Dave Doeren is ready to spotlight young talent at spring game

When the NC State football team saw its Holiday Bowl game against UCLA canceled after the Bruins pulled out hours before kickoff, Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren was understandably a bit tired after a long season.

Thus he took a little break from a few daily duties, such as shaving. A beard quickly emerged that was met with approval from his family.

“So I kept it,” Doeren noted while appearing on the ACC Network’s Packer and Durham show Wednesday morning.

The next chance for a break for Doeren may come in July when he will head to Montana for some fly fishing, but these days Doeren is consumed by preparations for Saturday’s spring game in Raleigh.

The day prior to the scrimmage, NC State is hosting over 250 former players and coaches at its previously annual spring reunion, a tradition Doeren noted started under his predecessor Tom O’Brien but had been postponed the past two years by COVID-19.

“You talk about Wolfpack, it’s for life,” Doeren noted.

Then comes the actual game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium. Doeren noted that the product on the field may not be representative of the team that fans should expect Sept. 3 when the season opens at East Carolina.

Part of that is injury related. Several defensive players like standout linebackers Payton Wilson, a fifth-year redshirt junior, and Isaiah Moore, a super senior, are being held out while they continue their recoveries and rehabs.

Part of it is also strategic.

“We have guys back that shouldn’t be back because of the COVID rule that gave these guys another year,” Doeren noted. “There is banked reps on top of banked reps for some of our players, so we’re holding out guys that are going through spring ball.”

So instead of spending the majority of time focusing on players like veteran receivers Thayer Thomas, a super senior, and Devin Carter, a fifth-year redshirt junior, Doeren and the coaches are instead taking extended looks at younger options like third-year sophomore Anthony Smith and redshirt freshman Julian Gray at the position.

“When you see our spring game, it isn’t going to be a reflection of who you’ll see in the fall, but it will be a good reflection of talent pool and youth in the program,” Doeren noted.

Smith was one of two young players on offense that Doeren told host Wes Durham to watch for Saturday, joining sophomore running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.

“I think both of those guys have had very consistent springs and have put themselves in a spot to make plays in a game like that,” Doeren stated.

Defensively, the coach added two more players to follow.

“[Third-year redshirt freshman] Jayland Parker, the young linebacker, has really had a good spring for us. He’s a guy that was a special teamer a year ago. [Redshirt freshman] Travali Price is another one, a defensive end,” Doeren added. “We think he has a great future as well.”

Dave Doeren Embraces Expectations

Because players are being held out in the spring, Doeren does not enjoy the luxury of having a lot of depth this spring, but he is optimistic that when the entire team is ready to go in preseason camp that his 10th season as the NC State football coach will feature his deepest roster.

Expectations are going to be high for NC State in the fall. Some preseason analysts have even suggested the Wolfpack could be a top-10 team.

“I think the program has earned it,” Doeren said. “… The body of work since I’ve been here has shown a lot of signs of progress. Our staff continuity — we’re the only staff that has all 10 assistants back in the ACC, which I think says a lot about the dedication of our administration to our staff, the quality of the work that they have done and our chemistry we have together.

“We’re proud of where we’re at, but we also have ambitions and goals of winning the whole thing. These kids have earned the right to have that type of notoriety. I am happy for them they are getting it.”

Doeren added that coming close to an ACC Championship Game appearance in 2021 has added fuel to the fire this offseason.

“We lost by one at Miami, lost by two to Wake,” Doeren pointed out. “Didn’t play in the ACC Championship. That’s the next step — is getting to that game.

“What that means to our league in general, usually it puts you in the playoff. We’ve got to be able to do everything we can to win the Atlantic Division, and that’s the next step for our program.”

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