NC State has fired Dave Doeren and made Todd Goebbel the interim head coach. They will be in the market for a new coach this offseason. Here are five potential head coach candidates for the NC State Wolfpack.
Rivers is a big name in the early rumor mill for the NC State job. Rivers was a legend for the Wolfpack, passing for 13,484 yards and 95 touchdowns in his career before going on to have an impressive NFL career. After he retired and before he returned to the Colts, Rivers has been a high school coach. He has a 45-18 overall record at the high school level and that is the only coaching experience of his career.
It would be a risk to hire Rivers with his limited coaching experience. Rivers will create some excitement and help the team raise some more NIL funds. His son is also a four-star quarterback currently committed to play for NC State, so Rivers being hired could help secure that commitment and also help him secure more recruits. The risk is great, but the rewards could be huge as well to bring the legend back to campus.
Satterfield was born in North Carolina and has had success there. He was a quarterback at Appalachian State, then was an assistant there. His career journey took him to Toledo and FIU as an offensive assistant before he headed back to the Mountaineers as the head coach. He posted a 47-16 record with the Mountaineers, then took the Louisville job. With the Cardinals, he had a 25-24 mark. He took the Cincinnati job in 2023 and has a 20-24 record with the Bearcats, but currently is coming off a seven-win season and has five wins already this year.
With his ties and familiarity with North Carolina, Satterfield could be a good fit for NC State. His Cincinnati program has improved, but the Wolfpack could shy away from Satterfield because he has a record under .500 as a power conference coach. Satterfield won’t be as popular as other hires on this list and will be expected to turn things around more quickly than he did at Cincinnati.
Huff is from the East Coast and has coached well there during his career. He was an assistant at Tennessee State, Maryland, Hampton, Vanderbilt, Western Michigan, Penn State, Mississippi State, Alabama and in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills. His first head coaching job was with Marshall in 2021. He had a 32-20 there, helping turn around the program. Huff then went to Southern Miss and turned things around quickly with a 7-5 record in his lone season there. In his first season at Memphis, he has a 6-2 record so far.
NC State needs to be revamped and Huff has a history of turning things around quickly. If there is an infusion of NIL money, he could really accelerate things. Huff will be a candidate for several job openings this offseason, so NC State may want to start negotiating early. Huff can do a solid job for NC State if he is the choice.
Eck has coached all over the country and had success. He was an assistant at Wisconsin, Colorado, Idaho, Winona State, Ball State, Hampton, Western Illinois, Minnesota State, Montana State and South Dakota State. Idaho was his first head coaching job. With the Vandals, he had a 26-13 record and made three straight FCS playoffs, including two quarterfinal appearances. He has been at New Mexico since the start of the 2025 season and has a 14-5 overall record.
Like Huff, Eck will have plenty of options of where he can coach next season. If NC State decides to pass on Rivers early, they can start negotiating now. Eck has won big without the same resources that other coaches have. Eck could get more out of the talent at NC State and acquire even better talent this offseason.
Sloan is the current offensive coordinator at Kentucky. He was a quarterback at East Carolina in his playing days. As an assistant coach, he has had stops at USF, Louisiana Tech, LSU and now Kentucky. With Kentucky turning things around quickly, Sloan has helped with the offense and made himself a candidate for other jobs.
While Sloan did get a lot of blame for LSU’s season in 2025, there were plenty of injuries and a lot of the blame should go to the head coach. Sloan has seemingly righted some wrongs at Kentucky to get him back in contention for jobs. At NC State, he can help have a good offense early, but will likely need to be given an experienced defensive coordinator to be successful.
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