TOB: “The Goal is Always to win a National Championship”

Nice!

Nothing ambiguous and immeasureable about “being competitive” or “improving” or “building great relationships”.

We don’t mind if all of ^these items are a part of the mix and are discussed in the future…but, TOB laid the public groundwork for his program perfectly with this quote.

“I think the goal is always to win a national championship, no matter where you’re at. That has to start with getting yourself to the conference championship, then you have to win the conference championship to have the opportunity to be a national champion. That is always the goal, we’ll always work toward the goal of being a national champion. Anything less would be cheating everybody here.”

Tom O’Brien, N.C. State Head Football Coach

Link

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

General NCS Football Quotes of Note Tom O'Brien

27 Responses to TOB: “The Goal is Always to win a National Championship”

  1. choppack1 01/11/2007 at 11:19 AM #

    Let’s hope certain “leaders” don’t dumb down his own expectations…

  2. redfred2 01/11/2007 at 11:44 AM #

    AMEN chop!

    You don’t suppose he’s really expecting to be able compete with the best in the conference, like he did while at BC? And in Raleigh, with much better “everything” at his disposal? This TOB guy must be a lunatic. Fowler/Oblinger will adjust his perspective and bring him back down to earth, in due time.

  3. CarnifeX 01/11/2007 at 11:48 AM #

    “dolla dolla bill yall. thats all that matters.”

    Love,
    Jeb

  4. Sam92 01/11/2007 at 11:55 AM #

    TOB has a great attitude and, IMO, the character and capacity to get the job done.

    and if he falls short of his goal, and instead of winning a national championship we merely win 9 or 10 games a year and occassionally find ourselves in the acc championship game? well, i think i could avoid slitting my wrists over it

    so, how’s TOB doing with recruiting?

  5. highstick 01/11/2007 at 12:15 PM #

    Unrelated, but has anyone noticed this morning that we’re tied with Duke and Maryland in the ACC basketball standings!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  6. RAWFS 01/11/2007 at 12:36 PM #

    ^ Unfortunately, yes.

  7. TNCSU 01/11/2007 at 3:40 PM #

    Actually, they only have 2 losses, we have 3, but who’s counting?

    GO PACK!

  8. vtpackfan 01/11/2007 at 8:22 PM #

    Looks like we got a verbal from a DE out of Ohio, all state type. He was committed to BC until the coaching change. The connections all these coachs have (including deep south now that Archer is aboard) is interesting. It will all come down to how TOB and Petercuskie? decide to spread their resources. The potential for some higher rated recruiting classes is there, IMO.

  9. RAWFS 01/11/2007 at 10:44 PM #

    I rarely toot the horn on my own web site by linking it in the comments of SFN, but in this case I think it appropriate and something that applies to championships: the heart it takes to get one. No Wolfpacker ever new that better than Jim Valvano, and hear him talk about the championship and his love for NC State in his own words during possibly the most poignant moment in the storied history of NC State sports: his farewell speech at Reynolds Coliseum in 1993.

    I found this video on YouTube, but instead of letting it disappear as so many Internet treasures do, I saved it for all posterity on RAWFS. Relive it here:

    http://www.redandwhitefromstate.com/article.php?story=20070111203007960

  10. Red_Terrors 01/12/2007 at 8:31 AM #

    I still get a tear in my eye whenever I watch Jimmy V’s speech in Reynolds or at the ESPYs. It is my opinion, and the opinion of many other alumni such as myself, that NCSU doesn’t do enough to honor the memory of Jim Valvano. And I for one, think it is a travesty.

  11. noah 01/12/2007 at 9:39 AM #

    “Looks like we got a verbal from a DE out of Ohio, all state type.”

    I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t start to see a lot of guys like this kid on our team in the future.

    We had a southern Ohio/WVa connection to the Amato staff in guys like Holiday, Marty Galbraith and Steve Dunlap. But it’s really tough to convince guys from the public schools in that area to leave. They want to play for Marshall and WVU and Ohio State. In fact, I think we struck out on every single player for six years that we went after in that area. Even the guys that we led for ended up turning us down and staying home. It’s part of the culture.

    HOWEVER…each of the major metropolitan areas in Ohio has a whole league of catholic high schools in them. Cincy, Columbus, Akron, Cleveland, Toledo, and even Youngstown. You CAN go in there and get some really good, smart players.

