It was a stressful 24 hours around NC State starting Wednesday evening and ending midday Thursday while Dave Doeren was flirting with making a move to Tennessee.
Here is a snapshot of how it went down:
• The two sides originally began discussions on contract negotiations around midseason. We can say that it raised some eyebrows when the original reports were that an extension was imminent as it turned out the two sides were far apart at that point. As has been well reported, Doeren at that point decided to bet on himself that NCSU would finish the season strong and increase his leverage.
• The Pack obviously went 2-3 after the bye week and finished the year at 8-4. At that point, the issue for an extension became more centered around length. Doeren wanted five years to take him through 2022, athletics director Debbie Yow was originally offering three, and both sides appeared to dig in.
Sources tell us that Doeren’s reasons for wanting five years were twofold: one for recruiting purposes as we explained before (so he could guarantee he would be in Raleigh for the incoming freshman class' entire careers) and secondly for security with the looming athletics director change expected to take place in the summer of 2019.
• Depending on who you listen to, Doeren and Ole Miss either gauged mutual interest or reached a point where Doeren was likely to be the next in line. However, a source that talked with Doeren implied that he had not committed to anything at Ole Miss except that he would listen after the UNC game and had questions about the NCAA investigation that would need to be answered (Ole Miss was hit with an additional year of a bowl ban and loss of scholarships on Friday).
• Tennessee’s interest came somewhat suddenly Wednesday morning after the rejection from Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy and talks fell apart with Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm (to be fair, numerous Tennessee insiders with a good track record insisted that Brohm never received a firm contract offer).
Then, now-former athletics director John Currie and the man who could be his replacement, Philip Fulmer, met with Doeren Wednesday night. We cannot say how long that meeting had been planned, but we do know that earlier in the day Doeren was telling associates he was not meeting with UT. As we reported Thursday, UT offered Doeren six years and $24 million, fully guaranteed.
• Wednesday night following the basketball game and then again Thursday morning from two separate sources, one close to Doeren and one close to the administration, expressed pessimism about Doeren returning. One noted that it would take a lucky break for the Pack to retain him, another speculated that the financial differences were going to be too great.
Yow did meet Doeren with his fifth-year request and also came closer to his terms on finances for himself and his staff in her final offer.
• Around 12:15 p.m., a reliable source in the past called us out of the blue, one that did not have ties to either Tennessee or NCSU but rather has connections to the coaching search firms. That source said that Doeren was going to turn down the job. This came minutes after offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz’s tweet about recruiting a quarterback in 2019 for NCSU and after VolQuest.com’s Brent Hubbs reported that he heard Doeren had been in a staff meeting to talk recruiting at NCSU that morning.
Within 15 minutes of that call, Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel became the first to officially report Doeren was staying. Less than a minute later, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to us that same news.
•••
The big news to come Friday is the looming announcement of four-star linebacker Payton Wilson from Orange High in Hillsborough, N.C.
Here’s what we can share:
• In late-October, a source close to the Wilson family (with no ties or fandom at NC State) told us that Wilson would take official visits to NC State and Notre Dame, but that the latter was more for the experience than serious interest.
• That same source told us shortly before Thanksgiving (and after Notre Dame visit) that they thought it was 75 percent likely Wilson would end up at NC State.
• A second, separate source similar with a closer relationship to Wilson (and also unaffiliated with NCSU) told us Tuesday essentially the same thing: that Wilson was not seriously interested in going to Notre Dame and that they thought he might end up at NC State.
• A third source told us this week that Clemson would have been the team that could have provided a challenge for NC State. However, although Wilson mentioned Clemson, it appears that the Tigers were not all in on the second go-around. Clemson was a heavy pursuer the first time, as our second source noted to us Tuesday, suggesting to the point that they were willing to maneuver some numbers in their recruiting class to squeeze him in. However, it appears that Clemson, based on what multiple people have told us, did not choose to full go after Wilson this time, and interestingly if it did it might have been on the offensive side of the ball.
All of that plus what other sources have told us lead us to believe that when he does announce it will be for NC State. If it is the Pack, that would end linebacker recruiting in this class.
•••
As we noted before, part of the reason why offensive tackle Devin Hayes decommitted is that NC State approached him about potentially delaying his enrollment. There were a couple of reasons for that. One was to give Hayes more time to grow into his 6-foot-5 frame, something Hayes semi-acknowledged in an article with the Orlando Sentinel.
Another, and more pertinent, reason was there was a feeling that NC State was in a good position with both North Miami Beach (Fla.) High’s Kahric Belle and Charlotte Harding’s Jovaughn Gwyn. Although we don’t know for certain, we believe both Belle and Gwyn were probably higher on the offensive line board than Hayes.
South Carolina has long been known as the chief competitor for Gwyn, but there is another team to beware of for him: Clemson.
The Tigers will be at his state playoff game tonight against Charlotte Vance, and we understand that Clemson has grown increasingly interested in him to the point that speculation within the last couple of weeks has reached the point that an offer would not be surprising. The question is, would that be too late? After earlier indicating he wanted to announce in the summer, Gwyn changed course earlier in the fall and sent notice he may want to wait until the February signing date.
•••
NC State will take another defensive back in this class, and we believe it is in a good position with both Aaron Maddox from Pima College in Tempe, Ariz., and Tanner Ingle from Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips High. The latter, we detected in our talk with him earlier this week, would probably like to circle back to UT if the new coach works out, but given the increasing uncertainty and the potential momentum coming out of Doeren turning down of UT, it would not stun us if the Pack overtook Tennessee by a good margin this weekend.
