Dave Doeren: 'It's a fun group of guys to coach'
As NC State looks to finish the season strong in its final three games, the Wolfpack gets ready for a matchup with No. 21 Liberty this week.
Head coach Dave Doeren spoke to the media about last week’s game and this week’s matchup at his weekly press conference; here’s a full breakdown of everything he had to say:
Opening Statement
Just starting out with a recap on our win over Florida State, first I just thought it was a great job by our staff and players getting prepared and rejuvenated after a tough loss the previous week with Miami. I think that’s a big deal. I’ve been around a lot of teams that couldn’t do that. I’m very proud of them, first and foremost, for their ability to respond and regroup. That’s really what this team has done all year.
It started off really in our offseason when they came back. They were hungry. They couldn’t wait to get to work. They had learned a lot through the previous year and all the tough things we went through. That just grew as we got into the quarantine period and the beginning of the pandemic after our spring break. And then the social unrest and injustice that took place. Seeing our players bond together and really our athletic department.
It’s appropriate that this game is dedicated to our Pack United platform that was formed by our student-athletes and backed by our coaching staffs and administration to support the effort to fight social unrest and discrimination and prejudice. And doing so by using the three pillars of awareness, education and action. I’m very proud of our athletic department, our student-athletes and Isaiah Moore and Grant Gibson for all the work that has gone into that and continues to go into that. This game will have a lot of emphasis there for us as a football program, and I look forward to that.
In this game with Florida State, we talked a lot about them being a fast-start team. They had scored more points in the first quarter than they had in any other quarter. It was great to see us get out.
Offensively, in our first drive to have a 13-play drive and overcame three penalties. We had two tough third-and-longs, and to go down and score a touchdown. Defensively, on the first drive we were out there three-and-out and got the ball right back.
Throughout the game, I thought we made a lot of adjustments. That happens every game, but not every game do you have as many as we had in this one. The ability of the coaches to communicate well with the players, the players to take the communication, understand it and go to the field and execute.
There were a lot of things that happened in that game, particularly on defense. We basically played the entire game against unbalanced formations, which you usually might see four or five times in a game. We saw 50-plus plays of those formations. There’s a lot of things defensively that you do differently knowing that going in. So I thought Tony [Gibson] and his group did a nice job adjusting, holding them to just three points in the first three quarters.
A lot of emphasis went into finishing. We finished the first half with an interception on defense by Tyler Baker-Williams, and then started fast in the third quarter with a stop and offensive score. And then to see the offense be able to run five and a half minutes off the clock there in the final quarter and run the football the way they did, finish blocks and finishing with a field goal to extend the lead.
Obviously we’d like to prevent them from scoring on those drives in the fourth quarter, but overall I was very excited just about how we played, the energy we played with. I thought we had really good focus in practice.
From a positive standpoint on offense, we ran the ball really well when it counted in the fourth quarter. Obviously we’d like to run it better in the first three. We were extremely efficient on third down. I thought [Bailey Hockman] played an incredible game. He was 71 percent completion rate, had four touchdowns with three in the pass game and one in the run game. The wideouts and tight ends blocked well on the perimeter and gave us a chance on some perimeter screens and downfield runs.
Our wide receivers continued to not only catch the ball well, but to make some plays with their feet after the catch. You saw [Emeka Emezie] do that. You saw [Thayer Thomas] do that. I thought on the O-line that [Ikem Ekwonu] and [Joe Sculthorpe] graded out the highest they had all year. That was a really good defensive line. That’s a good group. They are big. Those two defensive ends are NFL players, and I thought [Ekwonu] played really well.
From a negative standpoint on offense, we had two fourth-and-1s, one that we got stopped on where we just didn’t block the play the way that we wanted to. Then the second one where we had a holding penalty that took a first down away, where we had to punt then on fourth-and-6. Obviously on fourth-and-1, those are attitude type plays. You’d like to be able to convert there. We had six tackles for loss in our backfield which created second-and-longs. We were able to overcome some of those, but you don’t want to have plays that create second-and-longs and put you behind the chains.
