Posts Tagged ‘dave doeren’

On the same day Northern Illinois received the ultimate validation in the form of an Orange Bowl bid, offensive coordinator Rod Carey was annointed the leader of the Huskies' program. Carey was promoted to head coach one day after Dave Doeren accepted the same position at N.C. State.

In what has to be one of the most rare circumstances in college football history, Carey's first game as head coach will come in the biggest game in his school's history. If one press conference can be any indication, he'll be ready for it. 

Northern Illinois has stated it wants to become the Boise State of the Midwest, and days like today are how you get there. The Huskies have put together winning seasons in nine of the last 11 years and are 34-7 over the past three seasons. Carey's move will instill continuity and help the program establish an identity. Bringing back all-everything quarterback Jordan Lynch next season helps, too. 

Carey came across prepared and confident for his move to the big office. Jerry Kill left Dave Doeren a great foundation, and Doeren obviously did the same for Carey. The Huskies are 23-4 in the last two seasons with back-to-back Mid-American Conference titles. 

"It's not what you can change, it's what you can keep," Carey said. "We've got a good thing going. We're going to keep our offensive system, our defensive system, our special teams. Will there be differences? Yes. But they'll be so small you guys might not even see them."

Carey said he intends on keeping every coach on the staff. "No one is going to be wanting for a job on this staff, and that's the way it should be," said Carey. 

Carey arrived at Northern Illinois with Doeren in 2011, added run game coordinator responsiblities before this season and then assumed the role of offensive coordinator after Mike Dunlap stepped back due to health issues following the season-opener. A Wayzata, Minn., native, Carey played at Indiana from 1989-93 and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Minnesota from 1998-99. He then became the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Division III Wisconsin - Stout from 2000-06 before moving on to coach offensive line at Illinois State (2007) and North Dakota (2008-10). 

For a guy who was a position coach at the FCS level as recently as three years ago, Carey suddenly has a very big, and very orange, opportunity ahead of him. 

We have learned that Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doeren has accepted the head coaching position at N.C. State.

"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 N.C. State athletic director Deborah Yow.

Doeren, 40, took over as the Huskies' head in 2011 after Jerry Kill left for Minnesota. In two seasons, Doeren led Northern Illinois to a 23-4 record with back-to-back Mid-American Conference championships. Doeren accepted the N.C. State job one day after leading the 12-1 Huskies to a 44-37 win in double overtime over Kent State in the MAC Championship.

"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]."

We are told to look for offensive line coach Rod Carey to be promoted to head coach at Northern Illinois. 

Doeren played at Drake from 1990-93 and got his start in coaching at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee Mission, Kan. Doeren coached linebackers at Drake (1995-97), Montana (2000-01) and Kansas (2002-05), with a pit stop as a graduate assistant at USC from 1998-99, before taking the defensive coordinator position under Bret Bielema at Wisconsin from 2006-10. 

We aren't aware of any significant ties Doeren has to the immediate local area so look for him to hire some talented assitants with local connections. As always, we'll keep you posted on The Scoop. 

Plenty of schools have gone all-in on creativity when promoting their players for the Heisman Trophy. There's Collin Klein's band aids, Chase Daniel's viewfinder and Joey Harrington's Times Square billboard, to name a few. 

Instead of shooting for something clever, Northern Illinois speaks from the heart as Dave Doeren today sent out an e-mail promoting the merits of his quarterback, Jordan Lynch. 

The letter may not help Lynch win the award, or even get to New York, but it's great to see a head coach vouch for his player to this extent. 

Here is Doeren's letter in full, provided by CBS's Bruce Feldman. 

Respected Voters,

I wanted to personally write to you regarding my QB Jordan Lynch. I know many of you have his stats and have followed his season. In my 17 years of coaching college football I have never seen a tougher, multi-skilled, consistently productive quarterback than Jordan. In 12 games he has rushed for 1611 yds, 16 TD's, 134.2 yards/game and passed for 2750 yds, 23 TD's and only 4 INT's with a QB rating of 157.3. Please understand that many of the second halves this season we were up and didn't play him in the 4th Q. His stats could be even more over the top. His game management skills and clutch decision making also sets him apart.

He is the first player in FBS history to pass for more than 400 yards and rush for more than 150 in a game (vs Toledo, 11/14/12). He is the second player to ever pass for more than 2,500 yards and run for more than 1,500 yards in a season. Jordan holds the NCAA record for most consecutive 100 yard rushing games by a quarterback (10 straight). He needs 92 yards to break the NCAA record for Rushing yards by a QB in a season.

He is a blue collar winner that truly loves and respects the game of football. His relentless energy and passion for competition and winning is inspirational and contagious. I love to see him practice and play - he is worthy of any and all consideration he gets for the Heisman Trophy. As an award that represents the best - he is purely that! I know that there are many deserving candidates out there. I just wanted you to know from a coaches perspective how special Jordan Lynch is. This is what college football players should inspire to be like - he is tough, loyal, competitive, fierce, poised, accountable, and productive!

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Go Huskies!!!

Taking a look at the MAC standings earlier today, we couldn't help but notice how strong the top teams in each division look through the first eight weeks of the season.

Ohio (7-0) is the lone undefeated team, while Toledo (7-1), Northern Illinois (7-1) and Kent State (6-1) all have one loss each. MACtion at its finest.

Kent State started off their first seven games last season 1-6 under Darrell Hazell, and Hazell now has the Golden Flashes with that record reversed, sitting at 6-1 (with their only loss coming to Kentucky), and 4-0 in conference play. Their numbers on the offensive side of the ball, particularly running the rock, have made huge strides. Last season Kent State ranked 119th nationally in rushing offense through seven games (75 ypg), this season they rank 27th (210 ypg). Coach Hazell and his staff look like they're in the beginning stages of a turnaround. Dating back to last season, Kent State has won 11 of their past 13 games, with their only losses coming to Temple and Kentucky.

Ohio opened their season up with a big win over Penn State, and has carried that momentum to a 7-0 start, including three conference wins. Frank Solich has his guys playing their best in close games. All but one of their FBS games have been decided by 10 points or less,

After losing their season opener in a thrilling fashion against Arizona in OT, Toledo has come back to rattle off seven straight wins, including their big win last Saturday over a Cincinnati program that had put together 10 win seasons in four of the past five years. Very solid start under first year head coach Matt Campbell.

Northern Illinois is another MAC team off to a great start under second year head coach Dave Doeren. Their only loss of the season also came during their season opener, a disappointing one point (17-18) loss to Wisconsin  Iowa. Since that loss, the Huskies have put together four wins of with a margin of 21points or more. Now in his second season, Doeren has led the program to a record of 18-4, and has helped them collect their first MAC title since 1983 and a top five APR rating in the country. 

Below is a very well done clip from the Huskies, who are trying to put together three consectutive double digit win seasons for the first time in school history. This one is very well put together.