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Coaching changes are awkward. If you're a guy moving on to a better-paying opportunity in a major conference, you can't be faulted for doing so, but there is the matter of breaking that news to the players you've built relationships with over several years. So it was encouraging to see some tweets from NIU players wishing Dave Doeren good luck at NC State.
Best of luck to to coach Doeren! at NC STate!! #Greatguy #bestofluck
— Jordan Lynch (@Jordanlynch06) December 1, 2012
Good luck to coach d #respect But we still got some work to do here! #HuskieNation #family
— Ryan Brown (@RyanBrown7878) December 1, 2012
Thank you coach Doeren, its been a pleasure being coached by you. Good luck at NC State
— Levon Myers (@levonmyers71) December 1, 2012
His former players at Wisconsin, also had nothing but good things to say about him. Former Wisconsin safety Aaron Henry:
"We probably talk once a week. NC State is getting a quality guy. On top of being a standout guy both as a coach and off the field, he's a kind of a guy who is an extremely hard worker. He stays at the facilities for hours and hours to make sure the game plan is in place."
Doeren has a lot of work to do from a recruiting perspective to change the direction of NC State football. The state gets poached constantly from surrounding out-of-state programs.
The opportunities are there--Mack Brown, Chuck Amato, and Butch Davis proved as much. Dave Doeren has a chance to make an impression with Tennessee's coaching search ongoing--every bit of instability in the region helps--but can he assemble a staff to leverage it? We'll see.