On defense, positively I thought we played really hard. We adjusted well. We had two fourth-down stops. We had a takeaway. I thought Isaiah Moore played his best game since he’s started for us. It was great having [Drake Thomas] back. He was very physical on the edge. I thought [Alim McNeill] had his second week where he’s just really, really excelled inside. He’s playing hard. Him and [C.J. Clark] are playing well at the nose tackle position. It was good to see [Daniel Joseph] and [Savion Jackson] and [Terrell Dawkins] make some plays at defensive end. There’s some things that we’ve got to continue to work on there. But, I like the way they played. They were very aggressive.
Negatives, we gave up three explosive plays for touchdowns. We’ve been really good on third down. We’ve been really good in our red zone defense, but we can’t allow people to score in those explosive manners. One of them was a missed tackle where we had a guy right there on fourth-and-short. We did force two fumbles that we didn’t recover, so those are plays obviously where we’d like to do better.
But overall, it was a really good night. I thought our special teams were good. They created over 40 yards in hidden yardage for us, which obviously creates field position. I love how hard our kickoff team played. We had two tackles inside the 20. There was a lot of physical play. There was a lot of strength. There’s a lot of guys beating blocks. I thought C.J. Hart really played well on that unit. Thayer had a big punt return, 23-yard return. We had two opportunities on our kickoff return that were one block away from being big, explosive runs, so we need to improve there.
Coming out of the game health wise was pretty positive, and I hope that we have [Tanner Ingle] back this week. That’s trending positive. But as of now, we should have the same lineup that we had last week with Tanner being added to it.
With that, we have a chance to play a top-20 team in Liberty this week. An undefeated team. A very good team, good staff, and a team that’s playing with, obviously, a lot of confidence. [Liberty] has two ACC wins with beating Syracuse and Virginia Tech.
Before I move on to them, I know we are limited with how many fans we can have, but I do want to thank the fans that were there, and just let you know that we can hear you. Even though it’s a small crowd, there’s times where your noise does matter and our kids do feed off of that. I just want to encourage you if you are at our games to cheer these kids on. You have no idea what these guys have been through, how hard it has been to not only play football this year but to do the things that we are doing to stay COVID-free with our football team. They have worked really hard and earned every bit of crowd noise that we can get. I would encourage you and ask you to do everything you can to help us when we’re on the field and scream for those young men that are fighting for you.
With Liberty, it’s a team that has a very explosive offense. When you look at them statistically, they are averaging 40 points a game, 490 yards a game. They are rushing the football for 254 yards a game. All of these are in the top 20 in statistics in college football. Their quarterback is a transfer from Auburn, [Malik Willis]. He’s a really special player. He’s got a 68 percent completion and a strong arm. Fifteen touchdowns and only one interception, and he’s averaging over 100 yards per game.
They rotate three different running backs that are all different in style and production. The receiving corps catches the ball well. They don’t have a lot of drops on the season. Their slot receivers are big-play guys. They’ve got sure-handed guys on the outside. Their tight end is a good player. All of their offensive linemen were lettermen a year ago. They play well together. They are a ball-control offense. They are one of the top teams in the country in time of possession, so we have to do a good job stopping them, getting the ball back for our offense and offensively maximizing our possession.
On defense, they’re a 4-2-5 defense. They play a lot of cover-3 and cover-4. They play hard. I think their two defensive ends, No. 11 [Durrell Johnson] and No. 10 [TreShaun Clark], are very productive. Number 11 in particular jumps off the tape when you watch him. They play hard. They’re where they’re supposed to be. They don’t do a ton of things, but they do them well.
We have to make plays. We’ve got to be explosive. We’ve got to be physical. We’ve got to take care of the football, and we’ve got to maximize our possessions. And obviously this whole thing is going to be about being able to get Willis off track because nobody has been able to do that.
