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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 21, 2017

Dave Doeren

Greensboro, North Carolina

DAVE DOEREN: Looking forward to a rivalry game here at home on Thanksgiving weekend and Senior Day. Great group of young men, 20 seniors that we get honored before the game with their families, and take the game against our rivalry, UNC, and looking forward to that football game and what it means to our program and I know to theirs as well.

Q. Coach, to look, obviously you're mentioning the senior class. Just what you can say about Jaylen Samuels? He's been a little bit of everything that you've needed offensively throughout his time at N.C. State, and just what you can say about not only him on the field, but as a person off the field as well, and how coachable he's been for you?
DAVE DOEREN: He's super versatility, very durable young man that does a lot and has a super high football IQ. He can handle so many things and doesn't take a lot of reps to get him down. Comes from tremendous parents and a great program in Mallard Creek and Coach Palmieri.

It's just been from day one a guy that you like being around. Really not a very talkative guy. Shows up every day the same way. That's why his teammates voted two years ago to let him wear the number one jersey. Just every day he's a guy that works hard, makes plays, and does what the team needs him to do and off the field the same. Never see him on a list. Never late to anything. Never misses anything. Always has a good attitude. Just a great young man to have in your program and be around.

Q. As far as N.C. State under you as a whole, the first three seasons was three wins, and the last four, including this season, you brought the team to a bowl game. Just what you can say about the plan you implemented five years ago, staying the course, and seeing the success of that plan?
DAVE DOEREN: Yeah, thanks, Dan. I'm just really proud of these players and coaches and the way they fight. We've lost some tough games and won some big games this year and continue to come to work every day with a great attitude. Just fun guys to coach.

When I got here, it was all about just teaching them how to win and how to prepare and how to enjoy the process and be accountable and just create a culture where guys love being around each other and the game, and the work that it takes, and the sacrifice that it takes. We've been able to do that. And it's fun to see it that way, and fun to be around a senior class that's helped us make it that way.

Q. Want to ask you about Hines. What you've seen from him. He was a good player last year, but what have you seen from him and his development this year?
DAVE DOEREN: Well, he's a game changer for us. Unfortunately we've had him on and off here with his health. And he's so fast, and tough and competitive. Sees the hole, hits it. Hard to bring down. As a returner, just changes the field. He's a threat to take it to the house every time he touches it.

So hopefully we'll have him in this game. Today the trainer said we would, so we're going to keep our fingers crossed that it continues that way. But love Nyheim and everything that he brings to our program.

Q. What are you asking your team in terms of what you want to see them do better compared to coming off last week? Is there anything you're looking at offensively? Are you looking to take it up a notch?
DAVE DOEREN: Sure. We moved the ball great last week. We just need more touchdowns. We've been very good on third down in the last two games and kept the ball away. We just need to get more points from a touchdown standpoint, and obviously turn over margin is a big part of that. You can't come away with zero. You want to end every series with a kick. If that means it's a punt, it's a punt. But we can't turn it over and give them field position and momentum.

I would say the biggest things would be those two, just the turnovers that we've had and our inability to get the number of touchdowns that match how we're moving the football. We're doing a good job of moving the ball and keeping it on third down.

Q. So last week's teleconference Bronco Mendenhall mentioned a rule change he'd like to see in terms of coaches not being allowed to leave the school that they're at until after the school plays in the bowl game, should they make it there. I'm curious, having been in that situation yourself, how you kind of see that statement, and if you think it's a feasible idea or even a good idea?
DAVE DOEREN: Yeah, I think it would be a great conversation. I don't know all the rationale, so it would be hard for me, without giving it some thought, to think about the consequences of it. But I think for me having to leave Northern Illinois and coming here, and not being able to coach in the Orange Bowl was very difficult. I wish many times over I could have coached in that game, but that's not how it worked.

For everybody involved, it would be great to be able to finish something like that before changes are made. But the recruiting calendar has changed things for ADs as well, and especially now in this new signing period. There are a lot of new things that we haven't been through, you know, as coaches yet. This would be the first December that we have a high school signing date. So I just think there are a lot of unknowns right now.

I do think it's a great idea to bring up and have some great conversation about.

Q. Coach, I talked about your senior class, what have they meant to you? That's probably your first senior class there at N.C. State?
DAVE DOEREN: It is. They're special guys and they're great players. But just what they've done from a work ethic and a standard standpoint and the way they act and lead and just being around them. Coach Shawn Boone, Bradley Chubb, they're just tremendous human beings, I'm going to miss their company as much as I'm going to miss coaching them. I just love being around those guys.

I told them the other day I thanked them a hundred times over for what they've given to N.C. State. I know they're going to be successful people in whatever career they end up in when football ends.

Q. Talk about North Carolina. They're a 3-8 squad, but they're still a tough team no matter what. I know they're dealing with a lot of injuries, and the quarterback has been an issue. So what do you need to do to pull out a win?
DAVE DOEREN: I think whenever you play your rival, you can't look at that stuff. You have to know that this game has been going on for over a hundred years and there is a lot of motivation behind it on sidelines and your fans and alum. So you kind of throw the records and the stats out. They have had injuries, so have we. It's going to come down to execution, taking care of football and tackling and big plays. That's what it always does.

We try not to get caught up in any of it. I know when they had good seasons, we went over there and beat them. We didn't talk about how many wins they have. We talked about winning the game and what we need to do to win the game. I don't see it any different from their side. They're going to do everything they can to get a win. The last two games, they've been able to do that. For us, we need to get back to playing really good football and making a few more plays.

Q. I was just wondering if after last week's loss if there's maybe a word that you could put to the feeling in the locker room and after. And if the moving on process was any different than the previous weeks?
DAVE DOEREN: Yeah, I mean, anytime you lose a game like that where it comes down to a singular play, a play at the goal line, in this instance, that was literally millimeters from being a game-winning play, those are heartbreaking losses. That's what they are.

Our guys are resilient. They know that this one this week matters too, so we can't linger. But it hurts. There is nothing you can really say to get over that. These guys played hard. They got themselves in a position to win and it just didn't happen. There is nobody in the world that felt worse at that time, but there are other players in the game. These kids all supported him and we had a good practice today. So looking forward to getting in the routine here.

Q. As a coach, is there anything you can say to him to make him feel better?
DAVE DOEREN: Yeah, obviously you put your arm around him and say, look, man, wasn't like you meant to do it, and you're going to have a heck of a career. It's your job now to make up for it. You learn from it, you get better, and it's all you can do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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