Dave Doeren’s salary more than quadrupled after buying out his contract, which he did only eight months after receiving an extension in April.

By making the decision to leave NIU and become the head coach of North Carolina State, he leaves behind a team that just repeated as MAC champions and is Miami-bound for the Orange Bowl come January.

Reportedly, Doeren received a five-year contract, worth 1.8 million annually, from North Carolina State on Saturday. He said he believes his hard work over the years has finally paid off.

“All I can tell you is I didn’t take any shortcuts to get here,” Doeren said in a Sunday news conference. “I’ve been coaching 17 years at the college level. I’ve lined the fields and drove in the bus.

“I’ve been a GA twice, coached high school, I’ve been a Division I-AA non-scholarship coach, a I-AA scholarship assistant coach, an assistant coach, a co-coordinator, a recruiting coordinator, a head coach at a mid-major, and now I’m standing here in the ACC and I am jacked up about it.”

Doeren will replace Tom O’Brien, who was fired after finishing the season 7-5.

North Carolina State athletic director Debbie Yow believes Doeren possesses all the intangibles and characteristics that it needs in a head football coach.

“He’s smart and creative,” Yow said in a news conference. “He’s not wed to a system, he’s going to do what he has to do to match up the talent that we have with what he’s trying to do. That’s what I mean by smart, that’s really an important trait for any coach.”

Doeren spent two years at NIU and recorded a plethora of records along the way.

Doeren led the Huskies to their ongoing streaks, including a 17-game MAC winning streak, which is the longest conference winning streak in the nation; their current season winning streak of 12; and helped NIU along the way with its current winning streak at home, also the longest in the nation, at 21 games.

Doeren will be replaced by his own former hire in Rod Carey, the team announced Sunday.

Carey gave a lot of credit to Doeren for hiring him in the first place and giving him the opportunities he did, including a promotion to offensive coordinator after the reassignment of Mike Dunbar.

Doeren earned the respect of everyone around him, which was evident in the way he was able to get his players to perform.

Junior quarterback Jordan Lynch believes a big factor in Doeren’s effectiveness was how he kept things light.

“It was great to come to the office and play football every day with him,” Lynch said. “He definitely made it fun and that’s one of the key things with playing football. Like I said, it’s sad to see him leave but in the end it’s best for his family. He did a great job and a lot of people respect him.”

Jeff Compher, associate vice president and athletic director, knows the impact Doeren had on the program will resonate for more than just this year.

“What Dave has done here in two seasons has been unprecedented,” Compher said. “His record on the field speaks for itself, and the family atmosphere and culture of hard work he has fostered have led directly to our success. Under Dave and his staff, Northern Illinois has gone from being a great team to being a great program.”