RALEIGH — With a 20-6 win over the Miami Hurricanes Saturday night, NC State football coach Dave Doeren became the winningest coach in school history.
The victory gave Doeren his 78th win in his 11th season leading the Wolfpack. The win over Miami also gave him a victory over every current ACC school.
The NC State win record was previously held by Earle Edwards, who is the longest-tenured coach in school history, leading the Wolfpack from 1954-70. During 17 seasons in Raleigh, Edwards had a 77-88-8 record and led the Pack to five ACC titles.
Doeren tied Edwards’ record the week before in his team’s 24-17 win over Clemson, and he didn’t need long to move into sole possession of the record, doing it in 45 games fewer than Edwards.
“There was a time where there were some other schools trying to get me to leave here and we decided to stay,” Doeren said. “When I came back and met with the team, met with the staff, one of the things I said was that I’m here and I want to win the record. I want to be the winningest coach in NC State football history. That mattered to me. It’s something that I dug in on, and all those coaches and staff have helped me through this.”
Doeren was named Wolfpack head coach on Dec. 1, 2012, replacing Tom O’Brien.
His highlights at NC State include three nine-win seasons, eight bowl appearances and eight winning seasons. He has coached four consensus All-Americans (Chris Dunn, Ikem Ekwonu, Garrett Bradbury and Bradley Chubb) and had 27 players drafted into the NFL, including three who were first round selections.
Doeren’s teams have always been hard-nosed and blue-collar, taking on the personality of head coach.
“I always feel like everything starts with my attitude and my energy,” Doeren said. “I think if there’s one thing that I am proud of about myself it’s that I don’t quit. I’m very persistent. No matter how tough it is, I’m going to keep fighting it. And because I do that, I think it wears off on people in the program. The DNA of this place, which is one of the things that I love about NC State, is to never, never quit.”
And his players have always rallied to that energy.
“Coach Doeren’s very straightforward,” said graduate linebacker Payton Wilson. “He’s a very blunt person. He’s never going to tell you anything that he doesn’t think, and even if you don’t want to hear it, he’s going to tell you. He’s just a very honest person. We love the way he coaches and we love the enthusiasm that he brings. He’s also really vulnerable with us. Being vulnerable in front of your team really helps just understand that we have his trust and he has our trust.
“We love Coach Doeren. He’s an amazing coach, an amazing player’s coach and we’d fight for him till the end of the day. So him getting that record probably meant more to us than it did to him.”
The journey hasn’t always been easy for Doeren, but the coach has been able to rely on his faith, family and those close to him for support along the way.
“I came in here very successful from Northern Illinois, but I didn’t know enough at that time,” Doeren said. “I’ve learned a lot along the way. I’ve learned through failure and I’ve learned through success, and I think as a head coach, who’s in that circle of trust with you really matters.
“I can’t say enough about having Ruffin McNeill here with me. Having Ruff on my side has been a pivotal point for me to be able to sit in that chair in his office and sometimes laugh but oftentimes just to talk about the day. It’s great to have a sounding board like that. For any young coach out there I would tell you to find somebody like that that can work with you and give you that mentorship.”
While the record is nice, Doeren’s attention is still focused on the job at hand. The Wolfpack is 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC with three regular season games remaining, starting with a trip to Wake Forest on Saturday.
Doeren is 5-5 all-time against the Demon Deacons and will be hoping to add another win to his total.
“I’m very proud and thankful,” Doeren said. “I’m proud of the team, thankful to the team, to the staff and to the fans. It’s great to own that record. I’m very proud of all of the coaches that have been here with me throughout this and the players that have been here with me throughout us. It’s an 11-year thing. It’s not me, it’s everybody. Very thankful and looking forward to what’s next.”
