PINEHURST, N.C. – North Carolina State head coach Dave Doeren said he’s sure George McDonald regrets some things he said after being replaced as Syracuse’s offensive coordinator.

“I’m obviously aware of it,” Doeren said. “He went there to call plays. It didn’t work out … He’s coaching receivers at N.C. State. He’s not at Syracuse.”

Doeren was one of the first coaches to speak at Atlantic Coast Conference Media Day on Tuesday and it only took three questions for him to be asked about McDonald — his new wide receivers coach — and how he publicly disagreed with SU head coach Scott Shafer regarding his demotion to wide receivers coach.

Doeren said McDonald’s ability to recruit in south Florida, where he’s spent a good part of the summer, was important in his hire. He also commended him for being a detailed coach.

“He has a good way of explaining things,” Doeren said. “It just felt like the position group hadn’t reached its full potential yet. We needed someone that could help those guys. So far, so good.”

Doeren compared his wide receivers corps to his secondary from last season, a group that started to get better and better as the season went on.

As for his incident at Syracuse, Doeren said it’s in the past.

“He’s a great teacher,” Doeren said. “Those are the things that matter.”

Published on July 21, 2015 at 9:01 am

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3