    I hope that we continue to hit south Florida for a lot of skill position athletes. But I really hope we also make targetting the Northeast for our linemen.

  12. for2n8son 01/12/2007 at 10:43 AM #

    I just hope we start recruiting offensive linemen in stead of converting left over defensive linemen. They are two different personalities. One is a body guard and the other is an assassin. They just don’t usually convert that well.

  13. Packaholic1 01/12/2007 at 11:11 AM #

    He’s right, of course, but didn’t you slam Chuck for saying the same thing? It takes time to build championship-caliber programs; ask Bobby Bowden or Coach K.

  14. Packaholic1 01/12/2007 at 11:16 AM #

    “Almost seven years ago to the day, Fox knocked on coach Mike O’Cain’s front door and told him 26-30 in the ACC wasn’t good enough. When O’Cain’s door closed, one opened for Amato. The plan was for him to push State not only beyond mediocre, but also to make the Pack a contender for a national title.

    “Think like champions,” Amato said. But the only football title he has brought to State is: “Program With Most Overblown Claim of Future Greatness.””

    Ned Barnett, N&O, 11/22/06

  15. Cardiff Giant 01/12/2007 at 2:29 PM #

    I don’t think we have to worry about empty boasts from TOB.

  16. Dan 01/12/2007 at 2:44 PM #

    http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=AhEBNmwQWJ1BOJx8Tua0TxccvrYF?slug=jm-prospects010907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

    No one from the Wolfpack even mentioned in this year’s early entry list for the NFL draft. Is 2006 the year the talent dried up at NC State? Now, I know we still have talent. Brown, Baker, Blackman, Young, Morgan, Hill, etc. But with the departure of Tank Tyler and AJ Davis this year, that could be the bottom of the well for sure fire NFL prospects.

    Now I know that TOB will put guys into the NFL from this roster, but I think what we are seeing is the fruit of the recruiting drop off that Amato suffered the last couple of years.

  17. noah 01/12/2007 at 2:51 PM #

    AJ Davis is an NFL prospect?

  18. noah 01/12/2007 at 3:03 PM #

    BTW, that Yahoo article had me scratching my head when I came across the entry on Troy Smith. “Franchise QB” or a “valuable backup”? How about “Another heisman trophy winner who won’t amount to a thing in the NFL?”

    He’s about 5-10, he’s got a long, slow windup delivery, and he’s not the most decisive or elusive of QBs. People say, “Well, it’s not his fault OSU didn’t block for him.” Yeah? What do you think is going to happen in the NFL? NO ONE gets much time to throw the ball.

    Smith was the beneficiary of extraordinarily talented teammates. Look at Reggie Bush and Lindale White this year. Running backs are usually the quickest rookies to contribute in the NFL and neither one of those guys had any kind of success on the ground. They aren’t playing behind a line that’s vastly superior to everyone else. They don’t have the best QB taking the snaps and a passing game with the best WRs and TEs insulating them from defenses.

    Bush had some fools talking about how he was the single greatest prospect that ever was. He averaged about three yards a carry and about eight yards a catch. Lendale White rushed for about 250 yards this year and still hasn’t scored a touchdown.

  19. Packaholic1 01/13/2007 at 8:00 AM #

    Few professionals in the NFL write people off after their rookie season.

  20. Packaholic1 01/13/2007 at 8:02 AM #

    Chuck didn’t boast; he said the very same thing Coach O’Brien said: the goal is a national championship but it is instructive to see how some people spin what is said.

  21. choppack1 01/13/2007 at 11:17 AM #

    No wolfpack fans criticized Amato for saying he wanted to win a national championship – that’s what we all wanted.

  22. packfanstk 01/15/2007 at 9:53 AM #

    I’m always happy to hear coaches talk about having championships as their goal. I hope TOB is more successful at it than Chuck was…or than he has been before. So far Tom O’Brien = Marty Schottenheimer.

  23. noah 01/15/2007 at 12:27 PM #

    “Few professionals in the NFL write people off after their rookie season.”

    No one is writing anyone off. I’m just constantly amazed at how people talk about him compared to how little he actually accomplishes. On Saturday night, Deuce McAllister WILLED his team to victory in the fourth quarter. He was dragging guys around all night. Reggie Bush ran for 50 yards, got bawled out on the sidelines for running the wrong way on a third down passing route, and had two fumbles that were critical in Philly still being in the game.

    Yet, afterwards, people are talking about how great Bush was.

