NC State fires head coach Dave Doeren following 3-4 start, Todd Goebbel to serve as interim

NC State has fired head coach Dave Doeren , the school announced on Saturday evening.

Doeren led the Wolfpack to a 3-4 start to the season and most recently lost to Stanford 31-28 on Friday night. He had three years left on his deal, and ESPN's Pete Thamel reports that he is still owed about $10.3 million.

NC State AD Boo Corrigan released a statement about the decision.

"I want to thank Coach Doeren for his service and contributions to NC State, and for always representing the university with pride," said Corrigan. "I appreciate his leadership during his 14-year tenure and the passion he brought to this role. We wish Dave, Sara and his family the best in the future."

Running backs coach/special teams coordinator Todd Goebbel will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the regular season.

NC State hired Doeren as head football coach in 2013 after a two-year stint as head coach at Northern Illinois.

After a 14-year career with the Wolfpack, his tenure ends with a 121-78 overall record, including a 5-6 bowl record.

NC State went 8-5 last season, including a bowl win, but the Wolfpack hadn't won double-digit games in a season during his tenure as head coach.

The season began with a 34-8 loss against Virginia, and the assumption was that the Wolfpack needed to turn things around quick for him to keep his job. After a blowout win over Richmond, NC State made headlines in its third game against Vanderbilt for all the wrong reasons.

That was the game where the Wolfpack had the game won, up three, and the Commodores had no timeouts with six seconds left. NC State was in its own end zone, and all quarterback CJ Bailey had to do was not fumble. Even a safety wouldn't hurt on its own.

Bailey appeared to panic and fumbled while trying to go down to the ground. Vanderbilt recovered the ball in the end zone for the surprise win.

NC State bounced back with wins over App State and Louisville. The Wolfpack then lost to Wake Forest before a bye week. NC State went on the road to play Stanford on Friday night and lost 31-28 to the Cardinal.

Goebbel takes over a 3-4 squad with five games to go. NC State still has games against Cal, Duke, Syracuse and Florida State before its rivalry game against North Carolina.

The Wolfpack need to win three of their remaining games to be bowl-eligible. NC State hasn't not qualified for a bowl game since 2019. The Wolfpack didn't play one in 2021, but that was because their game against UCLA was canceled after the Bruins pulled out hours before kickoff due to COVID-19 protocols.