helping guys get better, and hoping that eventually this thing gets settled the right way. To your point, I lean into my family, my faith, I find enough time to get away, and I think that's important. You want to avoid burnout, well then you've got to get out of the office and clear your head. I think now we can do that enough where I feel refreshed. I'm sorry, what?
You mentioned some of your former players being on the staff. Obviously they're younger, they have a different future in terms of rules and everything that's happening in College Football. What are some of the things you try and tell them to get them hooked on being a coach?
In Isaiah Moore's case, he's born to be a coach. That guy's leadership is as good as anyone I've ever seen in my career. He's going to be a great coach. He'll be a great head coach one day. I'm excited for Isaiah. In his case, it wasn't much of a selling point. I actually told him, whenever football ends, I'm ready to put the whistle around your neck. There's other guys where maybe they needed to try to play as long as they could, and then figure out they're not good enough. Gavin's been on my staff for a long time, then he left, and I brought him back. My entry to college football was through my college coach. He hired me when I was a high school coach. He hired Charlie Partridge, who's now the D-line coach for the Colts. He hired Chris Ash, the D-coordinator for Notre Dame. And then one day, he wanted to invite me to coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. We all played at Drake at the same time, and we all coached there. So I learned that promoting from within is a good thing. Hiring your players, there's just something about that. It's your school, man. You do not want to see them fail. So there's a different level of commitment to the cause when you have a former player on staff. So it's pretty personal, and it's exciting to be someplace so long. I think I have seven former players in our building now doing something, whether they're in the weight room, in the recruiting staff, in player development, or on the coaching staff.
You've Thunder along your side all these years. Yeah, it's been with me from the start. How has he evolved in his role over the years?
He's a guardian of our program, for sure. He cares deeply about our players, but he cares a lot about the university and the culture that we have in the locker room, and upholding the standards and the rules that we have. So he definitely does a great job not just developing players, but creating an opportunity for them to grow into the best version of themselves.
What does it mean to get a chance to play ECU right off the bat, coming off a poor game, and try to get a rector right away?
Yeah, it's an opportunity to rectify a poor performance and poor behavior against a team we respect. That game, to me, is so much about us and not them. I wish we could have played them a month ago. Just because you want to get to that next game when you play poorly. That's the only way to get the taste out of your mouth, is to get back on the field and compete. You've got to do it against a team that returns a lot of good players, and we're going to be a good team.
Coach, you've never had not-to-not-lose-a-season at NC State. Is there any added pressure to avoid that feat next season?
No, I don't think pressure really exists. You can create that. To me, every year I come into this job with the exact same expectations. To be the very best football team we can be. To win every game we can win, with the ambition of being the conference champion. That's never changed. Even when we were terrible my first year. I didn't walk into the season thinking, we're going to be 3-9. No, let's find a way to upset this team. How can we beat that team? That's how I am. That's how most coaches are. This year is no different. I expect to win every game. I expect to have a great season. I expect our players to help me do that.
You talked in November about the settlement and unknowns with the roster. Is there some relief now having an answer? How is that an effective block?
It's good to have some clarity finally. This case kind of hung over our heads for a long time. The grandfathered thing that the judge did was a good thing. It's nice to be able to retain our walk-ons that we could retain. And have a roster that is at 125 players. I think that's the right thing for college football. Player safety is supposed to matter. When you shrink the roster, you're basically saying that that doesn't matter. I'm glad that the judge understood that. We'll see what happens. I don't think anything is final to me. This is going to change more and more. I'm just happy that we're able to retain the walk-ons we've had. Those guys are an integral part of our team. I've put over 40 walk-ons on scholarship in my tenure. I look forward to having those guys. Hopefully, as things change over time, we can continue to add them. We're in an evolving state. In college football, college athletics, you think you know what's going on. The next day,you know what just happened. You just got to bend your knees, be flexible, find a way, and not get caught up in the complaining that happens. Those guys are really fixing it.
On scheduling group of 5 games....
I don’t think whatever possible. I like playing in-state teams. I think playing different in-state teams is good. We have Campbell on the schedule. We have App State on the schedule. Obviously, we play the in-state ACC games. We have VCU on the future schedule. We have Charlotte on the future schedule. I think getting around the state helps those programs as well. I think it's important that we can fulfill the TV quality of games that they're asking us to have as well. That's something that the ACC has asked us to do. Playing as many competitive, powerful games that we can play is something we've been asked to do. So we're going to try to do both, keep playing in-state games but also fit what the ACC and ESPN has asked us to do with our TV.
Your schedule is unique in the way where you don't have to leave the state of North Carolina until week seven.
I know, it's crazy.
Have you ever experienced anything like that in terms of coaching?
