By Mark Bergin, WRAL multiplatform producer

Raleigh, N.C. — At the start of each football season, the Harris Teeter in Raleigh’s Village District puts out a cardboard cutout of NC State head coach Dave Doeren drinking a Coca-Cola.

Having moved to North Carolina at the start of 2022, I initially had no clue who specifically the beverage company was trying to promote.

The cardboard cutout version of Doeren features him as a younger man. His hair is thicker and darker. It’s a relic of the past.

Doeren, 53, has coached at NC State for a long time, entering his 13th season as the program’s head coach in 2025. Only Clemson’s Dabo Swinney has a longer tenure among ACC football coaches.

Doeren is the longest-tenured FBS coach in North Carolina by a long shot, with more years as a head coach than any other head coach in state college programs combined.

• Appalachian State: Dowell Loggains (first season, was South Carolina’s offensive coordinator)
• Charlotte: Tim Albin (first season, was Ohio’s head coach)
• Duke: Manny Diaz (second season at Duke)
• East Carolina: Blake Harrell (first full season, was ECU’s defensive coordinator and interim coach)
• North Carolina: Bill Belichick (first season, previously was head coach of New England Patriots)
• Wake Forest: Jake Dickert (first season, was head coach at Washington State)

Doeren is the winningest coach in program history, compiling an 87-65 record (47-51 ACC) since he took over the program in 2013.

No other NC State football coach has sustained the long-term stability of Doeren, even when Chuck Amato’s 2002 Wolfpack team finished with a program-best 11-3 record led by quarterback Philip Rivers.

Doeren’s NC State teams have finished with nine wins in four seasons of his 12 seasons. Nine wins mark the highest single-season total for the Wolfpack during Doeren’s tenure.

Doeren has finished with a winning record in nine of his 12 seasons at NC State, but it puts fans in a dilemma: The football team’s record is never bad enough to justify outright firing Doeren, but not good enough to be considered elite.

In addition to not appearing in an ACC Championship game since 2006, or winning the conference since 1979, NC State has lost five consecutive bowl games. That includes the 26-21 loss to ECU in the Military Bowl on Dec. 28, 2024.

While going 8-4 against your biggest rival, UNC, will get you bragging rights with fans, it’s worth noting how other college football teams in the state have made substantial moves to bolster their programs.

How other in-state schools are improving their programs

UNC has revamped its football program by bringing in perhaps the greatest NFL coach ever, Bill Belichick. Perhaps what might be more important is UNC is reportedly increasing its name, image and likeness [NIL] budget from $4 million per year to $20 million to attract the best talent.

Some of that money is coming from the $20.5 million that schools can share directly with athletes if the proposed NCAA settlement is approved as expected. NC State, too, will be able to share more funds directly with athletes

NC State fans might scoff at Duke football, but the Blue Devils have beaten the Wolfpack in consecutive seasons. Duke was the best team this past year in North Carolina, finishing with a 9-4 record in Diaz’s first season.

Plus, the Blue Devils added Tulane transfer quarterback Darian Mensah for a reported $8 million over the next two years. Mensah’s NIL deal is among the highest of any player in the country.

NC State’s 2025 outlook

NC State returns quarterback CJ Bailey for his sophomore season as well as most of his supporting cast: running backs Hollywood Smothers (571 rushing yards, 6.4 yards per carry) and Kendrick Raphael (425 yards, 5.4 yards per carry), wide receivers Noah Rogers (35 catches, 478 yards), Wesley Grimes (24 catches, 319 yards) and Dacari Collins (24 catches, 314 yards) and tight end Justin Joly (43 catches, 661 yards).

However, the Wolfpack lost star wide receiver KC Concepcion (53 catches, 460 yards), who was ACC Rookie of the Year, to the transfer portal. Concepcion will play for former Duke coach Mike Elko at Texas A&M in 2025.

While Doeren returns, the staff has undergone big changes on both sides of the ball.

Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson went home to West Virginia to take over as the head coach at Marshall. He’ll be replaced by co-defensive coordinator DJ Eliot and Charlton Warren, who spent the last three seasons at UNC. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae was fired after two seasons, and Kurt Roper, the team’s quarterbacks coach, will replace him.

Under Anae, here’s how NC State ranked in total offense and points per game:

• 2024: 366 yards per game (83rd among 134 FBS teams), 27.8 points per game (57th among 134 FBS teams)
• 2023: 337.9 yards per game (95th among 134 FBS teams), 24.7 points per game (74th among 133 FBS teams)

Roper, who is remaining as quarterbacks coach, will try to get the most out of Bailey, who threw for 2,183 yards, scored 22 total touchdowns and completed 64.9% of his passes in his freshman season.

NC State’s coordinator changes could create volatility, but not as much as another factor to consider.

NC State to get new chancellor over the summer

At the end of the spring semester, longtime NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson is retiring. His term will officially end June 30, 2025.

Woodson’s term included changes in the college athletics landscape, including the ACC adding the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University in all sports, adding the University of Notre Dame in all non-football league sports, as well as the league’s move to add Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and Southern Methodist University.

Woodson’s replacement will be faced with several questions as it pertains to NC State’s athletics department.

• Will NC State’s new chancellor want to maintain the football program’s status quo or shake things up?
• What will the new chancellor’s relationship be with current athletics director Boo Corrigan?
• How will the new chancellor look to maximize the revenue potentials of the football and men’s basketball teams, which are the two revenue drivers in the athletics department of any major university?

Doeren made $5,965,377 in 2024, according to USA Today’s compilation of college football coach salaries. He’s the 36th highest-paid coach at the FBS level.

For context, UNC plans to pay Bill Belichick an average annual salary of $10 million. Here’s a look at how much other ACC coaches made in 2024:

• Clemson’s Dabo Swinney: $11,132,775
• Florida State’s Mike Norvell: $10 million
• Miami’s Mario Cristobal: $7,783,059
• Pittsburgh’s Pat Narduzzi: $6,699,551
• Louisville’s Jeff Brohm: $5,631,057
• North Carolina’s Mack Brown: $5,000,000
• Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson: $4,781,410
• Virginia Tech’s Brent Bry: $4,775,000
• California’s Justin Wilcox: $4,600,000
• Virginia’s Tony Elliott: $4,251,000
• Georgia Tech’s Brent Key: $2,900,000
• SMU’s Rhett Lashlee: $2,360,640

Diaz, Boston College’s Bill O’Brien and Stanford’s Troy Taylor each work at private universities, so the details aren’t disclosed in their salaries.

What does this mean for Doeren?

Doeren is under contract through the 2029 season, which isn’t surprising. Many college football recruits want to know if a head coach has multiple years on his deal for stability purposes before committing to a school.

Doeren’s buyout stipulates that NC State would owe him his annual salary multiplied by the number of years left on his contract and any bonuses he’s earned if they fired him without cause.

It means NC State would need to pay Doeren’s buyout of at least $15.5 million if the school fired him at the time of this writing. The amount would decrease as time goes on.

A hefty buyout would be difficult enough for a university at a crossroads. Another would be to identify a coach with the ability to take NC State to levels the program has never achieved.

Doeren has been a solid coach at NC State, but the large sample size suggests there isn’t a path to progress the football program to a level of excellence. It’s especially true considering the growing revenue disparity the ACC has compared to the Big Ten and SEC, which is expected to grow in future seasons.

There’s no guarantee a new coach would wield better results than Doeren, but NC State won’t know until it happens.

Regardless, I look forward to the day Harris Teeter has a new Coca-Cola cardboard cutout, whether it’s Doeren or a new head coach.

Source: wralsportsfan.com