Dave Doeren made building a fence a priority upon his North Carolina State arrival five years ago. That effort to fence-in his new state’s growing talent base is holding its ground.
Doeren landed this weekend his 12th home-state recruit of 16 in the 2019 recruiting class. They include players that have turned down Alabama and other SEC schools, including 4-star defensive end Savion Jackson of Clayton and 4-star defensive tackle C.J. Clark of New London.
Jackson and Clark gave Doeren their word in mid-June, but the commitments continued through this weekend with Tristan Miller’s announcement. The three-star prospect is the state’s top-ranked offensive lineman.
Yes, it sounded like the right thing for Doeren to say to rally the fan base then and now, but my first thought in 2013 was, “Uh, oh. That could backfire on him.”
I thought back to having heard Chuck Long make the same fence proclamation when he arrived to take over San Diego State in 2006. It haunted him until he was fired three years later for failing to win and erect that fence, largely due to his assistant coaches letting him down.
But upon Long’s arrival, Aztecs fans were excited to hear it. They had watched for years as players not only left home for nearby power schools USC or UCLA, they sacrificed sunny San Diego for godforsaken towns such as Norman, Okla., and Lincoln, Neb.
San Diego remains fertile recruiting ground that has produced four Heisman Trophy winners that all left the area – USC’s Marcus Allen, 1982; Colorado’s Rashaan Salaam, 1994; Texas’ Ricky Williams, 1998; and USC’s Reggie Bush (well, officially, only three since the disgraced Reggie Bush turned into a “Kardashian” and later had his stripped for him).
Doeren’s statement also was what the fan base wanted to hear. His comment especially hit home since he had arrived one year after N.C. State fans watched forlornly four-star running back recruits Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall both commit to Georgia.
Fans gnashed their teeth that former coach Tom O’Brien couldn’t convince one of the two to stay home rather than compete for the same job at an SEC school.
Yes, they agreed, build that fence!
It’s not that easy, but maybe it’s working for Doeren because, unlike San Diego State, N.C. State is a Power 5 school. The ACC member doesn’t have two Power 5 schools located a two-and-a-half hour drive north and other Pac-12 schools up and down the scenic West Coast.
Or maybe Doeren deserves credit for delivering a trust-building message in living rooms that counts more than a fence as a metaphor.
Certainly Doeren’s assistants have served their boss better than Long’s aides (one of them was Rutger’s head coach Chris Ash, who better hope he has better help than he provided Long building a fence around New Jersey now that his school is a Big Ten member).
Or maybe’s it’s all of the above.
What stands out to me is Doeren’s recruiting has been steadily building to this point. His 2019 depth is more than a superficial response to a conference championship or Top 10 ranking.
This is recognition of having a foundation in place.
Doeren earlier missed out on two Wake Forest High big-time recruits – running back Bryce Love to Stanford in 2015 and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to Clemson in 2016 – but he hasn’t come up empty.
N.C. State set a school record with seven NFL draft picks this year. First-rounder Bradley Chubb and third-rounder Justin Jones were from Georgia, but the other five were from North Carolina high schools.
Nyheim Hines (Garner) arrived in 2015 after the 2014 foursome of Kentavious Street (Greenville), Jaylen Samuels (Charlotte), B.J. Hill (Oakboro) and Will Richardson (Burlington).
N.C. State is coming off a 9-4 season and win over Arizona State in the Sun Bowl. Building on that success will keep that fence in place.
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