Dave Doeren didn’t need a fancy setup to explain where N.C. State football stands. A steak dinner at The Crunkleton before ACC Kickoff in Charlotte gave him the opening, and he ran with it.
The Wolfpack coach used the meal to make his point about a program that has spent years chasing the next step. Doeren said the tomahawk steak, with its big bone, fit the moment perfectly: “Great steakhouse.
They have tomahawk steak, big bone. You pick it up right at the end, take the knife and clean it off.
That's the best part of the steak if you didn't know that. It's the same.
Being second, there's meat on the bone,”
That line landed because it matched the broader message he brought to the league’s preseason media days. N.C. State has not won an ACC championship since 1979, and Doeren said that gap still fuels him as he enters his 14th season leading the Wolfpack.
“. … Every school I've worked at, even as a player, won a championship, a conference championship.
I was part of a national championship. It's what I came here to do.
“I know that this school can reach that goal and those heights, so it drives me. I want to put this place, always wanted to leave NC State better than I found it, for sure.
But I want to put it at a place where it's special for everybody for a long, long time. That's what this is about.
It's definitely a driving force for me.”
The results have been solid, even if the final breakthrough has not arrived. N.C. State has won at least eight games in five of the last six seasons, but it is still looking for its first trip to the ACC championship game in Charlotte and its first double-digit win season since 2002.
Doeren also pointed to the stability his program has shown in a sport where turnover has become the norm. He said the college football landscape has changed a lot since he arrived, and noted that the schools he has faced have each had at least three different head coaches, with some having more.
“I came in really excited about running this program, and still am. Since that time the landscape of college football has changed a lot just within our own state.
I think each school I go up against has had a minimum of three different head coaches at each university, and some of them more than that. I think that says a lot about what we've built,” Doeren said.
He then circled back to the part of the job he enjoys most: being able to talk about what his team does well.
“As media, a lot of times your job is to talk about what we don't do well. Today I get to talk about what we do well.
I think having staying power, being a consistent winner. Won the second most number of games in the ACC in the last six years.
… With that being said, I'm sick of being second. These guys know that.
We're here to do more. That's what drives us.
It's the competitive spirit of winning, the brotherhood that comes along with that that's so special.
N.C. State opens the 2026 season at Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 29 (3:30 p.m., ESPN).
In Other News...
Hurricanes Keep Doubling Down On Their Blue Line Vision
The Hurricanes added another piece to their blue line plan by signing William Hakansson to a three-year entry-level contract, a move that keeps the organization leaning into a defense-first pipeline. Selected 51st overall in the recent NHL Draft, Hakansson comes in with a $900,000 cap hit and the kind of profile Carolina has increasingly targeted as it tries to stock its system with size and reliability on the back end.
Eric Tulsky has already pointed to Hakanssons development as part of the appeal, and the organization sees a defender who can handle tougher minutes as he grows into the pro game. The question now is how quickly that upside translates, but for a team that has made a habit of investing in its blue line, Hakansson fits neatly into a long-term picture that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Fans Have Every Reason To Expect Even More From Ehlers And Miller
Nikolaj Ehlers did not just arrive in Carolina last summer, he immediately looked like a fit for the way the Hurricanes want to play. Signed on July 3, 2025, and locked in for six years, he stayed on the ice for all 82 games and delivered a career-best season in goals, assists and points, giving Carolina the kind of top-six speed and finishing touch it had been looking to add. His impact carried into the spring, too, where he remained a meaningful part of a deep playoff run and even found the net in the Stanley Cup Final.
KAndre Miller brought a different kind of value, but the same sort of early return. Acquired from the Rangers in a sign-and-trade and then extended for eight years, he settled into a major role right away, playing 72 games and producing eight goals and 37 points while giving Carolina another big, mobile defenseman to lean on. He was also a key piece on the back end in the playoffs, and for a team that already liked what it saw from both newcomers, the bigger question now is how much more there is still to come. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Lock In No. 51 Pick William Hakansson For Future Blue Line
The Hurricanes have moved to secure another piece of their blue-line pipeline, signing defenseman William Hkansson to a three-year entry-level contract after taking him with the 51st pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old spent last season split between Lule HF in the SHL and a loan stint with Almtuna IS in HockeyAllsvenskan, giving Carolina a look at him against pro competition in Sweden before bringing him into the organization.
Hkansson also arrives with a bit of international polish, having helped Sweden capture gold at the U20 IIHF World Junior Championship. For a Carolina team that keeps trying to stockpile mobile, long-term defensive depth, the signing adds another prospect to watch as he begins the next stage of his development, even if the path from draft day to Raleigh is still very much a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]