Dave Doeren's Final Thoughts Before Friday Night Showdown

RALEIGH — NC State benefitted from a quick turnaround after suffering an ugly loss against Miami on Saturday. The Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4 ACC) was able to immediately dive into game prep for a Friday night matchup against Florida State (5-5, 2-5 ACC), a program having a similar season in terms of adversity.

During his Monday press conference, NC State head coach Dave Doeren claimed his team still has a lot to play for. He's not wrong, as one win would secure bowl eligibility for the Wolfpack and give the seniors one last shot at breaking the bowl losing streak under Doeren.

The week allowed Doeren and his team to reset after the loss and reassess how they would go about attacking a team like Florida State while flushing the loss to the Hurricanes quickly. Doeren spoke to members of the media following NC State's Thursday practice and continued to emphasize the importance of the final two games.

Watch Doeren's Press Conference

Doeren's Noteworthy Quotes

Dave Doeren and NC Stat — Oct 4, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren with his team prepare to run out prior to the first half of the game against Campbell Fighting Camels at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

On the opportunity to play at Carter-Finley Stadium again and what makes the atmosphere special

"I think it's team to team. Someone asked me that yesterday; it depends on your home environment. We have a great home environment, and this one, Military Appreciation Day, is always my favorite home game of the year. I think our military presence in North Carolina is huge. It's very, very special to me, being from a military family, my wife being from a military family, and so you have the pageantry of that, along with a sellout and a packed house."

"If you were playing at a place maybe where there's 20,000 people there, you know, probably a different answer to the question. But for us, home field is an advantage because of who we have in the stands and how loud they can get in the student section. There's some teams that have a bad game day at home, so going on the road might bring energy to them."

Nov 1, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren during the first quarter at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

"I think that's not the case for us right now. And you know, the teams I've had that have played well on the road, obviously, we were very mature football teams. We weren't dealing with the injuries that we're dealing with. Every year is different when you look at those kind of things, but we have a great home field advantage. It's been that way for a while and we're excited to be back in the Carter."

On his family's military history and connections

"My dad served in the Navy, was stationed in California during Vietnam and my father-in-law... He served in Vietnam. He was in the Army, so both of them were a part of that. My grandfathers, both, served. Sara's (Doeren) grandfathers both served, so our families are rooted that way."

"Chain of command and respect and understanding freedom isn't free is something we were raised with. I don't take that for granted. It's 95,000-plus troops stationed in our state. Things that I've done personally, you know, built a lot of relationships with current and retired military over the years here. Have had opportunities to go to MARSOC and learn, to go to (Fort Liberty) to learn..."

"... So it's ingrained not just for me and my upbringing, but with what we do programmatically to bring these guys in. Obviously, football is not life or death, but in football, command presence, leadership, to speak accountability. There's a lot of carryover between what they do training their troops, and what we do, training our team and how we try to mentor leadership..."

"So I have the utmost respect, and I think anytime we can, as coaches, grab onto things that are parallel and use those things to help our guys learn, it's great. And so I've really enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy the relationships that I've built crossing over with them, and hopefully it's the reciprocity, because there's so many of them here in our state, it makes the access pretty easy."

On Carter-Finley Stadium being an asset in recruiting

"Thursday night and Friday night, you get great coverage, right? And so that's the positive of that. And your fans, it's great for them. For high school recruits, unless their seasons are over, which to your point some of them are, it's hard to get them in the stadium... We'll get, you know, a portion of them to be here for game day, but it's give and take."

"I do like the coverage that we do get on a Thursday night, Friday night. Prefer those games after a buy or to open the season, just from a health standpoint... Being able to get guys fresh and keep them healthy throughout the season. But, there is a huge advantage when you're not in a short week to playing those night games during the week, because of how much television coverage you can get."

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