No Sonny Dykes, no Chad Morris:Dave Doeren(Northern Illinois) new head football coach at N.C. State

Press release coming from N.C. State University at www.gopack.com:

Raleigh, N.C. – Dave Doeren, finalist for the 2012 National Collegiate Coach of the Year Award, sponsored by the Maxwell Football Club, has been named head football coach at NC State, Director of Athletics Deborah A. Yow announced today. He comes to the Wolfpack from his position as head football coach for the No. 18 nationally-ranked Northern Illinois University.

“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,” stated Yow.

Doeren’s overall record at NIU over two years as head coach was 23-4 and 17-1 against Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponents. This season, Doeren led the Huskies to a school-record 12-win season that came on the heels of an 11-win season in 2011. With his recent win over Kent State, he captured his second MAC championship. NIU is the only NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision team to win 21 of its last 22 games.

In his two seasons at the helm, Coach Doeren’s prolific offense scored 40 points or more 16 times in 27 games. This season alone, the program scored 40.8 points per game and is in the Top 15 nationally in 4th down conversions (2nd), rushing offense (9th), scoring offense (10th), 3rd down conversions (15th), and total offense (15th).

“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 Jeff Compher [athletic director].”

Doeren has mentored Heisman Trophy candidate Jordan Lynch, the most productive dual-threat quarterback in the nation, who gained 2,962 passing and 1,771 rushing yards with 43 TDs. Lynch currently ranks third nationally in total offense.

For the second straight year, the Huskies rank among the top five FBS teams in student-athlete Academic Progress Rate (APR), the national metric used by the NCAA to gauge a team’s academic success.

Doeren’s dedication to academic excellence is unmatched. Northern Illinois is the only school in the nation to have a player win the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award in both 2011 and 2012. Huskies’ two-year starting noseguard, Nabal Jefferson, was named one of 15 winners of the 2012 NFF Scholar-Athlete Award, and is a candidate for the 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy, awarded to the best scholar athlete in the nation. Additionally, Northern Illinois join Duke, Penn State and Nebraska as one of only four schools in the country to place four players on the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District Team for its region.

Prior to becoming the head coach at Northern Illinois, Doeren served a five-year stint from 2006-2010 at the University of Wisconsin as the co-defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. He finished his last three years as defensive coordinator and his defenses were consistently ranked in the Top 25. During Doeren’s time there, Wisconsin posted a 49-16 record and played in five bowl games (Rose Bowl, Outback Bowl, Capital One Bowl and twice in the Champs Sports Bowl).

Doeren arrived at Wisconsin after four seasons (2002-05) at the University of Kansas. He was the linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons before being promoted to co-defensive coordinator. The Jayhawks led the Big 12 Conference and ranked No. 3 nationally in rushing defense in 2005 and were 11th nationally in total defense.

Doeren coached the secondary at NCAA Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) power Montana for two seasons in 2000 and 2001 and was the Grizzlies’ recruiting coordinator for one year. Montana won the I-AA national championship in 2001 and went 28-3 with two conference titles in Doeren’s two seasons there.

He started his college coaching career as an assistant at Drake from 1995-97, where he coached linebackers before adding defensive coordinator responsibilities in 1997.

A four-year letterwinner at Drake (1990-93), Doeren earned Academic All-America honors as a senior and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in pre-medical biology and a master’s degree in educational leadership.

He and his wife, Sara, have three sons, Jacob, Luke and Connor.

The media press conference will be at 4pm on Sunday, December 2, 2012, and may be viewed live at http://www.gopack.com/allaccess/?media=356275

What they are saying about Dave Doeren:

“What Dave has done here in two seasons has been unprecedented,” Compher said in a statement. “His record on the field speaks for itself, and the family atmosphere and culture of hard work he has fostered have led directly to our success. Under Dave and his staff, Northern Illinois has gone from being a great team to being a great program.” – NIU athletic director Jeff Compher

“Coach Doeren is a complete players coach, he earns respect the second he walks in the door. He is an extremely motivated and exciting person to be around.” – former NIU QB and current player on the Indianapolis Colts Chandler Harnish

“Dave Doeren is one of the rising stars in college football. He cares deeply for his players and fans. The Pack will be in for exciting times.” – former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel

“Coach Doeren is the most intelligent and loyal coach a player could ask for. His guys always take the field knowing exactly what to do, and play their guts out for him. He gets the best out of his players and he is a winner.” – former Wisconsin LB Chris Borland

“He’s a real gem – a young guy, very enthusiastic. He’s a great, great hire. If you look at the Northern team this year and last year, they were very efficient in every phase of the game. They didn’t have any weaknesses. They always did the little things. They didn’t beat themselves. And they always played hard. I was very impressed watching his teams play hard all the time.” – Former NIU head coach Joe Novak

“He’s a very good recruiter. He’s bright, energetic and a tireless worker. I really think everyone in Raleigh is going to like Dave. (He) will be able to adapt and develop relationships with the high schools in the state. He’s a really good recruiter.” – former Kansas head coach Mark Mangino

“Some guys have ‘it’ and Dave does. He’s a relentless competitor.” – former Drake head coach Rob Ash