On Monday, first-year N.C. State head football coach Dave Doeren gave his first game-week press conference at the Wendell H. Murphy Center ahead of Saturday’s season against Louisiana Tech at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Doeren still hasn’t announced who will be starting at quarterback on Saturday. Transfer students Pete Thomas and Brandon Mitchell have been listed as co-starters on the team’s depth chart. Doeren said he has seen enough, however, to know which area each signal-caller needs to improve on and what direction he will probably take.
“We’ve talked a lot with all the quarterbacks just to tell them where they stand and what they need to work on,” Doeren said. “By the end of the practice Wednesday, I think there will be a real firm grasp on those guys’ parts [playing time]. I have told both of them they need to be ready to be our guy and when their name is called, to come out ready. They are both excited about that, and I think they know that in a 12-game season, that can happen.”
“There comes a point in time on every team when you are sick and tired of hitting your teammates,” Doeren said. “For us as coaches in our first year, just getting out there with and seeing how they handle game day, to see those pieces and how they interact, I am excited where we are right now.”
Beginning a season with a new coaching staff and significant player turnover from the previous campaign might give N.C. State an advantage in that it is hard for opposing coaches to know what strategies will be implemented. Doeren and his staff, however, face those same difficulties in scouting Louisiana Tech, as the Bulldogs are also beginning their season with a new head coach, Skip Holtz.
“They are probably one of the teams that have lost more players from last season than anybody,” Doeren said. “Skip Holtz is a very experienced, very good football coach. He is very familiar with N.C. State and the players from our state. Coming from a mid-major program myself, I think I have a good idea how they’ll approach us. Bottom line, their kids will not be afraid to come here and play us.”
In the days leading up to his first game in charge at State, Doeren made certain to give his staff Monday morning off from work to be with their families before game preparation was to begin.
“On Sundays, we usually have family dinners, and I think it is fun for the coaches to be around their kids,” Doeren said. “[Monday] was the first day of school in Wake County, so I gave the staff the morning off to take all their kids to school and eat breakfast with their wives. I just think that quality of life goes a long way.”
