NC State interim head coach Todd Goebbel met with the media to discuss the 31-10 win against Cal.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!
Opening statement...
First off, from the start of the week, I said it was a responsibility to take this on because of the man who stood here for 14 years and built this program.
He put blood in the bricks, and he built it the right way.
He did it his way, which is the right way.
Whether it’s the recruits or the coaching staff, he brought those people in.
I’ll say it directly to him right now: This is for you, Coach Doeren.
I hope you’re smiling somewhere, but this is for you.
I truly appreciate you and your family and what you did for my family and me, this coaching staff, and the rest of the players.
Truly, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
You guys talked a lot this week about staying together. What does it say about this team that you were able to do that and win a game like this?
We have about 12 or 13 guys on the leadership council, and we call it unit pride.
Each unit has a very strong leader.
I won’t go through them individually, but it’s really, really strong.
They stepped up early in the week.
They set the standard and the stage for what we were going to do.
They carried my message throughout the week along with the coaching staff.
What you saw was the culmination of a bunch of good young people who worked their tails off for five days to get prepared for this game.
They went out and executed at a high level for four quarters.
Putting your running backs coach hat back on, what was it like seeing Deandre Desinor make that play and then seeing what Davion Gause was able to do today?
I’m extremely proud of them.
That group is a special group of young men.
They do everything right off the field.
They work extremely hard on the field.
Anything positive that comes their way, and a bunch of it did today, they’ve earned through hard work and dedication to this program.
The players said they were obviously playing for Coach Doeren, but they were also playing for you so you could have a successful first game. What does it mean to know they believe in you in this role?
It means the world to me.
I have great relationships with these young people.
It’s been special for over eight years.
I take great pride in making sure I get to know them personally, not just professionally.
I coach them hard, but I love on them harder.
I was just really excited for those guys to go out, have some success today, and win a game.
This is your first win as a head coach, which is probably a moment you’ve dreamed about for a long time. But the first thing you did was thank Dave Doeren and say this one was for him. Why was it important to perform this way for him and put yourself aside?
Because he’s a great man, father,r and husband.
He showed all of us in this Murphy building how to do it the right way.
It was really never about him.
It was about the people in this building and how much he poured into them and how hard he worked throughout his tenure.
I was with him for eight years.
No one worked harder than him.
Always and forever, he came in as the same person.
You knew what you were going to get.
He was going to make sure he got the best out of everybody and allowed everybody to overachieve.
CJ Bailey said you received a game ball. What was that moment like in the locker room, and have you allowed yourself to enjoy this win personally?
The game ball was pretty special.
For those guys to believe in me during a very adverse time, then go out and perform the way they did and give me a game ball, I’d be remiss if I didn't say it wasn’t special.
I got a little choked up when they gave it to me.
This team has struggled in the second half this season, but you won the second half 21-0 today. What was different at halftime, and why did the team play so much better after the break?
Our goal at halftime in all three phases was strictly to be fundamental, not emotional.
We knew it was a tight ballgame.
We knew, at the end of the day, that our plans in all three phases were highly successful.
The adjustments Coach Kurt Roper, Coach Zac Roper, and Coach Warren made at halftime, the players listened to them and internalized them.
At the end of the day, for two quarters, they went out and executed exactly what we wanted.
Speaking of Coach Warren, the defense pitched a shutout in the second half. After some of the defensive struggles this season, what was it like seeing the unit perform that way and seeing what he was able to do from a coaching standpoint?
Coach Warren, in my opinion, is a master tactician.
More importantly, I think he galvanized everybody on the defensive side to find a common goal for what we’re going to be and how we’re going to approach games.
For him to put a plan together with the rest of the coaching staff and for them to execute it the way they did, shoutout to the whole defensive staff.
They did a hell of a job.
The defense forced three-and-outs on each of Cal’s first three possessions. What kind of positive energy did that create?
Anytime you can hold them to three-and-outs on the first three series, you understand that we’re here to play.
We talked about it in the locker room.
We talked about it in the pregame meeting.
“Lock the gates. Put the ball down. Game on.”
The players took that message.
The defense took that message.
They went out and executed at a high level.
