With NC State football season in full swing and Wolfpack soccer gearing up for conference play, let’s take a look at how the Pack’s coaches have set their teams up for success, as well as times when they have not.
Dave Doeren – head coach, football
Doeren and Pack football have massive expectations from not only their fans, but also the college football world being ranked 13th in the country before the season. After an underwhelming 21-20 victory over unranked East Carolina, the red-and-white fell to 18th in the top 25 but climbed back up to 16th after a 55-3 rout of Charleston Southern.
Although many Wolfpack fans were not pleased with the performance they saw in week one, NC State still won the game, and it is always better to learn from a win rather than a loss. One of the lessons Doeren may have learned from this game is to kick a field goal to go up by two scores instead of going for it on 4th and goal.
Doeren should consider himself lucky after week one, because if there wasn’t a missed extra point and a game-winning field goal attempt that went wide right, he would be sitting in a much hotter seat.
Tim Beck – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, football
Beck also has a lot to improve on after a poor performance from the offense in week one. After putting up 21 points in the first half of the East Carolina game, the Pack’s offense hatched a goose egg on the scoreboard in the second. The offense had two golden opportunities near the goal line to score in the second half, but junior running back Jordan Houston lost a fumble near the end zone and sophomore running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye got stuffed on a 4th and goal.
Beck can’t take much of the blame for Houston fumbling the ball at the goal line, but most of the blame falls on Beck for the 4th and goal call where Sumo-Karngbaye was stuffed. Many fans were left scratching their heads after Beck’s decision to run a draw play on 4th and goal instead of lining up under center or throwing from the shotgun. This decision from Beck almost lost the game for the Wolfpack.
Beck was able to bounce back in week two, where he saw his offense put up 55 points against an FCS opponent. Even though it was against a much lesser program, scoring 55 points is a good way to make up for the previous week’s performance. An interesting note to point out is that Beck, who was calling plays from the sideline in week one, moved to the booth in week two and will remain there for the game against Texas Tech.
Tony Gibson – defensive coordinator/linebackers coach, football
Gibson has done the best job out of all the coaches mentioned so far. With the defense being an experienced group, the expectation is for it to be dominant. The defense has proved this to be true for the most part, allowing 20 points in week one and just three in week two.
Gibson’s defense was the saving grace for the Pack in week one by putting the team on its back in the second half due to the offense’s inability to score. Although they allowed the Pirates to get back in the game, Gibson and the defense did just enough for the Pack to come out with a victory.
The defense has been a turnover-creating machine in its first two games of the season with a total of five turnovers forced. Against East Carolina, the defense picked off ECU’s quarterback twice, and in the victory over Charleston Southern, the squad also had two interceptions and a forced fumble.
Gibson’s unit has been the only constant bright spot for the Pack so far and it will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the season.
George Kiefer – head coach, men’s soccer
The NC State men’s soccer team led by Kiefer has gotten off to a solid start this season with an overall record of 2-2-1.
The most impressive achievement Kiefer has accomplished so far this season is getting graduate midfielder Connor Kelly to fit in so seamlessly after transferring from Duke this season. Kiefer has shown a lot of trust in his graduate transfer so far, allowing him to be the leader of the offense with five goals in five games.
Having better success on the road is going to be an area of focus for Kiefer as his team has not won a road contest yet this season, which includes a 1-1 draw against Mercer and a 2-0 loss against No. 4 Wake Forest.
Tim Santoro – head coach, women’s soccer
Santoro has the women’s soccer team in a good position as it gets ready to start its conference schedule next week. Santoro’s squad has an overall record of 4-1-3, including a 0-0 draw against No. 4 South Carolina.
The Wolfpack defense has been a sight to behold this season as it has recorded four shutouts in eight games. Santoro has done a phenomenal job of setting up his team for success on the defensive side of the ball, as the most goals his team has allowed in a game is two. The Pack’s aggressive and tough defense is the reason why it has an unbeaten record on the road.
So far the offense has been tough to come by, as it has failed to score in the last three games. Not only has the Pack not been able to score, it hasn’t been able to get many shots on goal, being outshot 49-14 in its last three matches.