I think we had one other year where we only left the state twice. Maybe it was we only had to take one plane flight. That's part of what's unique and challenging about NC State. When you play, you have three other teams in the state in the conference and then you have App State, you have VCU, you have Charlotte. There's seven Division I football teams in North Carolina. Recruiting in our state is different. When I was at Wisconsin, we were the only Division I football team. If you grew up in that state and you wanted to play Division I football, you were going to be a Badger. So you could get really good players in-state. There wasn't a lot of competition, even though other schools would offer it. They grew up in the red and white there. It's different here. You've got to battle for every kid. There might be a dad that was an NC State grad but mom went somewhere else. We've got to fight hard to get every kid, and it's different. It's just part of what you do. You've got to learn how to keep kids home. The SEC schools and the Virginia schools that come in and recruit, you've got to try to battle them. It's a fertile area of players that really doesn't have a school in mind sometimes. Very rarely do you find a mother and father that are both state grads.
Have you seen enough from the offense so far to get a feel for whether it will be more potent and more productive than it was last year?
I'm excited about our offense. We've got a returning starter at quarterback, first time in three years, a lot of returning talent, receivers, tight ends, running backs. We should be able to do a great job scoring points.
I'd rather focus on the kids on our team.
In terms of recruiting, what is your philosophy on signing in-state players?
When I got to NC State, I think it was around 50% of our roster. We've always tried to get it closer to 70%, and I couldn't tell you exactly where it sits today. But I know if you look over the years, we've signed more NC State players than anybody. And because of the experiences I've had. In Montana, when we won the national championship, we had a ton of Montana kids. In Kansas, when we turned that program around, we had a lot of NC State kids. In Wisconsin, a lot of NC State kids in the overall championship programs. And so I've always looked at this as an opportunity to keep kids home, help mom and dad, help grandma and grandpa, whoever comes and watches them play, help their high school coaches by letting them come see their guys play. I think all those things matter. Their quality of life when they get time off, easy to get home and see their family. If something's going on, or if they just want to go home on a Sunday and go to church with somebody, they can do that. Simplicity, quality of life type things matter. And because of that, if you look at the stats, we've put more players in the NFL from the state of North Carolina than any program in college football over the last ten years. So the stats tell you that staying home gives you a better opportunity to make it to the league if you're at NC State.
Have you got a sense yet about whether the pass rush might be improved from last year?
Well, that's a goal of ours. We felt like that was an area that we lacked production. I just said this, I think Philadelphia Eagles did a great job showcasing how good a four-man pass rush can decimate an offense in the Super Bowl. And Patrick Mahomes and that offense all year kind of had their way in the league until they ran into that pass rush. So I felt like last year Davin Vann was a great pass rusher for NC State. When he wasn't on the field, we didn't have that presence. And so we had to develop, help Travali Price, help Isaiah Shirley, help some of the returning players, but also recruit some guys that can add an edge presence. And D.J. Eliot's done a great job helping with that.
Can we expect to see some different looks from the traditional 3-3-5?
Yeah, absolutely.
The ACC's implementing injury reports this season. How do you feel about that? Do you like it?
I'm not in favor of it, but it doesn't matter. We've had them before. The reason I'm not in favor of it, I think the coaches don't tell the truth on them anyway. Look, we don't want to put our players' injuries out there because there's a lot of hiccup around stuff that you can't do. As a coach, I don't want someone to know that one of my guys has a lower ankle injury or a knee injury because I don't know all those coaches. Maybe they're going to tell somebody to go low on them, right? I'm trying to protect my guys. I'm not trying to help veterans. That's what that stuff's all about. To me, I don't get it. But they made that decision, so that's what we'll do. And so be it.
C.J., having a full spring to have those reps, what have you seen from him in terms of progress?
Yeah, it's a kid that instead of learning in offense, learning his teammates, learning his coaches, he knows all those things. So he's 30 pounds heavier. He's experienced. He knows his teammates. He knows his coaches. He knows what he wants to improve on. He knows some of his opponents. Totally different guy. I focus it on leadership and upper-level learning, learning defenses at a new level. It's been fun watching him.
On CJ Bailey talking about improving and dealing with mistakes...
Yeah, I think, you know, the next play mentality is easy to say and hard to do for a lot of players. To C.J.'s credit, he bounces back pretty fast. He's very resilient. Not that it doesn't bother him, but he's able to get to the next snap. And I always tell these guys, like, you can have a bad play. Just realize the next play, you could win the game. You might throw a touchdown on the next play. So you've got to get out of your head and get back into the focus of what that play needs. And you've got to go through that as a player. Sometimes you've got to fail in that to understand it. C.J.'s gotten a lot better at that.
