Dave Doeren: "You're Never Completely Ready for a Game"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media Thursday afternoon following practice leading up to the Wolfpack’s season opener versus East Carolina.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s interview.
“[Keyon Lesane] has been very consistent day in and day out. The biggest thing you look for is not just ability but dependability. He had a good spring, and then he took that into the summer and came through fall camp as one of the most productive guys in that room on a daily basis. I’m excited for him. He’s really come a long way and dealt with a lot on and off the field with injuries. He’s in a good spot, and we’re excited to see him play.”
“I don’t really think it’s worrisome. There are just things you don’t know, and you just have to be ready to adjust. It’s the unknowns, not just from your opponent, but you have guys playing that you haven’t played. I’m excited to see those guys plays, but you have to be ready for the “What if”/“Then this” reaction as a coach. That’s really where you’re at. Really, in the first two or three games, it kind of feels that way.”
“I don’t know about dangerous, but it would have been great to play at night not only from a TV standpoint but because of the weather and what goes into that. They don’t ask my opinion on game time, so it is what it is.”
“I think with an experienced roster like we have, there are a couple of things you look for: one, the maturity on the field while they’re playing and understanding situational football. As the chains move, they understand the down and distances are changing, and they’re not just running plays. They understand how the game flow works. The other thing is you look at how they are when they’re not in. Are they helping the guys that are in? Are they coaching them, or do they just have their head down drinking water? Those are both things that you look for from a mature team, and we’ve seen a lot of that in our camp and practices.”
“Coach [Tony] Gibson worked with [Derrek Pitts] at a prior school, so he already had that feel about him. Then, I watched film on him at Marshall. He’s a very aggressive player. As a football player, he can do a lot of things. He’s a good special teams guy as well. It didn’t take long. He’s kind of what we thought he’d be from his film.”
“No, we limited [Payton Wilson]. He did get tackling. He got blow delivery and contact everyday that we were in pads, for the most part. He didn’t take every rep. All of these guys that are coming off major injuries or the guys that have a lot of reps banked, I’ve talked about that, we looked at how many reps they need. He got what he needed.”
“I had another head coach on my staff prior with Ted Roof, and that was great for me to have someone like that, and that was the first time I had that as a coach. Then, Ted left, so that 2019 season, I didn’t have that, and I could tell I needed somebody whether it was an active coach or an off-the-field guy I could go to and talk with. It happened to be that a guy that was a mentor and close friend. It worked out. It couldn’t have been a better fit for me and obviously for [Ruffin McNeill] location-wise.”
“Yeah, that was kind of a unique piece of it that I really didn’t think a lot about. I thought about him and his dad. At that time, my dad wasn’t as far along, and it’s accelerated quite a bit in the last 24 months. It gives us common ground on another thing that we do. Ruff’s great for so many reasons, and on the personal side of it, being able to talk about our dads and understand that part of our lives, too, is just another plus.”
“Just to keep preparing. You’re never completely ready for a game. You can always watch something else on film. You can review a practice and see things. You can go through your call sheets, talk with your teammates, get with your coaches, and really the recovery that we ask of these guys now is paramount: getting in the cold tubs, stretching, hydration, and all of the things they need to feel great when we get to Saturday."