NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to preview the Virginia game, discuss the roster, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!
Opening statement...
All right, excited to get ready for a game and be eight days away from the kick and against a really good Virginia team, as you know, a team that was 11 and 3. Tony Elliott did a great job. A team that won three overtime games and played many close games has a lot of experience and momentum, not just among its players but also among its staff. A lot of those guys are back with them, and so there's a lot of continuity amongst his coaching staff. And like every college football team, he lost some good players, he added some good players, and game one's a little bit of that for both sides, right, trying to figure out what the new pieces are and adjusting as you go.
When you look at them on defense, I thought they were a defense that got a ton better as the season went on, statistically one of the best in our conference in the last eight games we played, and they were denying points. Really sound, do a great job mixing, different zone coverages and presenting different things to your cornerback, and at the same time will jump in man-to-man and load the box. Very strong up front, long defensive ends, big defensive tackles, their linebacker, Kam Robinson, is an exceptional player, and obviously I don't know his status yet, probably won't until game day, but I think a lot of him, I think he's a really good football player for them on defense. I had a lot of guys play in the secondary last year, and several of those guys are back.
They've also added two transfers that will get players at their former schools, so offensively they had a great quarterback last year, really talented guy that's gone, but a lot of the other pieces are back, and one of the better offensive lines in our conference, if not one of the best, has a ton of experience on the offensive line, four starters back, and they've added a starter from another school, and they do a really good job up front, and that's where you win games, we've got to make sure we do our part in the trench, but running backs are tough, hard-nosed kids, run the ball, we did not tackle them well last year, and it's an area we need to play well, and they got a new quarterback, a guy that's been at Penn State, been at Missouri, been a starter, played in a lot of big games in the SEC, and I know a guy that will probably have a big chip on his shoulder, they do a lot of stuff offensively, really good stuff, motion shifts, condensed sets, expanded sets, they're balanced, they play good football, their special teams also returns two guys that were good kicker and punter, and so, really good competition, really good team, and excited to play them up there.
Obviously a different location than we originally expected, but opportunity to play, within the driving range here for our fan base, and easy trip, when it comes to that, and that's where we're at, we're focused on that game in Charlottesville with this team, we've had three really good practices this week getting into our game prep, still doing some good on good for the speed of the game and the situational stuff, and keep our, competitive edge, I guess you'd say, going good on good, but install the systems for how we're going to defend, how we're going to attack, what they do, and continue the competition at some of the positions, and I'm not releasing a depth chart yet, I will talk about players that you have questions about, because there is ongoing competition, and we're still looking at some of those spots, but I'm happy to talk about anyone individually, that'll open it up for any questions.
Dave, I did want to ask you, because NCAA just got a play in Colorado, that kind of changes the potential status for Jamel Johnson, just your thoughts on that, first of all, that situation, and what does it mean to potentially not have Jamel Johnson?
Well, we planned on not having Jamel, right, and so it's not like, oh my god, what are we going to do, we knew when we added him that it wasn't done, so we planned for life with and life without, and I still don't know where we're at, I just found out the same time you guys did, I haven't talked to our compliance officer yet, I need to find that out, what this does to us, and is this final, or is there another thing coming, I don't know the answers yet, so it's pretty fresh news, but it speaks to where we're at in college football, there's ongoing things with multiple players, I see these guys from the NFL, they're getting granted the opportunity to come back and play, that have been cut or released from teams, and different times, man, and you just kind of, all right, what can we do today, and what should we do with that information, and how long is that going to be real, and you know, if it changes, do we really want to do that, and we want to wait, and give them a little more time, and so every day, we have these conversations, and we try to make the best decisions we can.
Going off that, what's that competition been like at cornerback?
Yeah, yeah, it's been fun, Jaren Sensabaugh has had a really good camp, and Jackson Vick's playing outside and inside, because he's the guy that's played corner for us, Ondre Evans, very talented young man, and had really good practice the other day, and so, there is competition at that spot, and it will continue, I think you really don't know until you get into games what you have, right, for guys that, practices until you get in the scrimmage, you don't see the final part of the plays, but I do like the competition there, and I think we have good options. It's now a question of which one of those guys is going to seize it and take it, but I like what we have, and I think the ability to play Jackson inside or outside gives us flexibility as a staff, because we do like our depth at the nickel spot, too.
