Eight days before N.C. State football opens its season against Virginia, head coach Dave Doeren isn’t backing away from his preseason confidence.
Asked about his previous comment to ACC Network that it's "when not if" his Wolfpack squad wins 10 games – something the program has accomplished only once in its history – the 14th-year head coach continued to echo confidence in his squad.
"We think we're gonna win every game every year, that's just how we are as coaches" Doeren said in his Aug. 21 press conference. "We don't get into a game thinking 'We're going to lose this one.' Every game we think we're gonna win."
For Doeren, that confidence comes in large part from the balanced leadership he has seen throughout the preseason and the alphas on both sides of the ball.
It's something he says he hasn't seen during his time in Raleigh.
"We have guys on both sides of the football that have words and action," he said. "They say the right things and they do the right things. They know how to communicate with each other and they know how to demand things from each other.
"We have balanced leadership on this team that we haven't had. I've had an alpha quarterback and a young defense or an alpha linebacker and a new quarterback. We actually have that on both sides of the ball in key leadership positions right now and it's healthy."
Among the players Doeren is referring to are third-year quarterback CJ Bailey, who enters this season with expectations to be one of the best signal callers in the ACC. On the other side of the ball, its linebackers Pop Aguirre, a Miami transfer, and AJ Richardson, who enters his second season with the Wolfpack.
"To have what we have in the key leadership positions on both sides of the football directing traffic is really new ground," Doeren said.
That leadership has already shown itself through fall camp.
"It was a great camp in a lot of ways," Doeren said.
Now, N.C. State will get its first opportunity to see how that leadership translates when it opens the season Saturday, Aug. 29 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) against Virginia in Charlottesville. It was a game originally scheduled to be played in Rio de Janeiro before being moved to Scott Stadium.
The Wolfpack has not lost to Virginia under Doeren and have won the last four straight over the Cavaliers, including a 35-31 win last year. The Cavaliers are coming off an 11-3 finish in 2025, finishing as runners-up in the ACC to Duke.
"Really good competition, really good team and excited to play them up there," Doeren said.
For Doeren, though, the confidence in this team is about more than a preseason prediction. The Wolfpack still has to prove it on the field.
“We got to earn it,” he said.
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@usatodayco.com or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Dave Doeren confident in NC State as Wolfpack open season against Virginia
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