NC State granted Dave Doeren, its former and winningest football coach in program history, the rare occasion to address the media. 

This may seem odd, considering most people who are fired from a job don’t usually get this opportunity, but when you consider how much time, money, and sweat equity Doeren has poured into this university, it makes some sense that they’d allow Doeren a final moment to air out his grievances. 

But where you’d expect to hear bitterness from Doeren, there was none. It’s like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. “I leave here with no grudges,” Doeren said. “I completely love this place, and we want to see this program shock the world. I might be in the mountains somewhere, sitting in a river, fishing, or at the lake, but I’ll always be cheering for the Wolfpack. I promise you that.”

Doeren was invested in the program from the very beginning. 

While his former players and what remains of his staff prepare for homecoming against Cal, Doeren welcomes the unknown.

“I have no idea what’s next for me, but I’m excited about my future,” Doeren said. “I’ve never traveled in the fall since I was in the fourth grade. Fall has always been football. That’s when I started playing and never had a vacation. Never seen anything that didn’t revolve around being at a football game, and so I look forward to that.” 

Doeren’s name has been floated around for other coaching jobs; however, his address on Tuesday felt more like a retirement speech than anything. 

Only time will tell if Doeren will be content with his newfound freedom or if he’ll want to take on another coaching challenge down the road. 

The most interesting thing he said was when he took this job pre-NIL era. He knew what the job was. Doeren enjoyed thriving in developing players and finding those underappreciated players. 

“That was a motivating factor for me,” Doeren said. “Doing more with less, and we were good at it. I loved beating teams that had five-star players. With our guys, we developed into better players over time, and that was a credit to our staff and those young men that were able to do that.” 

But the game has changed, and Doeren realized it a while ago. It’s much harder to develop players in the traditional way these days. Players come and go, and the really good ones follow the money. 

He’s seen his own star players leave NC State for greener pastures. “For this program to become what is wanted and expected, the resources need to match the expectations,” Doeren said. “That is the reality in college sports, and I hope for NC State this commitment to football happens."

It feels like a bittersweet ending for Dave Doeren’s story at NC State, but there’s respect for the job he did over those 14 seasons. He's earned his rest.

“I love this university,” Doeren said. “I leave here knowing that I made it better than I found it, on and off the field. I wanted so badly to win a championship here at NC State. But I will be cheering for this program to get there under their future leadership.”