Doeren Addresses the State of the Wolfpack After Pitt Loss

RALEIGH — NC State enters its ninth game week stuck with a 4-4 record and just one conference win. The Wolfpack, led by Dave Doeren, most recently fell to Pittsburgh on the road 53-34 in an ugly defensive showing after a bye week.

The noise around Doeren and the program has steadily increased throughout the team's four-game FBS losing streak (NC State did beat Campbell, an FCS program, at home to snap a two-game skid).

During his weekly Monday press conference, a frustrated Doeren sounded off about the problems with his team and tried to provide a limited window into what the Wolfpack is dealing with in the 2025 season.

Watch Doeren's Press Conference here

Selection of Doeren's Quotes

Oct 25, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren reacts on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

From Doeren's opening statement

"We're a team that, like I said after the game to the guys, it's a fun team to coach, and these are good kids that want to play well. They work hard. There's great chemistry. Nobody's given up. We just got to play better, you know?"

"And it starts with me. I told them this: what we see on film, what we put on film, is our resume. It's your head coach's resume, it's your assistant coaches' resumes and it's your resume, and collectively, we all have to do better. And it's just executing."

Oct 11, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren claps as he walks onto the field against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

On some of the Wolfpack's offensive woes

"And when you have penalties at inopportune moments, or you have a pass, whether it's dropped or whether it's an overthrow or a miss, where you have a guy bust on defense in a call that we've practiced over and over and over, I consider those kind of things layups and as a football team, you got to make your layups."

"To put it in basketball terminology, you make your layups, you have a high percentage on your free throws and every now and then, you hit a step back three. And that's what we got to do. We got to go up and make some big catches when they're there, make some great throws when they're there. And then the easy things, we got to do them like it's routine."

On what's gone wrong for NC State's defense throughout the year

"Defensively, it's been a really tough year and I've talked about this before. You know, we've had nine different guys on defense get injured throughout the season that were in our top 22 and so when you have movement in your depth chart to injuries, not from competition, there's some lost learning and that's taking place."

"As a football team, you want to get better and better and better. And for us, there's been three different safeties, three different nickels, two linebackers with Sean (Brown) and AJ (Richardson) being out. So there's just been a lot of movement and moving parts and guys changing positions that haven't allowed that transformation, that progression that you have week in and week out."

Nov 12, 2022; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack Athletic Director Boo Corrigan looks on during the second half against the Boston College Eagles at Carter-Finley Stadium. The Eagles won 21-20. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

On his mindset given all the coaching changes being made around college football and whether he's thought about retiring or not

"No. I mean, (athletic director Boo Corrigan)... has been a great guy to work for. I don't worry about that. You know, I got to worry about my players. I got to worry about my staff, my wife, my children. Those decisions aren't mine to make. And I told the team this yesterday, I'm gonna give them everything I got."

"Our goal is to go win this football game, and then the next week we have a bye week, try to get them healthy, and then our next week, go win a football game. You just keep going. There's a lot of football left, lot of games. And you know what happens at other schools has nothing to do with what's happening to me. And when decisions are made, they're made."

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