NC State football coach Dave Doeren pledges funds for new special needs program

Dave Doeren has forgotten the name of the doctor, but not what the doctor said.

Doeren and his wife, Sara, were being told that their oldest son, Jacob, had been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Jacob, then a preschooler, would always have to live at home and would never be able to hold a job, the doctor said.

Doeren didn’t believe it or accept it then, and the N.C. State football coach and his wife are pledging $1.25 million to fund a new program at NCSU — OnePack Empowered — to help others at the school who have executive functioning challenges and those who are neurodivergent.

The announcement was made Friday by the university, which said the commitment was among the largest made by an NCAA football coach to his institution.

“The hope is to inspire some people who can can help others but also for the people going through it to know the labels don’t have to define them,” Doeren said Friday in an N&O interview.

Jacob Doeren graduated from high school in Wake County, attended Louisburg College, graduated with a 3.75 grade-point average and now is a junior at Appalachian State. He is studying sustainable energy and technology.

Dave Doeren said the program at Louisburg and ASU’s As-U-R program were so beneficial for Jacob that it led to the Doerens wanting to set up something similar at NCSU.

Doeren mentioned Cherry Ayscue, a learning specialist at Louisburg, who worked closely with Jacob.

“She’s like an angel and did amazing things with Jacob,” Doeren said. “The first semester he was there was really catch-up because he was in a different track in high school. He had to get himself in position to be a college student, and she showed him the way and made him believe in himself in a better way.

“From there he just took off and really excelled. Then she guided him through the application process and looking at the program (at ASU). She had other students go there and had success, so there was already a pathway she was comfortable with.”

At Appalachian State, Doeren said the school has a solar vehicle race team that Jacob works with, saying, “They’re learning how to build a car and race it across the country. He really likes a sustainable world and electric vehicles are his passion right now.”

Reminded how far he and his family have come since being told by a doctor that Jacob would be home-bound all his life, Doreen said, “Absolutely. I know he was just trying to do his job, but that was just the beginning of the challenges that the labels that they slap on these kids can create and define, in some cases, what they can and can’t do.

“That was the eye-opening moment that we were going to have to fight. And Jacob was all about fighting.”

Since becoming the Pack’s coach in 2013, Doeren has tried to help others fight through their challenges.

The Wolfpack celebrates a “Victory Day” during preseason camp each year at Carter-Finley Stadium. NCSU has partnered with GiGi’s Playhouse to give cognitively and physically impaired children a chance to play football alongside the Pack.

GiGi’s Playhouse of Raleigh provides educational, therapeutic and career-building opportunities to those with Down syndrome.

A few years ago, Doeren teamed with former Pack quarterback Terry Harvey to win $65,000 in a coaches golf tournament. The winnings were used for an endowed scholarship at NCSU and for Doeren’s charity of choice: Special Education Services of the Wake County Public School System.

The Special Education Services provide specially designed instruction for students in programs for autism, the visually impaired, those with emotional disabilities and other special needs.

The Doerens have been advocates for the 321 Coffee, which has employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

At NCSU, the OnePack Empowered program will begin in the Spring 2024 semester and be overseen by the Division of Academic and Student Affairs (DASA). It will help students, as Doeren put it, find ”avenues for success’ rather than more roadblocks.

It will help students who have challenges with executive functioning skills needed for their academic success such as setting priorities and decision making.

“We are so grateful to the Doerens for their vision of investing in this underserved student population. We know this added support will change lives,” Doneka Scott, NCSU vice chancellor and DASA dean, said in a statement.

The Doerens’ commitment will pilot the program for five years and help in hiring additional staff and training them. Dave Doeren is hopeful others will join in and provide future funding.

Doeren said the family will be actively involved with the program and the OnePack Empowered Enhancement Fund.

“We’re going to be engaged in not just the program but when fund-raisers come up for it, because it is a program that is going to need help financially not just from what we’ve done but to create sustainability,” Doeren said.

“It’s about accessibility. The way we’ve funded it now is to get about 50 kids one-on-one help each semester. Obviously there’s a lot more than 50 kids who need it. I’m hopeful when people find out what we’ve started, maybe they can walk alongside us and be a part of supporting the program.”

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