NC State coach Dave Doeren is excited for UNC matchup

NC State coach Dave Doeren remembers linebacker Payton Wilson’s commitment pretty well. The four-star recruit was set to go to North Carolina, but he flipped to the Wolfpack instead before he signed his national letter of intent. 

“Boy, he went through a lot,” Doeren said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of people that turned on him when he did that. For a young high school guy from the country to all of a sudden have a fanbase attack him, it was like, ‘Wow.’ That was pretty intense for him. At an early age, he got a feel of that rivalry in a big way.”

This weekend’s edition of the Tar Heels and Wolfpack is Wilson’s final game inside NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium. While Wilson had quite the introduction to the rivalry between the two in-state schools, he has left his mark on it. 

Wilson has logged 34 total tackles in his previous three meetings on the field against the Tar Heels. He also recorded his first-career interception against the team in Carolina Blue during the 2019 campaign. 

So about that commitment flip, it worked out for the Wolfpack. 

“What a great player,” Doeren said of Wilson. “That whole head-to-head was intense against them. Very happy that it happened for us. Every player matters, you just never know who that player might be in the recruiting class when you get them. … Sometimes it’s more than advertised with some kids. That one turned out in our favor in a big way.”

Wilson enters the game as the ACC’s leading tackler with 123 total stops this fall, and he will pace the Wolfpack’s defense against the Tar Heels. NC State has won four of its last six meetings with UNC, including winning the past two in a row. 

For Doeren, this week of practice has been helpful in the Wolfpack’s preparation for the Tar Heels. 

“It’s been a good week,” Doeren said. “It’s a fun rivalry week practice. No school now so the guys have some downtime to rest. … It’s been a good week. Good practice, good preparation, and obviously we’re looking forward to playing a really good team Saturday night.”

NC State sold out every home game this season before Week 1 even kicked off, but Doeren noted that he heard this weekend’s meeting is expected to be a standing room only type of contest. 

While the crowd is expected to be out in full force, Doeren’s mindset this week is all about the word “family.” Thanksgiving precedes the contest, and the Pack will have a team holiday dinner this week to celebrate. 

But he also wants the team to appreciate one another as senior day is on the horizon, and for at least 11 players, it will be their final game at Carter-Finley Stadium, including Wilson. 

Doeren does not want the “family” word to be all talk. Instead, he has backed it up within his program.

“I got into coaching because of the brotherhood and camaraderie, and the ability to help young people,” Doeren said. “To me, that happens best in a trusting environment, in an environment where you have to earn the trust — both sides of it. … It is a family away from families for all of us, not just the coaches.”

In year 11, it looks to be the case as the Wolfpack constantly have former players back in the building on a weekly basis, and that is expected to continue this weekend against North Carolina. 

“We want them to know when they come to the [Murphy Center] that we care about them, we love them, and we’re going to help them,” Doeren said. “I think that just takes consistency and a long, long period of time, and a lot of conversations.”

Those conversations have built the team into a tough-minded squad that has bounced back from an up and down start to win its last four in a row. 

Now, the Tar Heels stand in the Wolfpack’s way of finishing the regular season on a five-game winning streak — and the possibility of a 10-win season should the red and white win out. 

Doeren said that he does not have to say much to his team to educate them about what this one means — they are well aware.

“Anytime we get to play a cross-town rival it’s a big game,” Doeren said. “There’s great history in this game, a lot of close games, a lot of wild finishes. They have a really good football team. Two 8-3 football teams fighting for 9-3, what else could you ask for in a game like this?”