Former NC State LB, Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher has been a 'mentor' to NC State coach Dave Doeren

NC State coach Dave Doeren grew up a Kansas City Chiefs fan and he watched as then-defensive coordinator Bill Cowher led the team’s defense, he said earlier this week on his radio show. But after three years in the City of Fountains, Cowher took off for Pittsburgh to become the Steelers’ head coach. 

Fast forward 21 years from that moment, Doeren was named the head coach at NC State — Cowher’s alma mater. It signified a full-circle moment for the Wolfpack coach, who went from studying Cowher’s defenses to having the NFL Hall of Fame coach as a mentor in Raleigh. 

Now, Doeren will get to watch on as Cowher is inducted into the NC State Ring of Honor on Friday night before the Wolfpack’s nationally televised contest against Louisville.

“To have coach Bill Cowher, having his name put up in the Ring of Honor in our stadium, is a great opportunity for us to recognize a great Wolfpack alum that’s obviously a Hall of Fame coach,” Doeren said earlier this week. “[He’s] been a tremendous mentor to me, so I’m proud to get to be a part of that experience.”

Cowher spent four years at NC State and worked his way into a starting spot at linebacker for the Wolfpack. He ranks seventh in school history in career tackles (371), and his 195 stops during the 1978 campaign are still the program single-season record. 

Before he went on to become a Super Bowl winning coach with the Steelers, Cowher cut his teeth in coaching as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns. From there, he was named the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator and then the Steelers’ head coach. 

Though it’s been 43 years since Cowher put on the NC State red and white, his time has come to be forever inducted into the team’s ring of honor. 

“Bill Cowher has left an indelible mark on the game of football and is certainly beloved by Wolfpack Nation,” NC State Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan said in an August press release. “It is an absolute privilege to recognize his remarkable contributions and celebrate his outstanding career.”

For Doeren, who said he’s enjoyed learning from Cowher, the former Wolfpack linebacker has been an invaluable tool for the 11th-year coach. Why? Well, “for no reason other than he loves NC State,” Doeren said. 

Doeren has mentioned the “dash” within a coaching tenure — the birth date to the end date — before, and he noted that the footprint Cowher left behind is outstanding.

“That dash is your legacy,” Doeren said. “It’s what you stood for, it’s what you meant, it’s what you leave behind. Obviously coach Cowher has left a tremendous legacy in coaching, and as a player here. … [And] as a mentor in the coaching profession.”

But as Doeren reflected on Cowher’s legacy in coaching, his came up. The Wolfpack head man is two wins from tying longtime NC State coach Earle Edwards for the most wins in program history. 

While Doeren is likely to surpass Edwards in the next few weeks, he is not focused on how many wins he’s accumulated during his time in Raleigh. Instead, he is set on doing the best he could at the helm of the Wolfpack. 

“My job is to do the best that I can,” Doeren said. “When I don’t do exactly what I want, when I fail, is to learn from my failures and to keep grinding and pushing. And I feel like I’ve done that here. We’ve evolved, we’ve improved, we’ve been consistent. … We’ve played tough, hard-nosed football, we don’t quit in games.”

Doeren has instilled a positive attitude, blue-collar culture within the NC State program in his more than a decade as the team’s coach. While the all-time wins record approaches — and his 100th career win as a coach across NC State and Northern Illinois is a pair of victories away, Doeren’s coaching philosophy is what he was most pleased with. 

“What my legacy will be here, time will tell,” Doeren said. “But I think one thing I am proud of is the culture we created; the consistency that we have; what we stand for; the reputation we have in the profession — and in the state — in the way we treat our players. Those are things that are meaningful to me. Those are the things that matter to me.”