On going against QB Beau Pribula, whose offense is run by former NC State assistant Des Kitchings, who played for Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz (former NC State OC)...
Well, I've been coaching for a long time. There are a lot of coaches across the country that I've worked with, so it's not new to be in the game where there's someone on the other sideline that used to work with you, or you work for them, whatever it is, so I really don't think about it. It's more about the player, and what's he doing, and how are they going to use him, what did he struggle with, repetitively struggle with certain things, what is he really good at, what do we got to make sure our guys can do, defending him, we're talking about the quarterback, but it's not the coach that we're looking at in that situation, it's the player, and so then you go back to last year, and you watch their quarterback man, is he a good football player, so what are they going to do the same, what do we think might change, you're guessing in some ways, but you're an educated guess because you're watching a lot of film.
Dave, I want to know: in the past, have you ever had a situation where the competition wasn't settled by the first game? How did that impact the substitution patterns, and how did the first game go for you guys moving forward?
Yeah, I mean, there's a rotation at some positions naturally, so defensive line, then you're going to see that, and then whoever's the biggest playmaker, who doesn't make the most mistakes, will start the next game, and that will continue. The same at receiver, we have some guys we need to see on game day, and they've done certain things in practices, but who rises on game day a little bit and becomes bigger than he was in practice, right? We'll see that at tight end, because we have some new guys in there, and they're going to get more reps than the new guys, and how we're going to use those guys as time evolves. But that's pretty standard: the first three games, when you have new players who haven't played the games, to have a little bit of a rotation there until you see who's the most advanced on game day.
Dave, I want to ask about your expectations — what do you want to see from Isaiah Shirley, now that he’s taken on a bigger leadership role and has had a greater impact in the community?
Yeah, well, with any of our defensive interior players, you want to see disruption; you want to see them not just being in the right gap, but destroying blocks, getting off of blocks, and making plays. It's a pass play, getting into the backfield, whether they're sacking the quarterback, making him move, or forcing an early throw, getting their hands up, tipping balls, chasing the football. You just want to see a disruptive guy in there, and that's what we need him to be. We need that experience, and the energy, and all the things that he has about him to show up on game day, and it's the same for the guys that are in there with him.
As far as him, in the community, I mean, he was the only football player selected as a finalist for the Arthur Ashe Award, and that goes for all student-athletes, male and female, pretty amazing. It says a lot about what he is, he's a special human being, and so he has a lot to give back, when you look at his story, and I know he'll tell it better than me, but he's just an amazing young man, and I think what he can do for our community, any community that he's in, his platform, he understands how to use it, and he does a lot of very positive things.
Dave, you said last week pretty confidently that it's when, not if. This team can get to 10 wins under you. I wanted to ask, I mean, we haven't had a chance to see a lot of these guys together now at this point, but what makes you confident that this team has a chance to do that?
That's what's funny to me about you guys, like you think that I think we're going to lose eight games, or five games, or like we think we're going to win every game every year, like that's just how we are as coaches, like we don't get into a game thinking we're going to lose this one. Every game we think we're going to win, and so when someone asked me that, yeah, of course I believe that. If I didn't, then I wouldn't be a good head coach, and so that is what I think. It's what I've always thought, and what you think in the preseason doesn't mean that you're picking the results at the end of the season. You've got to earn it. What do I like about this team that gives me confidence? I like the leadership of this team.
We have guys on both sides of the football who have words and action. They say the right things, and they do the right things. They know how to communicate with each other. They know how to man things for each other, and there are multiple layers to it. It's not just leaning on this guy, which I've had to do in years past. There was one alpha, and that was it, and there are a lot of them right now, and so it does give us confidence as coaches that we can walk into almost every position room, and if I get that guy and say, I need this done, it's done, and so that gives you confidence as a coach. It's no different when you talk to your staff. If I say something in my staff room, I expect it to get done. If I tell the running back coach, the line coach, or whoever it is that I need this done, I don't want to have to double-check that it happened. That's how it is with our team right now. They're a team of action, so that gives you as a head coach a lot of confidence.
Going off of leadership, Popo's the only newcomer who was named captain. What stands out to you about him as a leader, and how has he kind of changed the mentality or kind of attitude?
