NC State football coaching search 2026: Candidates, hot board, names to watch from Wolfpack experts — SkimNews
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- NC State fired Doeren on Saturday after a loss to Stanford dropped the Wolfpack to 3-4, launching the program's first head coaching search since 2012.
- Doeren exits after 14 years as the program's winningest coach with a 98-74 record and four bowl wins, but no conference titles and no final AP Poll ranking better than 20th.
- PackPower published an initial hot board for the vacancy, naming James Madison head coach Billy Napier as a potential target.
- Napier has the Dukes at 7-2 in his first year at James Madison, though they dropped back-to-back games to Appalachian State and Troy.
- Napier finished 22-23 over four years at Florida, where the Gators reached as high as No. 13 in the AP Poll; his career record stands at 69-36 with a 3-2 bowl mark and three upset wins over top-10 teams.
- Napier won two Sun Belt Coach of the Year awards at Louisiana from 2018-21 with three double-digit win seasons and two bowl wins, and he carries two national championship rings from five years under Nick Saban at Alabama after playing quarterback at Furman.
- PackPower also lists a coach labeled "risky" who "could raise a sizeable amount of NIL money" for the program, with the full board available only to annual VIP members — discounted 60% for new subscribers.
Why it matters: NC State has to replace its winningest coach in program history — Doeren's 98-74 record and four bowl wins came without a conference title or a final top-20 AP finish — and the Wolfpack's first search since 2012 starts with Billy Napier of James Madison named on the initial hot board.
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