NC State

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ACC · Dave Doeren, year 14 (96-71) · Carter-Finley Stadium · 58,000 · 56,919 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#47 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #73 (-0.7) · FPI #58
The marketVanderbilt by 3at Vanderbilt · our model 44% NC State · a number, not a pick

LastW 73–0 vs Richmond · Fri Sep 11 · Will Wilson 25 pass yds, 1 TD, 62 rush yds

Nextat Vanderbilt · Sat Sep 19 · 12:45 pm ET · FirstBank Stadium · Vanderbilt by 3 · series 1-2 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureNational Program I#66 all-time– holding
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 92-60 12 seasons
Best season 9-3 2021
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 8-5 '15 7-6 '16 7-6 '17 9-4 '18 9-4 '19 4-8 '20 8-3 '21 9-3 '22 8-5 '23 9-4 '24 6-7 '25 8-5

NC State's 2014–2025 record is 92-60. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.605
Ranked seasons (AP)
7/12
Best AP finish
#18

Program outlook

Philip Rivers. Russell Wilson. Mike Glennon. Three starting NFL quarterbacks developed in the same building in Raleigh — and not one ACC championship since 1979 to show for any of it.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

NC State is the program that built one of the most legitimate quarterback pipelines in ACC history and has never once parlayed it into a conference title. Rivers rewrote the school record book and went to the NFL's Hall of Fame. Wilson won the ACC Rookie of the Year award before leaving and then won a Super Bowl at his next stop. Glennon played eight NFL seasons. The talent has always been real; the championship conversion has not. Dave Doeren's 'Brick by Brick' philosophy — now in its 14th year — has produced the program's all-time wins record and a decade of eight-and-nine-win seasons, without breaking through the ceiling that sits just above NC State's head.

The offseason chapter entering 2026 is actually an optimistic one. Sophomore QB CJ Bailey threw for 3,105 yards and 31 total touchdowns in 2025 (8-5, a Gasparilla Bowl win over Memphis 31-7) and chose to return rather than test the portal. For a program whose quarterback history is its greatest asset and whose recent years have featured transfer-dependent rosters, a developed in-house signal-caller who wants to stay is a meaningful data point. Doeren is back for year 14 as the program's all-time wins leader, and the 1979 ACC drought — the longest in the conference — remains on the board.

The 2026 question is whether CJ Bailey's development curve bends into something the league has to respect by November. The ACC title has been unreachable for 47 years not because Raleigh lacks quarterbacks but because the late-season wins over ranked opponents haven't stacked. That is the specific test the 2026 schedule will administer: can a Wolfpack team with a returning sophomore quarterback close a conference run rather than finishing one win short of the moment that finally changes the conversation?

On the field

Quarterback-driven and defensively structured under Dave Doeren — 'Brick by Brick' is not a slogan, it's a timeline. NC State recruits and develops quarterbacks the way other ACC programs recruit skill-position athletes, cycling through a system that prized long-term learning over immediate production. The defense is the foundation: physical, well-coached, and reliably in the top half of the ACC across Doeren's tenure. The offense is designed to protect the quarterback and generate chunk plays, not to outscore anyone in a track meet.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · NC State

NC State has won 50% of its games since 1902 — 63% at home, 35% on the road.

632-596-48 all-time · 125 seasons · 1902–2026

Home 406-222-20
Away 208-353-27
Neutral 18-21-1
55% 1900s
57% 1910s
41% 1920s
34% 1930s
44% 1940s
31% 1950s
54% 1960s
57% 1970s
46% 1980s
56% 1990s
53% 2000s
55% 2010s
63% 2020s

Coaching Era · NC State

Dave Doeren

Dave Doeren into year 13 — a multi-decade era by modern CFB standards.

Era Dave Doeren · 2014–presentOC: Kurt RoperPrev OC: Robert Anae (2023–2024)DC: co-Charlton Warren / D. J. EliotPrev DC: Tony Gibson (2020–2024)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
13 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

The 1979 ACC title

NC State beats Duke to claim the conference — the last ACC championship Raleigh has won

2011

Wilson's departure

Russell Wilson leaves for Wisconsin amid a baseball/coaching standoff, then wins a Rose Bowl elsewhere — the one who got away

Heartbreak

Moment of the season — so far · NC State · 2026

Won 73-0 vs Richmond

Week 2 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2026

NC State has sent 8 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — one of them in the first round.

Steady. Reliable mid-tier pipeline.

8 picks · 1 in round 1
#6 Ikem Ekwonu Offensive Tackle · 2022 · Carolina
#54 Anthony Belton Offensive Tackle · 2025 · Green Bay
#98 Payton Wilson Linebacker · 2024 · Pittsburgh · #1/577 final season
#41 all-time · 18 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

NC State is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
ConferenceWhere this team sits in this season's conference standings.

ACC standing · 2026

15th in the ACC

NC State is 15th of 17 in the ACC at 0-1. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.

#ProgramRecord
1California1-0
2Miami1-0
3SMU1-0
4Virginia1-0
–Boston College0-0
–Clemson0-0
–Duke0-0
–Georgia Tech0-0
–Louisville0-0
–North Carolina0-0
–Pittsburgh0-0
–Virginia Tech0-0
–Wake Forest0-0
14Florida State0-1
15NC State0-1
16Stanford0-1
17Syracuse0-1
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Dave Doeren2013
  • Tom O'Brien departs40-35, 6 seasons
  • Hired Tom O'Brien2007
  • Chuck Amato departs49-37, 7 seasons
  • Hired Chuck Amato2000
  • Mike O'Cain departs41-40, 7 seasons
  • Hired Mike O'Cain1993
  • Dick Sheridan departs52-29-3, 7 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

NC State’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Matt Canada2016–2018 · Eliah Drinkwitz2019 · co-George McDonald / co-Desmond Kitchings2020 · co-George McDonald / Tim Beck2021–2022 · Tim Beck2023–2024 · Robert Anae2025–2026 · Kurt Roper
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2017 · co-Dave Huxtable2018 · co-Ted Roof / co-Dave Huxtable2019 · co-Tony Gibson / co-Dave Huxtable2020–2024 · Tony Gibson2025–2026 · co-Charlton Warren / D. J. Eliot
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Howl

since 1940s

more

Wolfpack fans howl — a long 'awoooooo!' sustained through scoring drives and after big plays. The most-distinctive auditory identity in the ACC. Spreads across the stadium in waves; visiting QBs cite Carter-Finley's howl as among the conference's most-disorienting noise.

Tuffy the Wolf

since 1947

more

Tuffy is the costumed gray wolf mascot. The Wolfpack name itself comes from a 1922 student commentary describing the agriculture-school's football team as 'as unruly as a wolf pack.' The identity stuck and became permanent.

Brick by Brick

since 2013

more

Dave Doeren's 'Brick by Brick' culture-building mantra (2013-present) frames the program's modern identity — methodical building, player development, sustained 8-9 win cycles. Reflects the agricultural-school heritage NC State leans into.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2025): 4-6

Most recent: 2025 — win 31-7 (home). Last 5 postseason: 1-4.

20252024202320222020
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

1.2k
[Postgame Thread] NC State Defeats ECU 21-20
Sep 2022 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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