Appreciating Dave Doeren Becoming NC State’s Winningest Coach

Last Saturday, Dave Doeren became the winningest coach in NC State history. The Wolfpack defeated Miami 20-6, giving Doeren his 78th career win at NC State.

Doeren picked up his 78th win 3/4 of the way through his 11th season in Raleigh.

Doeren passed Earle Edwards, who led the Wolfpack to 77 wins over 17 seasons, which is the longest tenure of any NC State Football coach. Doeren’s tenure of 11 seasons is the 2nd longest tenure.

I know you’re not allowed to erase the 2013 season, when NC State went 3-9 (0-8 in conference) in Doeren’s first season, but indulge me. Since 2014, heading into tomorrow, NC State has the 3rd best overall record in the ACC. Yes, you read that correctly.

Clemson 115-20
Florida St 78-43
NC State 75-48 
Miami 73-50
Louisville 71-53
Pitt 69-55
UNC 67-57
Virginia Tech 65-58
Wake Forest 63-58
Boston College 58-62
Duke 55-57 1
Georgia Tech 54-64 0
Virginia 50-68 1
Syracuse 47-71 1

Once again, if you remove the horrid 2013 season (I know…I know), NC State had a 38-36 ACC record heading into this season, which ranks 6th in the conference over the past 9 seasons. That’s not necessarily anything to be proud of, but it’s not anything to be ashamed of either.

Clemson – 66-7
Pitt – 45-29
Miami – 43-30
FSU – 40-32
UNC – 39-35
NCST – 38-36
Virginia Tech – 37-36
Louisville – 37-37
Georgia Tech – 31-42
UVA – 29-43
Wake Forest – 29-42
Boston College – 27-47
Duke – 25-49
Syracuse – 23-52

With that being said, in a world of what have you done for me lately, Doeren has led NC State to the 2nd best ACC conference record since 2020, trailing only Clemson.

Doeren has led NC State to three 9-win seasons, which is the most in school history. All three of those 9-win seasons have come since 2017, which ranks 2nd in the ACC only to Clemson in that time span.

Nine Win Seasons Since 2017

Clemson – 6
NC State – 3
FSU – 2
Pitt – 2
Louisville – 1
Miami – 1
UNC – 1
Wake Forest – 1
Virginia Tech – 1
Duke – 1
Virginia – 1
Syracuse – 1

(The above list reflects the fact that FSU and Louisville already have reached 9 wins in 2023. Obviously, other teams, including NC State, have the opportunity to still finish with 9 wins by seasons end.)

NC State has gone to 9 bowls under Doeren, which is also the most by a head coach in school history.

NC State has finished the season ranked in the AP Poll twice under Doeren, which is the second most in school history (Lou Holtz – 3).

Doeren hasn’t netted a 10+ win season. Only Chuck Amato did that in 2002, leading the Wolfpack to 11 victories.

He hasn’t won an ACC Championship, which hasn’t been done at NC State since 1979. The Wolfpack have 7 ACC Championships, with Earle Edwards leading NC State to 5 of them. Holtz led NC State to 1 and Bo Rein did as well.

Is Doeren the best coach in school history? No. That accolade probably goes to Dick Sheridan or Lou Holtz. I know that Edwards led NC State to 5 titles, but his overall winning percentage over 17 seasons was 46.8%.

Some of these numbers are impressive, while others leave something to be desired, and I think that’s fitting. I think Doeren is proud of what he’s done in Raleigh, but I don’t think he’s satisfied, and that’s one thing I like about him.