Molding NC State’s Dave Doeren: Inside his early years as Northern Illinois’ head coach

Dave Doeren knew he needed to hit the road. A job interview to become Northern Illinois’ head coach was scheduled on the Huskies’ campus, but the then-Wisconsin defensive coordinator had a slight issue — a snowstorm dropped 8-14 inches of snow on Madison, Wisc., with blizzard-like wind conditions.  But Doeren, a career assistant coach, was not going to let mother nature get in the way of a big break in the coaching profession. He spent two hours digging snow off his driveway so Doeren, with his family in tow, could make the 100-mile drive to DeKalb, Ill., to make the meeting in time. For Jeff Compher, who was in his fourth year as Northern Illinois’ athletic director at the time, that confirmed everything he knew about the up-and-coming coordinator.  “Someone that was willing to do that,” Compher told TheWolfpacker.com recently, “I knew they were committed to the next step in their career.” Doeren made it to the interview, where he impressed his future boss with his intelligence — both in football and off the field — and his knowledge of the midwest region. Compher was sold on Doeren and the two made the hire official shortly after.  On Dec. 13, 2010, Doeren was introduced as Northern Illinois’ 21st coach in program history. He took over a team that had won 11 games the year before under Jerry Kill, who departed to coach Minnesota, but there was an opportunity to raise the bar with a Mid-American Conference crown.  Doeren found a way to do just that — and some. He took the Huskies to new heights with a 23-4 record in his two seasons at the helm of the program with back-to-back MAC titles and a berth to the Orange Bowl.  Although he was at Northern Illinois for just two seasons, Doeren evolved from career assistant to head coach before departing to lead NC State’s program in 2012. In his pair of seasons with the Huskies, Doeren became who he is today, using those years to refine his coaching skill set to use on a bigger stage.  “I learned a lot about doing things with less,” Doeren said Monday. “The motto of that school is ‘The hard way’ and it’s real. They have very few amenities there. You have to do a lot with a little and I think I’ve always been good at that because of that experience.” Now, as NC State’s most-winningest coach with 83 victories in his 12th season, most of Doeren’s coaching style can be pointed back to his first opportunity leading a program at Northern Illinois, which visits Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.