NC State hired Tim Beck as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Jan. 1, 2020, but the profession moves fast.
Reports have Beck taking the Coastal Carolina head coaching jab, after coach Jamey Chadwell left the Chanticleers for the Liberty job. Chadwell went 39-22 over the last five years, including 9-3 this past season.
Doeren has had to replace his offensive four different time in the last 10 years. The first hire was Matt Canada on Dec. 15, 2012. Canada has been the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, but had previously worked with Doeren at Northern Illinois in 2011.
Canada coached at NC State from 2013-2015 before he was let go. He was known for creating a special offensive package for the unique skills of H-back Jaylen Samuels, who was the size of a running back, but effective as a flex tight end or on reverses and jet sweeps. He helped quarterback Jacoby Brissett make the NFL.
Canada went on to coach at Pittsburgh, LSU and Maryland, and in 2018 had the Terrapins go 5-7 overall as interim coach. He is currently the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After Canada was let go, Doeren hired Eli Drinkwitz from Boise State. Doeren didn’t have a pre-existing relationship with Drinkwitz, but Doeren recalled being intrigued with him while watching the Broncos hammer Northern Illinois 55-7 in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 23, 2015.
NC State’s offense was at a critical junction. The Wolfpack were 7-6 in 2015 and Brissett became a third-round NFL Draft choice. Quarterback Jalan McClendon was returning, but Ryan Finley transferred in from Boise State to follow Drinkwitz. They weren’t a proverbial package deal, but it worked out well for all parties.
Drinkwitz coached at NC State from 2016-2018 with the Wolfpack going 25-14 during that stretch. Finley was a three-year starter and became a fourth-round NFL Draft choice by the Cincinnati Bengals.
The current 39-year-old Drinkwitz left to become the head coach at Appalachian State, and after a 12-1 season with the Mountaineers, he was hired at Missouri. He’s gone 17-18 overall and 11-15 in the SEC in three years with the Tigers.
Rather than going outside the Wolfpack family, Doeren promoted running backs coach Des Kitchings and wide receivers coach George McDonald as co-offensive coordinators.
The combination of losing Finley and Drinkwitz, along with other injuries sunk NC State in 2019. The Wolfpack went 4-8 overall and 1-7 in the ACC. Doeren started from scratch again with McDonald becoming the wide receiver coach at Illinois and new coach Bret Bielema, who was Doeren’s boss at Wisconsin. Kitchings landed at South Carolina as the running backs coach for a year. He was then with the Atlanta Falcons in the same position, and is currently the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Virginia.
Beck arrived soon after and also had a pre-exiting relationship with Doeren. Beck was wide receivers coach at Kansas in 2005 when Doeren was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Jayhawks. Beck also knew offensive line coach John Garrison from their days at Nebraska. Beck has coach at Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio State and Texas, before he arrived at NC State.
Beck helped develop Devin Leary and landed current freshman quarterback MJ Morris and incoming quarterback Lex Thomas in the class of 2023. NC State won with four different quarterbacks this past season, going 8-4 and a berth to a bowl game.
The new offensive coordinator will have to sort out NC State’s quarterback situation. Leary could return for a sixth year of college or enter the NFL Draft. He could also enter the transfer portal with the changes coming in the Wolfpack’s offense. Leary suffered a season-ending torn pectoral injury against Florida State on Oct. 8.
Third-year freshman Ben Finley will be graduating in December. He wasn’t recruited by Beck and might welcome a fresh start after falling to fourth string this past season. He started the North Carolina game and helped deliver the victory. Morris started a pair of games, and also came off the bench to be the hero in the comeback win over Virginia Tech. He got hurt during the Boston College game and missed the rest of the season.
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