Dave Doeren shares 'great respect' for Steve Smith after postgame rant
NC State head coach Dave Doeren and Carolina Panthers legend Steve Smith have communicated and seem to be on good terms after Doeren voiced his displeasure with Smith following the Wolfpack’s win over Clemson on Saturday.
During his postgame interview with the CW, Doeren said, “Tell Steve Smith in the studio this ain’t a basketball school. He can kiss my ass,” before walking off.
Earlier in the day, during ESPN College GameDay, Smith picked Clemson to beat the Wolfpack and explained his decision.
“Clemson has been struggling. They’re not the Clemson we’ve loved over the years. But NC State, unfortunately, they’re waiting for basketball to start,” Steve Smith said.
It’s safe to say Dave Doeren wasn’t a fan of those comments. However, Doeren said during his press conference on Monday that he and Smith have communicated and he’s hopeful Smith will come to Raleigh soon.
“In the postgame, regarding my comments, I felt it was very important to stand up for our program and our team. I do feel that duty and that responsibility as the head coach. In the moment, my feelings were very raw and authentic,” Doeren said. “And I have great respect for Steve Smith. After the game, he texted me and sent me a video congratulating me on the win. And as a man, I thank him for that. It takes a lot of humility to do stuff like that. And I know he was not trying to disrespect our program, even though that’s how I felt.”
Doeren believes that Smith would have a different view of the NC State program if he were to attend a game.
“I appreciate him for that [message he sent] and invited him to come down and spend any time he wants and hopefully he’ll do that, come be on our sideline,” Doeren said. “He was a great player for the Panthers, great player for Utah, great representative of the game, and I think him being on our sideline, feeling the energy of our fanbase, would be awesome. So hopefully we’ll get that done.”
NC State sits at 5-3 (2-2) with four regular season games remaining. The Wolfpack have home games against Miami and North Carolina still on the schedule, and Doeren is hopeful that Smith will attend one of those.
Either way, he hopes the message is out that NC State can excel in multiple sports.
“NC State has a lot of great sports, and football is one of them. And supporting my program and doing that was my intentions, and that’s what I was doing, was standing up for my football team,” Doeren said. “I know in the aftermath, things sometimes land differently with certain people. And because of that I did call coach Keatts. Kevin’s a great friend. I love the guy. And definitely have so much respect and admiration, not just for him but for his program. … It does irk me when people label us as a one-sport school, because we’re not.”