Looking Back On the Dave Doeren Legacy at NC State

Following State’s 31-28 loss to Stanford in the wee hours of Saturday morning on the East Coast, news broke of NC State's Head Coach Dave Doeren’s immediate firing.

The Wolfpack needed the win, but those have been few and far between for NC State this season.

“It starts with me,” Doeren said after the game. “The guys didn’t play well enough, which means I didn’t have them ready.

Sadly, that statement has played like a broken record after the team’s four losses this season.

NC State was a preseason dark-horse favorite to win 10 games and push for an ACC crown this season, but reality has set in: the Wolfpack are every bit a 3-and-4 team.

Doeren wasn’t fired solely because of the Stanford loss, but it certainly sealed his fate.

NC State’s athletic director, Boo Corrigan, released a statement on Saturday afternoon.

“I want to thank Coach Doeren for his service and contributions to NC State, and for always representing the university with pride,” said Corrigan. “I appreciate his leadership during his 14-year tenure and the passion he brought to this role. We wish Dave, Sara, and his family the best in the future.”

The disappointing start against Virginia didn’t help, but the loss to Vanderbilt ultimately rocked the state of the NC State program off its axis. It’s hard to recover when State loses a game in that fashion, and the resulting social media firestorm was hard to avoid.

Doeren had an impossibly tough hill to climb after that colossal collapse in Nashville. It felt like he was playing for his job after that game, but the back-to-back losses to Wake Forest and Stanford forced Corrigan’s hand.

It’s not surprising that Doeren lost his job, but losing it mid-season did come as a shock. Doeren deserves a lot of respect for staying with the program for as long as he did.

I’m sure he had opportunities to go elsewhere, especially after his consecutive 9-win seasons in 2017 and 2018. He had a total of four 9-win seasons with the Wolfpack.

Doeren was fully committed to NC State and built a life in Raleigh. He seemed like a coach who genuinely cared about his players.

“I think as you look at all the things going on when you’re a coach outside of what really matters, what really matters are your players and your staff in the building,” Doeren said before the Stanford game. “That’s the biggest thing I’ve tried to do is just stay grounded in what can I do today. What can I learn from yesterday, what can I do today, and how can I make it a better tomorrow and not worry about anything else, other than my family and the things that are paramount to me.”

It’s also impressive that out of the full seasons he coached for NC State, you can count the losing seasons on one hand (3).

Dave Doeren leaves the program as the winningest coach in NC State football history with a 98-74 record.

He’s a good coach; it’s just a shame that greatness eluded him while in Raleigh.

Doeren’s name has been rumored for other P4 jobs, so this is likely not the last time we’ll see him. But the focus is now on NC State’s head coach search. There are some big names attached to the job, including Wolfpack legend Philip Rivers.

It'll be interesting to see how things eventually come together for NC State and Dave Doeren.

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ANDRE CHERRY

Andre Cherry began covering college football in 2010 through his CherryPickin podcast network. Andre originally hails from Chicagoland and is a proud Illinois State alum. He has lived in Philadelphia since 2014 and has previously covered Temple Football. Andre has a broadcast journalism background and got his start in media at WSCR the Score. He’s written for Fox Sports, Bridgehead Media, cinéSPEAK Journal, and IPMF.