After weeks of scrutiny, Dave Doeren defends program after 24-17 win over Clemson
If you disrespect Dave Doeren’s program, he won’t tolerate it. He made that very clear after picking up a massive win over Clemson.
N.C. State (5-3, 2-2 ACC) defeated the Tigers (4-4, 2-4 ACC), 24-17, on Saturday in Raleigh. He knows it wasn’t perfect — a feeling the team knows all too well – but the Pack won. It believed and made positive changes. That’s what matters.
“I just have to believe. I believe in God and His strength and the faith I get from Him,” Doeren said. “You have to talk things into existence, and you have to block the stuff out that leads to the negativity. There’s a lot of it. It’s disappointing that our fans are a piece of that.
“To me (if) you want to be great, then you have to believe you’re going to be great. If you want to succeed, you have to believe you can succeed. When you’re planting seeds of negativity, that doesn’t help, so I’m constantly doing the opposite.”
Doeren said he gets a lot of text messages to “ignore the noise.” He doesn’t look at it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t eventually get back to the locker room.
That means, he tries to provide 10 positives for every negative. He walks around believing N.C. State can live up to its potential, continually improve and win. This week, they were ready for it.
There were only two dropped passes, both in the fourth quarter. The Pack limited penalties and didn’t turn the ball over on offense. Things were clean. N.C. State isn’t satisfied, but it also feels a little bit of relief seeing growth in all three phases, especially after what he called “the worst we’ve played in my tenure” in a 24-3 loss at Duke on Oct. 14.
The 11th-year head coach’s remarks come after weeks of scrutiny, including ESPN College GameDay guest picker Steve Smith’s commentary on Saturday morning.
“Clemson has been struggling. They’re not the Clemson we’ve loved over the years,” Smith said when he selected the Tigers to win. “But NC State, unfortunately, they’re waiting for basketball to start.”
Doeren was not delicate when he responded in a TV interview immediately following the game.
“Tell Steve Smith in the studio this ain’t a basketball school,” Doeren said. “He can kiss my (expletive).”
In his press conference, Doeren added that there’s no legitimate bad blood, but he won’t let people disrespect the program.
Doeren ultimately thanked the Wolfpack faithful who continue to believe in him and in the program, saying he hopes they enjoyed the win. It took the players being fearless and resilient to perform how they did.
“That says a lot about our perseverance, our toughness, our willingness to change and get better,” Doeren said. “And, it happened in all phases out there. There’s a lot of things that people don’t understand that we’re doing differently, but we are. It was a team win.”
Safety Devan Boykin and linebacker Jaylon Scott said the team tries to shake it off when negative comments are made.
Boykin said getting opinions comes with the game, especially when the team isn’t having success. The big win over Clemson – despite being statistically disadvantaged – could change the team’s reputation and trajectory for the rest of the season.
“We just put our heads down and worked, especially coming out of the bye week,” Boykin said. “I think we had something to prove and we showed it today.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2023 at 8:14 PM.