Well, I think a guy comes in off a team that was as good as they were, right, had the run that they did, and some guys would walk on the team, walk in the team like, I'm that guy, and you have some arrogance about it, and he was the opposite. He came in with, I'm here to help you guys, I want to learn how we do things, and I want to add to it, right, and he respected what was here, but then he put his head down and just worked his tail off, and he treats people in the locker room, doesn't care what position they play, if they're walk-ons, if they're on scholarship, if they're guys that made a lot of plays or made no plays, treats them all the same, and I think guys like that that work hard, that have humility, get a lot of respect, and that's who he was, and then he had to get on the field and play good, because that's another part of being a captain, like you don't get votes for that, you're just a good guy, and he went out and played well, and he's tough, and get into the workouts, he competes, he commands, he demands things, and he does it in the right way, so when the players vote for you like that, it's obvious, right, you've done a lot of good things, so we're excited he's here, but proud of it, and the way he's handled the move.
With camp and all the books, I mean guys are doing classes, you're kind of in the regular flow of things, when you look back at camp as a whole, do you feel like this team and the coaching staff accomplished or reached some of the milestones that maybe you guys had set out for yourself to give yourselves, you know, building that foundation heading into week zero again?
It was a great camp in a lot of ways, we stayed healthy during camp, and we competed, but I backed off on the guys, they still were locked in and focused, it wasn't a goof around, sometimes you give them a walk through, and it's kind of loose, you can see this team was locked in, anything we've asked them to do, it was a get-to attitude, like really efficient, um, good communication, we go into a team meeting and I show them plays for practice the day before, these are the things that we cannot do if we're going to win games, this has got to get fixed, and then the next day you watch the film and it's fixed, like that is what you want to see as a coach, and that's not common, like it doesn't always happen, and so these guys really take coaching, and like I tell them, your film is personal, it's you forever on tape for the world to see and judge, you should take it really personal, as a coach I take it really personal, and they do, and so I love that about them, the training camp was a really good window of time to really exercise that with them, and then to see them come together, and just, the brotherhood that this team has, it's been fun to kind of watch, I've heard a lot about it through the summer, because Thunder's been telling me and Mike Erwin's been telling me some good things happening here, but to get on the field with them and get to live it with them was a joy, and the freshmen, the new players, have really come in with the right attitude, and a lot of these guys have accolades and all those things, but they're very humble, they respect the older players, they listen, they want to learn, they have good attitudes, so it's been a cool group to work with so far, and they're hungry to play, like practice gets old, man, like these guys want to play games too, and so they're chomping at the bit to compete.
Dave, just to kind of follow up on that, the first game, the first time that your team is going against another opponent, is that an easier time to coach, and you see that maybe teams kind of take the coaching points a little bit better after seeing them versus another team for the first time?
I'm not sure I understand your question.
Yeah, I said it pretty horribly, but more so, I'm asking, as you're trying to kind of teach your guys throughout the season, is it easier to kind of, I guess, have certain coaching points driven home after the first game because they've just been against themselves the entire summer, and once you get that first opponent, is that easier? Sorry about that.
No, that's okay. You're right, though, because games, you know, real, I mean, they're forever. The win is forever; the loss is forever. The film matters, and unfortunately, it's no different than parenting. Sometimes kids have to fail before they really learn what you've been telling them over and over and over. You can't do, right? My hope is that that doesn't happen, that we've learned a lot of lessons through others because we show them a lot of things from other teams and NFL and everything else, and that 125 guys can learn from one person's wrong, right? And now 125 got better because they're watching one guy who's contained in a practice clip or on an NFL game clip that we show them, whatever it might be, but that's why coaches talk so much about improvement from game to game because the game comes, it's critical, and it's telling, and a good way and a bad way, like you dominate somebody up front, like that's pretty good. You're on the other side of that, not good. How are we going to fix this? And so I think as coaches, we do everything we can to get the lessons taught without the game, but there's no doubt, like, that's going to be a huge, huge thing for every team, right? In game one, it's the truest test you can have.
So you spent a good chunk of time talking about what makes this group what it is and why you're excited about it. I get that every group is different, but why do you think that is? I mean, you recruit players, both high school and quarterback; you have a general idea of what they might be when they get here, but the way you're talking really indicates to me that this group clearly is standing out in a way that previous groups may or may not have. Why do you think that is?