What’s the mindset of a small school like Liberty being undefeated and in the top 25, something you experienced at Northern Illinois?
[Hugh Freeze] has done a tremendous job there. He’s done this before when he was the head coach at Arkansas State. That locker room is full of guys that felt like they could have played at a higher level. Those kids will have a chip on their shoulder when they play a Power 5 team. They want to be noticed. They know that this is a chance to showcase not just their individual abilities, but how they can play as a football team against teams that have Power 5 behind their name.
The confidence piece, I know all of those guys when I was at Northern Illinois, they weren’t afraid of anybody. They were just excited to play the game, and I’m sure that is what we are going to get. We’re going to get a team that believes, for one, because they haven’t lost this year. They’re playing for a coach that knows how to win games. It’s going to be a very confident group, and it’s going to be a group that wants to prove themselves and an opportunity for them to do it on a bigger stage.
For us, we have to acknowledge all those things that I just said. But at the end of the day, it’s really going to be about how we play. I think whether we are playing against a Power 5 team or not, we need to be better than we were last Saturday. That’s going to be our focus, it’s just executing. Each player on the team understanding what they have to do in their role so that collectively we can play better than we just did against Florida State.
How dangerous of a combination is a confident team with something to prove?
It’s a good football team with good players that has confidence. Obviously that’s what you want to have. It’s a great opportunity for us to play a team like that. Like I said, in the top 20 that is undefeated.
Does the opportunity to ruin Liberty’s perfect season add motivation?
I hadn’t really thought about it like that. For us, we’re trying to finish, and we’re in the fourth quarter of our season coming off of a win. Obviously we’d like to finish winning all three of our games that are on our schedule, and this is just the next one. How it impacts their season really isn't the motivating piece of that for me.
It’s more about us being better. I think that’s the one thing you can see with our team. Even though we didn’t beat Miami, we’ve gotten better each week here coming out of our bye week. I want to continue that trend. I want to be a better football team this week, and then a better team the next week and peak out when we’re supposed to peak out here. Hopefully that’ll equal what it is, but I don’t think using their team as a spoiler for their season really motivates me or our kids. It’s more about us being better than we were last week.
What does Malik Willis do so well? Does he remind you of any quarterback you’ve faced this season?
I think D’Eriq King is probably a good comparison. He throws the ball really well. He has a super-strong arm. His downfield throws are really impressive. He throws the ball well on the run. To this point in the season, you’re not going to see a lot of weakness in him. You look at his statistics. There’s not many quarterbacks that have that completion rate and that touchdown to interception rate with those rushing yards. I mean, he’s done a tremendous job for them. Obviously the players that are around him are a part of that, but there’s a lot of things that happen on a play that he makes happen on his own, which you saw from King. His ability to throw the ball down the field accurately is really impressive.
Having seen D’Eriq King a couple of weeks ago, does that help you know what to expect with Willis?
We’ve seen several athletic quarterbacks. It comes down to tackling and getting off of blocks. You’ve got to get multiple people to him. Some of the plays they’re going to do, they’re going to motion a tailback out and get you into an empty picture. He has the ability to throw it out or run it on a box count. So we’re going to have to be really good with getting people off of blocks, getting people back to him and tackling him. That’s the thing. You could have one or two guys there and he makes them both miss. So it’s just not the design of the defense. It’s going to be the technique and the finish of plays that’s going to matter in getting the ball out. One of the most critical pieces in this game is shortening how long they have the football. They do a really good job of controlling the clock offensively.
There are some teams in college football that have looked like they’re not all in. Your guys, on the other hand, like you’ve talked about buying in and their effort, how big of a challenge has that been?
