Chip Alexander On The Coaching Search

General NCS Football Tom O'Brien69

RALEIGH – It began, Lee Fowler said, with a cell-phone call from Chuck Neinas a week ago today and then quickly escalated.Fowler, N.C. State’s athletics director, was looking to hire a football coach and was in Nashville, Tenn., interviewing Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Nienas, paid $35,000 to be NCSU’s headhunter, had some news he believed Fowler needed to hear.

Boston College’s Tom O’Brien was interested.

“It was done professionally and it was done quietly,” said Wendell Murphy, chairman of the NCSU board of trustees. “The consultant did the work, Lee kept it quiet and no one was tracking my airplane on the Internet,” Murphy quipped

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General NCS Football Tom O'Brien

69 Responses to Chip Alexander On The Coaching Search

  1. oldflyingfarmer 12/10/2006 at 9:31 AM #

    This was done as professionally as possible. Great job to all involved.

  2. class of 74 12/10/2006 at 9:48 AM #

    I enjoyed this inside info. We have a very good man now but I do wonder why the search did not involve a few more candidates? Would it have hurt us to involve a couple of more interviews just to see what was available and possibly improve our bargaining? Again we got a very good guy so maybe it’s a case of all’s well that ends well.

  3. choppack1 12/10/2006 at 9:56 AM #

    c o 74 – My impression is that everything came to a screeching halt when TOB expressed interest. I mean, he’s one of the most successful college coaches around right now.

  4. RegularExpression 12/10/2006 at 10:01 AM #

    And there is some danger in prolonging the search process by interviewing too many candidates. What if Alabama had gone throught their top X candidates and turned their eyes towards TOB? Or what if TOB got the feeling that he wasn’t our top choice and decided to look elsewhere? I think we got a very good coach and we did it quickly and quietly.

  5. buttPACKer 12/10/2006 at 10:19 AM #

    amen,
    a drawn out search would have likely ended in disaster considering the number of hc positions open, and where.

  6. MadWolf92 12/10/2006 at 10:52 AM #

    Do you think Ned Barnett reads the News and Observer?

  7. Tired in Florida 12/10/2006 at 10:59 AM #

    ….I have been a big Critic of Lee Fowler in e-mails to Dr Oblinger but I must say this one went down about as well as could be hoped for…..There is nothing worse than one party in a negotiation realizing that he/she is about to be “Calipari’d” over a few dollars because once the honeymoon is over there really isn’t but one way things can go – and taht is usually int eh direction of distrust……IMHO exactly what we needed showed up on the radar screen (thanks to Fowler hiring Neinas) and Fowler was quick enough to realize it and he acted quite appropriately….I thought I’d never say it but: “Good job Lee Fowler”…….

  8. Wolfpack4ever 12/10/2006 at 11:34 AM #

    “why the search did not involve a few more candidates?” Fowler had a list of 35, would 38 have been better?

    “Would it have hurt us to involve a couple of more interviews just to see what was available” If Lisa Love, ASU AD, had been in charge of the search, we would have had 35 interviews — if shopping with my wife is any indicator of how women work. And then after picking out 5 or 6, Lisa would have had to ask a male associate AD, “which one of these do you like?”

  9. legacyman 12/10/2006 at 12:38 PM #

    What if we had gotten a commitment from Cowher and signed him up…would there still be folks griping about not enough interviews?

    If you get a man who is what you want, he wants to come and good contractual details are agreed upon then why go elsewhere. It makes no business sense to look once you have a top notch guy. But then some wouldn’t be able to complain if they accepted that.

    Let’s get with both programs and go forward. Enough already with the grousing and hypotheticals.

  10. 93Pack 12/10/2006 at 12:43 PM #

    Mr. Wuf needs your HELP!

    Don’t forget to vote for Mr. Wuf in the semi-finals of the 2006 Mascot Challenge at http://www.capitalonebowl.com/. He is currently losing by over 2,000 votes to Butch T Cougar from Washington St (we can’t let Mr. Wuf get beat up by a “Butch”). The winner gets $5,000 for their school. You can vote once per day, and this week voting stops Monday 12/11 at 8:59am ET. Make sure you vote today and tomorrow before the deadline. Tell every Pack Fan you know to vote.

  11. bb1983 12/10/2006 at 1:35 PM #

    Or vote 10 times, just delete your cookies.

