NC State fired an assistant football coach, but Dave Doeren isn’t going anywhere
N.C. State will have a new defensive coordinator next season but the same head coach.
Assistant coach Dave Huxtable, Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren’s primary coordinator since 2013, was fired Monday.
N.C. State finished the season with six straight losses and a 1-7 ACC record, including a pair of defeats to Atlantic Division coaches who have been fired (Florida State and Boston College).
N.C. State athletic director Boo Corrigan offered his public support of Doeren on Monday.
“The conclusion of a season is a time to reflect, look in the mirror and evaluate the overall direction of a program,” Corrigan said in a statement released by the school.
“Dave Doeren is our football coach. He has earned it by winning nine games in back-to-back seasons and I look forward to doing all I can to help Coach Doeren moving forward. The 2019 season didn’t unfold the way any of us wanted but we will continue to invest in this program, and to provide the resources to help N.C. State football compete at the highest level.”
A longtime college coach, Huxtable (62) was the oldest assistant on Doeren’s staff and was popular with the players but not always with the fans. He has one season remaining on his contract and is owed about $800,000. North Carolina, East Carolina, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech were among Huxtable’s other stops in his 38-year career.
N.C. State fell from 9-4 to 4-8 with a host of injuries, quarterback problems and defensive struggles adding up to a disappointing season.
The Wolfpack had seven starters back from last season on defense and hoped it could take a step forward after struggling in 2018. But with rampant injuries in the secondary and a scheme switch, the Wolfpack couldn’t consistently come up with stops. It gave up more than 40 points in five of its eight losses.
N.C. State finished the season ranked No. 101 in pass defense (255.5 yards per game) and No. 83 in scoring defense (30.1 points per game) this season.
Doeren, whose background as an assistant coach is on the defensive side of the ball, has always been active in the defensive game-planning. Huxtable was also his linebackers coach.
The Wolfpack switched schemes, from a 4-2-5 to a 3-3-5, at the start of the season and added assistant coach Tony Gibson from West Virginia as a co-coordinator.
Gibson has two years left on his contract with N.C. State but Doeren is likely to hire a new coordinator for the 2020 season.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 9:50 AM with the headline "NC State fired an assistant football coach, but Dave Doeren isn’t going anywhere."
