Published Oct 6, 2021
Dave Doeren radio show recap
Matt Carter  •  TheWolfpackCentral
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The weekly Dave Doeren Radio Show is streamed live on NC State's Facebook account at around 5:30 p.m. every Tuesday and then also broadcast on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on various affiliates across the state.

Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck is the assistant coach on the show, and he begins by discussing his background in Youngstown, Ohio where he went to the same school as the Pelini and Stoops brothers, who also got into college football coaching.

• Beck said that he does not relax differently during the bye week They are still working hard and doing a lot of self-scouting to try to improve and eliminate tendencies and potentially tipping off plays. Beck is going on the road Thursday to go recruiting, and they are also doing their Boston College preparations work.

There may be none of the pressure of a game week, but there is still work being done, he noted.

• The first thing they work on in a self-scout is to make sure they are not tipping anything, Beck pointed out. The bye week is the time to work on that. Beck compared it to a chess match with defenses. The offense is making sure that they fix their tendencies and be balanced in all personnel groupings.

• Redshirt sophomore quarterback Davin Leary has made Beck proud. Beck noted that Leary has put a lot of work in and grown as a quarterback and a person. Leary’s pride in his work has shown, and Beck said he has improved by leaps and bounds from where he was when Beck arrived in Raleigh.

• Leary’s ability to protect the football has noticeably improved. Beck noted when he first got to NC State, he noticed Leary seemed to figure that he had to throw it every time there is a pass play called.

“His growth in that area has been unbelievable,” Beck said.

Beck praised how well Leary did the reads on the run-pass options (RPOs) against Clemson. The key for Leary is to continue to trust the process and do the work. Beck thought against Louisiana Tech that Leary assumed some things early in the game and the coverage subsequently threw him off. Beck reminded him to go through his sequences, and it started to click for Leary.

• Beck thinks that Leary understands the schemes and defenses better, and that’s what has helped him.

• With regards to the viral video of the quarterbacks taking the test before the Mississippi State game with coaches ringing cowbells around them, Beck reminded that every decision a quarterback has to make is fast and amidst chaos. Thus they try to train them to think that way.

Beck noted that all of their tests, not just Mississippi State, are that way, some version of chaos to try to keep their minds focused on the task at end and not the environments. Quarterbacks cannot look at the rush or worry about things around him, they have to do their job.

Even their team meetings are done fast so that Leary and the quarterbacks process things quickly. It’s part of their mental training.

Once Beck pulled out water and said, “It’s raining.”

• The tight ends have helped Beck run his offense, he said. He really likes what sixth-year senior Dylan Parham and redshirt freshman Christoher Toudle have done. He noted Parham may be the most underrated and physical players on the football team. Beck added there are some good young players behind them.

“I think that room is always going to be a strong room for us,” he added.

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Dave Doeren segment

Dave Doeren detailed how they went all day Monday doing a self-scout, and then Tuesday they worked on that in practice and also met with each player, giving them specifically one thing each for them to improve.

They also worked as a staff to work on tendencies before hitting the road recruiting Wednesday. Saturday will be a day off to watch some college football. Back to work Sunday, Doeren said.

• The more Doeren thinks about how they tried to avoid a letdown after Clemson, the more he thinks it was harder than he appreciated. He noted they had a good time the night after beating Clemson, and then when the coaches watched the film on Louisiana Tech, they quickly realized that the Bulldogs were good.

Doeren knows it wasn’t the cleanest performance, but they did enough to beat a team that played well against them.

• The bye came at a good time. It was a hot preseason camp followed by five games, almost all in September. Good time, Doeren thought, to hit a reset button before a seven-week stretch to conclude the regular season.

• Doeren said the complementary football on the team sticks out to him. The team cares a lot about each other and appreciate each other on both sides of the ball, which Doeren said makes his job as a coach easier.

• Doeren noted that he offered Louisiana Tech quarterback Austin Kendall as a ninth grader, and he thinks that Kendall will prove to be one of the three best quarterbacks they will play this year.

• There was a focus to improve the special team coverage units after the Mississippi State loss, and they made some changes in what they called the “missiles” in their punt coverage. It has produced better results.

Doeren thought the best part of the Louisiana Tech win was getting junior kicker Christopher Dunn getting back in rhythm. Doeren recalled how he and Dunn had a nice, long conversation after the Clemson game.

• Redshirt junior punter Trenton Gill flipped the field all night last Saturday. They have been trying to get somewhere around five seconds of hang time on his punts.

• Doeren said that he does not know how Pro Football Focus (PFF) comes up with the grades, such as the defensive line being No. 1 in the country this past weekend, and there were some things that they didn’t do well, but you could not be anything but impressed with their effort.

The amount of chasing that the defensive linemen did of Kendall left them a bit tired at the end. The defense as a general was worn down and missed some tackles, especially at linebacker.

• Junior running back Ricky Person Jr. did get a syrup bottle for running over the LaTech defender on his touchdown run. They were aiming for 10 or more explosive plays against Louisiana Tech, and Person’s run was able to help get that done.

Doeren also noted how sophomore left tackle Ikem Ekwonu threw a defender “out of the bar,” at the end of the run on a block.

• Person and sophomore Zonovan Knight are keeping each other fresh, and Doeren noted it’s also competitive. They want to outdo each other. Both of them have had injuries in their past, and so they know this is the best path to staying healthy in the season, Doeren noted. It keeps them fresh and helps the team win.

• Freshman corner Aydan White is “very smooth,” Doeren said. White has great patience and really good feel for covering people, but he also has really soft hands. Doeren noted that White is one of the rare defensive backs that can catch.

• Beck and assistant Kriss Proctor have done a great job with Leary, Doeren said. Leary is doing a good job at keeping his eyes down the field while seeing the pass rush on his periphery. That is not easy to teach and is a skill that they are excited about. Doeren likes how Leary is protecting his defense, too.

Doeren added they have big receivers, so if you can get it near them they will go up and make the catch.

• Seeing sixth-year senior receiver C.J. Riley getting into the end zone vs. Louisiana Tech was “awesome,” Doeren said. Doeren noted that Riley has been doing a lot of the dirty work with his blocking on the perimeter.

• Because of COVID taking them off the road last year, they have felt a bit of a disconnect with the high school coaches, so they want to get to the road to visit some of the coaches. Only the coordinators stayed behind Wednesday, while everyone else hit up at least seven schools, most in the state.

Doeren noted that a few recruits suddenly wanted to talk to NC State after the Clemson win.

• Doeren was happy to see that many students at Louisiana Tech during fall break, and he also liked how long they stayed at the game.

• Doeren thinks that tight end coach Todd Goebbel deserves credit for overcoming the losses they had at the position off last year’s team. Goebbel was able to take converted players like Toudle and redshirt junior Trent Pennix and make them valuable contributors.

• Areas of improvement include getting more sacks on defense, Doeren said. Defensively they also want to get more plays on deep balls. Offensively, they need to get more consistent, Doeren said, and he also noted they need to improve on third and longs while adding he hopes they do not have a lot of them.

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