  12. geojim1990 12/10/2006 at 2:18 PM #

    Off topic, I know…I won’t let it happen again…

    I’ve wondered before if NC State fans arn’t sometimes oversensative to the media (I’m referring to the national media…the local media is more obvious). I’ve withdrawn that thought. What finally pushed me to it? Consider how we were treated when “whatshisname” RESIGNED to go to Arizona State. We apparently ran him a good coach out of town…&, we would soon get what we deserved. Never mind the arguments for or against “whatshisname’s” coaching abilities, the fact is that he is not a great coach but was coaching in a league that demands great coaches to finish at the top (& he had the facilities & atmosphere, so that wasn’t an issue). He wasn’t fired…he wasn’t going to be fired. He left ON HIS OWN. Now consider the Boston College fans who have been quite vocal about Tom O’brien:
    http://firetob.com/
    I haven’t seen one word printed about BC fans running TOB out of town, or that they will soon get what they deserve; although a stronger case can certainly be made for it than what was made by the media for “whatshisname” against NC State fans (TOB could complain some about the facilities & atmosphere at BC, as well…if he’d wanted to). The only difference that I can see is that when TOB decided to leave BC he didn’t whine about some BC fans making his life difficult. All this is really just to pose the question…where does this distain come from in the national media?

  13. legacyman 12/10/2006 at 2:54 PM #

    You have to realize that little ole NC State doesn’t have any right to be good in anything. Basketball, especially, is left for the two NCAA gods, you know who 1 and you know who 2. The NCAA pumps them incessantly and simultaneously protects their interests. Hiow else could god dook play an illegal player, maggette, and get no penalty other than have the NCAA brush it under the rug for years until some of us forced the issue to get a public “no harm, no foul” from them.

    So we can sit back and take it from our competitors and the national press or we can dig our boots in, start whipping some butts and tell the detractors where to place it. My vote is for butt kicking.

  14. class of 74 12/10/2006 at 3:31 PM #

    If Jed wanted to he could have interviewed 8-10 guys in a week and that’s what I’m talking about not some protracted process short and sweet but 10 interviews is not that difficult and who knows what that would bring. Maybe not anymore than we got but to paraphrase TOB you do a diservice to the program if you don’t talk about a national championship. Similarly if we don’t talk to as many coaches as is feasible we again do a diservice to this program.

    IMHO no way would TOB be a serious candidate at BAMA. He may be what they need but he’s neither flashy enough nor does he have a strong enough background for them. Christ, those guys are crazy enough to spend 8 million on a buyout of Shula and hiring Saban or Rodriguez.

  15. Wolfpack4ever 12/10/2006 at 3:59 PM #

    class of 74 Says: “If Jed wanted to he could have interviewed 8-10 guys in a week and that’s what I’m talking about”

    Yeah, we might have found a guy who averaged 10 or 11 wins a year, had graduation rates of 110% and lead a boy scout troop in the off season. Are there a lot of coaches around who are looking to make a downward career move? I DON”T THINK SO. Try as you might, it is going to be damn difficult to find fault with the country bumbler on this one.

  16. MrPlywood 12/10/2006 at 4:03 PM #

    C ‘o 74…

    You (or anyone else for that matter) can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that the whole point of involving someone like Nienas is so that a lot can get done behind the scenes. I would liken him to a corporate recruiter — a lot of contacts are made, discussions are “off the record”, candidates are pre-qualified. He provides a buffer between the potential candidates and the administration, so that both have “plausible deniability” – in other words, they can truthfully say that they have not been contacted by each other. It keeps the process private (i.e. this is the first I’ve read of an interview with Chow – did I miss something?) and civilized, and keeps the school from getting Caliparied.

    Perhaps Nienas DID talk to 10, 15, 20 guys, but I doubt it. The coaching community is a fairly small fraternity. Nienas gets paid to do what he does because he’s “in the know” – he’s got the scoop on which coaches have the right qualities for a particular job, who’s seriously interested, etc. He’s the guy that can ask a candidate “what would it take to get you to come to State?” and get a truthful answer.

    The fact that the TOB deal happened so quickly makes me think that he was very high on the wish-list from the beginning. So when your guy walks in the door, do you tell him to take a number and have a seat while you talk to 20 other longshots?

  17. RabidWolf 12/10/2006 at 8:00 PM #

    Has everyone forgotten about poor Mr. Wuf?? Vote and Vote often!!! He’s getting absolutely stomped!!! Let’s get on the site and make an incredible comeback!! Go ‘Pack!!

  18. albunde6 12/10/2006 at 8:33 PM #

    this was a great hire. this is a coach who wanted us. we have been the ugly step sister so many times, it is great to be someones first choice. i am not a fowler fan, but this was solid finish.

  19. packfanstk 12/10/2006 at 8:52 PM #

    Quote. Try as you might, it is going to be damn difficult to find fault with the country bumbler on this one. Quote.

