NC State Football
Vonwolf: Many in WPN Will View Saturday as a Lose-Lose for Doeren
If it were up to fanbases to make coaching decisions, there would need to be 100 D1 seats filled each and every football season. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; being a football coach of a Power 5 school is brutal. When the fanbase hasn’t seen much success? It gets even worse.
Saturday brings yet another prime opportunity for NC State to take a step forward. While Clemson is #9 in the country, this is without question their most vulnerable squad in a number of seasons.
And in the end, the results won’t matter to many.
Nov 9, 2019; Raleigh, NC, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney (left) and North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren chat prior to a game at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
If State Loses
My God. Two weeks ago, WPN was a disaster, and rightfully so. While every loss brings out the ugly in a fanbase, this one seemed to strike a deeper nerve. State had a chance to go on the road and beat a middle of the road SEC team and they fell woefully short.
That’s the State way.
Since taking over State in the 2013 season, Doeren’s teams are 4-19 against top-25 teams. The wins include FSU (12), Louisville (17), Pitt (24) and Liberty (21). Furthermore, there hasn’t been any consistency in these “upsets” with two coming in 2017 and the latter two games last year. That said, find humor in it if you please, Doeren is UNDEFEATED AGAINST RANKED TEAMS…if you only look at FCS matchups.
So a Clemson loss shouldn’t be anything new, but I would argue, it would be.
When defending a coach, you continue to find reasons why it hasn’t worked, why people should give them another chance. Yet, it will become increasingly harder to almost near impossible if things fall apart again. This team has talent and experience…Clemson is struggling…It’s a home game in beautiful Carter-Finley.
No more if’s, and’s or but’s…we need a damn win.
If we don’t, there will be quite the subset of WPN that won’t be coming back until a coaching change is made. Not to say they won’t watch this team on Saturdays, but their literal investment in them won’t be the same.
We’re all done losing. We want to win.
If State Wins
This is the dream right? This is the monkey off the back? State will be 3-3 against ranked opponents over the last two seasons, we’re moving up, right?
Here’s where my aforementioned struggles of coaching a Power 5 team that has underachieved hits hardest. For if State beats Clemson, then the only next step for many in WPN is an ACC Championship Game appearance.
It’s as brutal, as it is true.
When you take down the ACC dragon, you can’t slip up against a struggling Louisville or a Syracuse, or heaven forbid, LA Tech the very next weekend. Every ounce of pressure will be on Doeren and any further loss, especially in conference, will be that much bigger of a dagger into the hearts of WPN.
“We finally beat Clemson and all we got was this Third Place in the Atlantic T-shirt.”
I have mixed feelings on Doeren, but I always tend to skew towards keeping him. Tell me I’m settling, but I also don’t mind knowing we’ll be at somewhere around 8-9 wins a year. However, the overall conference record and history against ranked opponents is brutal. At some point, winning is all fun until you realize a sizable chunk is FCS and just dogsh*t schools.
In Conclusion
Either Doeren’s seat is in flames by 6pm Saturday or WPN has poured gasoline allllllllll around it, just waiting to light the match. It’s not a position I’d like to be in, but I also realize that’s part of the job description.
Regardless, there will be a steady stream of record reminders. There will be debates in the parking lot pre and post game, and swigs of Old Tuffy in C-F with a yell.
For now, I just hope we win. #GoPack
Congratulations to the 7 NC State Football Players that just graduated this Spring.
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2024 Football Spring Graduates
Linebacker Devon Betty (1 year of eligibility)
Defensive End Davin Vann (1 year of eligibility)
Cornerback Aydan White (1 year of eligibility)
Offensive Guard Anthony Carter Jr. (2 years of eligibility)
Offensive Lineman Matt McCabe (2 years of eligibility)
Offensive Tackle Patrick Matan (2 years of eligibility)
Offensive Lineman Brendan Lawson (no longer on the roster)
NC State Football
Proposed Bill in the NC House Would Require NC State & UNC To Play One Another, as well as ECU, UNCC and App St.
