RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – As questions about his future at North Carolina State continue to heat up, Wolfpack football coach Dave Doeren defiantly told a handful of reporters on Thursday that he has no plans of leaving at the end of the season.
“Do I have plans down the road one day to retire, sure, but I don’t have any plans to do that,” Doeren said. “I’m going to keep coaching, I’ve got four years left on my contract.”
Doeren is currently in his 13th season as head coach at N.C. State, but has never come close to winning an Atlantic Coast Conference title. Four times, his squads won nine games, one win short of that elusive 10-win season. After four straight winning seasons, the Wolfpack took a step back last year, finishing with a 6-7 record, and Doeren’s current squad stands at 4-4 with three tough games and its archrival left on the schedule.
“I want this place to be as good as it can be, that’s what I want, and we’ve done a lot here to make this a stable, successful, competitive program, and I love these kids,” Doeren said. “I’m having fun, and I know losing sucks and it hurts and I’m pissed as hell on Sunday and Monday, but I’m having fun going to practice with this football team.”
Quite the contrast from a year ago. Doeren admitted last year’s team was not a fun one to coach.
“It was hard – last year’s team was hard, and this is not last year,” he said. “At the end of every year, you look at it and say, ‘Man, that was really hard,’ or ‘I didn’t really enjoy that,’ but what can we do better? But I’m going to worry about it at the end of the season.”
The question remains: will the decision to come back next season be up to Doeren, or will athletic director Boo Corrigan opt to go in a different direction? On the surface, it looks like Doeren has lost the fan base, and that’s a situation that’s tough to battle back from.
“Sometimes you’ve got to step away from it and give yourself a little breath and not make emotional decisions,” Doeren said. “But right now, it ain’t about that. It’s about trying to beat a really good Georgia Tech football team.”
The Wolfpack (4-4, 1-3 ACC) hosts the undefeated Yellow Jackets (8-0, 5-0 ACC) at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.