NC State has moved on from Dave Doeren, ending the longest coaching tenure in modern Wolfpack football after Saturday’s 31-28 loss at Stanford dropped the team to 3-4. The school announced the firing less than 24 hours after the defeat, and after 14 seasons, Doeren’s run in Raleigh is over.
The timing says plenty about how badly that game landed. Stanford came in last in the ACC in both scoring offense and scoring defense, and SP+ had NC State favored by 10 points.
Coming out of a bye, the Wolfpack still gave up 477 yards, with 234 of them in the first quarter. Davis Warren threw a career-high four touchdown passes, Micah Brown ran for 150 yards, and Stanford walked out with a 31-28 win that made the decision feel inevitable from the outside.
That loss was the latest and final blow in a season that started with real belief. Doeren, usually measured in preseason talk, had hinted at the possibility of a 10-win year. With one of the two weakest schedules among Power Four teams and an opening SP+ ranking of No. 48, the setup looked workable.
It fell apart quickly. NC State opened by allowing 45 points in a loss at Virginia, then followed its 73-0 win over Richmond with one of the strangest finishes of the season at Vanderbilt.
The Pack led the whole way before CJ Bailey fumbled in the end zone with six seconds left while trying to take an intentional safety. That night, national voices were already calling for Doeren’s job.
A pair of wins over App State, 41-31, and Louisville, 31-28, bought some breathing room. But Wake Forest then came into Carter-Finley and put 31 straight points on the board in a 38-14 win, while NC State managed only 15 rushing yards. By the time the bye week arrived, the Wolfpack had slid to No. 80 in SP+.
At 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the ACC, bowl eligibility is now a long shot. In year 14, that kind of collapse was too much for the program to absorb.
Doeren’s exit doesn’t erase what he built, though. He took over in 2013 with NC State stuck in the middle, and his first team went 3-9 with no ACC wins. From there, he turned the Wolfpack into one of the conference’s steadiest programs.
In 14 seasons from 2013 through 2026, Doeren went 98-74 overall and 52-58 in ACC play. He guided NC State to 11 bowl trips in his first 13 seasons, won four of those games, posted four nine-win seasons, and finished in the AP top 25 twice - No. 23 in 2017 and No. 21 in 2023. He leaves as the winningest coach in school history.
There was also a razor-thin piece of history at stake. Doeren entered 2026 with 165 games coached at NC State, eight shy of Earle Edwards’ school record of 173.
Stanford was his 172nd game. He ends one game short of a mark that has stood for more than half a century.
Still, the criticism around him never changed. He never won the ACC.
He never pushed NC State to the next tier. The program stayed stable, but the ceiling never really moved.
The move is even more striking because of what athletic director Boo Corrigan had said publicly. Speaking to the Raleigh Sports Club last October, he said, “I don’t believe in firing coaches mid-year.”
Corrigan’s statement after the firing thanked Doeren for his service, his leadership over 14 years, and the way he represented the school with pride. He also said, “I want to thank Coach Doeren for his service and contributions to NC State, and for always representing the university with pride,” said Corrigan.
“I appreciate his leadership during his 14-year tenure and the passion he brought to this role. We wish Dave, Sara and his family the best in the future.”
Todd Goebbel will take over as interim head coach for the rest of the season. The running backs coach and special teams coordinator has been on the Wolfpack staff since 2019.
NC State still has five games left, beginning with Cal at home on Oct. 31. Those games now become an audition for the staff and a chance for the roster to keep playing with something on the line, even as the school begins the most important coaching search Corrigan will oversee.
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