CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WNCN) — NC State head coach Dave Doeren never misses a chance to take a jab at the North Carolina Tar Heels.
“You awake still? Seems pretty sleepy in here,” Doeren quipped to start his opening statement, which followed Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels Thursday afternoon at the 2025 ACC Kickoff.
Doeren was commenting on the number of people in the room, which had dwindled as many people followed the new UNC head football coach to his next session.
But the longtime Wolfpack head coach, now entering his 13th season at the helm in Raleigh, isn’t fazed by the hype surrounding his counterpart in Chapel Hill. His goal, he said, is the same as it’s always been.
“We’ve had the same aspirations we’ve always had and that’s been to win,” Doeren said.
The NC State coach said he’s excited to enter this season with his current group of players.
“It’s probably been the most coachable team” he’s had, said Doeren, calling them “very focused.”
One of those players is quarterback CJ Bailey, who is returning for his sophomore season after starting nine games as a true freshman following a season-ending injury to Grayson McCall.
Though there was a carousel of quarterbacks at the other Triangle schools, Bailey opted to stay put, giving Doeren some coveted continuity.
“Your offseason as a head coach is tremendously different when you have a returning quarterback,” said Doeren, noting that all of their specialists are also back this season.
Bailey has been putting in the work and the weight this offseason, adding 30 pounds to his wiry 6’6″ frame. Now, he’s looking forward to building on what he learned after being thrown into the proverbial fire last season.
“I took it like a man,” Bailey said Thursday. “I just got in there and played to the best of my ability. I had no second doubts about myself because I always had my guys around me.”
Bailey’s continuing growth is an example of what Doeren said is always a goal at NC State.
“We want to develop every player in our locker room,” said Doeren.
While the Wolfpack head coach said he’s reached many of his aims over his 13 years in Raleigh — including help players grow — he said he’s still got more in mind.
“I had a lot of goals when I got here and I’ve accomplished a lot of them,” Doeren said. “But there’s still a lot of meat on the bones.”