Head coach Dave Doeren has fallen under heavy scrutiny in NC State football’s bleak start to its 2024 campaign.
After a disappointing 3-4 start, Wolfpack fans have been upset for the better part of the last month and a half, and rightfully so. A season that began with ACC Championship aspirations has turned into NC State struggling just to potentially make a bowl game. In the last few weeks especially, fans have placed the majority of the blame of NC State football’s failures on Doeren.
Doeren himself inadvertently fueled the fire under his coaching position, directly calling out Wolfpack fans — and students — for their lackluster attendance and spirit at games in recent weeks.
“I’m happy for the fans,” Doeren said in a press conference prior to Saturday night’s clash with Syracuse. “They get a full day drinking, it’s nice for them to enjoy that. It’s been three straight early [games] … Now they get the whole day, so maybe they’ll stand up on third downs and help us this week and be loud. Students are usually phenomenal on a night game.”
While Doeren appeared to simply be opening his presser with a joke, the comment was met with harsh criticism, with many fans interpreting it as a direct shot at one of the most loyal fanbases in the country — a fanbase that is always loud, rowdy and constantly cheering, throughout the first half at least.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating for students leaving after the first half. It can possibly be excused against Group of Five schools such as Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois in 80-plus degree heat and direct sunlight, but leaving in the middle of one of the Wolfpack’s biggest rivalry games is inexcusable.
NC State and Wake Forest hold claim to the second-longest rivalry in college football, facing off every year since 1910. It deserves to be treated with a certain level of respect. From Doeren’s point of view, it could definitely be interpreted as students simply looking for an excuse to day drink and party, then simply leaving as soon as halftime arrives.
However, from a student’s perspective, what reasons has the Wolfpack given to stick around for the second half? Through the first four home games, NC State had two near-losses in games where it was projected to win by 17 points or more, a hard-fought win against Northern Illinois and a 10-point fourth-quarter collapse against Wake Forest.
Nevertheless, Wolfpack fans packed out Carter-Finley Stadium — in spite of fall break — determined to prove Doeren wrong. Nobody wanted to miss an 8 p.m. blackout game.
Despite the backing of nearly every fan in Carter-Finley, NC State couldn’t generate any momentum in the first half. Its first three drives all ended in disappointment. Much like last week’s matchup against Wake Forest, the first drive showed tons of promise for the offense. However, a missed 41-yard field goal was a telltale sign of the rest of the game.
In its second drive, the Wolfpack couldn’t even manage a first down, much less a complete drive. As it’s done for the majority of the season, it called upon redshirt junior punter Caden Noonkester to bail it out.
The Wolfpack began to put together a solid drive in the second quarter as its first three plays all marked first downs. But even with its gained momentum, the team fell short as sophomore running back Kendrick Raphael fumbled the ball, giving Syracuse possession.
Finally, on the last NC State drive before the half, the red-and-white pieced together a seven-play drive that found paydirt for the first time. The Wolfpack, despite all of its early offensive struggles, went into halftime with just a three-point deficit, giving students a reason to stay and back their team as it fought to take the lead.
But like it had all game, the Wolfpack couldn’t use the momentum it had created just 20 minutes earlier. Syracuse’s first two drives both ended in the endzone, while NC State’s first two drives both ended in turnovers in enemy territory.
Now ask yourself this: if you were, as Doeren alluded to, a student who had just used the better part of the last two hours cheering on your team just to find it in a 24-7 deficit, would you stick around?
You answered Doeren’s call, but for what? With no hope in sight, would you cheer on a team that turned the ball over in three of its last four drives — a team that was down three scores?
Once again, I’m not condoning abandoning your team, but from a student’s point of view, it’s hard to disagree.
“I know [the fans] are frustrated by the outcome of these games, but just hang in there,” Doeren said in his postgame presser. “Some good, young players are fighting hard for you and they’re going to keep getting better.”
While Doeren makes a good point about the younger players’ development, have the Wolfpack faithful not ‘hung in there’ long enough?
The team hasn’t marked a 10-win season since Philip Rivers was the quarterback in 2002, and with Saturday’s loss to Syracuse, the 2024 season marks the 12th consecutive season that Doeren and the Wolfpack have failed to reach 10 wins. Most students weren’t even alive the last time NC State put double-digits in the win column.
Doeren has led the Pack for 12 seasons, and while NC State has always been somewhat of a contender in the ACC, it has never gotten over the hump of an ACC Championship appearance.
In 12 years as head coach, Doeren holds an 84-62 overall record, a 44-49 record against ACC teams, a 1-6 record against SEC teams and a 7-27 record against ranked opponents. A losing record against three major categories of opponents is an alarming metric, especially for a coach as long-tenured as Doeren.
NC State pours millions of dollars into its football program every year, claiming that it is a football school. Well, where are the results? What’s the payoff? Everyone is entitled to their own opinions on the state of NC State football, but the numbers don’t lie.
I’m not placing all the blame on Doeren. You don’t lose a game because of one man. NC State has been ravaged by injuries throughout the season. Graduate quarterback Grayson McCall, graduate cornerback Aydan White, redshirt junior linebacker Caden Fordham and redshirt freshman running back Hollywood Smothers are just a few of the key players that have missed time due to injury. NC State has had a freshman quarterback leading the team for the majority of five games. It takes time to get acclimated to football at the collegiate level.
However, NC State football has a plethora of the talent needed to be a contender in the ACC, so why isn’t it? It has gone winless in four matchups against Power Four schools, two of which were blowouts. Are some losses due to bad play from players? Absolutely, but at some point, you have to turn to coaching.
Doeren isn’t the only coach at fault; offensive coordinator Robert Anae and defensive coordinator Tony Gibson have both made costly mistakes throughout the season. But when you are as highly touted as Doeren has been for years, you have to be held to a certain standard — a standard that hasn’t been remotely close to met as of late.
Fans are extremely angry after Saturday’s embarrassing loss and have every right to be, but many have taken their displeasure out on Doeren, calling for his removal as head coach. This wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened at NC State. Just seven months earlier, fans were calling for NC State men’s basketball head coach Kevin Keatts to be fired. But after the postseason miracles the Wolfpack pulled off, Keatts was not only kept, but he was also extended through the 2030 season and became immortalized in NC State sports lore.
Doeren doesn’t have an ACC or NCAA Tournament to recover fans’ loyalty. He has five, potentially six games before the end of the 2024 campaign — simply not enough time to make up for the poor performance earlier in the season. There’s no miracle postseason that NC State football can make a Cinderella run in. Once the regular season is over, the Wolfpack will be lucky to get even one postseason game.
Something is wrong in NC State’s football program and Doeren has taken heavy fire because of it. Doeren is a great human being and an epitome of what the Wolfpack stands for — a hard worker who paves his own path and always speaks his mind. He’s been a great leader of men and a key part of NC State culture.
Doeren has been a decent coach at NC State, leading the Pack to winning records in nine of his 11 full seasons, but decent can no longer cut it. If NC State continues its recent habit of continually losing to Power Four schools, something has to change, whether it’s his methodologies, coaching style or just Doeren himself.
