NC State’s season has been thrown into upheaval, but inside the building the message has gotten simpler by the day: finish.
After a disastrous road trip to Stanford triggered a major staff shakeup, the Wolfpack enter the final stretch with head coach Dave Doeren, defensive coordinator DJ Eliot and general manager Andy Vaughn all gone from the football staff. What’s left is a team and coaching group trying to steady the season over the final five games.
For tight end Preston Douglas, one of the offense’s bright spots, that word is more than a slogan. The first-year starter has 25 catches for 299 yards and a touchdown, and 16 of those receptions have moved the chains for first downs. But he said the standard goes beyond the stat line.
“I mean, finish is probably the most important word we have in our program,” Douglas said. “You can see across the country whether it's sports, not sports, you could have a great start, you could have a great [middle], but if you don't finish, it means nothing.
There were a few plays out there today, for myself, like I ran a great route or something. If I don't finish, it means nothing.
“So for us, we take great accountability in how we finish. That's honestly probably the most important word we have.”
That idea has followed the Wolfpack all season. It’s not just about closing out the schedule.
It’s about finishing plays, finishing drives and, above all, finishing games. NC State has three wins, but against Division I opponents the Pack have let teams claw back to tie or take the lead in every game.
Those late-game problems helped push the defensive change, with co-defensive coordinator Charlton Warren taking over the job and the play-calling duties after Eliot’s departure. Warren made it clear the last five weeks are about more than just survival.
“It’s everything,” Warren said. “If you're a competitor and that word isn't the foremost thing in your brain, something's wrong.
We've got a room full of competitors. We've got a building full of competitors.
So for us, finishing the right way is what we're doing, and that's what those inches are about.
“We're trying to finish today the right way, we're going to finish tomorrow, and we want to finish on Saturday and every week after that. It starts this week.
Give it our best effort, give everything we have, and everybody commit to it. Then we try to finish week to week.”
NC State gets its next shot Saturday at noon, when California comes across the country for a 9 a.m. PT kickoff for the Golden Bears. Nothing about the matchup can undo what has already happened to the program, but the Wolfpack still get one thing they can control: a chance to finish at home.
“You don't know when that leadership is going to be called into action, but when it is, we damn sure will be ready,” Warren said. “I'm not going to flinch because I'm now the play-caller.
I have a job to do, people depend on me to do it. It's that training, that leadership, that don't-flinch mentality.”
In Other News...
NC State Just Sent A Strong Message About Its Next Coach
NC State is making it clear what comes next after the firing of Dave Doeren. Chancellor Kevin Howell and athletic director Boo Corrigan sent a letter to fans laying out the football coaching search, and the message was as much about the programs direction as it was about the vacancy itself. The school is leaning into a broader pitch about where the Wolfpack football program should be headed and what kind of commitment it plans to make along the way.
The search is being guided with some notable outside help, too, with Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher and former NFL player Dewayne Washington serving as advisors to Corrigan. In the letter, the school underscored its belief that NC State belongs in the annual conversation for the ACC race and the College Football Playoff, while also signaling that it intends to back that ambition with financial investment. The next hire will be asked to match that standard from day one, which is exactly the point the school seems eager to make. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Just Got The Recruiting Jolt Fans Feared After Doeren
The first real hit to NC States 2027 class came quickly after Dave Doerens firing, as three-star offensive tackle Conner Rutherford backed out of his pledge. Rutherford had been the fourth-highest-ranked commit in the group, and his departure immediately put a little more strain on a class that had already been one of the more important long-range building blocks on the board.
The Wolfpack still have 18 verbal commitments, but this is the kind of opening that can lead to more movement if the coaching search drags on. The class is sitting 43rd nationally and 10th in the ACC, and with speculation already circling about Philip Rivers as a possible next head coach, the real question now is whether NC State can keep the rest of that group intact long enough to make this transition look manageable. [Read more 🡒]
NC States Coaching Search Just Took A Very Different Turn
NC States coaching search has already taken a turn that would have sounded far-fetched a week ago. After firing Dave Doeren and absorbing an estimated $10 million buyout, the Wolfpack are suddenly in the market for a new direction, and the conversation has drifted well beyond the usual list of sitting assistants and career coordinators. The opening has become part of a wider coaching shakeup, with Baylor also moving on from Dave Aranda and another former quarterback getting mentioned in the same breath.
For NC State, the intrigue is not just about experience on the sideline, but about what kind of hire can help shape the programs next stage off it. Philip Rivers is among the names being floated, which would mark a dramatic break from the standard search process and point to a broader strategy built around visibility, fan interest and the financial side of roster building. It is the kind of possibility that says as much about college footballs new realities as it does about who might end up coaching the Wolfpack. [Read more 🡒]