According to WRAL's Jeff Gravley, NC State is currently "in the process" of hiring Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doeren. Doeren's NIU team won the MAC championship by beating Kent State last night. This is also being reported by Football Scoop, which says that Debbie Yow was in Dekalb to interview Doeren on Saturday.

I'm sure you all read the POAPS on Doeren--and if not, now would be a pretty good time--but here's a quick refresher on the guy: he is 23-4 in two seasons as the head coach at Northern Illinois, and the team won the GoDaddy.com Bowl (it's kind of a big deal) last season. Prior to getting a shot at a head coaching gig, he spent five seasons as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator. His background is in defense--he also coached linebackers at Drake, Montana, and Kansas.

UPDATE: This is officially official.

NC State has confirmed that Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren has been hired, and the press conference is Sunday.

— The Wolfpacker (@TheWolfpacker) December 1, 2012

So what say you? Do you like this hire or would you have preferred one of the other candidates?