Here at Statefans Nation, we welcome guest columns, and this recent one by wolfanatic caught our eye. With only slight editing for formatting and a touch here and there to bring the content to date to include last week’s action, here it is. The opinions are the original author’s and please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. If you would like to submit a column for our consideration, please feel free to do so at the link in the top menubar.
Lynch mobs have a way of rapidly metastasizing, and their growth is often fed by emotion and a lack of reasoning. For those who are considering igniting their torches and heading down to the Murphy Center to demand the ouster of head football coach Dave Doeren, they would do well to defer to reason and patience instead of emotion.
While some Wolfpack faithful might wish to claim that “the jury is still out” in the case of Coach Doeren, or worse, they might want to consider that this “trial” has only just begun. By no means has the jury left the courtroom to deliberate. The prosecutors are seemingly anxious for a conviction, but the defendant in this case, must be given ample time and opportunity to defend himself against his accusers. In this case, his accusers have a five game losing streak and the prospect of it lengthening to the end of this football season — and maybe beyond that.
Undoubtedly, the prosecution will attack Coach Doeren’s coaching decisions, but it will also dig deeper into his background to prove that he is not up to the task at hand. The jury will be reminded that Coach Doeren in his only other head coaching job inherited a successful program at Northern Illinois University from previous head coach Jerry Kill. Coming off an 11-3 season, Doeren’s primary task was to steady the helm and keep the ship in the channel. In that aspect, he succeeded by going 23-4 (.851) over two seasons, culminating in a BCS bowl-busting Orange Bowl berth. In other words, the prosecution would have the jury believe that Coach Doeren has little experience in building his own program and that quite possibly, he is incapable of doing so – that perhaps he is in a bit over his head.
His detractors will point out that the last time that N.C. State went fishing for a coach in Mid-American Conference waters, they reeled in Tom Reed from Miami of Ohio. Reed, like Doeren, was successful in his previous position posting a 34-19-2 (.636) record over five seasons. Coach Reed’s first season at State ended with a disastrous 3-8 record. Torches were lit then too, but cooler heads prevailed, and Reed was allowed two more campaigns. He ended up logging three successive 3-8 seasons before he was shown the road out of Raleigh.
The prosecution will also remind the jury that if not for Niklas Sade’s 48 yard field goal with 33 seconds left on the game clock, the Wolfpack would have lost at home to the Richmond Spiders – an FCS opponent. That harrowing victory, coupled with home wins against Conference USA bottom feeder Louisiana Tech and MAC lightweight Central Michigan remain the only notches on Coach Doeren’s “pistol” to date.
On the other hand, Doeren’s defenders will be quick to point out that while Tom Reed was indeed a failed hire in retrospect, even he was allowed three seasons to clot the gushing nose bleed that is Monte Kiffin’s legacy at State. Likewise, the Kiffin debacle lasted for three seasons also, and its report card shows a pathetic 16-17 record. History shows that since 1971, when Al Michaels was the interim head coach, no N.C. State head football coach has been given less than three seasons to produce positive results. To erase that precedent, at this point, would be unrealistic as well as unfair. Thankfully, Dr. Yow is no Quick Draw McGraw and can be expected to treat her hire fairly.
In his defense, Coach Doeren can also point out that while he showed up late to the recruiting game, he was still quite successful in his recruiting endeavors. Further, he can claim that when he went to check out the cupboard that his predecessor had left him, he ended up feeling a bit like Old Mother Hubbard. This was especially true at the quarterback position – arguably the most important position. It is becoming increasingly apparent why Brandon Mitchell was not given the reins to the Arkansas offense, and Pete Thomas has been merely adequate – at best.
Reality is a wet blanket that can smother the flames of irrational exuberance and unreasonable expectations. The lighting of lynch mob torches is not a means to an end, at least not yet. The truth is that the only lynch mob that Coach Doeren wishes to see when he looks out of his office window in the Murphy Center would be a mob of NIU offensive lineman surrounding Jordan Lynch with immediate eligibility papers in hand. But that is equally unreasonable, so just hope that the Pack doesn’t end up in the reeds again.
