Doeren Discusses Upcoming Season
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media via Zoom Wednesday morning to talk his expectations for the 2020 Wolfpack football team.
A transcript of Doeren’s comments is posted below.
Opening Statement
“Most of the things we’re allowed to do has been pretty publicized. From a recruiting standpoint, as you know, it’s all dead. It’s all virtual whether you’re having them call you, texting with them, DM-ing them, or setting up FaceTimes where they FaceTime you. On the weekly and daily things that we do messaging-wise with them, it’s been positive from the standpoint of the communication that you can have day-to-day with recruits. The negative part, from our standpoint, is that we like meeting with these guys in person. We like having them sit with our coaches. We think that our strength here is our people, so not being able to have that face-to-face, in-person feel, showing off the Murphy Center, taking them around, watching our guys work, showing them how Thunder does what he does… those are all missing pieces which are going to slow down what we do in recruiting. I think the recruiting cycle, in general, is going to be a lot different without even knowing what’s going to happen with the contact we’re allowed to have in July or whenever we’re allowed to go back to campus in June. As you know, July is usually a dead period which I’m sure that is being talked about with the higher-ups in changing that. With that being said, I think a lot of recruits are making decisions. Some of them may stick to them. A lot of them may decide that they want to take visits and want to reopen those things up. You could see a bigger trend of that. I do think you’re going to see a lot of later decisions being made by a lot of kids, and it probably should be that way with the timeline that’s changed. A lot of them had plans going into the spring to revisit us or come on a visit and compare us to other people, and now they can’t. We’re in a situation where, unless the kid’s been here a bunch and knows he’s done, we’re telling them that God has made us stop what we’re doing, and so should recruiting, so put a pause on it, and wait until you can go back to your original plan and take your visits.”
“With regard to our team, we’re allowed four hours a week of virtual coaching where we can have meetings, go through installs with them, answer questions, connect with them, and talk to them about how they’re doing. Monday through Thursday, what we’re doing is morning position meetings with our guys, and then Fridays we have a team meeting where myself, Coach Thunder, Justin Smith, and our operations staff go through a bunch of topics with our guys. Our team has accountability partners put in place to push each other because we’re not allowed to monitor their performance athletically right now. All we’re allowed to do is provide them workouts they can do from home. Our players have done a nice job of holding each other accountable on their own. We’re in the last week and a half of academics, so we’re staying on the guys that way. Our academic staff has really worked hard virtually to help these guys stay on track. That part has been unique and interesting to follow.”
On the quarterback situation
“Every year is a unique year. Last year was different at quarterback because of the three scenarios we went through, and on top of that, the injuries that were around that player made it hard for that player to show, and it didn’t matter which one it was in some cases. All of those guys, and even Matt who’s not with us anymore, are going to learn from that experience, and that’s what it’s all about when you watch the evolution of a player. They need reps, and they need game experience. They need to be able to learn from the things that happen, good and bad. Good players take advantage of those moments whether they’re positive moments or negative moments. Yes, spring ball would have been very valuable for all of our players that needed reps with the quarterback being critical with that. We’re in the same boat everyone else is in. Coach Beck has done a really good job dialoguing with those guys. He’s continuing their growth mindsets and helping them. Those kids are going to work really hard, and when we get them back here, we’ll pick up where we left off. Devin [Leary], Bailey [Hockman], Ty Evans, and Ben Finley are working really hard.”
On his ideal minimum amount of preparation time to enter the season
“It’s hard to answer that because, the longer you’re away, the more you think about what that window should look like. We’ve talked about it. The ACC coaches had a long meeting last week where we put together various scenarios: a six-week scenario, a five-week scenario, and a four-week scenario. I do think you can do it in four weeks though obviously six would be better. What we’re allowed to do in training camp will have to be different as well. There has to be really smart communication. We’d have to have a lot of conversations about the safest way for these guys, particularly here in the South where the heat is what it is. To answer the question, four weeks is probably the shortest window that I’ve heard talked about that I would agree with.”
