Dave Doeren is reportedly set to sign a new deal with N.C. State and he absolutely does deserve it.
Coming into the college football season, many were in agreement that North Carolina State head football coach Dave Doeren was on a bit of a warm seat. After two-straight 7-6 seasons, just barely earning bowl appearances, the belief was that he wasn’t the man to lead the Wolfpack in Raleigh. There was serious pressure on Doeren to perform with this team here in 2017, and well, he has answered the challenge rather well.
Because of the hot start for Doeren and N.C. State, USA TODAY is reporting on Tuesday that within the next few days, the school will announce a new contract extension for their head coach.
The year didn’t start off ideally for Doeren and this squad, as they dropped a seven-point game to South Carolina, really setting the hot seat talks in motion right off the bat. As if Doeren’s back wasn’t against the wall hard enough to start the year, more weight was placed on his shoulders to start winning and start winning immediately. As the head coach of this program, he answered that call impressively, as the Wolfpack have rattled off five consecutive victories. And two of those victories — over Florida State and, more recently, over Louisville — have shown that not only is this team improved, but they’re probably the only threat to the Clemson Tigers in the ACC Atlantic Division this season.
Anything can happen in college football, and who’s to say on Nov. 4, when N.C. State welcomes Clemson into Raleigh, they don’t pull off one of the biggest upsets of the year, firmly putting them in position to eventually be called ACC Champions?
But that’s thinking ahead here in Week 7 of the season, and what matters right now is the present time, and currently N.C. State is playing like one of the best teams in the ACC. If they do continue on this roll, some may even consider them one of the best teams in the nation, especially if they were to pull off that upset of Clemson. And that’s a testament to the coaching of Doeren, who dealt with a lot of stress coming into the year.
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The school hired Doeren away from Northern Illinois in 2012 to help this team compete in the ACC, and here in his fifth season with the program, they’ve cemented themselves as a legitimate contender in the conference — making an extension for the head coach the right move to make here.