I think what that did is it created a moment for your locker room and your coaching staff to either gel together or fall apart. I think all the things that happened in the offseason when they had to leave us for four months, that was a critical time where your team had to really hold themselves accountable or not. Our guys did that. They did a tremendous job of holding each other accountable. The social unrest created an opportunity, again, for your team to come together, or not. And our guys came together through the leadership of our football team. It was very impressive to be a part of both things and to watch it.
I think that’s carried us to where we are. This is a really close group of guys. It’s a fun group of guys to coach. It’s been one of the most fun teams I’ve been around because of how much they truly care about each other. They respect the game. They really like playing football. So that has been a blessing that’s come through all this stuff, that’s 2020, as hard as it’s been, a special year, because of these guys.
Did you have worries about guys not buying in if things didn’t go well with everything happening off the field?
Had I not seen how these guys came together then yeah, it probably would have been a concern. But I didn’t have that with our locker room. It was the opposite. They were giving me hope. They were showing me leadership. The things that these guys did, there hasn’t been that. We’ve witnessed it at other places, and we’ve had conversations about ‘Did you see what happened here or there,’ but there’s never been an inkling of that on our roster. So it hasn’t been a big thing for us.
Through eight games, you guys have averaged over 33 points per game, 33.5 is currently fourth overall in program history. You’re doing that with starting Bailey Hockman and losing offensive linemen, how impressed have you been with that, and how much credit goes to Tim Beck?
I think Tim deserves a lot of credit, and so do the coaches with him. Those guys work well together. I asked Tim to come in and break it apart and put it back together, in his terms, so that he could use his system and how he calls it. He did that. With losing how much of spring ball we lost and how unique fall camp was, to have a completely new vocabulary with these guys, to have new players that you’re coaching and not have the opportunity to really test it out the way you normally would in a spring and fall camp, I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. And then I think the players deserve a lot of credit for that.
They were excited about the change. They were really good learners, and they’re making plays. That’s the thing. You see a guy catch a 5-yard ball and turn it into an explosive. You see [Bam Knight] the other night, he takes a run and turns it into an explosive touchdown. You see receivers making acrobatic catches, tight ends. It’s a group effort, and I think it all starts with the leadership over there and the way that Tim has gotten those guys to buy in, the players wanting to be a really good offense. So it’s been fun to watch and be part of. It’s still evolving. That’s the cool part of it. Each week, he’s tweaking it here and there.
What have you seen as the biggest transformation for Bailey Hockman?
I think he has good timing right now. He’s getting the ball out on time. He’s putting it in accurate places. He knows what to look at and why. He has a really good grasp of what’s going on. Like I said the other day, it’s nice to have multiple games with him, because you kind of get a feel for what he likes and you can build it around him. So Tim and him have done a nice job communicating and getting on the same page with what he likes to see, what’s easier for him.
I think just being comfortable here too is part of it. Like I’ve said many times, your second year at a school is way different than your first as a transfer. I think just your personal life, your routine and everything else. He’s earned the trust of everyone around him. Guys believe in him. That means a lot at that position.
You’re close to being bowl eligible, how important is that for your program and getting those extra reps?
The one thing you can’t do is give guys reps without practice. So those practices are so beneficial for younger players. Basically, you’re going to take guys out and get them healthy that have gotten the lion’s share of the reps for about a week. All your developmental guys are now running your systems. So now when you go into spring ball with those guys, they’ve got a lot of work in your system and it makes spring ball different. You’re not having to teach them the same way you would if you don’t go to a bowl game where they had no reps. So it just kind of accelerates your teaching and there’s plays that happen in these practices where a guy all of the sudden makes a diving catch or a one-handed interception and his confidence changes. He starts believing in himself, so those reps are critical in the development of a player. So that’s the piece that really means a lot, not just the reward of the bowl game, but the developmental part and the confidence that’s gained by the kids that have been servicing us a lot on the scout team.
Have you thought about where this team would be if you guys had gotten the chance to go last year?
