Rivalry week is when players could become legends and momentum for the next year is established.
NCSU coach Dave Doeren said Thursday that regardless of the level, there is an uptick of energy when it is rivalry week. He hears it on the phone when he talks to recruits, who are about to play their rivals. He remembers it as a player when he played for Drake and faced Dayton.
Doeren has been a part of the USC/UCLA rivalry, Montana vs. Montana State, Kansas vs. Kansas State, Wisconsin vs. Minnesota and Northern Illinois vs. Ball State.
NC State has gone 6-4 against North Carolina under Doeren, with the Wolfpack winning the last two games. Usually the team that runs the football the best wins, but NC State has bucked that trend the last two years.
With both teams at 8-3, there is more on the line this year than usual. Rankings, potential better bowl berths and a chance at a 10-win season are some of the goals based on the game. It is also NC State’s Senior Day, and that has a different set of emotions.
“It’s a great rivalry,” Doeren said. “It’s all about finish. November is about finishing strong, and that is one thing we’ve done. We are 12-4 in the month of November since 2020. If you say you are going to do something, then lets go do it.””
Sometimes the rivalry spills over into recruiting. That happened when Hillsborough (N.C.) Orange High outside linebacker Payton Wilson picked North Carolina over Clemson and Virginia Tech. NC State had avidly tried to land the local player, with former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Dave Huxtable the lead recruiter. Huxtable would go to Wilson’s wrestling matches.
Wilson injured his knee his senior year, and then decommitted from UNC the day before Thanksgiving. He selected NC State over Notre Dame on Dec. 1, 2017.
“When you want a guy in your program, whenever you are allowed to be in their school, you show up and be present,” Doeren said. “Multi-sport athletes, you are present. When I was a position coach, whatever their second sport was, you were there. If it was basketball, you’d be there Friday night. You are eating the team dinner, if you were allowed to eat the team dinner. If you were a wrestler, you are at the wrestling match.”
Doeren half-joked that he isn’t out on the road recruiting as much as a head coach, but raising money is his “new gig.”
“Recruiting is about presence and being there about building a relationship and being a part of a young person’s life,” Doeren said.
Doeren also knows that some speed-dating is on the horizon with the transfer portal running Dec. 4, 2023-to-Jan. 3, 2024. Graduate transfers and players whose coaches have been fired have been entering the portal this week.
“It’s a mess to be honest,” Doeren said. “You just hope the young people involved get good advice and listen to good advice. There are a lot of people who are trying to use these kids from other places to get money. That is the one thing that doesn’t get talked about, these so-called agents who promise kids these deals and they get a cut. They are trying to make money off these guys.”
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