Connect with us

Here is the second half of NC State head coach Dave Doeren’s Media Day Press Conference.  Below the video is a transcript of some of his main points.

On Will Richardson…

He had a great summer in the weight room. He got a lot stronger. He’s been hurt. He’s had nicks that have bumped him out of the training cycle. He have a sprained ankle, or a sprained knee, or mono, or pinkeye. It was crazy. You need a eight week window to maximize your growth. He never really got one of those until this summer. I think he matured a lot and the redshirt year helped him. Will has a great passion and energy for the game of football. I think that’s something our offensive line needed. It’s contagious. And he finishes. He worked really hard this first week to get himself in the conversation.

On what Jacoby Brissett needed to work on…

What we needed him to fix, you saw him fix as the season went on. I think some of it wasn’t so much on him, as it was about being a first year starter. You make mistakes. You learn from your mistakes. We also played three of the best defenses in the conference in one month, which I also think had something to do with it. He overstrided on his drop sometimes which got him off balance, and he would struggle on his feet against pass rushes. That is something we have worked on really hard this spring that has helped him. His accuracy down the field has been tremendous and fall camp. That was the one thing we challenged him to do this summer, and we’ve seen really good results so far. Last year I think he would let things he couldn’t control get to him. Other players. How hey we’re playing or not playing. Injuries…whether players would be in or out. Now he’s just focused on what he can control, and that has helped a lot. If a guy drops a ball it doesn’t bother him anymore. You can see him handling adversity better.

On Pharoah McKever…

He plays in non pass rush situations, but he is still learning to be that every down attitude type guy. He’s competitive. He’s coachable. You’ve got to remember that he was playing quarterback and receiver two years ago. It’s a mindset. The D-Line is just different. Your motor has to run got all of the time. It’s getting there, but it’s not there yet.

On M.J. Salahuddin…

He knows our scheme extremely well. He has played the Will and the Mike. He knows both sides of the formation. He’s very focused and a professional when it comes to how he handles himself. I think those first few days off of coming off of an acl there is a mental block, even though the doctors telling you that your good. He’s going to have a series of firsts. He has to get through all those things to realize that this thing is ok. That’s just part of the recovery process. He’s where we thought he would be at this point.

On moving Kentavius Street to Defensive Tackle…

We lost some great production inside. He’s one of the few players that can play both.  He’s fast enough to be an end, and certainly strong and big enough to be a tackle.  We just felt like he would be a disruptive force in there and create a lot of mismatches.  We hope he is.  That’s why we did it.  We felt good about what we had coming back at defensive end, or we wouldn’t have made the move.

On having the worst non conference schedule according to FoxSports…

There’s a lot of things said in the preseason, and some of them may come true, and some of them may not.  We’ll see if they’re good at that.  I still think we play on the toughest side of a conference as anybody.  That’s part of what goes into setting up the other part of our schedule.  Some of it we inherited, as you already know, and that is what it is.  We play some really good conference teams.  When you play with 70% of your team as young as we are, I think we did the right thing.  It’s about building your team.  That’s what is most important.  Not what Fox thinks.  When you become an experienced football team, you can add different games, but after this season this conversation is going to end, because of who we have on the schedule going forward.  This is the last time they will be able to say that.

Related Topics:

Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

Click to comment
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NC State Football

Does the Addition of the UVA Series Equal the Elimination of NC State’s Series with App St.?

Published

17 hours ago

on

May 17, 2024

By

Earlier this week it was announced that NC State and Virginia would play one another in a home-and-home series, with the Wolfpack hosting in 2025, and the Cavaliers hosting in 2026.

Prior to the announcement, NC State already had their non-conference slate booked for both of those seasons.

As a result of the addition of the Virginia series, a previously scheduled non-conference game from each season would need to be dropped. While it hasn’t been officially announced by the school, Joe Giglio and David Glenn seem to think that the series with Appalachian State is going to be dropped.

It would make the most sense, considering the Mountaineers were the only opponent the Wolfpack was scheduled to play in both 2025 and 2026. It would also make sense, considering the fact that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips isn’t a fan of ACC teams playing Group of 5 schools on the road.

I will tell you this much. The Mountaineer faithful certainly believe NC State is dropping the series with App State, and it just takes a little scrolling on X (formerly Twitter) to get a read on their feelings on the situation.

This situation brings to mind the bill that has been proposed in the North Carolina House of Representatives that would force NC State and UNC to play App St., ECU and UNC Charlotte in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball.

If the addition of UVA means the elimination of App St. on NC State’s schedule, what are your thoughts? Share in the comments.

Continue Reading

NC State Football

CBS Sports Ranks Dave Doeren as 1 of the Top-20 Coaches in College Football

Published

1 day ago

on

May 16, 2024

By

CBS Sports released their Top-25 Power 4 Coaches in College Football, and NC State’s Dave Doeren came in at #16. Heading into last season, he went into the season ranked #25.

16) Dave Doeren: The NC State coach finally gets some overdue credit. He’s always hovered around the bottom of our top 25 or just outside it, and now he finds himself firmly entrenched in it thanks to all the changes at the top. Coaches who take mid-tier programs and overachieve never get enough credit, in my estimation, and the consistency Doeren has established at NC State — where he spent most of his time in a division with Clemson and Florida State — is one of the most impressive things any coach in the country has done. I’m glad to see Doeren getting closer to the top 15. 2023 rank: 25 (+9) (CBS Sports)

Numerous CBS Sports’ analysts voted in the poll, and Tom Fornelli actually ranked Doeren #8.

ACC Coaches that made the Top-25

3. Dabo Swinney (Clemson)

8. Mike Norvell (FSU)

16. Dave Doeren (NC State)

19. Jeff Brohm (Louisville)

Continue Reading

NC State Football

NC State vs. Tennessee Kickoff Time & TV Network Revealed

Published

2 days ago

on

May 15, 2024

By

Kickoff time and TV Channel details have been revealed for NC State and Tennessee’s game in the Duke Mayo Classic in Week 2 of next season.

The game will be a primetime game on Saturday 7th, at 7:30pm on ABC.

Image

This game has the makings to be a Top-25 matchup.

Here’s a look at some of the Way-Too-Early Preseason rankings for the Wolfpack and the Volunteers:

Action Network: NC State #24/Tennessee #17

ON3: NC State #22/Tennessee #15

247: NC State #21/Tennessee #11

ESPN: NC State #17/Tennessee #15

DraftKings released their way-too-early odds for the game, and Tennessee is currently a 5.5-point favorite.

Here’s the deal, as NC State fans, if we want to be a big time Football program, NC State fans need to gobble up tickets to this game. Let’s do our part and make sure that Bank of America Stadium is painted RED. Buy Tickets HERE.

Continue Reading

NC State Football

NC State and UVA Agree to Home-and-Home Non-Conference Games

Published

3 days ago

on

May 15, 2024

By

NC State announced this morning that the Wolfpack and UVA will play in a home-and-home non-conference series, with the game in 2025 being in Raleigh, and the game in 2026 being in Charlottesville.

Image

To reiterate, despite the fact that both teams are in the ACC, these games are considered non-conference games, and won’t count toward conference records. This is similar to what UNC and Wake Forest did a few years back.

Here’s what’s interesting about the addition of these games in 2025 and 2026. Prior to the announcement, NC State already had 4 non-conference games scheduled for both years.

It would be my assumption that one of the previously scheduled non-conference games for each season will not take place now.

Continue Reading