What NC State coach Dave Doeren said at Pigskin Preview

The 23rd annual Bill Dooley Pigskin Preview gave local fans of area colleges a chance to hear from the various coaches Friday at the Hilton Raleigh North Hills hotel.

NC State coach Dave Doeren, who is entering his 13th season, was able to answer six questions from host David Glenn.

What is an early childhood memory of loving the game of football?

“Yeah, I grew up in Kansas City and so was a pretty [big] Kansas City Chiefs fan. At that time, we were not what we are today. Pretty bad at that time. So there was a linebacker though that’s actually an App. State grad, Dino Hackett, who had the biggest neck roll in the world.

“At that time that was pretty cool. So all of us that played football were running around with extra pads and big neck rolls trying to be like Dino Hackett, from the Kansas City Chiefs. Yeah, that was basically it.”

Related link: Video reel: NC State coach Dave Doeren, area coaches at Pigskin Preview

How has the financial structure of college football changed things?

“It’s probably the last three or four years.  I’ve been doing this 30 more years of college now, seeing more change than I did in the previous 28 of my career. And when the NIL first started, it was a mess. I think we’re all happy that the revenue share is now on campus. 

“We were out fundraising, Manny and I, when NIL started. It was 50 percent of our job. I mean, it was crazy. 

“I now know that there’s guaranteed rev share dollars that we don’t have to go out and do that with. I felt sorry for the donors, a lot of them are in here. It was donor fatigue for many of you. 

“I thank everyone in here that’s got that, because it’s important. It’s been great to see what some of our student-athletes have been able to do for their families. Life-changing for some of them. 

“You know rent was up and they couldn’t pay the rent, things like that. Getting their families to come to games. It’s been really good. You know, for the ADs that we work for, the Chancellors, Presidents that we work for, to know that that revenue now is coming in through guaranteed streams, I think it’s been a very positive thing. 

“I would say, we all deal with the negative sides of it. Hopefully they’ll be able to get their arms around, making this thing what it’s supposed to be. The NCAA was created to create a level playing field for college sports, and it’s been the opposite the last four years. 

“It’s been who can pay the most to create a football team. As you saw with last year’s national champion [Ohio State], supposedly was paid over $20 million for their roster. We need to get back to where coaching and development and relationships is still the major focus behind what we do, and not just how much we can come up with to get somebody on our team.”

What led you to get into coaching?

“On the pre-med track in college, I thought I was going to be an orthopedic surgeon. My dream team, the Kansas City Chiefs doctor, ended up doing knee surgery on me right before my senior season. 

“I asked him if I could shadow him through the process, if I could get an internship. For two weeks prior to the surgery and two weeks after, that’s how dumb I am, I got an epidural so I could stay awake and watch my own knee surgery. I actually did that. And I had both of my knees done the same day. That’s the surgery on both knees. I watched the whole thing, and I thought that was pretty dang cool. I was sick that way, I guess. 

“When it ended, Jon Browne, who was the team doctor at Chiefs called him around. He was gracious to me. He was running from meeting-to-meeting. He had a three-hour wait to get in and see him. 

“He couldn’t spend time with his patients. So I left him and just said, ‘Doc, I love football. I love helping people. I’m pretty good at science. This is what I wanted to do. It doesn’t seem like you have any relationships with your patients anymore.’

“He said, ‘I can’t.’ So I left there pretty disheartened. Went home and met with my high school counselor who was a mentor of mine. He said, ‘Just take a gap year. You don’t have to go to med school right away. Come home. We’ll pay you a couple bucks to help coach the football team.’

“So I did that and fell in love with coaching and was very fortunate after a year of high school coaching, my college coach [at Drake] hired me to be a GA. 

“At that time, it was pretty cool. It was me as a GA. and Chris Ash, who’s the D-Coordinator for Notre Dame, was the other GA on defense. Brendan Daly, coached [with] coach [Bill] Belichick. He’s the linebacker coach for the Chiefs now. Charlie Partridge is the D-Line coach for the Colts. We were the four GAs at Drake and we all played together. So my head coach got all four of us in the profession. 

“It’s turned out really well. And I will say, sidebar, my mom wanted to beat the living you know what out of me when I told her I’m not going to med school, I’m going to be a high school coach. She has wised up now. Tough week at the house.” 

What is your quarterback situation going into the season opener?

“Yeah, it’s nice to have a returning starter, I’ll say that, to lead off. It’s been three years. I was fortunate early on, had Jacoby Brissett for three years [playing two], and then Ryan Finley for three years. Had [Donovan] Leary for multiple years. 

“Then I’ve been in the transfer portal world here for three years. C.J. Bailey returns as our starting quarterback. C.J. was thrust in to be a starter as a true freshman mid-year last year and has grown a lot. He looks great. He’s put on 30 pounds since we got him on campus 18 months ago.

“One of the best, just emotional and spiritual type guys. When he walks in the room, you just smile. He’s got great enthusiasm for football, for his teammates, for leadership. 

“Going into an offseason with a returning starter as a head coach is a nice feeling, especially when you like who that returning starter is. 

“Behind him, we love the guys that we have. Lex Thomas, who is the third Thomas son that we’ve had now. Drake Thomas is with the Seahawks, and Thayer is with the Vikings. Lex is our backup. 

“We signed a young man last year that came in early, Will Wilson, that we’re really excited about as well.”

What is a “You have to be kidding me” story about NIL and player demands?

“Yeah, I’m going to say you’ve got to be kidding me with that question. I’ll just give you an example. So, this was last year. We had a young man, a big kid, and he was earning some NIL money, and at the end of the year, the biggest problem we face is the agents. 

“The agents call these young men and their families, and they promise them whatever amount of money to leave and go to another school. Sometimes it’s hard to get it out of them. I knew what he was making, and I said, ‘Well, what are you talking about?’ He’s like, ‘Well, I got a school that’s going to pay me three times that.’ I just said, ‘Well, where is it?; He told me. 

“I said, ‘You need to take it, because I’m not paying you that, and you’re a back up for us.’ He was paid three times the amount of money to go to this other school, and we play him, so we’ll see how it turns out. You know, it’s just crazy some of the numbers that get thrown around, and you never know, for them or for us, if some of this information is even real. Some of these agents lie to these kids left and right.”

What are your thoughts about your team going into the season?

“I’m excited to get back on the grass with our players. It is definitely a team and a staff that has a lot to prove. We look forward to all the teams that we play.

“We have a great schedule. We have some mid-week games, which is always unique for the players. We played the usuals in the state, but then going to Notre Dame, at Miami (Fla.), Florida State at home. It’s a great schedule.

“We are looking forward to it. We return some guys from last year’s team and we felt we left a lot of meat on the bone. Manny [Diaz] is right [about close games]. We played nine one-possession games a year ago. We lost five in the last 60 seconds. It was a team that was on the verge of something great, but ended up with something average. To take the next step, we have to be better finishers.

“That is really what it comes down to. We put ourselves in position to win a lot of football games and didn’t get it done. Ultimately, that is getting these kids to believe they can. Football is a huge confidence game. It’s a big, big thing for them.

“We look forward to kicking it off Thursday night in Raleigh against a really good ECU football team.”