N.C. State Wolfpack hires Matt Canada

The North Carolina State Wolfpack are assembling a formidable staff under Dave Doeren, as he has pried away another coordinator from a major program. After hiring Pittsburgh Panthers defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable last week, Doeren has brought on Matt Canada as the new Wolfpack offensive coordinator.

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A former OC at Butler, Indiana, and Northern Illinois, Canada was Doeren’s right hand man before leaving for Wisconsin last season. The duo are reunite, and Doeren couldn’t be happier.

The new Wolfpack coach said, “Matt Canada has one of the most creative offensive minds in the country and he does a great job of utilizing strengths and hiding weaknesses. I had the privilege to work with Matt when he was on the staff of our first conference championship team at Northern Illinois and to coach against him when he was the offensive coordinator at Indiana.”

“Matt has had to run his offense with different personnel and has been successful each time.  He will make the transition much easier for me.  He’s not only a tremendous quarterback coach who has developed quarterbacks into NFL players, but he has also developed the run game, as evidenced by Wisconsin’s success rushing the ball this season.”

Canada helped Northern Illinois win the MAC Championship in 2011, and they also finished the year with a victory in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. He gets high marks for player development and the ability to help foster the running game, and the fact that Wisconsin’s offense only finished with the 44th best OSRS in the nation isn’t Canada’s fault at all. Being 44th isn’t bad anyway, and Canada is a quality hire for N.C. State.

His QB development gets low marks, however, so that is something to be aware of. He hasn’t had much of a chance at actually grooming a QB, but Canada did help send Chandler Harnish to the NFL while with NIU.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.