    And BTW, if O’Brien has a Schottenheimer-esque career at NC State, he’ll go down as the single greatest football coach we ever had. We’ve one 10 games or more in a single season exactly ONE time and we’ve never had a season where we beat 10 Div. IA teams in a single season. We haven’t won a league title since 1979…the longest drought of any ACC team.

    This is like all the idiots at the WPer bitching about how we beat out Buffalo for a couple of recruits. Some people forget that we were 3-8 last year and got beat by Akron.

  24. packfanstk 01/15/2007 at 7:49 PM #

    Quote: And BTW, if O’Brien has a Schottenheimer-esque career at NC State, he’ll go down as the single greatest football coach we ever had. We’ve one 10 games or more in a single season exactly ONE time and we’ve never had a season where we beat 10 Div. IA teams in a single season. We haven’t won a league title since 1979…the longest drought of any ACC team. Quote.

    If O’Brien has a Schottenheimer-esque career at NC State the longest drought of any ACC team will continue ad infinitum. That’s my point. The comparison with Marty is very valid. TOB’s career thusfar represents much more failure than success in critical games with significant consequences on the line. Would that really satisfy your criteria for the single greatest football coach we’ve ever had? Earle Edwards, Lou Holtz, and Bo Rein won championships. Dick Sheridan did not, and as much as we all love him, nobody really thinks he’s the best NC State coach ever. Marty Schottenheimer has not, and consequently despite his consistent commendable record of relative success there is much dissatisfaction in San Diego…just as there was in Cleveland, Kansas City, and Washington.

    I won’t argue that a Schottenheimer-esque career will still be better than anything we’ve had since Bo Rein. But TOB’s record against quality opponents is very similar to that of a certain hoops coach that definitely won’t be regarded as the single greatest one we’ve ever had. The only thing different about them in that light is that one is football, where we’ve never had serious sustained national success, and the other is basketball where we have. Therefore most folks hold the hoops guy to a higher standard. But it’s still just different perspectives on the same kind of results. To someone in the Sahara 50 degrees would seem cold; in Antarctica hot; in Montreal about right. But it’s still fifty degree air in all three places.

    Quote: Some people forget that we were 3-8 last year and got beat by Akron. Quote.

    Well, gee, I hope you’re not going to judge whether our new coach is all that based on what he does relative to last year. Surely TOB will do better than Amato’s worst season. I’m hoping he can also do better than Amato’s BEST season. Like I said, I’m very encouraged to hear him setting championship goals right off the bat. I read recently in the Boston Globe that he is, in fact, motivated by his failures in big games. That’s good. I hope it motivates him right into the ACC Championship.

  25. noah 01/16/2007 at 10:12 AM #

    Earle Edwards also finished his career 11 (I think) games under .500.

    My point was…NC State football is, on its absolute BEST days, a mediocre institution. It’s like Florida State basketball….yeah, there are a few bright moments here and there and a few good players you can name. But at the end of the day, we haven’t won an ACC title since 1979. Our highest post-season ranking was 11th. We have two wins (Houston in 1967 and FSU in 1998) in 100+ years of football against top-five teams.

    If TOB is here for a decade and he wins no league titles and wins between 70 and 90 games, yeah, he’s going to be remembered as one of the best NC State coaches ever.

    People are upset about Schottenheimer because pro sports are all about titles. You do everything you can, sacrifice your entire future, for that very brief window when you’re a title contender.

    In college basketball, there are 300+ teams and for probably 60 percent of the teams, just making the NCAA tournament is an event to be cherished and should be celebrated with a banner. Since 1939, 34 different schools have won national titles.

    It’s hard to count in football since the NCAA’s hand in questionable and trying to answer the question of WHO IS national champion produces such a nebulous answer.

    Compare that with pro baseball — 32 (I think) teams. Look at teams like the Cubs, Red Sox and White Sox. Those franchises went the longest without a title and were rightly considered failures. The Tribune Co. knew that Wrigley would produce a money-maker and never sought a title, the Bosox were just incompetent (Ruth, limiting the # of black players on the squad up until the 1980s) and the Chisox were both incompetent and criminal.

    I like O’Brien and I think he’ll do well here. I hope he wins the national title every year. But it’s a ridiculously safe bet to assume that he (and any other coach we could hire) won’t make it. Hell, I’d put the odds of winning a league title at ANY time in the next decade at 50:1 against.

Leave a Reply