NC State head football coach Dave Doeren joined the ACC Network’s “Packer and Durham” with co-hosts Mark Packer and Wes Durham Monday morning to catch up on a number of offseason items.

The Wolfpack coach offered his thoughts on the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on preparing for the season, starting the schedule with an ACC opponent and the development of starting quarterback Devin Leary.

Here are the highlights from the interview:

P&D: What has the pandemic been like for you and the staff?

Doeren: “It's been a day-by-day deal. You're trying to be ready, no matter what they say and keep a positive mindset.

“We're all routine people in this profession and you kind of know about what day on the calendar, what to expect in most cases but the opposite has been true [this year]. You just try to use the best information you can get and make great decisions for people around you.”

P&D: What's been the biggest challenge with your football team through this?

Doeren: “Zoom has become a very popular tool and we've used it in a lot of cases. It's been all we've been able to do until recently.

“Just the personal disconnect you feel, not just with your team but society-wide, has been the biggest challenge. None of us signed up to be coaches to be sitting on a screen all day long.

“The human interaction piece is what's been the most challenging part, even though we've made up for it communication-wise through Zoom. I mean this is a sport of relationships and chemistry, as much as you talk about anything else, that's a huge piece of being successful with your staff and your team."

P&D: Can you tell us about the staff changes after last season?

Doeren: “The unique part of our staff is that several of these coaches have worked together in the past. Tony Gibson, Joe DeForest and Brian Mitchell were together at West Virginia. Charlie Wiles was together with Brian [Mitchell] at Virginia Tech. So there's working chemistry already on the defensive side of the ball and those guys have been able to spend a lot of time together.

“Offensively, Tim Beck and I were together at Kansas so our relationship has that piece to it, but he also worked with John Garrison, our O-line coach, for seven years in Nebraska.

“The hardest part for those gentlemen is not working together, I feel like that part has been good. It's the fact that they want to get to know their players and their players wants to know them, and five days into spring ball that process got halted.

“They've done as much as they can in the situation we're in, but being on the grass with those young men and helping them get better has halted that progress some.”

P&D: Do you have a feel for how much you were able to put in and what you’ve been able to do in the transition period?

Doeren: “We didn't get much in. First five days, the first two are non-padded. Terminology, the way that we do things, but it was very limited as far as our install.

“Part of the process of the spring was going to be allowing Tim [Beck] and the offensive side of the ball to get to know the personnel. We've tried to strip everything down and get down to the bare bones of what we want to do, and then allow the coaches a chance to really see the talent that they have.

“Fall camp is going to be a little bit of that. Nothing will be 100 percent locked in when we start fall camp. Things will evolve as we get to know the players, even more.”

P&D: How would you describe the conditioning status of your team based on the information you have?

Doeren: “Our strength staff has been with these guys now, in-person and voluntary hours, for about two weeks now. Not all of our team is here yet, they should be by the end of this week.

“I will tell you, no different than anyone else, some guys are in really good shape and some guys aren't. The way that we're having to train them right now, there are some really good things you can do but at the same time, it's not like it was. To think that guys are gone for three months and will come back the same as they were, I think that's impossible.

“We're not completely out of shape either, the point we're at right now is different than we normally would be and, because of that, our fall camp will have to be a little different.”

P&D: How much have you compared notes with other coaches in the league through this different offseason?

Doeren: “Coaching is a fraternity and as much as we want to beat each other in recruiting and on the field, there's still a camaraderie piece. We all feel that we're in this together.

“There's been a lot of really good conversations amongst the ACC head coaches on our calls and then the peers that you have in the profession you lean on and talk to. I've done that and will continue to do that.”

P&D: How do you feel about starting the season with a competitive conference game like Louisville?

Doeren: “Players in my past, when you have an opener like we do in Louisville, it's definitely an attention grabber to the offseason and to the summer and the fall camp leading up to your kick. Especially knowing that we're on Wednesday night and I think we'll be the only game on that night, so they'll have a great audience to open the season.

“Coach [Scott] Satterfield has done a tremendous job, as has his staff, with that program. Having a game like that definitely puts the urgency into what's going on leading up to it.”

P&D: Now Mississippi State 10 days later has some thump to it as well, doesn’t it?

Doeren: “It does. Obviously, a really good program from the SEC and I have great respect for Coach [Mike] Leach and worked against him when I was in Kansas and he was at Texas Tech.

“It's a very challenging opening to the 2020 season, but I know our players are excited about that. For us, it's just what we can do to be ready leading up to our preparation for both of those events.”

P&D: How have the recent events of the pandemic and social unrest changed your perception in terms of things you’re able to incorporate into your program?

Doeren: “The challenge, not just that we as coaches are in but anyone that's in a position of leadership right now, is creating that unity amongst all the people that are with you and your mission.

“For us, what's going on, from the separation of COVID-19, to all the injustice, it's created a lot of places where we can have very healthy and needed conversations in our building with our players and with our staff.

“Real World Wednesdays has been going on here for seven years and it's just a mechanism where we teach what's going on out there in the world and we're trying to empower our players to have the tools in their tool belt to make great decisions.

“I can't make decisions for them, but I can provide information and give them learning experiences outside of the world of football.

“That's what we try to do, is help build them up so that they're ready for whatever comes their way and they can spread that word amongst their friends and loved ones.”

P&D: How has Devin Leary developed and what are you expecting from him as practice resumes?

Doeren: “The biggest thing he has that he didn't a year ago is experience.

“Now it's drawing on those experiences and whether you win a game, lose a game, play really well or don't play really well, those are live reps that help you become a better football player and that you can draw upon when you have similar situations. From getting ready to play a game and playing well, to getting ready to play a game and not playing well, there are things Devin can now draw upon.

“He's going to get a lion's share of the reps, and I feel the same way about Bailey Hockman, who played for us last year too. Both these young men were first-year starters at times last year and both of them have an opportunity to be better than they were a year ago.

“In Devin's case, I think he's worked really hard in the situation we're in to improve. It's such a repetition game and I think that's the biggest piece all of us want to do is just get back out on the grass with these football players and our quarterbacks, and let them show us where they're at so we can help them.”

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