A bill has been proposed by members of the North Carolina House of Representatives that would force NC State and UNC to play one another, as well as East Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Appalachian State.
According to House Bill 965, which you can read here in full, NC State and UNC would be required to play one another annually in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball. The Wolfpack and the Tar Heels would also be forced to play a game annually in all three sports against either ECU, UNC-Charlotte or App St. Every six years, NC State and UNC would be required to have played a home and away game against each of the three school in all three sports.
Here’s the exact wording from the proposed bill:
Competition Required. – A high-enrollment institution shall do all of the following in each eligible sport: (1) Every academic year, play at least one home or one away game against (i) another high-enrollment institution and (ii) an eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. (2) Every six academic years, play at least one home and one away game against each eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. A high-enrollment institution shall alternate home and away games that are scheduled against the same eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution.
For glossary of terms being referenced above:
For the purposes of this bill, “High-enrollment institutions” = NC State and UNC, while “Eligible constituent institutions” = East Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Appalachian State.
It’s worth noting that NC State already has games schedule against each of these teams home-and-away in Football between now and 2031.
2025 – East Carolina (H)
2025 – @ App St.
2026 – App St. (H)
2028 – @ East Carolina
2030 – Charlotte (H)
2031 – @ Charlotte
What are your thoughts?
For more details, check out this article at WRAL.
Akron Safety Kerry Martin Jr. (6’1″/195) confirmed with me that he will be taking an Official Visit to NC State next week beginning on May 7th.
After receiving an offer from NC State yesterday, it didn’t take him long to set up the visit.
AGTG Blessed to receive an offer from NC State 🤘🏾❤️ #PackPride pic.twitter.com/mIws42lE7L
— Kerry “KJ” Martin Jr. (@_thekerrymartin) May 1, 2024
Martin Jr. is familiar with NC State, because he was recruited by Wolfpack Defensive Coordinator Tony Gibson before he left West Virginia to come to Raleigh. Even though he never coached him, a relationship was established.
Martin Jr.’s connections to NC State are deeper than that. Former NC State Cornerback Derrek Pitts, who is currently a member of the Tampa Bay Bucs, is his cousin.
This past year, Martin Jr. recorded 45 tackles, 2 interceptions and 6 pass breakups for Akron, starting in 9 of the 11 games he played in. His PFF Grade was 68.9.
In 2022, he had 53 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass breakup, starting in 9 of the 11 games he played in. Martin Jr.’s PFF Grade was 60.9.
In 2019, as a Freshman for West Virginia, Martin Jr. earned PFF Freshman All-American honors, recording a grade of 70.6, with 50 tackles and 3 pass breakups.
In Game film… pic.twitter.com/vunpDgPsBC
— Kerry “KJ” Martin Jr. (@_thekerrymartin) January 16, 2024
247’s Brad Crawford released his Post-Spring 2024 Preseason College Football Top-25 recently, and NC State moved up 1 spot to #20.
ACC Teams in the Top-25
11. FSU
14. Miami
16. Clemson
20. NC State
24. Virginia Tech
25. Louisville
I see your point… DD has made Wolfpack Football relevant – it’s just that I remember the 80’s and 90’s and 2000’s (with the exception of the Sheridan years). This school doesn’t have a football “name”, but it’s starting to get one – at least with the recruits. The football program has been improving overall year after year since he became coach – and this is reflected in the quality of the committed recruits. Also, in the past, every year, we had at least 2 or 3 football players on suspension or kicked off the team due to run-ins with… Read more »
Well, I’m not as down on football as I am on Wolfpack basketball. The MSU loss once again confirmed we have a mediocre coach, running a mediocre program. That will lead to a longer record of mediocre seasons. After awhile, and we may already have reached this point, we will only get mostly mediocre recruits. Then we’re locked in to mediocre, as long as we have Doeren. So I don’t know if it’s a lose-lose game coming up, but at this point in his tenure, Doeren will get fewer chances to break out of mediocre. And the MSU/Clemson/unc/?? chances each… Read more »