NC State head coach Dave Doeren fielded questions from the media on Monday and he discussed a variety of topics, ranging from the Virginia Tech loss to dealing with criticism outside of the program.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.
Opening statement…
Going back to the game, did not play well enough fundamentally. And football is about fundamentals. It's blocking and tackling, footwork, pad level, leverage, pursuit angles, and effort. And the bottom line, in any loss is we have to do a better job as coaches getting our players to be able to execute. And then they have to utilize their technique and fundamentals in the game better than their opponents. And that didn't happen in this game.
As I said, after the game, I felt like we lost the line of scrimmage enough in that game to prevent us from being efficient on offense. There was a lot of negative yardage plays, pressure on CJ that we didn't manage well. We had five sacks and two of those, we felt like he could have thrown the football away and didn't. And defensively, it was just a lot of missed tackles and guys in position aligned correctly to make plays that didn't finish plays the way we needed them to.
And so, it's an us thing. To me, the film is our resume. And when you miss tackles, when you don't make plays, you always look at yourself first. And so, that's where we're at.
Offensively, from a positive standpoint, we did not turn the football over. We were 100 percent in the red zone. We had three sustained 75-yard drives for touchdowns. We came out first drive in the second half and scored a touchdown and took the lead.
The negatives, like I said, there's just too many plays up front in that game where we didn't win one-on-ones like we have been. And there was two critical fourth downs in the game that we didn't get. One was a run and one was a pass there at the end in the two-minute drive.
Defensively, there were some things we did well. We improved. There was a lot of pressure on their quarterback. He made three really nice plays. One where he backed up 20 yards from the line of scrimmage and threw a ball over a guy's head. And, sometimes guys are going to make plays like that.
But I did feel like our third and long package did a lot of good things, creating punts and defended the deep ball well at corner, had no penalties on defense. But, you know, missing tackles the way that we did in that football game allowed them to sustain drives and create explosive plays.
The injuries are mounting up on the defensive side of the football. And so there's a lot of guys that are getting playing time now that are inexperienced and young, and that's not an excuse. That's the reality. And so we're going to have to work really hard as coaches to give these guys the best opportunities that we can to play well.
And for them, it's their opportunity. That's why they came to NC State and chose this school, to have an opportunity to play. And then the guys around them that are, experienced players have to level up.
Virginia Tech's quarterback really played well, managed pressure, got away from things. There were some really, really nice passes and scrambling situations that hurt us. And special teams-wise, I thought Caden Noonkester really punted the football well.
Hang time, distance, 49-yard net, you can't ask for better. I thought the coverage on our punt team for most of the game, all of the punts but one was really good. Our kickoff coverage, they had three returns, two of them we tackled, excuse me, tackled inside the 25-yard line.
So that's an improvement. Field goal protection was solid. Caden made for Kanoah, made all of his kicks, and we never had a return. Punt returns were all fair cut, and the kickoff returns were all in the end zone. So that part of the game was kind of null and void.
Yeah, I thought the atmosphere of the game, fans, you guys were incredible. We love your passion and appreciate you making Carter-Finley so special. And I totally understand when you come to a game, you want to see us win, and we want to give that to you. And we didn't deliver. But that doesn't take away from how special you made that environment. We appreciate it.
Moving on to Campbell, this is a game that, I've been saying this for two weeks, and say it again, it's about us. We got to get better in certain areas, the areas that we really wanted to improve in. Last week we did. Discipline was an area that we didn't, that we hurt ourselves quite a bit in the Duke game, and we felt like we improved in those areas.
But execution at the line of scrimmage on both sides has got to improve. And offensively, they got a two-quarterback system, a drop-back kid and an athlete that played quarterback for them some last year, plays receiver now, Mike Chandler. So there will be a lot of times where both guys are in the game, and there's a lot of things there defensively that we need to be ready for and be sound and get back to fundamentally playing well.
Their defense is a three-four scheme, a lot of zone coverage. And obviously they're going to move and blitz and things everybody does, and it goes back to us doing what we need to do, be efficient, be balanced, have explosive plays, win the line of scrimmage, get the ball to our playmakers, give CJ time to do what he needs to do in the pass game and allow our tailbacks to make plays in the run game. As coaches and players, when you face adversity, it's about locking arms, getting together and getting better.
And I really do enjoy working with this staff and these players, they're tremendous young men. They're in that room, they want to compete, they want to get better, they want to fight. And this team's built for adversity.
We understand at NC State what this place is about. It's about not quitting. It's about fighting even harder. When things get tough, we bow up. And we're dealing with a lot internally, whether it's the things that were made public last week about Coach Eliot and his family, to the injuries that we have in the secondary linebacker. But all of that is a test.
And so for us, it's about standing up to this test and sticking together in the face of adversity. And as a fan base, we understand how passionate you are and how much you want us to win. And just know that you got a coach and a staff and a bunch of young men that are trying their butts off and they're not going to quit.
