The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1087622
32 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY RYAN TICE AND JACEY ZEMBAL D ave Doeren is entering his ninth year as a head coach. The most assistant coaches he's ever had to replace in one offsea- son was three — which was after his first season at Northern Illinois. This offseason, Doeren promoted two offensive coaches to co-offensive coordi- nators and brought in four new assistants. However, Doeren wasn't daunted by the task. Although he hired coaches with next to no ties to him or his current staff, he's very pleased with the replacements he was able to gather after the coaching carousel stopped spinning. When it was suggested to him that he "went against the norm" since the new assistants weren't necessarily the obvious names — whether they be former NC State players or coaches, or assistants that had previously worked with Doeren — ban- died about on the Internet, he scoffed at the notion. "I guess I don't know what the norm is," he said. "I don't go to the Internet to get my list of coaches. "I thought I was looking at a pretty qual- ified list of guys. I'm excited about these guys. I talked to a ton of people, probably interviewed 30-some coaches in 30 days. There's been a lot of homework, a lot of phone calls, a lot of time spent. "It's not just getting a good coach, it's getting the right fit. That's the thing I'm really excited about — these guys fit our culture. When you've been somewhere six years and you've recruited every player in the program, you kind of know what the guys need in the locker room." Doeren hired a mix of veteran and younger coaches, and even before spring practices started March 2 the group had al- ready collectively made a mark in Raleigh. "Each of them is different, obviously, and they all have different backgrounds," Doeren said. "But anytime you get to bring in a guy that's as qualified as these four guys, it's great for your staff. I've leaned on them already — sometimes you say, 'Here's what we've done for the last six years, what do you see?' "All of the sudden you've got somebody critiquing you. It's great; it gives you good info." Veteran Former Coordinators Add Experience To Both Sides Of The Ball Perhaps the biggest responsibility of the quartet falls on new quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper. Although he doesn't have of- fensive coordinator in his title — those duties will be split between returning as- sistants George McDonald (wide receiv- ers) and Des Kitchings (running backs) — Roper is tasked with mentoring the most important position on the field, and the Pack boasts just one signal-caller who has taken a college snap: redshirt sophomore Matthew McKay, a veteran of eight NCAA pass attempts. "I think we all see ourselves, when you're in college football, as developers of positions," Roper said. "It's different in the NFL, a lot of those guys have come pretty far along. In college football, we're still in the development mode, whether it's physi- cally, fundamentally, whatever it is; it's still a developmental game for us. I'm looking forward to it. "That's the challenge, that's the hardest part of it — trying to make the best deci- sion we can possibly make." The biggest positive is that all four starting candidates, including newcomers freshman Ty Evans and redshirt sophomore transfer Bailey Hockman, are on campus this spring. Roper admitted that will allow the staff to "get more information" on the possibilities. He goes into spring ball with all four having a clean slate and even start- ing point. "We've got to see guys in action to be able to make informed decisions on them," he said. "We have a plan for the first couple of days, and then we'll adjust from there. "They each have an opportunity to show who they want to be, how they want to play the position." Despite a new quarterback and several other notable losses on both sides of the ball, Roper explained that he was looking STAFF MAKEOVER Offseason Turnover Results In Dave Doeren Bringing On Four New Assistants New quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper, a former offensive coordinator at Duke, will be tasked with mentoring a very inexperienced group of signal-callers in his first season at NC State. PHOTO COURTESY DUKE PHOT0GRAPHY