NC State football coaches get new contracts. Dave Doeren receives raise, extension
N.C. State officials believe Dave Doeren has the Wolfpack football program trending in the right direction, and they proved that Thursday where it matters most.
The UNC system’s board of governors has approved a contract extension for Doeren through 2026, senior AD for communications Fred Demarest confirmed. The Wolfpack coach will make around $5 million a year. The school also worked out new deals for all 10 assistant coaches.
Doeren’s previous deal paid him $3.5 million annually, with $1.3 million in potential bonuses. The old deal, which Doeren signed last April, ranked him in the middle of ACC coaches when it comes to salary, according to a USA Today’s college football head coach salaries database.
The new deal puts Doeren, 50, in the top half of the conference. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney remains the highest paid coach in the ACC, with an annual salary of $9.3 million dollars. Only Swinney has been coaching in the ACC longer than Doeren.
At the start of the 2021 season, six ACC coaches had contracts worth more annually than Doeren’s old deal.
Doeren has an overall record of 64-49 in nine seasons at N.C. State. Doeren led the Wolfpack to seven bowls, with three wins. The Holiday Bowl with UCLA was canceled in December.
N.C. State was in the hunt for the Atlantic Division title until the final weekend of the regular season in 2021. A Wake Forest loss at Boston College would have sent the Wolfpack to Charlotte to face Pittsburgh in the ACC Championship game. With 10 starters back on defense and Devin Leary returning at quarterback, the expectations to get to Charlotte are high. The entire coaching staff, including both coordinators, also return next year.
Doeren is going into his 10th season, which makes him the second-longest tenured coach in school history. His 64 wins are second only to Earle Edwards, who won 77 games in 16 seasons. In 2020, N.C. State won a school-record seven ACC games. The Wolfpack is 34-40 overall in ACC play under Doeren, who took over in 2013.
Doeren put together back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2017 and ‘18, and has twice finished second in the Atlantic Division. Over the past two years Doeren has led the Pack to a 17-7 record.
Doeren’s base salary will be $2,439,024, with supplemental compensation of $2,500,000 in quarterly installments on the condition he remains employed in each of those quarterly checkpoints. Any year the team finishes in the Top 25 in the final College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings, Doeren will receive a bonus of $50,000. If the Pack finishes in the top 15, Doeren will get a bonus of $100,000. Under the new contract, Doeren will earn an additional $50,000 for eight wins; $100,000 for nine; $150,000 for 10; $200,000 for 11; $250,000 for 12 or more.
If N.C. State makes it to the ACC title game, Doeren will earn an additional $100,000. If the team wins, the compensation goes up to $200,000.
The new contract states that Doeren will earn $25,000 if N.C. State makes into a non-CFP Bowl game and $50,000 for a win. Doeren could earn $100,000 for playing in the CFP non-semifinal game and $200,000 for a win. If the Wolfpack makes it to the CFP title game, Doeren will earn $300,000.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 1:27 PM.
