Another defensive coach has left Dave Doeren’s N.C. State football staff
N.C. State’s defensive staff continues to change.
Defensive line coach Kevin Patrick has joined Willie Taggart’s staff at Florida Atlantic, FAU announced on Sunday night.
Patrick had spent the past three seasons with the Wolfpack but is the third defensive assistant to leave or be fired since the end of the season.
N.C. State coach Dave Doeren fired primary defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable after the Wolfpack finished 4-8 and the defense gave up at least 40 points in five losses.
Doeren made Tony Gibson, new to his staff in 2019, the sole coordinator earlier this month and has since reshaped the staff to fit Gibson’s 3-3-5 scheme.
Assistants Brian Mitchell and Joe DeForest were hired Saturday and both previously had worked with Gibson at West Virginia. Cornerbacks coach George Barlow was also fired in the transition.
Defensive backs coach Aaron Henry is the only defensive assistant who remains on Doeren’s staff from the 2018 season.
Patrick took over at defensive line for Ryan Nielsen in 2017 and inherited a group of four NFL draft picks, including All-American defensive end Bradley Chubb.
At the start of the 2019 season, N.C. State switched its defensive front from four-down linemen to three. Doeren has remade his staff with assistants more familiar to the different scheme.
Patrick, who was a standout defensive end for Miami in the early 1990s, had previously worked for Jim Leavitt at South Florida. Leavitt is FAU’s new defensive coordinator. Patrick will coach FAU’s outside linebackers.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 9:44 AM with the headline "Another defensive coach has left Dave Doeren’s N.C. State football staff."