What do you like about the offensive approach and philosophy that Roper has put in since you promoted?
Yeah, it's just, you know, Kurt understands Tim Beck's offense. He understands Roper and I's offense. He understands the offense he ran at Duke and South Carolina and Florida. Kurt understands how to bend the things to fit the personality he has. And one of the things I wanted to be better at was, you know, just making adjustments in game. Like, you might think they're going to defend you one way, but you get in the game and they're not. They're playing to you a different way than you thought. And now you've got to make some adjustments, and Kurt's offense is very adjustable and I like that.
With the advent of revenue sharing, how did you come up with a formula for which positions to pay what? And how did you communicate those conversations to the players?
Yeah, Andy Vaughn, our GM, has done a great job of going out and researching all those things, not only with the NFL, but with how his counterparts in the SEC are doing it, his counterparts in the Big Ten, the Big 12, the ACC, the people that he trusts getting that data. And then, you know, calling agents around the country that we actually trust and finding out, hey, we're not going to make this public. We want to know what this guy makes, this guy makes, because we're trying to give a ballpark on value for starting running back in this league, in this league, in this league. And so we did a lot of homework. And it's taken time to accumulate data. And then sit down as a staff, what do we value? You know, we value the left tackle. We value the quarterback. Going into that as a staff, and this is how they do it in the NFL. This is how they're doing it at whatever school. And coming up with what we think is best for NC State.
On compensating transfers vs. returnees...
You've got to be careful. When this first started, I talked to a former NFL player that played like 20 years in the NFL. This was before one of the collective bargaining agreements where the rookies were making more than some of the best. And there was a division because of it. That doesn't happen, obviously, in the NFL. And this is a completely different conversation. But it would be nice to have some kind of arrangement like that where there was rookie cash and some hard-won things put in place to protect the teams from themselves. You know what I mean? Because I agree, I think a guy that's been on a team three years, that's been playing well, that's earned it on the field, should make more than a guy coming in the door. I think that's the proper way to do business. But right now, common sense is not prevailing in college football, unfortunately.
Bill O'Brien said everybody is getting paid something for their team. And then based on performance or position, you get more. It seems like that's a hard way to do things. Are there people on the back end of the roster that, you know, you get a scholarship and that's worth it?
Yeah. I mean, at NC State, it's earned, not given. And we're trying to reward the guys that have earned it. And it's positionally, and it's also what they've done, right? And not everybody gets something. We have walk-ons, we have guys just on scholarship, we have guys who have also.
How many scholarships are you guys playing with this fall?
You know, I'm not going to get into all that. I don't think that's anyone's business but ours. So, we're glad to have 105 guys. And then up to what our AD allows, which is 125 at our title time. It's our business how we reward those guys. I can't hear you.
Your rush defense was here at bottom defense last year. I know you brought in a defense coordinator. A lot of guys, like you said, get paid. What's kind of the point of emphasis that you guys are going to in terms of trying to capture those guys?
Yeah, I mean, we missed a lot of tackles. We missed a lot of runs. We missed Caden Fordham. All those things. You know, and winning the line of scrimmage, defeating blocks, tackling, chasing the football, the fundamentals of defense. And then having good enough players to do that with, right? And then coaching in the right way. All those things. It was on everybody. It wasn't on anyone. It was on everyone. So, we've got a lot to work on everywhere on our football team. Obviously, stopping a run is one of those things.
Alim McNeill, 270-pound linebacker, from Sanderson. You made him into an NFL nose tackle. Brandon Cleveland came as a defensive end. Now he has the same dream. What have you guys seen over the last, say, year that you think will live up to that potential?
Yeah, Brandon's done a good job changing his weight. He's 315 pounds. He was a different 315 pounds last year. He has lost some body fat, added lean muscle, worked really hard on his flexibility and his diet. Smart football player. And he's learning a lot of new things in his last year with a new defensive coordinator. So, it's been fun to see him succeed and fail. He's growing. He's being pushed to grow.
You've been at a lot of different places. You've been at the FCS level. So, you've seen the playoff from a lot of different perspectives. There's been a lot of debate earlier this week about what kind of format is fair, what kind of format is best. As a coach, what would you like to see?
Yeah, I said this earlier. I'm not an automatic qualifier guy. I think it should be settled on the field. You play 12 games. How many did you win? How strong was your schedule? What are your quality wins? And then, where do you get ranked because of that? And let the tops. How many are we going to let in? Is it 16? Is it 20? I don't know. But let those teams in and improve. I think, why would you want to have four or three or whatever? And all of a sudden, you might have eight teams. Count 20. You might only have two. Earn it. I just think that's teams lobbying for the conference instead of us. What's best for college football? Get the best 16 teams in the playoffs, or 20, whatever that number is, and let them go fight and play. Whether that means you get rid of conference championships and you base it on 12 games, I'm okay with that. I think the playoff would be pretty cool. I haven't been in the FCS playoffs twice. It's pretty awesome. At the end of the season, you know who the top 16 is, and you start playing each other. The best team wins it every year.
