NC State’s culture was tested. It found a way to stick together — and win critical games — in the process

NC State had plenty of chances to fold as a team. It dealt with one of the most-injury laden rosters in the ACC, while the Wolfpack fan base clamored to have coach Dave Doeren fired in the midst of losing four of five after a 3-0 start to the 2025 campaign.  But each time the Pack faced adversity this fall — there was plenty of it — the program leaned on what Doeren built the foundation of: Hard, tough, together. He established a “hand in the dirt” mindset within the first few years of his tenure, working to embody the team’s blue-collar fan base that wanted to see a consistent winner in Raleigh.  Doeren achieved that for much of his first dozen seasons leading the Wolfpack, including seven campaigns with eight or more wins, to make bowl trips feel as if they were a given at the end of the year. It wasn’t if the team was going to be playing in a 13th game each year, it was a matter of where it would be. But after the first eight games this season, Doeren’s chair was pressured to grow warm by a restless fan base. A bowl wasn’t a given with the Wolfpack’s November schedule that featured Georgia Tech, Miami, Florida State and North Carolina — the former pair of teams being the class of the ACC this fall, while the latter two are known to present a tough challenge for any team, no matter their record going into it. Despite all the challenges, including 14 starters missing at least one game due to injury this season (three of which were season-ending, all on the defensive side of the ball), NC State rallied around its gritty coach. It didn’t give up on the head honcho, who was adamant that the only way he’d leave his current contract that runs through 2029 would be via firing.