Ray Black III
Head coach Dave Doeren takes the field with the team before the start of the game against the Syracuse Orange on Thursday, October 10, 2019. NC State won the game 16-10.
Frustrating would be a good way to describe NC State’s football program right now. While the expectations for this year varied, many fans did not foresee the team struggling as much as it has so far.
A combination of youth and inexperience has definitely played a role in the team’s performance, but many fans simply place the blame on the coaching staff.
Wolfpack fans have been spoiled with consecutive nine-win seasons and it shows. While this season has had many more downs than ups, saying the coaching staff is 100% at fault for the poor season is ridiculous.
Of course, the coaching staff has not been perfect this year, but there have been so many circumstances outside of their control that calling for Doeren and his staff to be fired is pulling the trigger too quickly.
While a lot of fans are down on the program, Doeren still has a chance to win back the faith of the fan base. After all, the program was seemingly headed in the right direction over the past few years. One down year should not cause mass hysteria among Wolfpack fans.
It is hard to admit, but NC State is not a top-caliber program in college football. While it does indeed have the potential to get there, it will take time to get to a place where .500 seasons will be unexpected.
While Doeren and staff have failed in certain areas like red zone play-calling and mishandling the quarterback situation, they have still earned the right to keep their jobs after one bad season.
While it seems that the season is already a lost cause to many fans, the last two games of the season against Georgia Tech and UNC-Chapel Hill are still tremendously important. For Doeren to salvage the season and keep the faith of most of the fan base, two wins to get to bowl eligibility are essential.
One of the reasons Wolfpack fans seem to be especially antsy when it comes to Doeren has to do with the return of Mack Brown to Chapel Hill.
It’s no secret that Brown has seemingly taken all of the momentum Doeren had with the program and shifted it the Tar Heels way.
Over the past decade, NC State has dominated Chapel Hill on the gridiron, but over the past couple of seasons, the Wolfpack has also begun to dominate the state in recruiting, something that the program had not done in years.
Mack Brown has quickly reversed that trend since he arrived in Chapel Hill. He and his staff have done a tremendous job in recruiting, even flipping some high-level recruits from the Pack. Wolfpack fans have noticed and felt the sway in momentum between the programs, and recruits have clearly noticed too.
That is what makes this year’s matchup even more important.
If the Wolfpack can find a way to put down a very suspect Georgia Tech team in Atlanta, it will most likely find itself facing UNC with bowl eligibility on the line as both teams will have 5-6 records.
A positive thing going the Pack’s way is that Doeren has been in this position before. In the 2016 edition of the rivalry, a 28-21 win in Chapel Hill to get to 6-6 might’ve saved Doeren’s job.
“I’d say it was [a turning point],” Doeren said last year before facing UNC. “It probably saved my job, winning that game. I wouldn’t be standing here today, probably, had we not won that game.”
That win caused then-athletic director Debbie Yow to hold off on getting rid of Doeren and while having a coach finding himself on the hot seat every few years is discouraging, it’s important to remember what Doeren did after that win in Chapel Hill.
That win ended up giving time for the coaching staff to continue to develop now-NFL players like Jaylen Samuels, Nyheim Hines, Kelvin Harmon and Ryan Finley. Over the past two years, the Pack has been within one win of going to the ACC Championship by knocking off Clemson.
If one rebuilding year is what it takes to have another shot at getting to play in Charlotte for the ACC crown, then so be it. Doeren has got NC State there before and has the potential to get the program to the next level. Whether or not he does it remains to be seen.
What is important now is to help restore some of the faith lost in the program and to build momentum for next year. Two wins to close out the season may very well do that.
With a game in primetime at 7 p.m. in Carter Finley Saturday, Nov. 30, fans and potential recruits will look to this game to see which program will take the step forward past the other. This is the most important game this rivalry has seen in quite a while.
What is certain is that the team will need every seat filled come Nov. 30. While playing to save the season with a win against Chapel Hill is a familiar and undesirable position Wolfpack fans do not want to be in, a win against the school down the road is always a positive. With the stakes so high this time, this season is still far from lost.