There's been a lot of attention on another NC State sport headed into the spring and into the summer. Is that something you kind of relish, kind of working behind the scenes and in the background?
No. I'm happy for all our sports. I'm focused on football.
Do you worry that the ACC might be disadvantaged with all the at-larges, because the SEC seems to get credit for it? If they have two losses and you guys have two losses, it seems like the SEC team gets the better of it now.
Yeah, I think in football, things change. There's no doubt that's a great conference. I've been in this league a while. When I first got here, we had a bunch of 11- and 12-win teams. Florida State was rolling. Louisville was rolling with Charlie Strong. Clemson's been good the entire time I've been in this league. Things change, right? And if you put these hard-line things in, and then that next season, all of a sudden, the ACC has those teams. Every year's a new year. Let the best teams get into the playoffs. I think taking the human element out or giving the committee a better algorithm to use, whatever that may be, I don't know. I just think we complicate things that shouldn't be that complicated. It's not that hard. Play 12 games. Who's got the best record? Who played the toughest schedule? And let them go fight for the championship.
Hey, Coach, I also cover Chatham County high school sports. I know you've got a couple of Northwood guys on your team. I just want to ask your first impressions of Gus Ritchie and also with Jake Mann as long snapper. What is it? How important is it to have his experience on these special teams?
Yeah, I mean, we're excited. Gus is in the program. He's a young guy. He's developing, works hard, has a great attitude. Very high-spirited kid. It's going to keep getting better because he works hard. Jake's been an experienced snapper. We look forward to having him back.
I don't know if you talked about the schedule this year. You've got two Florida schools. You've got some really good games.
Yeah.
Just speak to that, your impressions of those teams.
Yeah, I mean, you play Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech. We've got some storied programs on our schedule. Excited about those opportunities. Look forward to playing them. Some of them are home. Some of them are on the road. We'll see how all that goes. I like playing a tough schedule, and particularly the opportunity to be on a national stage playing at Notre Dame. It's going to be a great experience for our guys.
Coach, no Clemson on the schedule.
Yeah, that's weird.
Yeah, so what is your opinion on the ACC taking away those annual rivalries?
You know, I was kind of shocked when I saw it. To me, it's a trophy game. And it's one of the only trophy games in the ACC. So, I don't know. That one should have been cemented in, in my opinion. But I'm also at the same time excited that I get to play other teams more. That was a complaint of mine that I only saw Duke one time in six years, you know, when I first got here. The campus is 30 minutes away. Like, we should play each other more than that. So, I like that we get to play more teams more often. I also think we should have some games that we always play. Clemson and us, the textile bowl and the trophy that goes with that game. It's a great game to have. And so, you know, it's weird not to have them on the schedule for sure.
Do you like playing an ACC team as a non-conference team?
You know, I do when you consider your other opportunities might be playing at, you know, some school in Texas. And we played Texas Tech, you know what I mean? But very rarely do we recruit in that state. And it's hard for our fan base to get to that state. And so, you know, I'm glad we got UVA because, again, this is a team we don't play a lot for whatever reason. They don't end up on our schedule a lot. And our fan bases are close together. It's easy for them to get to us, us to get to them. And it was a good game to have. But it's hard. You guys don't understand how hard it is to get games on your schedule. I mean, it's hard. It's hard to get teams. When you're trying to find one that has an open date, that is in your recruiting area, that fits what they want from a TV standpoint of competitive, it's hard to find games. And why would you want to go play a team that wants you to pay them over a million dollars when you're trying to have money, you know? You need money right now in your program. So you're trying to find teams where that's not part of the equation too.
Your team has, unfortunately, learned the value of a backup quarterback. Behind CJ, obviously hope that he plays every game and every snap. What does the program look like behind him and how confident are you if you have to go to that guy?
I'm excited for Lex Thomas and Will Wilson. Both have done a good job in the offseason. Lex is playing as good as I've seen him play since we got him on campus. And Will's numbers in his testing this summer, I mean, he's a guy that can run. He's strong. He's a winner. He's a coach's son. So excited about both of our guys if we would have to play them.
Yeah, Duke and Carolina have a victory bell giveaway for their game. Would you be in support of having something along those lines, a giveaway for State-Carolina?
I would. Yeah, I think it's a great idea. Why don't you come up with it? I'll work on it.