I'm sure many remember that he was a leading candidate for the fans in the previous hiring cycle, given his affiliation with Debbie Yow.

1.) Gruden
2.) Mike McDaniels
3.) Franklin

That's my list.

10/13/2025 1:58:52 PM

Unless Goodnight has an epiphany and hands the FB program a blank check, DD will be our coach next season. No way Boo is going to go through a coaching search this year, there’s too much competition/movement. Or maybe he gets run off by the fan base and we end up with HC Roper.

10/13/2025 2:15:34 PM

The plan as I've always heard it was for DD to ride out CJB through his eligibility, which will be up next year. If CJB were to leave...who knows.

But I agree, I think it'll be at least one more year, especially if NCSU beats UNC and makes a bowl game. I think DD and Avent will retire about the same time.

[Edited on October 13, 2025 at 2:45 PM. Reason : g]

10/13/2025 2:45:17 PM

There’s gonna be (already is) some big name openings this cycle. I dunno if that’s enough of a reason to retain a coach or not. But…it would be pretty sweet to beat UNC and BB like 45-0 and then DD sail off into the sunset.

10/13/2025 2:56:10 PM

Didn't we retain him last time cause the competition from other teams?

10/13/2025 3:13:40 PM

It’s been several years since Doeren’s name was tied to another job. Ole Miss and Tennessee back in like 2017 or 2018 maybe.

10/13/2025 3:18:42 PM

These massive, long term buyouts are getting interesting in the NIL era. Is there anything to stop Franklin from going to a school and offering to coach their team for $1 the next 6 years while Penn State pays him ~8mil a year. And then use the millions the new school doesn't have to pay him to bump up his roster budget?

10/13/2025 3:27:35 PM

Yes, there's almost certainly language in his penn state contract that prevents that. I'm sure there's some offset in the buyout for any coaching job he takes and a requirement that he be paid fair market value. Taking a job for $1 would end up with Penn State suing to get out of the buyout and very likely winning. So yeah he's not going to do that.

Also, as a high profile coach do you really want to go to a school that can't commit to spending to the limit without cutting corners like that? That's not NIL money (which is essentially uncapped), those unpaid millions could only be used to reach the 20.5 million dollar limit used to pay athletes in all sports.

10/13/2025 3:44:07 PM

Quote :

"1.) Gruden"

lolololololololol

very on brand for you to want the racist Barstool personality

[Edited on October 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM. Reason : .]

10/13/2025 4:09:06 PM

^ I am really hoping his list was some kind of joke.

^^ Some coaches do just want to coach and not worry about the business bullshit though. With the 12 team playoff, a good coach with a pile of cash to spend on players could park themselves at a mid-tier school and make some nice runs at the playoffs while being worshipped by their fanbase.

But yeah, good point on the $1, even if they didn't have strong language in the contract around market value, they could probably make a good case that he's acting in bad faith or something. $1 is probably extreme, but the same principle could apply if he took, say a $4mil contract at a place that was gearing up to pay top dollar for a coach (like VT is blowing smoke about).

I also don't buy that if a school finds themselves with an extra $5mil over the "salary cap" that they wouldn't find a way to feed it to the players. But I guess we can assume in my hypothetical that schools play by the rules .

[Edited on October 13, 2025 at 4:23 PM. Reason : .]

10/13/2025 4:22:41 PM

Quote :

"NC State AD Boo Corrigan was on the radio tonight. He went through the various fall sports and how they're doing, including football: "Let's remind ourselves we're 4-3, not 0-7.""

Translation: "Ur stuck with Dave for at least another year lulz"

10/15/2025 9:01:55 PM

Welp, the Cignetti, Gunner Rivers NC State revival dream is dead. Cignetti signing a huge new contract with Indiana. 8 years averaging 11.6mil per year.

10/16/2025 5:56:02 PM

so long, Billy Napier

10/19/2025 1:57:18 PM

We going after Deion now?

10/25/2025 11:52:41 PM

10/26/2025 2:04:28 AM

so long, Brian Kelly

10/26/2025 9:24:47 PM

I think we've got a good shot at him, honestly

10/26/2025 10:03:22 PM

^ I fear you aren't wrong. Hopefully our AD wouldn't play that game, but who knows. If we aren't going to be content with what we got, I'd rather take our chances cycling through younger upcoming coaches every few years and pray we luck into the next Petersen/Drinkwitz/etc.

10/27/2025 10:49:35 PM

Eric Morris would be my top candidate if I'm Boo.

10/28/2025 12:01:53 PM

If Eric Morris is my top candidate, I'm begging Dave to ride it out another year if I'm Boo

10/28/2025 2:12:18 PM

He's SEC bound most likely anyways.

Gonna miss out on another great hire.

10/28/2025 3:40:05 PM

^^ LOL, Eric Morris is exactly the level of guy we'd be hoping to get in a normal year. If people wouldn't be happy with that....then maybe we should just stick with our all time winningest coach until he retires.

And to JT3's point...dude is gonna be a hot commodity. I doubt he goes SEC though. They can just poach proven coaches from the Big12/ACC/PacMWC now. No need to lower themselves to third tier conferences.

[Edited on October 28, 2025 at 3:57 PM. Reason : .]

10/28/2025 3:56:23 PM

Realistic candidates are gonna be a G5 coach, P4 coordinator, or an outside chance at a retread like Franklin (which admittedly seems like a long shot).

I don’t know anything about Morris but yeah he’d have the resume of a likely candidate for us.

10/28/2025 5:49:05 PM

Or catholic high school HC and former NCSU QB?

10/28/2025 7:51:19 PM

^ That's more likely than Franklin at this point. Franklin's floor is probably VT and their supposed 50+ mil per year budget bump.

10/28/2025 7:57:10 PM

Quote :

"It's been reported that you considered retiring last year. It's being said as fact that you're considering retirement this year. I don't think anyone's given you this opportunity to address that or is that something that you think about? No. I think about winning games, trying to find ways to get better, trying to help this football team, trying to help this university, trying to help my coaches, trying to be a good dad, trying to not get my wife mad at me. That's what I think about. Do I have plans down the road someday to retire? Sure, but I don't have any plans to do that. I'm going to keep coaching. I got four years left on my contract, so... I want this place to be as good as it can be. That's what I want, and I've done a lot, we've done a lot here to make this a stable, successful, competitive program. And I love these kids, man. I get to come to work and be with CJ Bailey. I get to come to work and be with Isaiah Shirley and Caden, Fordham and Brandon Cleveland and all these kids. Man, I'm so fortunate. So I'm having fun. I know losing sucks and it hurts and I'm pissed as hell on Sunday and Monday, but I'm having fun going to practice with this football team."

10/30/2025 3:06:47 PM