NC State football coach Dave Doeren's goal for 2022 is to 'win a championship'

RALEIGH — NC State football coach Dave Doeren slipped on a pair of reading glasses before scanning his prepared notes at Monday's press conference.

He paused and then mused about the passing of time.

"I didn't need these 10 years ago," Doeren said, smirking while motioning to his eyewear.

It was a subtle moment of reflection for a coach focused on the near future; namely Saturday's 2022 season-opener against East Carolina, where the No. 13 ranked Wolfpack will begin its most publicized season in the last decade. It was also recognition of how far the now 50-year-old Doeren has brought this program since winning three games in his inaugural 2013 season that included a road loss to the Pirates.

"I know what my goals are here, win a championship," Doeren said. "I think the biggest thing I can tell you, is in my 12 years as a head coach (two with Northern Illinois), I look at failure as an opportunity to grow. You can't get better without struggle, and that's God's honest truth in life."

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That failure came in the form of the 2019 season, where, amid high expectations and nine wins the year before, the Wolfpack won only four games and tumbled to the bottom of the ACC Atlantic Division.

Doeren said he was thankful for that experience.

"I am better for going through that," he said. "I was exposed to things in our program that, had we not had some of those injuries and were able to get to a bowl game, maybe not have to dissect what's wrong. We probably wouldn't be where we're at right now. "

The Wolfpack returns 17 starters from last year's 9-3 team, including 10 from a defense expected to be one of the toughest in the nation. Then, of course, there's quarterback Devin Leary, the ACC preseason player of the year, leading a team expected to compete for their first league title since 1979.

"This is a team that has been on a journey together for a time now," Doeren said. "We've grown together. We've had a lot of vulnerable conversations with each other and there's a genuine commitment and understanding of what it takes to be good."

Depth chart delay

NC State's two-deep depth chart was expected to be released Monday, but Doeren told reporters that because ECU waits until Tuesday to release a depth chart, he'd do the same.

There weren't many questions on the Wolfpack's depth chart entering Week 1, but Doeren did answer a few.

For one, Anthony Belton will get the start at left tackle against East Carolina, making him the current replacement for first-round pick Ikem Ekwonu. Belton was only on the field for 11 snaps last fall but did earn the start at left tackle during the spring game in April.

Doeren also said that wide receivers Thayer Thomas and Julian Gray will return punts and kickoffs this season.

"This is what I've always hoped for," Doeren said. "Not just to have a starting group of guys, but also a group of guys that are good enough to beat them out and can go into a game and not just take reps, but produce and help us win."

Facing ECU

The Wolfpack are currently an 11-point favorite against ECU, but recent history has not been kind to NC State at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

The Pirates have not lost to NC State at home since 2007 and have won 33-27 in 2010 and 33-30 in 2016. Doeren is 2-2 against ECU, winning the last two games in 2018 and 2019 by a combined 92-9. Both games were in Raleigh.

This will be NC State's only nonconference road game and the last time away from Carter-Finley before opening ACC play at No. 4 Clemson in Week 5.

"We know their (ECU) fans are going to be loud. That's something that we need," Doeren said. "I'm excited we have that challenge in our opener."

David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at dthompson1@gannett.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC State football coach has championship expectations in 2022