On seeing his new assistants during the previous spring practices
“It seems like forever ago. It was fun, first of all, just to be around the guys on the field. I’d been in the office with them leading up to spring ball, and as a head coach, you want to see how they function and their energy on the field. Sometimes, guys are a lot different on the grass than they are in the offices. It was fun to watch them. There’s a lot of positive teaching. They interacted well together. As I’ve said many times, these guys, particularly on defense and with Tim Beck and John Garrison on offense, they have pre-existing coaching relationships at other schools. It’s different than five guys who had never been around each other out there. There’s a lot of chemistry between Tony [Gibson] and Joe DeForest and Brian Mitchell, Brian and Charley Wiles, and like I said John Garrison and Tim. That was great to see. The players have tremendous energy. They’re hungry to be out there. I thought they worked well together. There was great progress being made in the installation. One of the focuses defensively was getting takeaways, and that was showing up. I thought we were making good plays on the football. Probably the best thing I saw was the interaction between the offensive and defensive players and how they were competing but also trying to help each other get better in a competitive but cooperative manner.”
On the ACC coaches meeting and discussions with other coaches
“I fielded some calls, taken some and made some. Regardless of what you’re dealing with, when you need an opinion, you reach out to guys in other conferences to see what they’re thinking and what their train of thought is. Dave Clawson is the head of our ACC coaches this year. He’s the chair of our group, so he’s taken the lion’s share of that, and he’s done a really nice job of that. Speaking of Todd Berry, he’s the president of the AFCA, reaching out to other chairs of other conferences, and we meet as an ACC group every week to learn what Dave has found out and share what we’ve picked up from other places just to try to make sure we’re not getting information that each other don’t have.”
On player accountability
“I told them that every team has the same issue, and it’s going to be a player-led deal as far as getting things done. We can’t hold them accountable for working out right now. All we can do is provide them information. Those guys have taken it on themselves to have accountability partners that they call everyday, check on each other, and make sure they’re doing their work. We have an opportunity to leapfrog other people that don’t do it the right way, and it has to be player-led. For me, I’m excited about it. I get to see where we’re at leadership-wise. Talking with our players, they feel great about the progress that guys are making. They’re looking at each other’s weights and doing all kinds of things. Not every player has the same resources. We have guys who are doing body weight only, and there are guys who have access to their garage gym or the weight room in high school where they’re able to lift weights. The biggest thing that we’re trying to get these guys to do is have a routine. This isn’t a vacation for them. They still have to get up, work out, get their academic work done, and try to eat the right things to the best of their ability. I think it’s going to teach a lot of independence amongst this group, and that’s a good thing. There’s a lot of monitoring at the college level, and now they have to monitor themselves. The bottom line is that if you have a goal that you want to be real, you have to make sure living up to that with your actions day in and day out. It’s going to show who’s really serious about it when they come back here.”
On potential season-altering scenarios
“We need to play football. I think that’s the one thing that everyone recognizes from a financial standpoint in college athletics, for universities, and for the nation’s morale. When that happens, I don’t care. I think it should be whatever is best for the health of our athletes and for the country. You don’t want to put them out there before all this stuff is taken care of. Whatever it’s delayed a month, two months, three months, or whatever it is, I think it’ll be a blessing to have these guys back, to be able to work with them, and to have them compete. I expect that to happen; I just don’t know when. Whenever it does happen, we’ll be ready.”
On early enrollees
“I thought Ben Finley did some good things. He had some tough days as well, but he’s very gifted. I’m excited about the progress he’ll be able to make. Those reps are going to be valuable for him. On our offensive line, Sean [Hill] and Ethan [Lane] were repping with the twos, they’re getting a lot of work, and they’re both going to be good players. Devan Boykin really showed up and did a lot of positive things. He’s a very athletic defensive back. He’s a guy that could play early for us and probably will. Porter Rooks really stood out at receiver. He had some good catches. He gets open, fields it, and can adjust his body well. Jalen Coit is really, really fast. He’s going to have to get a little bigger in the weight room, and he’s done so already. He has a lot of speed which we expected him to have when we recruited him.”