It would have been very valuable for all these kids that are now sophomores that were playing as freshmen last year. At the same time, we were so injured last year, I’m not sure how many practices we would have been able to do. But you just can’t replace experience. I think that’s the one thing in the sport you appreciate. When Tanner Ingle steps on the field, we go from freshman to junior. So there’s a lot of game experience and practice experience and practice experience that happens just with one player. So whether it’s five practice, 10 games, or whatever it is, as a coach, I can’t insert that into a guy. You have to rep it. Reps are the most important thing for these guys in their development.
Do you think you have kids where their response to what’s happened this year is going to endure in their lives and they’re going to build on that?
Absolutely. I think there’s a lot of growth, personal growth, social growth. There were so many opportunities to respond to adversity this year, whether it was us losing a game or us having to change schedules. Are we going to play, not going to play, who are we going to play. The injuries and guys having to step into roles, there’s been a ton of things that have happened. And I think that’s how you grow. I think adversity is the greatest way for somebody. When you’re succeeding, you’re not going to grow the same way as when you have to overcome something. We’ve had many opportunities, whether they were self-inflicted or not, to grow up this year. I think it will help us moving forward.
Do you see these guys as being the type that would do things for the community and be active in things like voting?
I would hope so. I can’t answer that for them. One hundred percent of our team registered to vote. But at the end of the day, that’s going to be a personal choice. I would think that this year is going to instigate a lot of guys to continue to be active, because I think it’s important to them. But where that goes in their life, we all know that’s their choice.
You said Ikem Ekwonu had one of his better games. He’s just a sophomore but he’s already developed into one of the top lineman. Can you take us through his growth and take us back to his recruiting process?
I think the biggest thing you see with Ickey is he’s always been super physical. He was a wrestler, he played O-Line and D-Line, very athletic, great student, incredible family. He checks every box when you talk about a recruit, every box. We wanted him on film. Him and his Dad came up on a visit, and we loved his makeup and what they were all about as a family.
When I saw him play in person, it was one of the most impressive performances I’d ever seen by a lineman. He played both ways the entire game. There was a play when he was on defense and then one where the offense threw an interception, and he went down the field and just drilled a guy. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid tackle that hard in my life. I was like ‘Man, this guy’s going to play.’ I came back and told the staff, ‘That guy will start here as a freshman on the offensive line.’ They were all like, ‘That’s hard to do.’ I said, ‘I promise you, he will.’ And then he did. I’m not trying to say the greatest evaluator, but when you see something like that in person, it was impressive.
His improvement’s been in his technique, more than anything. When you’re as strong and as athletic as him, a lot of times you rely on your fundamentals. So he’s worked really hard with coach [John Garrison] on just some little things. I know John was proud of him. He graded out at like 91% against one of the better defensive ends in the ACC. So that was a really good performance for him.
I’m sure it helps when you guys don’t have to coach or teach that nastiness.
He’s the instigator of the pancake world around here. He’s the guy that sets the bar for knockdowns and pancakes. The guys all compete for that. But I know our whole sideline gets juiced when he does that stuff in the game. They love watching him play. How many teams stand there and just can’t wait to watch their tackle block somebody. It’s something we look forward to. He’s a really good football player, he plays with a demeanor that we embrace. He’s a great human being. I think all those things make it fun to have a guy like that on your roster.
Coach Freeze mentioned this morning you had been on a golf outing or two together. What do you remember about that?
The fundraiser and the Chick-fil-A and the Peach Bowl have in the spring, they didn’t have it this year because of COVID, but to raise money for your charity of choice has been something that we’ve done every year, and twice we were matched up with Hugh. He’s a good golfer, really good player. And his partner was a really good player. He’s got an awkward swing, I can tell you that, but he’s a really good player. They beat us both times when we played in that tournament. But he’s a great guy. I’ve always enjoyed my time with Hugh and I respect him a lot as a football coach. He’s done a tremendous job everywhere he’s been.