‘Classless’: Mack still fired up over Doeren speech

Last updated: 2023/12/22 at 5:31 PM

BigP Published December 22, 2023

Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior WriterDec 20, 2023, 07:11 PM ET
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- ACC reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2010.
- Graduate of the University of Florida.

North Carolina coach Mack Brown called NC State coach Dave Doeren “classless” on Wednesday following a postgame video celebration last month in which Doeren used derogatory language to describe the Tar Heels.

After NC State closed out the regular season with a victory over its rival, Doeren addressed the team inside the locker room, and his comments were caught on camera by the ACC Network.

“It’s been 1,460 days since those pieces of s— beat us,” Doeren told his team.

Brown brought up the topic Wednesday at his national signing day news conference.

“I’ve never heard something like that before,” Brown said. “I’m disappointed. I thought it was classless. It’s not true. We didn’t play well in the game. We didn’t coach well in the game. It’s been very well-documented, and I got that, but you don’t call kids a piece of s—, and I’ve addressed it with our team. I apologized to them.

“These kids are one of the top academic groups in America. They got an award for AFCA’s top 13. They’ve won a Coastal division. They’ve won a bunch of games. They’ve been to an Orange Bowl, been to five straight bowls. They represent us. And from me speaking for them and their parents, they really didn’t appreciate being called a piece of s—.”

Doeren, saying he was unaware that cameras were in the locker room, on Wednesday said he had called Brown to apologize.

“Obviously, if I knew I was on camera, my language would not have been what it was,” Doeren said. “Does that make it any better? No. I did call coach and apologize because I could have used a lot of different words. They caught me in a heat-of-the-moment situation in the locker room celebrating a huge win, and I was fired up about how we played. I have respect for coach, so the last thing I wanted for him to feel that, and again, it’s not an excuse, but it shouldn’t have been on TV.

“I could have said that in a much more professional way, and I regret not doing that. What I don’t regret is having passion with my players and celebrating a big win. I’m going to continue to do that. Hopefully down the road we’ll get the courtesy that we deserve when we’re going to be on TV in those moments.”