I think it's because we have balanced leadership on this team that we haven't had. I've had an alpha quarterback in the young defense, an alpha linebacker, and a new quarterback. We actually have that on both sides of the ball in key leadership positions right now, and it's healthy. Third-year starter, quarterback, you have two alpha linebackers. I haven't had that. We had Payton Wilson with transfer quarterbacks. And so, to have what we have in the key leadership positions on both sides of the football and directing traffic is really new ground.
You got blessed by Noah Kahan at the concert, so that was good.
Right. Smart move by him, right? Know where you're at. Yeah.
We've gone through a lot of uncertainty with KaTron, both on and off the team. What's it like for you knowing that he can play?
Yeah. At least for the first game. Yeah. I'm excited for him, man. If any of you have spoken to him, he is an awesome, awesome human being. He's been through a ton. If anybody deserves a break, it's him. Man, he's been through a lot, and he's just handled it so well. And his legal team's doing a great job, you know, talking about why this should be what it is for the season for him. And it's very similar to Chandler's of all his deal.
Like, had Chandler not gotten that year that we fought so hard to get, he wouldn't be in the NFL. He would not have had that opportunity. I promise you that. And so, this is a life-changing thing for him to be on the field. For game one, it's a 350-pound nose guard. He's a man. And so, having him in there rotating with those other guys is a huge lift. Hopefully, it's not just the 12th of the season that we're talking about.
That was a really smart move. To involve CJ in your transfer recruiting. You have an idea for how it might work when you go and get your friend, but how has it been for them in camp?
I'll tell you, like, to get kids out of the portal now, there has to be some type of connection. It's speed dating, and it's really big, and their financial decisions on top of that. Is this the right fit? And so, like, we're recruiting the kid for four years, and then we don't get him, and he goes somewhere. Like, he's going to get to know us and might want to come here, right? And then sometimes there are kids who don't know us, but they know a lot of our key players, and they want to play with each other.
And so, in this case, regardless of whether those guys would have been his friends or not, your quarterback's involved. Like, people want to know that they're going to be playing with the quarterback, right? But for him, that's people calling him on the phone. Like, I'm going into the portal, man. Like, I want to play with you. So, every day, hey, so-and-so is going in the portal. All right. So, we watch his film, and once he goes in, if we like him, we'd start the process with him. But it helps, you know, go back a few years ago when we had those guys leave and come back home, like, similar thing, right? They all wanted to play together.
On the players on the roster who’ve known each other for a long time...
No, they're on a mission. There's a lot of chemistry there, man. You're going back to Pop Warner, and he and Bullet (Davion Gause) have been together since they were this. And the same thing when you look at King Mack on the other side of the ball, they knew Popo on the other side of the ball. Obviously, he and JoJo Trader are teammates as well. There's a lot of friendship there and time spent competing against other teams. So, they're definitely here with a purpose.
You mentioned fit and finance as two areas guys focus on when you're recruiting, but how important are facilities, even now? I know you'll have the new cafeteria. It feels like that might be an underrated aspect. Doesn't it feel like FBS football is kind of in a never-ending arms race?
We've always been in an arms race, but just didn't use to be paying players, right? It's been heavily facilitated. This locker room compared to this locker room, all these things that go into stadiums, fan bases, you name it. It's still a big part of it when it becomes close. So, if it's really close in all the areas and your facilities are lesser, then that tips the scales in their favor, maybe, right? And so, our new dining hall is fantastic. If you haven't been through it, you guys should walk down there. It's amazing, and it increases the quality of our food, which is a big deal. We talk about nutrition for your athletes and their health, and our team's health is a critical part of our success in having the season we want. So, the guys love it down there.
so, it's just every year, you know, getting with Boo and then Broussard and trying to figure out what we can do and then what areas do we feel like we're behind and then finding, somebody outside the program that wants to be a part of that to help us continue to not just stay with people, surpass people, and the level of care and the type of day-in, day-out operating center these guys get to be in with their coaches and it helps high school recruiting as well. Those guys talk about our Austin. Like, all these kids are doing now is touring the country, looking at every school that's offered to them, comparing them, and taking pictures everywhere they go. So, it matters.
