NC State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren and quarterback CJ Bailey talked big on the first day of ACC media days. The team might just be able to back them up.
On Wednesday, Doeren and Bailey spoke with reporters at the annual event in Charlotte and set a high bar for 2026.
“I think he could be the best in the country,” Doeren said of his senior quarterback.
“Expect us to win a lot of games,” Bailey added. (h/t ESPN’s Pete Thamel)
That’s bold talk for a team with only one Associated Press top 25 finish in the past four seasons. It might also not be far off from the truth.
NC State setting high bar for itself in 2026
In its preview of the ACC, ESPN noted Bailey is the conference’s top returning quarterback based on QBR, finishing higher in the metric last season than Darian Mensah and Kevin Jennings, quarterbacks who have each made an appearance in the ACC championship game the past two seasons.
Last year, Bailey completed 68.8 percent of his pass attempts for 3,105 yards (7.8 yards per attempt), 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Wolfpack went 8-5, their 10th winning record in 13 seasons under Doeren.
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, NC State has the easiest strength of schedule in the ACC, avoiding the conference’s projected top three teams (Miami Hurricanes, Clemson Tigers, SMU Mustangs) while getting its toughest conference opponent, the Louisville Cardinals, at home.
The Wolfpack play Wake Forest, California, Syracuse and Duke in Carter-Finley Stadium while drawing a favorable road schedule with games against Stanford, Florida State and North Carolina. NC State has won four in a row against Florida State and the last five against North Carolina, including a 42-19 romp last season.
The team also benefits from a scheduling quirk that technically makes its opener against fellow ACC member Virginia a non-conference game. Last season, for example, Virginia managed to qualify for the ACC championship with a 7-1 conference record despite losing to NC State on Sep. 6. If Bailey is as good as Doeren promises, the program could make plenty of noise.
Despite the promising signs, the Wolfpack rank No. 51 in ESPN’s FPI and are projected to win only 6.7 games. But after the topsy-turvy 2025 regular season that ended with a four-way tie for second and only two teams with double-digit wins, the ACC might be the country’s most unpredictable conference.
Stranger things than NC State making a surprising run have happened. And according to Doeren and Bailey, it wouldn’t be that strange at all.
