NC State fires Dave Doeren

RALEIGH, NC - OCTOBER 10: Head Coach Dave Doeren of the NC State Wolfpack leaves the field after the college football game between Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the NC State Wolfpack on October 10, 2026 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Katherine Gawlik/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images NC State wasted no time after the debacle at Stanford to make a decision on Dave Doeren, who is out as head coach effective immediately. Of all the possible outcomes I could imagine for this season back in August, Dave getting himself fired before November was not among them. I’m not entirely on board with a mid-season firing, though no doubt this move had become necessary. Makes me wonder what sort of outside pressure may have built to push Boo Corrigan to do this right away.NC State’s release on the matter: NC State’s McMurray Family Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan has announced that Wolfpack head football coach Dave Doeren has been relieved of his duties effective immediately.“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, NC State running backs coach/special teams coordinator, will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Goebbel has been on the Wolfpack staff since 2019.A national search for NC State’s next head coach will begin immediately. Making the change at this stage has the advantage of giving NC State plenty of time to build a list of candidates and put a plan in place, so it makes good sense from that standpoint. And who knows, maybe this will rally the troops a bit and help them play better down the stretch. (Feels unlikely.) Still a surreal development, even if we could all see it on the horizon—his absence from the sideline the rest of the way is going to be really weird. All the best to Dave, who is free to spend the rest of his days out on the lake putting out the vibe, if that’s what he wants to do.