And that's what we're about. We're about sticking together and fighting. And as we go through this, we ask that you do the same, that you stick with us and fight. Tough times never last, and tough people do. And one of the things that I love about this school is it's built with tough people. And so it's a situation none of us thought we'd be in at three and two.
But at the same time, it's where we're at. And so, you know, when you get tested, you stand up and face the test. And that's what I've done for a long time in my life.
And I look at this as no other opportunity that the best one I can do is the best I can do for these kids. And when you get in the corner, you swing hard and you get guys with you that want to swing, and that's what we're going to do. I'm excited to get back on the field with the kids tomorrow and see them get better.
Yeah, you kind of brought this up, but there's, there's a lot of noise right now externally. How do you block that out to stay focused on the task at hand? And is that something that you specifically talk with the players about?
Yeah, I don't, other than having to talk to you guys, I don't know that there's noise. I know that there is because that's what our world does right now. But I don't pay attention to any of that. My job is to stay focused on what's going on inside these walls with these young men. Externally, besides being a husband and a father, my job is to recruit.
My job is not to listen to you or the media or anyone else about their opinion of our program. It's to do everything that I can to help these guys win the next game, and that's the same thing I'm telling them. And you find out who your friends are.
You guys all go through tough things, too. You'll find out who's loyal and who isn't during tough times. And, you've got to block the people out of your life that aren't that way. You don't need to read negative things. You don't need to pay attention to negative things. You control what you can, and you surround yourself with people that want to do the same.
And so, my advice to anybody, not just our players, is, be in a circle of friends that promotes your growth. You don't listen to things that people tell you that you don't ask for advice from. And I'm sure they're not getting on social media asking for advice.
So why pay attention to what people are saying? And, you know, it's one thing to say you want us to win when we're winning and when we lose, to say that you want us to leave, that's not loyalty. And so we're going to be loyal to the people that are loyal to us, and that's these players.
That's these coaches. And we're going to fight together, and we're going to fight hard. And that's the message. And these kids are going to do the same. They understand what it is. And that's college sports. It's pro sports, too.
I mean, week one, Alabama loses, and everybody thought they were the worst team in college football, and now they've gone on a run, and everybody's got them in the top ten. I think it's, what have you done for me lately, business? And I understand we've lost two in a row, so that's how we're looked at. And so we've got to get back to doing things better.
Yeah, Coach, you mentioned, having to deal with injuries in secondary, linebacker. Do you have an update on any of those guys, and what was it like this past weekend to see the guys that had to step in their spots, and what did you see from them?
Yeah, Thursday, we'll put our injury report out. And so you guys will find out where we're on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. That's what's required. But in general, it's sad as a coach when you see a kid go down. We love these kids, man.
You don't want to see anybody get injured, and football is a physical sport, and that is part of the game. And so the next guy in there has to do a great job. Asaad Brown's been playing really well with Jackson Vick out.
We're proud of Asaad. He's taking advantage of his opportunity. And when Brody goes down, obviously, that puts more on Ronnie, and Ronnie's got to step up now and play better and get better as a redshirt freshman.
And Zach Meyer's gotten a game, and he had 12 plays and didn't make any mistakes. He made that tackle on third down at the end of the game that created the fourth down punt to get our offense the ball back. So I'm proud of Zach, for stepping in and taking reps and doing a good job, being where he was supposed to and making a play.
And that's all you can do. I mean, shoot, I think it was 2019. I was 2020, in a similar situation.
We were playing Liberty, and Isaac Duffy Webb got in the game. He was a former walk-on and had a heck of a game, had some interceptions and helped us win a football game as a kid that was on the scout team at one time.
So injuries create opportunity, and that's how I look at this. We have adversity right now with Sean Brown being down and Brody being down in the game. The next guy's got to come in and play. And then it's up to us as coaches to help them get better and be more ready to play in their next moment.
Yeah, Dave, you mentioned, I think, after the game, some of the uncertainty, maybe, but what you were going to see from Virginia Tech. Terry and Stewart had 11 carries coming into this game. Obviously, he was a big factor for them. What did you see from him and kind of his impact?
Yeah, I mean, he ran through us. We couldn't tackle him. And you're right, you didn't get a whole lot of what kind of back is he going into our game. But he showed what kind of back he was against us. We did a poor job tackling him, and he did a great job running through us.
A few years ago, you had a run of injuries at Nickel and then the secondary, and you moved Darrek Pitts to Nickel because you had to, but you also had three really good corners. Could you see a scenario this year where you have the three really good corners and maybe one or two start to cross-train?
Yeah, I mean, everything's on the table, when you start getting decimated. And, Terente Hinton's out. Jaren Sensabaugh's out. Jackson Vick's out. There's a lot of guys in that position group that can't play right now. And so cross-training players is something that we're talking about.
