Dave Doeren radio show recap

Here is a recap from this week's Dave Doeren radio show, recorded live on Tuesday on NC State Wolfpack football's Facebook page.

First-year cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell recalled his 97-yard interception return for a score against New Mexico while in Albuquerque, N.M., and yet on the next play they threw a double move to Terance Mathis, who would go on to be a NFL receiver, and an exhausted Mitchell joked all he could do was hope it was overthrown, and thankfully it was.

Mitchell played at BYU when Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Ty Detmer. Mitchell, from Texas, made visits to Wisconsin and Texas Tech before picking BYU. The environment at BYU fit the way the way that Mitchell grew up, and there was an opportunity to play as a freshman and also play against the pass in the “wacky WAC.”

• One of Mitchell’s coaches at BYU with whom Mitchell got to work with after college was former NC State offensive coordinator Norm Chow.

• Knowing that Tony Gibson was the defensive coordinator at NC State was one of the biggest draws for Mitchell taking the job. The two worked together at WVU and are great friends. One of Mitchell’s good friends is Cary Godette, who also coached at NC State and gave Mitchell insights.

• Mitchell noted that defensive line coach Charley Wiles is his “lunch buddy and golf buddy.” Mitchell called Ruffin McNeill his mentor, and Mitchell could not ask for a better partner coaching the secondary than Joe DeForest. Mitchell had worked with all of them before.

• Wiles and Mitchell actually housed at Gibson’s home for about a couple of months after taking the job at NC State.

• Mitchell tore his ACL his junior year of high school and wondered if he could even play college football yet he made it to get to the NFL after being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons. Brett Favre was in his draft class.

There were actually three Brian Mitchells in the NFL when he was playing. Mitchell joked he always got confused with the running back/punt returner Brian Mitchell at the airport checkpoints.

• Going over the cornerbacks, and specifically the youth of the main players, Mitchell can see their steps and development. They practice at a level that is very intense and detailed-oriented. He’s proud of them, and he noted in the last couple of weeks sophomore Cecil Powell has really pushed through. That earned Powell the start against Florida State. Powell has eliminated the mental mistakes he made earlier.

• Redshirt freshman Shyheim Battle is a sponge who listens. Redshirt sophomore Malik Dunlap at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds is a cornerback coach’s dream.

• Battle’s development is being seen on tape. The biggest improvement you can notice is in the level of details in Battle’s notes in the meeting room.

• It’s important to paint a picture to the corners that giving up one big play is not the end of the world, because the opportunity will come up again. It’s important to trust your technique.

Redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman and redshirt junior Thayer Thomas got the game balls. Dave Doeren joked he confers with Wayne "Smoke" Hubert, the assistant equipment manager, on who gets the game ball, but Doeren also noted on a serious note that sometimes it’s obvious.

• This team is resilient and responds when things don’t go their way. Every team in college football has been dealing with issues and the whole world has been in flux. Players have had to deal with unknowns, but this team has really embraced it, and that has helped to deal with injuries or losses.

• Doeren had no idea all the things that were going to happen in 2020, but when they started in the offseason in January he told the players that they were going to work on connecting positively and competing. That is still happening now.

This team has bonded together better than any he has ever seen. That was really important coming out of last season when a lot of things pulled them apart.

Doeren noted that started with him, and thus it was important to create an environment where they all wanted to be together.

• The chemistry of the coaching staff is really good. They not only work well together, but they get along well. Doeren feels bad for the wives and families of the new staff members because they have not been able to integrate them into the football family due to COVID-19. He’s hopeful that the vaccines can change everything and get back to having the social lives they need.

• He didn’t put a watermark on what they wanted from new offensive coordinator Tim Beck, but he was just excited to see what Beck could do. He was confident that Beck would create good cohesion on the staff and have a great system that they could operate.

Doeren noted that Beck is someone he has always enjoyed being around Beck both professionally and socially.

• They call the beginning of the game their “openers.” Beck lists five plays he really likes, and then he asks the assistants for their top five before talking with the quarterbacks to see what they like. Getting points early was critical against Florida State because the Seminoles were a good first-quarter team.

• Hockman has always had a really good arm, and now he has good timing. The offense is also built to take what the defense gives them. Hockman did a good job of recognizing the numbers on Saturday, and FSU was giving them the slant in particular.

• Confidence is a critical component for everybody, but especially at quarterback. Beck has a lot of trust in Hockman, and Hockman believes not only in what Beck is calling but also trusts his playmakers to make plays.

• Redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Moore had just one missed tackle and was really productive against Florida State. He had a couple of “blow-up” plays where he took out the fullback for Florida State. He was aggressive, and that’s what they want.

• Redshirt freshman defensive tackle C.J. Clark is an elite effort player. He sprints to the football every play and flashes. He is pushing junior Alim McNeill, and Clark got the start over McNeill against Miami because, simply put, Clark graded out better against UNC. Wiles likes to start the guys who graded best in the previous game.

• Third downs, red zone touchdowns, etc., are the little things that equate to success. Turnover margin is No. 1 in that category, and Doeren notes they are undefeated over three years when they win the turnover margin.

• A lot of coaches have decided to go for it on fourth and one, and a lot of Florida State’s conversions were on those. The odds of converting on fourth and one are very high. Doeren was disappointed they didn’t convert on fourth and one against FSU because he believes in going for it himself in those situations.

• Redshirt freshman defensive end Terrell Dawkins leads the team in tackles for loss and sacks. Doeren notes Dawkins is getting better, and once he gets stronger he will become a really dynamic player. Dawkins can really run and accelerate, which allows him to make plays that others can’t.

• Live evaluations are so critical, in recruiting and Doeren saw sophomore Ikem Ekwonu play both ways at a high school game. He recalled the huge tackle Ekwonu had when hitting an interceptor, and Doeren told his staff he thought Ekwonu would play as a freshman.

• Liberty has a quarterback (Malik Willis) as good as anyone, in Doeren’s opinion. Statistically Liberty is top-20 in every category on offense, and they have great depth. The defense has not had to play a lot because the offense controls possession.

• Liberty plays ball control offense a lot and are scoring a lot of points with it. They eat clock at a high rate.

• Going to have to stop the run and tackle well, but also prevent the big play for a touchdown. It’s very important to get the ball back so that the Pack's offense can play. Liberty doesn’t rotate as much on defense.

• They feel good about junior safety Tanner Ingle being back on Saturday. He practiced Tuesday, but they will have to see how the week unfolds.

• it’s going to be hard to rattle Willis, but it’s important to contain him and not let him run around like he wants to. Tackling him is going to be very critical. Willis has a really strong arm with great accuracy for downfield passes.

• Liberty's defense is about 80 percent zone coverage. They do not use man coverage much. They also don’t tend to do much on defense. It’s more about being sound.

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