Doeren Gives Final Takes Ahead of NC State

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Week 2 of the 2025 college football season is here and Dave Doeren and the NC State Wolfpack are slated to face Virginia.

Both teams enter the game 1-0, albeit courtesy of very different performances. The Wolfpack squeezed away with a 24-17 win over East Carolina, while Virginia dominated Coastal Carolina 48-7 on Saturday.

A fiery Doeren provided his final thoughts on the matchup during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Watch Doeren's Press Conference here

Below are some of Doeren's most interesting quotes from the press conference.

On the Week 2 preparations ahead of Virginia

Doeren: "Guys are excited to get back on the field. A Lot of things that we feel like we left on the table in that game that we need to be better at. Every game, our job is to critique the film, critique ourselves and then put together a plan to improve.

... When you're done evaluating the film, then you put a plan together and then you talk to the guys about it and then you go to the field and you practice. The guys have done a great job of trying to get better every day."

Aug 28, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren walks among his players during the warmups prior to the game against East Carolina Pirates at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

On first-year defensive coordinator DJ Eliot getting buy-in from transfers early on in their time at NC State

Doeren: "It helps when you have film on what you want to do. You can bring them in and show them what we were doing. Show them the body types that were playing with. Show them how we want to evolve and how they're a missing piece. I think that's what guys in the portal want. They want to know that they're going to have a role. They don't want to transfer as a starter at a place to be a backup.

If you're bringing in a nose guard and there's Brandon Cleveland, that's a hard sell. But when you're bringing in guys to play an outside linebacker position we didn't have on the team, it's not as hard a sell. It's just a matter of being able to prove it with video because I think ... most of us are such visual people and saying things is one thing, showing people is way different."

On conferences moving toward playing more conference games

Doeren: "... A lot of conferences are moving to nine games. I've stated this before, I'm in favor of that. I know that we're in a different situation than Clemson and Georgia Tech and some of these teams that have an automatic SEC rivalry game. They have a different argument than I do.

The year we had COVID and all we played was conference games except for one, I loved that. I love playing as many conference games as we can but there's two sides to it and there's 17 teams that have a stake in how we do this."

On how much Virginia has improved since they faced them last

Doeren: "Their personnel is better. You can tell that they've been there longer as a staff. Those are (Tony Elliott's) guys. They're not people he inherited. They're people he's developed, people he's recruited ... When you're a new coach, you're inheriting and they become yours, but you're also going to go recruit guys that you think might fit better in the systems that you run..."

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