NC State Football: Assessing Dave Doeren’s impact on the program
NC State before Doeren
To evaluate that point, we need to look at the state of affairs within the NC State program pre-Doeren. Under the direction of new athletic director Debbie Yow, NC State fired head coach Tom O’Brien in 2012, citing a desire to reach higher than its recent string of mediocre seasons.
O’Brien left with a record 40-35 overall and 22-26 in the ACC after six seasons (reminder: Doeren is 39-32 overall and 17-27 in the ACC). O’Brien made it to four bowl games and never made a run at the ACC title.
Reasons for his firing were simple; NC State finished above .500 in the ACC just one time and went a hideous 1-14 in ACC Atlantic road games. It was routinely embarrassed in strong out-of-conference match-ups, losing big to Tennessee, Cincinnati, South Carolina UCF, and East Carolina.
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With O’Brien, a mediocre ACC season was almost guaranteed. NC State went 2-2 in bowl games, but even with star quarterbacks (Russell Wilson & Mike Glennon), NC State was never really a contender.
O’Brien inherited enough talent to avoid bottoming out in his first season but never turned the Wolfpack into a recruiting force. O’Brien’s average recruiting class clocked in at around 45th in the nation and he was able to secure one five-star recruit (offensive tackle Rob Crisp).
Fast forward to today and NC State is now consistently sitting near or inside the top 25 best recruiting classes in the nation. Doeren’s first full recruiting class produced six players who were drafted into the NFL, with several more potentially joining them this year. The level of talent in the program has shifted greatly. NC State can and has had great success convincing four-star recruits to join the program.
Doeren has a worse ACC record than O’Brien, in large part to his first year in the program, but has exorcised the road demons that plagued the Wolfpack. No longer is a road trip to Wake Forest or Boston College a death sentence for the Wolfpack. Excluding the 2013 season, the Wolfpack is 9-10 in ACC road games under Doeren.
When considering other coaches hired in the same cycle, Doeren’s hire reflects well on Yow. Four ACC programs replaced their coaches between 2012-14: Boston College hired Steve Addazio, which has worked out incredibly well. Syracuse hired Scott Shafer, who was fired after three seasons in which he produced a 14-23 overall record. UNC-Chapel Hill hired Larry Fedora, who is 44-40 in seven seasons and currently has the Tar Heels at 1-6. Finally, Pitt hired Pat Narduzzi, who has quietly led Pittsburgh to a 17-11 ACC record, albeit in a weaker Coastal Division.