Doeren Gets Enough MACtion, Goes To NCState

The last we saw of Dave Doeren, he was hoisting the MAC Championship trophy for Northern Illinois' win over Kent in 2OT...

Remember...???
((HT: MACDigitalNetwork))


Looks like he won't be around DeKalb, Illinois except to clean out his desk...
He's been hired to take over the North Carolina State job...the 34th head coach in school history. The press conference on campus is set for Sunday...

“Coach Dave Doeren is a highly motivated overachiever who shares our goals to pursue aggressively a high level of achievement in the classroom and on the field of competition,” athletic director Debbie Yow said.

“I am honored and excited to join the Wolfpack. NC State has world-class facilities and fans that are second to none,” Doeren said. “I want to thank Chancellor Woodson and Debbie Yow for this tremendous opportunity. My family and I can’t wait to get to Raleigh and become Wolfpackers. While I look forward to our future at State, I want to acknowledge and thank the Northern Illinois players and fans for their support the last two years, especially President Peters and Jeff Compher [athletic director].”

Doeren's career spans from Drake to Montana to Kansas and Wisconsin- never having been a head coach until NIU. He finished 23-4 in two years, going 17-1 in the MAC.

Will Doeren be accepted with open arms in the south or will he be thought of as a carpet-bagger who doesn't get "it" down here...???

Debbie Yow expects a top-25 team consistently in the A-Cee-Cee...
Good luck on that one...

Carousel Continues: Tom O'Brien asked to leave NC State

This one was a little more surprising, though maybe not so much to fans of ACC Football.

North Carolina State announced on Sunday that they are parting ways with Coach Tom O'Brien. The Wolfpack were 7-5 this season, not an embarrassment by any stretch, but apparently too much for NC State athletic director Debbie Yow.

Oh...and maybe the fan base who apparently believes the Wolfpack should be a much better team than that. To which we would respond...really?

O'Brien had been at NC State for the past six years and his contract goes for another 2-years. The school owes him $1.5 million for each of those seasons.

The school did release a statement which you can read RIGHT HERE

This one just strikes us as making a move for the sake of making a move. So, maybe O'Brien is older and hasn't made the Wolfpack a "National Power", but they play in the ACC which really doesn't have one of those. They are a solid mid-to upper level ACC team and perhaps, if they find the right guy, they can move to the top.

We...and everyone else...will see.

UPDATE:

According to OSG Sources in Raleigh, Debbie Yow would like to hire Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin.  When Yow was athletic director at Maryland she had named Franklin head coach in waiting.  Those same sources tell OSG Sports that Vanderbilt might up the ante on Franklin to stay with the Commodores.

Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris is described as a “strong candidate” for the job.

There are reports that Washington State head coach Mike Leach has already been contacted by NC State.  OSG sources could not confirm that. 

Florida State Falls On Their Face In Raleigh Vs. NC State

((HT: ACC Digital Network/ESPN))

The HQ has long been vocal about this post-Bobby Bowden version of Florida State athletics- the football team lacks just about everything that its nationally-recognized predecessors had: heart, killer instinct, and just about any other element of athletic internal behavior needed to seal the deal...

The game against Virginia Tech was the one circled as the lump in the carpet that the Seminoles would trip over and fall flat on their face. But it happened earlier than that...

Spotting NC State a 16-0 lead, the Wolfpack came back and scored a touchdown off a Mike Glennon TD pass with less than 20 seconds left for a 17-16 win at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Seminole supporters consider this event unacceptable- as they should- and the 'Noles were one of three teams in the top five to fall on Saturday falling alongside Georgia and TCU to the middle of the table.

Looks like a matchup with Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl is now an inevitability...
"Gee, what a great pairing that is..." the TV networks will say...

Sure, you're right...
For 1990...

Here's the long version- even if it's to prolong the agony of Tallahassee fans...