WATCH: Dave Doeren Talks After Practice Before NC State vs. Duke

Head Coach Dave Doeren met with the media after practice today before NC State’s game in Durham against Duke this Saturday. You can watch the video above, and read the transcript below.

Big game coming up. What do you guys, how are you guys feeling right now on today?

Good. Excited. Good week of prep. Guys are definitely leaning into improvement.

I think that’s the biggest thing you see. Obviously, we’re excited about our record, but we know that we can play a lot better than we’ve played for 4 quarters, putting together spurts of quarters and halves, but not whole games on each side of the ball, special teams included.

Just trying to play a 3-phase football game better than we have. That’s really the ultimate goal.

Third in-state game out of four games, so another opportunity to play an in-state opponent. We all know how important those are here. How important is it to try to get off to a fast start?

Yeah, I mean, as opposed to what? Fast start, I mean, kind of an easy one to answer. You want to win every game, and momentum helps your team.

So we’ve got good momentum. Our guys have faced adversity multiple times and have stayed poised. So we know, as coaches, what our guys are capable of in tough situations.

You don’t always find that out in the 1st quarter of the season, like we have. So there’s a lot of information that we know about our guys that’s good to know. They’ve done a nice job sticking together, listening to coaching, coming up with adjustments, and then making plays when they need to be made.

What do you do to make sure that you’re staying as stress-free as you possible in this very stressful job? What you do to encourage your staff to do the same?

I think routine for us is a big thing. Having a healthy routine.

Sleep isn’t always guaranteed, even if you get home early, because there’s a million thoughts going through your head. Trying to eat well. Trying to exercise. Preparation.

When you prepare well, you feel ready. I think as the season goes on, you feel more and more confident about your preparation, because you have more information on your opponents.

Same thing with the staff, getting them out of here. Thursday nights, we get our coaches out of here, so they can be with their families, and get that quality time with their spouses and children. So there’s some balance.

Is there someone you learned that from? You can’t work guys to the ground, or maybe need to push harder?

Both ways. I’ve worked for guys that sleep in the office, and they’re there all night, and I’ve seen that take a toll on them.

I’ve worked for guys probably that didn’t work hard enough, and you’re like, “Nah, we should see more,” and then I’ve been with guys that had good balance. I think that’s what we seek, is that balance.

It’s my job to kind of feel the pulse, not just with the staff, but with the players. When do we need to push them harder? When do we need to back off a little bit? As a head coach, you’re responsible for the environment that your team and your staff work in, prepare in, practice in, lift in, recover in.

I pay a lot of attention to that, and I rely on coaches, staff and players to give me feedback when I ask for it. Honest feedback…not yes-men feedback. Like, “Hey, you probably need to back off a little bit…or “Hey, why don’t you push them tomorrow?” They know they can give me that kind of input.

What’s your take on the new transfer portal window just being one time in December now?

Well, I think it’s better for roster management. I don’t know what the perfect zone of the calendar is, because our calendar seems to change every year right now.

I like that it’s after most of the bowl games. I think that’s a positive. There’s way too many guys opting out to transfer, and all we do is talk about finish. Giving them a calendar that allows them to finish what they started, I think, is a good move. Having one window, I think, is a good move.

There shouldn’t be two times a year where you have to worry about guys leaving. If they sign a deal with you, they should be with you for at least one calendar year, so I think it’s way better than what we had. Is this going to be the perfect window? I think we’ll have to just do what we’ve been doing, and it’s a new era.

You try something, you think it’s going to work, then you assess it afterwards, you self-scout it, and see what the problems were.

How much of a weapon is CJ Bailey, not only running the football, but also just being aware, in the pocket, and sack avoidance, and things like that?

He’s a big weapon. He’s multi-talented. He can think, process information, and sees the game.

He understands what’s coming at him. He knows his teammates really well, his chemistry with those guys. He knows where to put the football. He understands protections.

He’s seen defenses way better than he was a year ago. He can run, and he’s a really tough kid. He’s a really good player and a great human being.

I’m blessed to have a quarterback like him right now, and one that just cares so much, not just about the guys. I mean, he cares about the program. He cares about the school. He cares about his teammates. It’s fun having a QB like CJ running the show.

It’s just the fourth game of the year. How do you, and the staff, kind of approach redshirts?

I mean, we’re trying to win games, and if there’s conversations to be had because the guy’s in that area, then we have them. Ultimately, it comes down to one-on-one conversations with guys.

Some guys want to play, they don’t care. Some guys are worried about how much they’re playing, saying “Hey, use me when you need me, and I understand we need to win games.” Sometimes injuries happen, and that’s going to override the four games.

If they’ve got to play, they’re going to play. With that being said, for years, this five-for-five legislation has been out there, and I would just love for that to pass. I think the four-game redshirt rule was created so that we could give some guys a chance to play a little bit, so that after they redshirt, they would be ready to play.

It’s turned into leverage for other teams to try to get guys to transfer, and agents try to get guys to save years, so they can get more money for them, potentially. Let them play for five years. Let them play as much as they can play for five years, and get that stuff out of there.

Especially now that we’re at a 105 roster limit, eventually it makes sense to have more available players because of attrition, and for us to be able to, “Hey, everybody has a chance. All these guys on the scout team would know if they have a great week and there’s an injury, they could be elevated. They don’t have to worry about that stuff.

I know I’ve talked to a lot of coaches in other leagues, and our coaches in our league, and there’s a lot of people in favor of that, so I hope they do the right thing and grant that rule, and really help college football.

Is there anything that stood out about Mensah on tape? I don’t know if you’ve gone back to his Tulane stuff, but obviously he’s a very good quarterback, but something that really stands out.

I mean, he’s a really good passer. I mean, he can throw every ball. I mean, he can put a zip on it, he can throw it way down the field.

But this year, what you see is when he’s scrambling to throw, he can make all the throws on the run. And he’s made some really nice scramble throws down the field. He’s a good runner.

He’s obviously not a guy they want to run downhill at you all the time, but you’ve got to trust your edges. You’ve got to be sound on QB run game. He’s won a lot of football games at Tulane. They were a really, really good football team.

He’s been a leader on a winning football team, so you know he’s got command presence.

You’ve got Duke in the fourth game of the year. This is the second conference game both on the road. Generally, this early in the season, you don’t have that great of an opportunity to go 2-0. How big of an opportunity is this for your team? Have you expressed that to them?

Everything we’re talking about is one game at a time. What does this win do for us? To say, “Hey, at the end of this game, we could be 4-0,” but we’d be sitting in the position we’d want, 2-0 in the league.

Then you go play another one, and same conversation again. You don’t get too far ahead, you just stay in the moment.

Against a team we haven’t played well against, flat out. We have not. We have not gone out there and coached our best, played our best football. So, another personal thing, just the internal pride of putting your best product on the field week-in-and-week-out, something that matters a lot.

That improvement from week-three-to-week-four is all we’re focused on. If we’re a better football team than we were in the last game, and a better football team than we were in the second game, the first game, then you can win the fourth game. That’s how it has to play out.