NC State fires Dave Doeren after 14 seasons as Stanford loss drops Wolfpack to 3-4

NC State fired Dave Doeren on Saturday, less than a day after a 31-28 loss at Stanford dropped the Wolfpack to 3-4. The program had started the season thinking it could contend in the ACC. Athletic director Boo Corrigan announced the decision and said a national search for a replacement would start right away, On3 reported. Todd Goebbel, who coaches the running backs and special teams and has been on staff in some role since 2019, will be interim coach for the last five games.

Doeren came from Northern Illinois after the 2012 season. He leaves as the winningest coach in school history with 98 victories, according to On3 and The Associated Press. He started the year as the fourth-longest-tenured head coach in FBS, and only Clemson's Dabo Swinney had been in the ACC longer. ESPN reported that he had three years left on his contract and is owed $10.3 million.

His teams were steady but never reached the top tier. Under Doeren the Wolfpack went to 11 bowls and went 9-4 against North Carolina. They never played for an ACC championship and never won 10 games, a mark the school has reached only once, in 2002. 247Sports noted he was 17-16 since the start of 2024, as NIL changed the sport and the fan base grew restless. The firing is a sharp turn from last November, when the school said he would return after a fifth straight win over the Tar Heels. At the time, Doeren told the AP, "I love this school and I plan on finishing here."

This season went wrong early. NC State lost its opener 34-8 at Virginia, then lost at Vanderbilt on a fumble returned for a touchdown in the final seconds. Wake Forest outscored the Wolfpack 28-0 after halftime in a 38-14 loss in Raleigh. After a bye week, NC State went to Stanford, a team picked to finish last in the league, and fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter. CBS Sports pointed out that the upset of Louisville is the Wolfpack's only win over a power-conference opponent this year.

What it means for California

Goebbel's first game is at home against California on Oct. 31, on ACC Network. NC State needs three wins in five games to reach six and bowl eligibility, and the defense is the biggest problem. The Wolfpack have allowed 197 points in seven games, or 28.1 per game. Take out the 73-0 win over Richmond and the other six opponents scored nearly 33 per game. The offense has also slowed down. NC State scored 72 points in the wins over App State and Louisville, then 42 combined in the two losses since, and was outscored 69-42 over those two games.

The Stanford loss also says something about how deep the trouble goes. The Cardinal had scored a total of 23 points in their four losses, all by lopsided margins, and still controlled the game for long stretches. Stanford is now 4-4 and has won two straight going into its Oct. 31 game at Louisville. NC State has a new coach and a week to show whether that changes anything.