N.C. State coach Dave Doeren served up a coarse warning and likely some motivation for the opposition in advance of the season opening game with East Carolina in Raleigh on Aug. 28.
At the ACC football media days in Charlotte on Thursday, Doeren reportedly said, “I don’t want to just win that game. I want to beat the sh** out of that team.”
Hey, language!
Doeren said that it was about vindication for the Wolfpack, not a reflection on ECU.
“Not because of them,” he said. “But because of how we played. I told our team in the locker room, that’s the most embarrassed I’ve ever been as a coach. Not because we lost, but because of how we behaved at the end of it.”
Sideline personnel poured onto the field in Annapolis and eight players were ejected in a large-scale physical confrontation after then-freshman receiver Yannick Smith of the Pirates lifted a personal towel from a State defender, who has since transferred out.
The American held its media day in Charlotte on Friday and Pirates coach Blake Harrell was asked about what Doeren had said. To his credit, he chose not to respond in kind. He made the matchup about ECU.
“It’s a very competitive game,” Harrell said. “There’s a lot of emotions and energy and it just builds up into the game. We talk to our players all the time, no matter what happens in life, positive event, negative event, at some point we’ve got to forget the event and learn the lesson.
“That’s a valuable lesson there. There’s no place for how that game ended. It probably may have gotten blown more out of proportion than it really was, but at the same time there’s no place for that.
“Sportsmanship needs to be at the forefront of what we do. It’s a very unique opportunity that you finish the season with the same opponent you’re going to open the season with, but at the same time it’s a different roster for both them and us. It’ll be a great atmosphere up there. … Looking forward to it and we’ve got to make sure we play the game the right way.”
Don’t think Doeren won’t run up the score if gets the chance. He put an offensive lineman in the backfield and ran him for a score in the last stages of a 58-3 win over the visiting Pirates in 2018.
Pernetti leads off
American commissioner Tim Pernetti provided remarks at the outset of the program Friday.
He favors transfers having to sit out one school year the second time they switch programs.
Pernetti credited Harrell’s performance as interim coach as ECU finished 8-5 under his leadership after a 3-4 start.
“This is a guy, if you’re auditioning for something in your life, this is the guy you want to hang out with.” Pernetti said. “His audition last year for the head coaching position was really a fun story to watch.
“I remember being down there early on. He may have been coaching in his second game, and it was a Thursday night and I’m on the field hanging out. And he kind of rolls over towards me and we shake hands and he’s like, ‘How are you doing?’
“I said, ‘I don’t know. How are you doing?’ He’s like, ‘We’re having fun.’ And it occurred to me, as you watch the team play, there was this loose mentality of like, ‘Hey, let’s relax and let’s line it up and let’s play. We got nothing to lose.'”
Fired up
Harrell is thankful to be doing what he does.
“I’m fired up to be the 23rd head football coach at East Carolina,” he said. “There’s no better place in my mind. It’s a special place. It’s a special place in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, and the Pirate Nation. Thank you to our fans. Thank you to Pirate Nation for making a place where football matters.
“The momentum we have coming off last season and into this spring has been awesome. And as I tell our players, you can’t take one single play from last season into this season, but you can take that confidence.
“2025 is a new year. It’s a new team. It’s a new season. I’m excited by our team and excited about this group.”
Defensive lineman Ryheem Craig and quarterback Katin Houser were with the Pirate contingent on Friday.
Roster transition
Harrell addressed roster changes.
“We lost 22 seniors,” he said. “22 special young men that laid the foundation, but we’ve welcomed 53 new players into our team, 23 true freshmen.
“What I’m most pleased about in our locker room, with me bringing 53 new guys into our locker room, is the way they welcomed those guys in — the way we welcomed those guys in, but kept the focus on the team. Our roster is made up of 40 percent of first and second year players.
” … With that youth comes guys that bring energy. They are guys that are ready to compete and go at it. They’re hungry.
“We’ve got some key returning players on each side of the ball, some vets. I think you look at returning starters, it may not be that impressive a number, but we’ve done a really good job the last several seasons of playing a lot of guys, adding a lot of depth. Although some of those guys haven’t been starters full time, they’ve played a lot of snaps, played a lot of football, so I’m excited about those guys.
“Through the portal, we also did add some experience there. I think overall we have 28 seniors on our football team. Excited about the older young men in our program as well.”
Offseason becomes preseason
Harrell continued in his opening remarks.
“Our staff has been unbelievable,” he said. “I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for our staff. Just really proud of the way they mentor and lead our young men. Doing a great job there. We’ve had a really good offseason in my opinion, through the first three quarters. We broke it down into four quarters of an offseason: your winter training, your spring practice, your summer training, and we’re getting ready to start the fourth quarter here on Sunday.
