One day after coaching Northern Illinois to its second consecutive MAC title, Dave Doeren is headed for the money-green pastures of a BcS conference.
In a press release, North Carolina State announced that Doeren has agreed to become the next Wolfpack head football coach. A press conference to introduce Doeren has been scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Athletic director Debbie Yow traveled to Illinois this morning to interview Doeren, mere hours after the conference championship game. Suffice to say, the interview went well.
“Coach Dave Doeren is a highly motivated overachiever who shares our goals to pursue aggressively a high level of achievement in the classroom and on the field of competition,” Yow said in a brief statement.
The move, at least based on previous reports, comes as somewhat of a surprise as many observers had viewed Louisiana Tech’s Sonny Dykes as the odds-on favorite to be named the successor to Tom O’Brien.
Doeren’s résumé, though makes it far from shocking. In just two seasons in DeKalb, Doeren sported a sparkling 23-4 record, with just one of those losses coming in conference play.
The Huskies job was his first as a head coach at the collegiate level.
“I am honored and excited to join the Wolfpack. NC State has world-class facilities and fans that are second to none,” Doeren said. “I want to thank Chancellor Woodson and Debbie Yow for this tremendous opportunity. My family and I can’t wait to get to Raleigh and become Wolfpackers. While I look forward to our future at State, I want to acknowledge and thank the Northern Illinois players and fans for their support the last two years, especially President Peters and [athletic director] Jeff Compher.”
Doeren made $423,000 in 2012 and, while the parameters of his NCSU deal were not released, it’s safe to assume that he’ll receive a hefty bump in pay.