Some of them have already started that with us. And at the end of the day, you want to try to get your best 11 on the field if you can. Sometimes those guys aren't capable of what that means to move in there. And Darrek had played in the box throughout his career, so that move wasn't as hard as maybe a kid that's never done that. And there's a lot to that position. That position has a lot of mental gymnastics and football with all the formations that you see and all the calls and the adjustments.
So you don't want to hurt that kid who's playing well for us at corner by moving him to nickel if he's not capable of handling all that. And so I can't answer whether we're going to do that now or not, but I can say that everything's being discussed when it comes to how do we move pieces around to get our best guys available to play.
I wonder if you could give us any update on D.J. Eliot, his status for this week and kind of what he's going through, obviously what the entire program is going through.
Well, we appreciate all the prayers and thoughts for his family. And obviously, it was a really tough weekend for them and for everybody. They're having their service this Thursday in Philadelphia, and then he'll be back with us this weekend.
Coach Warren will call the game again this weekend, and then D.J. will be back full-time after that. But he'll be with the team, I believe, Friday at the hotel so that he can spend time with the players and then, help out on game day to support Charlton.
But we wanted him to have this time with his family to have the closure that he needs, and then we'll move forward.
Dave, you guys have given up, I think it's 5.7 yards per rush the last two games. You're talking about injuries, you know, but is there anything schematic you're looking at on the film and you're saying, we got to do better? You talked about tackling a minute ago, but is there anything standing out to you when you're looking back at the film on the run defense?
Yeah, it's explosive runs. I mean, that's what it is. If you look at these games and they're averaging less than three yards per carry and then you add a 95-yard run or you add an 85-yard run and the stats go way different, right? But they had that run, so that's the stats. And when you watch all of those plays that we're talking about, they're all missed tackles. There's always a guy at the point of attack that's assigned to that gap that's unblocked in all these cases. One was a corner coming off the edge on a blitz that was unblocked. One was a linebacker that's supposed to fit the A-gap and he doesn't.
And this past week, there were three guys at eight yards that missed him. Okay? And so all of these stats can get skewed just like anything in a curve when you have a consistent average here and then one goes way off and the stat line changes. The consistent issue is we're not getting guys on the ground when we're supposed to.
And so we got to get that fixed. And, as coaches, it's an everyday thing and it's emphasized and it's going to have to come down to guys using coach technique, leverage, fundamentals and getting the job done? It's more than I've seen in this many games for a long time.
And, last year we gave up a lot of explosive runs on quarterbacks scrambling. And this year it's tailback runs. And so, we all see the same thing you do and we got to get it fixed.
I'm not trying to compare situations because obviously there's nothing like losing a family member. But I'm wondering, does it help at all when you and your staff, specifically Kurt, has had some adversity with their own families and you just, raising your son with autism and the challenges that come with that just as far as sympathy or being there for him?
I don't think it compares at all. And I'm not saying that my situation or Kurt's or anything else, it's, I can't put into words how hard it is to watch someone that you work with lose a child. And it's hard. And so, all I can do is try to be as supportive as I can, same with my staff. There's empathy, there's love, there's support.
And no matter what happens, in our workplace and our family here, we're going to do anything we can to help each other through these things. And there isn't an experience that I've had that relates to that. I can relate to the fact that I watched my dad suffer with Alzheimer's, but I didn't live with him.
He was in California. And so it wasn't a day-to-day thing for me. And seeing his decline and watching him, you know, at the end, but, you know, it's different. You guys know, parents aren't supposed to be the ones at the funeral for their children. It's supposed to be the other way around. And so it's hard.
With that being said, I think DJ and his family did an amazing job. Drew was an amazing girl that fought for six years against terrible disease and outkicked, their, I don't know what you call it. But, early on, I told her she had, X amount of time probably.
And she tripled her lifespan with her willingness to live, her fight, her desire, her toughness, which is incredible. And the support that Miekel, DJ's wife, and DJ provided, and their children, I mean, it's an amazing family. So you hate to see that.
You do. And I know that there's closure coming for them. And, I'm hopeful that with that closure, they can get back to, proceeding and, obviously, we're going to do everything we can to help them through that.
Recently, you guys added a Payton Wilson patch to CJ's jersey. I just wanted to see what that's like to see that and kind of see his, what he did for you guys kind of be recognized through that.
Yeah. Well, Payton is on scene and making plays in Dublin and the highlights that one of the guys showed me. An amazing player. I saw him run a guy down, I don't know, 22 miles an hour or whatever.
My first thought was, I wish I still had him to race some of these runs that we've been giving up. But what a great player. And his name's appropriately placed in that stadium and will forever be that way.