“After we report Sunday, we open the season on August 28th with a Thursday night game. So we report Sunday, our first practice is Monday morning. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We know that. We’re excited to go attack the next 34 days.
“Our big focus this offseason as we go through the training, as we go through it, has been just everything we do, whether it’s the weight room, whether it’s practice, whether it’s classroom, it’s doing it with relentless effort, intense energy, discipline, and execution.
“It’s been an honor to serve our players, serve our community, serve Greenville, our university, and the Pirate Nation. It’s an honor to be a part of the American Conference. It’s a competitive league full of a lot of good coaches, a lot of good players. I’m excited about what’s ahead. I’m excited about the 2025 season.”
Impact transfers
Harrell shared his thoughts on transfers who could step in immediately.
“We’ve added several new faces to both sides of the football,” Harrell said. “Really excited about those young men and how they’re fitting into our locker room, not just from an athletic standpoint but from a culture standpoint. They bought into it’s about the team and it’s about each other and what we can do to help each other and help us win football games.
Obviously, we lost some key pass receivers. We’ve got some key returning receivers. Jaquaize Pettaway (Oklahoma) is a guy that came in in January, a slot receiver that’s done some really good things at times. Just really looking forward to how much he’s progressed from spring ball to preseason camp. I think sometimes we bring a transfer in, they’re getting a new scheme or new lingo and it can be a little bit different for them.
“So the spring sometimes they don’t flash as much as they should, and all of a sudden you come out of preseason camp and next thing you know they turn some heads. And he’s certainly done that in some individual drills. I’m just looking forward to him doing that a little bit more this preseason camp and this season.
“On the defensive side of the ball, there’s numerous new faces there. But we had the opportunity to bring back a couple of players that have been at East Carolina, Teagan Wilk (safety, Houston), Xavier McIver (defensive lineman), two of my favorite players. I think they play the game the right way. They know what East Carolina is about. They love being a Pirate and I think they’re going to do a great job representing Pirate Nation.”
Preparation, focus
Harrell was asked about the pending matchup with State.
“Our main focus for the 2025 season is not necessarily about our opponents right now,” Harrell said. ‘It’s about us and it’s about how much better we can be every single day. We got 34 days until August 28th, but we got a lot of work to do.
“We’ve got a long ways to go. We’ve got to push every single day to get better and better. Then when you get to your opponent, whichever week that may be, that’s going to be the biggest game of the year because it’s the next game.
“We all have that competitive mindset that we want to win and we want to take care of business. But right now that’s the mindset and our opponent is us and taking care of us and seeing how much better we can get next week during preseason camp.”
Staff additions
Harrell hired Josh Aldridge from Auburn as defensive coordinator among staff additions.
“When you take over midseason, it’s kind of like you’re just trying to keep it glued together,” Harrell said. “You’re trying to keep everybody in a positive mindset, in the right direction, pulling together. In the offseason, whether it’s through staff changes or how you go about your business and the culture and different things, you’re putting your stamp on it and you’re putting your fingerprints fully ingrained on it.
“We were very fortunate to keep most of our staff intact. At corners coach we even brought Tarron Williams back. He had been at East Carolina. I worked at two different institutions with him. And then Josh Aldridge took my place as defensive coordinator, and just the energy he’s bringing has been outstanding. So just really fired up by our staff. Mason (Baggett) in the weight room has been awesome and the young men love him in there. And just seeing their bodies change and grow has added confidence in there as well.
“So the main thing is just like in our locker room, we make it about the team, we make it about each other and growing for each other and that’s been pretty special.”
Thursday night games
Including the game at State, ECU has four contests on Thursday nights.
The Pirates host defending American champion Army in ECU’s league opener of Sept. 25. The Pirates visit Tulane on Oct. 9. ECU plays its third straight Thursday contest at home against Tulsa on Oct. 16.
“That’s awesome publicity not only for East Carolina, our university, Pirate Nation, but great publicity for the American Conference,” Harrell said. “Just to put on display what the American Conference is about, how competitive this league is, and our brand of Pirate Nation.
“That’s a great way to begin the season. You begin the season with a team up the road that’s an hour 15 minutes away, that our fans are very familiar with their fan base, and players are very familiar with their players. So really excited about it.
“Sometimes during the offseason when you’re opening up with maybe an opponent you’re not familiar with you, you don’t get as much publicity about it, but this one certainly does get the publicity. And our players are excited about that.
“At the same time, we’ve got to keep our focus on ourselves and our focus on each and every single day on how we can grow and be better as a football team.”
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