Dylan Ribott
On a day the Wolfpack lost on the field, football felt impossibly small compared with the grief of losing their defensive coordinator DJ Eliot’s daughter to cancer just hours earlier.
“They care a lot about coach [Eliot],” said head coach Dave Doeren. “Everybody’s heart hurts for him and his family. We wanted to bring them some levity to the situation that they’re dealing with. It’s tragic.”
Doeren and his players touched on missed tackles and failed execution, each pointing the finger at themselves after the 23-21 loss to Virginia Tech. But their tears told another story.
Saturday was about more than a scoreboard — it was about a team carrying its coach and his family on its shoulders.
Eliot’s daughter, Drue, had battled pediatric cancer for years before passing this week. Eliot spoke openly about his daughter’s fight a couple of years ago, recounting the shock and strength it demanded of his family.
“I don’t even know how to explain the emotions or the thoughts that go through your mind,” Eliot said on a podcast in 2020. “It’s nothing that you ever expect to hear and you don’t really have a plan for it. So when we got the news that Drue had cancer, we were devastated, all of us. And you really become a lot closer. Our family is definitely a lot closer now than we were because we’re all going through this together.”
That closeness was echoed in the players who took the podium Saturday night. Their words short, their voices breaking, but their message clear: they weren’t mourning a loss in the standings. They were mourning with their coach.
“There’s a lot going on with our defense right now with coach Eliot and his daughter,” graduate linebacker Caden Fordham said as he fought back tears. “It just meant a lot to me, this game. I mean, they all do, but I don’t know.”
Fordham’s words mirrored those of the rest of the program. On the Zoom call, the usual postgame clichés gave way to something else entirely — a heavy mic with players and journalists alike that knew this was beyond any execution flaw.
“I’ve been coaching a long time and I’ve never had a staff member’s child pass away,” Doeren said. “Man, I can’t even tell you how hard this week’s been. The kids — emotionally, physically, mentally — were there, and they wanted to play really well.”
Without Eliot on the sideline, Virginia Tech dominated both lines of scrimmage, out-rushing N.C. State 229-59 and pressuring sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey into five sacks after the Wolfpack had allowed just four all season. From missed tackles to 19 second-quarter yards, the Hokies capitalized.
Saturday was a reminder that, while football is a game, it’s also a reflection of life and the human condition; the bonds it builds and the families it supports are far bigger than any box score. Eliot’s family had already been tested for years by Drue’s fight, and the program’s response made it clear that this program has joined that circle.
Still, the team knows both life and football must go on.
“My job is to help them get back, and I’ll do my best to do that,” Doeren said. “We care a lot about these young men, and they care a lot about this program.”
The Wolfpack will return to practice at 3-2 with Campbell ahead, but Saturday’s loss speaks to the foundation Doeren has built: Hard. Tough. Together.