WATCH: Dave Doeren Meets With the Media After Practice in Week 1 of Bowl Prep

Wolfpack Head Coach Dave Doeren met with the media today after practice in Week 1 of Bowl Prep for NC State’s game against ECU in the Military Bowl on December 28th. Doeren talked about Bill Belichick, opportunity at the slot position, Isaiah Moore moving into a coaching role and the significance of Bowl Practices.

You can watch the video ABOVE, and read the transcript BELOW.

Dave, I’ve got to ask the question. So apologies ahead of time, but Bill Belichick going to UNC.

That’s the first question I’m gonna get today.

What a shocker.

I know, right? Any thoughts just on what that means for ACC football here in the Triangle, anything like that?

Well, one, welcome to the ACC, and excited to compete against coach. Obviously, all coaches in the business have a great amount of respect and know what he’s done in the profession.

So for me as a competitor, I’m excited to compete, and that’s about all I have to say about it, because I’m really not thinking a whole lot about that program, thinking about my own.

You guys had some turnover at the slot. Is this going to maybe open up some spots for the outside receivers to bump in a little bit?

Yeah, we’ll have to move some guys around and will, and give guys opportunities. At the end of the day, you want to give your best guys the most reps, so that’s what we’ll do.

We’ll shift things, move guys around, and there’ll be opportunity for the outside room and also for some of the younger slots. Now you don’t worry about redshirt counting when you get into the postseason, so some of those guys that played in four games can play in a bowl game.

So a lot of guys are getting reps right now.

Speaking of guys getting opportunities, what do you see from Jonathan Paylor?

Yesterday, he had two really good catches. Good to see him.

As you know, he was a running back and a receiver, Jet Sweep guy in high school. So you could see that he got better catching the ball, being on the scout team, playing against our DB’s every day. But he made two really nice contact, turn your body type catches with his hands yesterday.

So that was great to see. We all know how fast he is, but learning how to play that position and it’s not always fast. Sometimes it’s about the nuances of route running and how to get open and read coverage.

So you’ve seen improvement in him.

Isaiah Moore, his chance to Coach the Linebackers. What is that like for you to see him step up?

Yeah, it’s fun to watch.

For me, I’m excited for the players to have him in there. Obviously, a guy that cares deeply about this program and put his heart and soul into it as a player. Now he gets to pour that into those guys and lead them on the field.

I know he’s excited and he’ll do a great job of it.

What about him kind of made him right for the spot?

I mean, this is what he wants to do for a living. Football’s told him he’s not playing anymore, and he’s told football that I’m gonna coach guys that can. He’s passionate about it. He loves the sport.

He loves the program. So I mean, it was a natural. I knew when he was a player, when it was time, that we wanted him somewhere in our program.

What have you seen from Freddie (Aughtry-Lindsay) over these past few days as he stepped into that role (Interim Defensive Coordinator), just in terms of preparation, how the team has rallied around him?

Putting the game plan together will be later in the week. It’s just been good-on-good work and fundamental work so far.

He takes pride in what he does. Yesterday, our first practice was a little bit rusty over there, so it was good to see the guys come back and have a better day. They definitely responded.

I know how much NC State means to him, just like Isaiah. And that’s one of the reasons I love hiring alumni. It’s different when it’s your team, your school.

The pride factor is important, so there’s value in that. I’m excited to see, just over the next three weeks, because there’s a lot to that job.

It’s not just two practices. So excited to see him put it all together.

You’ve had a high defensive standard, and as you said, the job (Defensive Coordinator) is very popular right now. Are there certain things that you’re looking for, like having someone that does a 3-3-5? Or are you pretty much just open to whatever is the best?

I want to do what’s best for our football program. We’ve recruited to this scheme.

So being 3-3-5 or 3-4, I want to stay multiple, present a lot of different fronts, coverages, pressures. I’m not a big bend-but-don’t-break guy. So being able to do those things, but also we’ve had success.

So it’s not a makeover, but there is going to be an evolution of sorts. Whether it’s Freddie or somebody else, who takes this thing to another place, that’s our goal. Anytime you have an end of a year, whether it’s a retention coach coming back or a new coach coming in, you want to be better.

That’ll be the goal, whether it’s a new hire or not, to improve the scheme, improve the guys, and develop the players.

Process of hiring coaches that you have connections with vs. coaches you don’t have a connection with…

Yeah, it’s a process. Having new ideas in the program is great, so I’m not necessarily like ‘I’ve got to hire a guy I know to trust him. I don’t believe that.

I am a good, I think, judge of character, and I know what our program’s about. I know the type of guy I want in the room with the players. So it’s a conversation when you don’t know him.

It’s calling people that have worked with him that you trust and do know. Obviously, watching their teams play matters. You see the style of play, whether it fits, not just what style of play we want to have, but maybe we want to grow to, in Eli’s (Drinkwitz) case.

That was a time where I really wanted to be able to throw the football more, and he was able to do that and have a run game, and he was creative. That’s the thing I love about Robert (Anae), is his creativity. So you’re always looking, not only for the fit schematically, but the fit personality-wise.

It’s a process, and that’s why I don’t need to rush it in this situation. We’ve got great guys here working with the players, and we’ll see where it goes.

You hear, whether it be you or coaches in general, talk about how important these bowl game practices can be. Are there any kind of specifics you try to look for in this time frame, in terms of, you mentioned good-on-good, anything else like that?

Well, it starts with fundamentals. So we had however many days off after the UNC game, and we go out there and there’s rust, and we want to get the guys back into the timing of running plays, footwork, route depth, all the things, the timing of throws for the quarterback.

Then you want to see them compete, and sometimes you’ll see a guy make a play that is just a confidence booster.

I’ve seen that with Noah Rodgers, the catch he had at Carolina has built him up, and he’s had back-to-back days. He had a game-winning catch today on a two-minute drill that he did. So you see that, or these confidence plays happen in a practice.

I always think about that. What if we wouldn’t have done that drill today, and that play wouldn’t have happened? How could that have changed the climb that you want to see in a guy? That’s what development is. It’s not just weight room and running and practice. It’s the plays that they make and the lessons that they can take from those plays and the confidence that’s gained, because this is a confidence game.

There’s certain positions in particular, huge confidence positions. Jackson Vick made a great play today, and he played a lot in the last game. So you’re seeing that young man gain confidence and become who we want him to be, and that’s awesome.

That’s why you go out there and compete.