    From a purely business viewpoint you are correct. Only time will tell if the hire is good from a football viewpoint. For NC State’s sake I hope everyone that thinks this is a grand slam is correct….because no matter what happens he’s the coach for the long haul. Fowler’s most enduring legacy will continue to be holding coaches to a standard of performance that is practically non-existent. Which is exactly why I am not fawning over Fowler like so many are on PackPride as if the man has suddenly become the most astute administrator in history. In the search for a basketball coach the blind hog eventually found a golden acorn…but only AFTER making blatent overtures to at least two and maybe three coaches that would have disasterous IMHO (Lavin, Beilein, and Calipari). In the search for a football coach, he had an enormously SAFE-appearing…and economical…candidate drop in his lap, making his decision relatively easy. I don’t see anything particularly remarkable about Fowler’s performance in either case.

    What I DO continue to find particularly remarkable about Fowler’s performance as AD is that if he had his way neither coaching search would have taken place because both Herb and Chuck would still be here. That alone–the most visible evidence of what has been documented often on this blog, namely that short of fornicating with animals or children, no NC State coach will ever be fired, no matter how awful their product–keeps me from jumping on the Jed bandwagon.

    I guess shouldn’t be surprised that Jed found nothing alarming about the incredible similarities in the records of Herb Sendek and Tom O’Brien, and nothing disturbing about the equally incredible similarities in the criticisms of Sendek and O’Brien by their respective schools’ fanbases. I DO find it surprising that TPTB at SFN are as dismissive of BC’s “lunatic fringe” as Fowler is of ours. Nonetheless, the concerns about TOB’s record in critical games against quality opponents and big rivals AND his reputed lack of in-game adjustment and stubborn adherence to a system regardless of the consequences will not be answered until his teams perform in those situations at a level he has so far failed to inspire.

  20. Woof Wolf 12/10/2006 at 9:56 PM #

    This was a very good hire. Given the current administration’s, and most of our, desire to field as good a football team as we can without using a bunch of non-student hoodlums, we probably could not have done better.

    Did LF do it? Or did the guys behind the scenes pull the strings and let Lee be the point man? I don’t know.

    Based on the glowing commendation by the Provost and Murphy’s attempt at praise for Fowler, if he were a football coach or baseball manager he would be gone in thirty days.

  21. johnnyfever2 12/10/2006 at 10:05 PM #

    Good job Lee!

    I heard the folowing:

    Lee was in WS and decided to stop by and see Bill Wellman, the Wake Forest AD.

    Lee- Bill, I have often admired how smoothly your athletic programs seem to run. Can you give me a hint on how you are able to keep everything running so smoothly?

    Bill- Well, that’s easy Lee. I just hire intelligent people and let them do their jobs.

    Lee- I see. But, how can you tell if they are intelligent?

    Bill-I just ask them a riddle. Bill , buzzes Jim Grobe, FB coach, and asks him to step into his office.

    Bill-Jim, I have a riddle for you. –Your mother and father have a child
    and it’s not your sister or your brother. Who is it?

    Jim–That’s easy-It’s me.

    Two days later in Raleigh

    Lee-ask Chuck A to step into his office.
    Lee-Chuck, I have ariddle for you. –Your mother and father have a child
    and it’s not your sister or your brother. Who is it?

    Chuck- Can I have a little time to answer the question?

    lee-Sure come back in a couple of hours-say noon.

    So Chuck called his staff together and the debated the question, but they didn’t have an answer. As Chuck is heading back to Lee’s office, he sees NCSU Alumni and Sports Analyst, DR. Jerry Punch.

    Chuck-Dr. Punch I have a riddle for you. –Your mother and father have a child and it’s not your sister or your brother. Who is it?

    Dr. Punch-it’s me

    Chuck- Oh, thank you! I think you just saved my job!

    Chuck enters Lee’s Office.
    Lee–Well, Chuck do you have an answer for me?
    Chuck–Sure do.
    Lee-Ok—-Your mother and father have a child
    and it’s not your sister or your brother. Who is it?

    Chuck-IT’S DR. JERRY PUNCH!

    Lee–NO! NO! You IDIOT!! IT’s JIM GROBE!
    🙂 🙂 🙂

    Well, guess Chuck didn’t save his job.

  22. crackdog 12/10/2006 at 11:59 PM #

    If you interview ten canidates, you’re likely to end up in the paper a lot too.

  23. dj9686 12/11/2006 at 1:28 AM #

    Dang, is SFN going to do a new update any time soon?

  24. class of 74 12/11/2006 at 4:56 AM #

    If Neinas did speak with 10 to 12 guys to prequalify then that would satisfy me by all means. It just has not sound as if that were the case but possibly we’ll never know. Please don’t get point as being we settled for TOB that’s not what I mean at all. We should never jump on the first or second guy without going through the process fully. Interview all qualified candidates and make the decision. It’s no different in everday business practice.

  25. Wulfpack 12/11/2006 at 6:15 AM #

    All in all a tremendous job by Fowler. This was the ante-basketball search. We have a proven winner that will make all of us proud. We have a man that left a top-25 program at a flagship university. Thank you, TOB. You are the man — we’re back!

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