NC State just fired the winningest football coach in program history after one bad stretch, and now the university may owe him nearly $10 million in buyout money — all while students drown in tuition debt and the athletic-industrial complex keeps churning.
Dave Doeren was terminated Saturday, a day after the Wolfpack fell 31-28 to a Stanford team that had only three wins on the season. The loss dropped NC State to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in ACC play. Fourteen years, 98 wins, 11 bowl appearances, and a 9-4 record against rival North Carolina — all rendered meaningless by a rough October.
Follow the money. WRAL reports that Doeren was under contract through Dec. 31, 2029, and the university could owe him approximately $9.75 million in remaining base salary. That's nearly ten million dollars for not coaching. Fox News didn't mention the buyout figure at all — an odd omission for a story about a coach getting fired mid-contract. Someone will pay that tab, and it won't be the athletic director who made the call.
Athletic director Boo Corrigan offered the customary platitudes. "I want to thank Coach Doeren for his service and contributions to NC State, and for always representing the university with pride," Corrigan said in a statement. What he didn't say: he had previously opposed midseason coaching firings, according to WRAL. So much for principle.
Doeren took the fall like a professional. "It starts with me," he said after the Stanford loss. "The guys didn't play well enough, which means I didn't have them ready."
The Wolfpack entered the season with returning quarterback CJ Bailey and hopes of competing for an ACC championship. Those hopes evaporated after a blowout loss at Virginia and a last-second defeat at Vanderbilt. The Stanford loss — falling behind 14-0 early and never leading at any point — appears to have been the final straw.
Running backs coach Todd Goebbel will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Corrigan said a "national search" for Doeren's replacement will begin "immediately" — his second high-profile coaching search this year, following men's basketball coach Will Wade's abrupt departure in the spring.
Here's the question nobody in the university press office will answer: What is the educational mission served by any of this? NC State is a public university funded by North Carolina taxpayers. Millions flow through the athletic department, coaches get fired mid-contract, buyouts get paid, and new coaches get hired at even higher salaries. Meanwhile, tuition keeps climbing and students graduate buried in debt. The college sports industrial complex isn't about education — it's a racket dressed in school colors.
The post-Doeren era begins Halloween night when NC State hosts California. The bill for the era before it will take much longer to settle.