And I think for all of our players, when they get the honor of wearing a special number, it's meaningful. And there won't be a player on defense wearing that number probably for a long time. There's not many out there that match what he did here. And I hope that there is someday, because that'd be great to have another guy like him.
Just to follow up, Payton had that big chase-down tackle against Notre Dame a few years ago. Sabastian ran down Virginia Tech's running back on that long run. What was that like, seeing him, not give up on the play?
Yeah, it was an amazing effort play by him and Asaad. Asaad got over there to help him get him down. But both those guys, extra effort, touchdown-saving tackle.
And, that's what you got to do. You got to play with that kind of heart. And it says a lot about that young man. It was a great play.
Dave, you mentioned the missed tackles being a major issue for this team earlier. It was credited with 14 this past weekend. Just how do you address that during the season? Obviously, it's something you work on leading up to the season with new players and players coming in. But what types of things can you do to instill that in players midway through the season?
You just keep working at it, man. It's fundamentals technique. It's tracking. It's where your eyes are. It's how you get your feet. Some of our missed tackles have been guys not wrapping up, and that's technique. Some of them have been guys four feet, hopping or crossed over where they need to get into a playable, functional position. And it's like anything.
You miss a block, there's going to be reasons you missed it. You miss a tackle, there's reasons. And then, as coaches, you have to drill it. And you get out there in our periods of ending, and you drill it, and you drill it, and you drill it. And you just keep trying to get better. And that's all you can do?
It's weird because we've had some games. I mean, the first game of the year, ECU, we tackled really well in space against a really talented offense. And so it's something we've got to be better at. And, when you're missing players, too, and now there's new guys carrying over into that.
So fundamentals, man, it's back to the basics here. And you don't give up on them. You just keep working it. And eventually, it's like anything. It becomes a habit, and habits are formed through practice and repetition.
Yeah, Dave, I believe Spike got his first start for you guys this past week. How would you evaluate his play? And is that just kind of an ongoing battle at right guard? What are your thoughts there?
No. We've been bringing him along. And, obviously, we've got to have him ready to play center as well because he's our backup center. But, as we've talked about in these interviews, there's been competition at guard throughout. We've tried multiple guys.
We've rotated multiple guys. And Spike's been the best option here coming out of last week because we actually had two of our offensive linemen that played guard sick last week for a couple days. And so Spike got a majority of the reps, and he practiced really well.
And he graded out higher than any of our offensive linemen in the game. So, obviously, he's earned the right to continue in that spot for now. And I know those other kids will come back and work hard to compete.
But, you have to put it on film and practice, and then you get in the game, and the game has to showcase what kind of player you are. I mean, that is ultimately your resume for playing time. And he did a great job. I'm proud of him. And I know he'll get better as he continues to play.
And just to follow up, obviously, Hollywood didn't have the game he has been having, for you guys this year. Was that more Virginia Tech, something on your end? What did you see watching his tape?
Yeah, we didn't win the line of scrimmage. Yeah, I mean, they did. And so it's not Hollywood. I mean, when there's guys in the backfield and you're not getting the same running lanes, it's going to be harder to run the football. And so, we probably gave up on the run game a little bit too much. I know Kurt would say the same thing, because he still had 64 yards.
But there was just too much penetration on run plays that allowed it to be a consistent thing for us. And it's fundamentals, man. It's nothing other than that. And so, Coach 2J and Coach Locklear, tight ends and O-line working together. And the offensive linemen taking advantage of their opportunities and getting more displacement and movement so that our backs, both of them, and our quarterback, I think offensive football, defensive football, same thing. When you win the line of scrimmage, everybody plays well. Quarterback has more time. Wideouts have more time to get open. Running backs have more time for bigger holes.
And when you don't win the line of scrimmage, it's conversely the opposite. And same thing on defense. When your D-line dominates, man, everybody behind them benefits. And so we got to get back to winning the line of scrimmage. And that's a fundamental focus of our team. And it's disappointing that happened. But there's nothing we can do other than take that as a lesson and go get better.
We heard Manny Diaz talk about before the game against you guys, kind of getting in a room and telling guys, we've got to get back to playing Duke football. Is there a sense that you'll talk to your guys? You've talked a lot about fundamentals here today, but got to get back to playing the NC State brand of football. Is that a conversation you have to have, or do you just kind of an expectation, they should have already?
Well, they should, but it doesn't mean we're not going to talk about it. Yeah. I mean, you guys know me. I think football is a physical sport. You say your identity is hard, tough, together. It needs to show that way on film.
And it didn't in that game enough. There were times it did, and there were times it didn't. And, when you balance it out at the end, they won more than we did at the line of scrimmage. And they made a few more plays than we made in critical situations. So no doubt about it.
We got to get back to what won us the first three games. And, coming out of the first three games, I said this, we're a lot better than you know we are, and we haven't shown that yet. And so that's on us to get it done. And this is the next opportunity we have to do that.
