NC State heads into Saturday with more than a game plan to sort out. After an emotional week that followed Dave Doeren’s abrupt firing on Saturday, the Wolfpack are trying to keep the season from coming apart while an interim staff takes over and the players adjust to a new reality.
Todd Goebbel stepped into the interim head coach role and said the focus now is on getting the team ready to compete the right way through the rest of the season. “We will field this team that Coach Doeren will be proud of, which will be hard, tough, and most importantly, together,” Goebbel said on Monday.
“I would like to thank Mr. Corrigan for allowing me the opportunity to lead these great young men moving forward.”
Goebbel said he understands the weight of the position and what comes with it. “I do understand and respect the responsibility that goes along with being the interim head coach here at NC State,” Goebbel said. “Our mission is to make sure that these prideful men have a great experience competing for the rest of the season.”
The move was a stunning one for the program. NC State had never fired a football coach midseason before, but Boo Corrigan did just that after seven games. General manager Andy Vaughn and defensive coordinator DJ Eliot were also dismissed.
Now the burden shifts to the players, and quarterback CJ Bailey made it clear the moment calls for leadership from inside the locker room. “My leadership has been put to the test this year,” Bailey said on Monday.
“But this is definitely the week for me and the guys to step up, be the voice, be the energy, be the guys to take this program to another level. Because this is a big moment for the team and everybody [is] looking at us to see what we got to do.”
Bailey and the offense are dealing with a battered roster, especially up front. The injury list has climbed into double digits again this week, leaving NC State thin along the offensive line and forcing the offense to lean harder on what’s left.
That means production from players like Davion Gause and Keenan Jackson matters even more against a Cal defense that is giving up 400.6 yards per game, a number that ranks 112th in FBS.
On the other side of the ball, Charlton Warren now has the reins for defensive play-calling. He’s in his second year with the program and inherits a unit that has struggled to hold up all season. NC State’s defense has been allowing 380.0 yards and 28.1 points per game, and late-game leads have not been safe once the fourth quarter arrives.
Goebbel said the staff is staying locked in on the matchup ahead. “Our focus is on game planning for Cal, and we have really good personnel on all three phases, and we’re going to continue to evaluate and develop just like we always have here,” Goebbel said. “By Saturday, those 22 [players], and whoever’s getting the honor to run out there on special teams, I know they’ll be well coached, well prepared, and excited to play for the NC State fan base.”
It’s a difficult setup, but a homecoming win would at least give NC State something concrete to hang onto as it tries to show there’s still fight left in the season.
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The personnel picture heading into the bowl keeps tightening for the Bears, and that is where the concern starts to sharpen for NC State. Cal could be missing key pieces across the offense, from the backfield to the line to the receiving corps, leaving the Wolfpack to prepare for a team that may look very different from the one it scouted during the regular season. For a bowl game that already had the feel of a messy December assignment, the uncertainty around who Cal can actually put on the field gives it a little more edge. [Read more 🡒]