That said, we would not necessarily expect a commitment either. Ingle seemed to be more inclined to wait, although that could change with a big visit weekend.
Here is a snapshot of how it went down:
• The two sides originally began discussions on contract negotiations around midseason. We can say that it raised some eyebrows when the original reports were that an extension was imminent as it turned out the two sides were far apart at that point. As has been well reported, Doeren at that point decided to bet on himself that NCSU would finish the season strong and increase his leverage.
• The Pack obviously went 2-3 after the bye week and finished the year at 8-4. At that point, the issue for an extension became more centered around length. Doeren wanted five years to take him through 2022, athletics director Debbie Yow was originally offering three, and both sides appeared to dig in.
Sources tell us that Doeren’s reasons for wanting five years were twofold: one for recruiting purposes as we explained before (so he could guarantee he would be in Raleigh for the incoming freshman class' entire careers) and secondly for security with the looming athletics director change expected to take place in the summer of 2019.
• Depending on who you listen to, Doeren and Ole Miss either gauged mutual interest or reached a point where Doeren was likely to be the next in line. However, a source that talked with Doeren implied that he had not committed to anything at Ole Miss except that he would listen after the UNC game and had questions about the NCAA investigation that would need to be answered (Ole Miss was hit with an additional year of a bowl ban and loss of scholarships on Friday).
• Tennessee’s interest came somewhat suddenly Wednesday morning after the rejection from Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy and talks fell apart with Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm (to be fair, numerous Tennessee insiders with a good track record insisted that Brohm never received a firm contract offer).
Then, now-former athletics director John Currie and the man who could be his replacement, Philip Fulmer, met with Doeren Wednesday night. We cannot say how long that meeting had been planned, but we do know that earlier in the day Doeren was telling associates he was not meeting with UT. As we reported Thursday, UT offered Doeren six years and $24 million, fully guaranteed.
• Wednesday night following the basketball game and then again Thursday morning from two separate sources, one close to Doeren and one close to the administration, expressed pessimism about Doeren returning. One noted that it would take a lucky break for the Pack to retain him, another speculated that the financial differences were going to be too great.
Yow did meet Doeren with his fifth-year request and also came closer to his terms on finances for himself and his staff in her final offer.
• Around 12:15 p.m., a reliable source in the past called us out of the blue, one that did not have ties to either Tennessee or NCSU but rather has connections to the coaching search firms. That source said that Doeren was going to turn down the job. This came minutes after offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz’s tweet about recruiting a quarterback in 2019 for NCSU and after VolQuest.com’s Brent Hubbs reported that he heard Doeren had been in a staff meeting to talk recruiting at NCSU that morning.
Within 15 minutes of that call, Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel became the first to officially report Doeren was staying. Less than a minute later, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to us that same news.
•••
The big news to come Friday is the looming announcement of four-star linebacker Payton Wilson from Orange High in Hillsborough, N.C.
Here’s what we can share:
• In late-October, a source close to the Wilson family (with no ties or fandom at NC State) told us that Wilson would take official visits to NC State and Notre Dame, but that the latter was more for the experience than serious interest.
• That same source told us shortly before Thanksgiving (and after Notre Dame visit) that they thought it was 75 percent likely Wilson would end up at NC State.
• A second, separate source similar with a closer relationship to Wilson (and also unaffiliated with NCSU) told us Tuesday essentially the same thing: that Wilson was not seriously interested in going to Notre Dame and that they thought he might end up at NC State.
• A third source told us this week that Clemson would have been the team that could have provided a challenge for NC State. However, although Wilson mentioned Clemson, it appears that the Tigers were not all in on the second go-around. Clemson was a heavy pursuer the first time, as our second source noted to us Tuesday, suggesting to the point that they were willing to maneuver some numbers in their recruiting class to squeeze him in. However, it appears that Clemson, based on what multiple people have told us, did not choose to full go after Wilson this time, and interestingly if it did it might have been on the offensive side of the ball.
All of that plus what other sources have told us lead us to believe that when he does announce it will be for NC State. If it is the Pack, that would end linebacker recruiting in this class.
•••
As we noted before, part of the reason why offensive tackle Devin Hayes decommitted is that NC State approached him about potentially delaying his enrollment. There were a couple of reasons for that. One was to give Hayes more time to grow into his 6-foot-5 frame, something Hayes semi-acknowledged in an article with the Orlando Sentinel.
Another, and more pertinent, reason was there was a feeling that NC State was in a good position with both North Miami Beach (Fla.) High’s Kahric Belle and Charlotte Harding’s Jovaughn Gwyn. Although we don’t know for certain, we believe both Belle and Gwyn were probably higher on the offensive line board than Hayes.
South Carolina has long been known as the chief competitor for Gwyn, but there is another team to beware of for him: Clemson.
The Tigers will be at his state playoff game tonight against Charlotte Vance, and we understand that Clemson has grown increasingly interested in him to the point that speculation within the last couple of weeks has reached the point that an offer would not be surprising. The question is, would that be too late? After earlier indicating he wanted to announce in the summer, Gwyn changed course earlier in the fall and sent notice he may want to wait until the February signing date.
•••
NC State will take another defensive back in this class, and we believe it is in a good position with both Aaron Maddox from Pima College in Tempe, Ariz., and Tanner Ingle from Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips High. The latter, we detected in our talk with him earlier this week, would probably like to circle back to UT if the new coach works out, but given the increasing uncertainty and the potential momentum coming out of Doeren turning down of UT, it would not stun us if the Pack overtook Tennessee by a good margin this weekend.
That said, we would not necessarily expect a commitment either. Ingle seemed to be more inclined to wait, although that could change with a big visit weekend.
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