If you are wondering why North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren told former NFL wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. to “kiss his ass” during a postgame interview, you are not alone.
After Doeren and the NC State Wolfpack toppled Clemson, 24-17, at home on Saturday to get to 5-3 on the season, the coach gave a feisty postgame jab at Smith by telling him that NC State isn’t a basketball school and that he can “kiss his ass.”
Look, we get being excited and all over a Clemson win, but what does Smith have to do with this? Well, it turns out the insult actually makes a lot of sense.
"Tell Steve Smith in the studio this ain't a basketball score, he can kiss my ass" https://t.co/g2lRDXWgdK pic.twitter.com/8Z6J39lWwd
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) October 28, 2023
Smith, a Utah alumnus, appeared on ESPN’s College GameDay this week while the show broadcasted from Salt Lake City. He also joked about NC State’s chances of beating Clemson as he picked the Tigers to win.
Steve Smith Sr. earlier on College GameDay:
"Clemson has been struggling. They're not the Clemson that we've loved over the years. But NC State, unfortunately, they're waiting for basketball to start." pic.twitter.com/wIFyev8gxx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 28, 2023
Okay, we now see why Doeren was so salty toward Smith after the game.
NC State isn’t really known for a single sport as much as them just being relatively competitive across plenty of sports, so Doeren is right to defend his program’s honor after such a big win.
However, the whole situation was a bit strange if you didn’t have a good bit of context.
