TSN’s Hayes: Pack Football an Instant Contender?

'07 Football General Media NCS Football Tom O'Brien43

Here’s some good press from my March 19, 2007 hard copy of The Sporting News:

I keep seeing early projections that NC State will be among the worst teams in the ACC. Let’s not forget the one thing former coach Chuck Amato did well: recruit. There is talent on that roster, and if the players buy into new coach Tom O’Brien’s disciplinarian style, they’ll compete for a division championship this fall.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

'07 Football General Media NCS Football Tom O'Brien

43 Responses to TSN’s Hayes: Pack Football an Instant Contender?

  1. legacyman 03/23/2007 at 7:55 PM #

    Man,

    I hope that prediction is accurate but I have a very hard time seeing it. If we win five games then that will be a start.

  2. Astral Rain2 03/23/2007 at 8:45 PM #

    Honestly- given State’s bad luck last year, and the fact that O’Brien’s game-coaching will offset the change in coaching at least, I see 6 wins as a good possibility, I’ll consider a losing season dissapointing, 6 wins ok, 7 wins good, 8 wins very good.

  3. VaWolf82 03/23/2007 at 8:57 PM #

    State won’t contend for anything without more offensive production than we’ve seen the last several years.

  4. tooyoungtoremember 03/23/2007 at 9:05 PM #

    I just can’t get excited about football in March. Even if I live in SEC country now.

  5. BoKnowsNCS71 03/23/2007 at 9:12 PM #

    If we can implement an offense. We can work some upset wins. I originally thought we might have 6 wins. I think we may be surprised at a few more.

  6. highstick 03/23/2007 at 9:20 PM #

    That’s alright guys. From what I understand Clempson has already announced they’re going to win the ACC Championship!

    So what else is new! They do that every year!

    I don’t know what to expect out of the Pack this year, but hope that O’Brien can get them to play disciplined hard nosed football! Wouldn’t it be great to not having somebody lining up or jumping offsides every other play!

    If we can get the offense moving and them playing together as a team, who knows! Let’s surprise a bunch of naysayers again during football season!

  7. Astral Rain2 03/23/2007 at 9:37 PM #

    The talent is there- that was clear last year. It’s why Amato got canned. The big questions were- can O’Brien recruit, and how quickly can the players learn the new scheme?

  8. redfred2 03/23/2007 at 9:39 PM #

    I know one thing if TOB accomplishes as much of a turn around with the football players as Lowe did with his group of kids, we WOLFPACK fans will be a hard bunch to deal with.

  9. stejen 03/23/2007 at 9:41 PM #

    Do you think O’Brien would have taken this job if he knew it was a “fix-it” job? Despite the grumblings he had to put up with at BCU he is in his 50’s and could have easily stayed there until he decided to retire (or should they have been crazy enough to fire him could have retired last year). I am not saying State will compete for the championship next year but I also think you have to consider why would a guy that has enough money to retire that is coaching at a school that would be nuts to let go of him would come here unless he knew he could do better here. Maybe next year won’t be the year we go to a big bowl but it is coming. Lowe is younger and was at the point in his career where he could afford to take some chances. O’Brian had nothing to lose by staying at BCU but he choose to come here. He knows things can be better here and he will do it.
    Steve

  10. bTHEredterror 03/23/2007 at 10:34 PM #

    The problem with State last year was the Line. Several posters on this site recognized it. TOB has always made this a focus, and there are some bodies there to work with. I expect we see in instant improvement as I believe his OL coach is on board, with a head coach whose whole gameplan is now meshed with a prototype set of skill players for his possession scheme. I am assuming of course at least one of the QB’s will be serviceable.

    I think we’ll see as much success as our young linebackers and secondary can provide. There is some quality depth, but a gaping hole at both safety spots and ILB. If some guys come around and we can fill these gaps in depth, we can make strong run. I’ll not be disappointed even if the Pack goes 4-7 this year. As long as there are improvements in disicpline and gameplanning. There are some tough teams on our plate this year (SC, Pitt, Miami, VT, etc.) and there are bound to be some hiccups.

    I know we are due at least an 8-4 season with a couple of upsets and no WTFF’ers to make up for the last 3 years though, if karma plays a role.

  11. beowolf 03/23/2007 at 11:39 PM #

    Good heavens, we were within one score and a ton of unforced errors from winning at least nine games last season (lost count; not interested in going back to double-check). We’d totally lost focus by the last two blow-out losses to patsy squads. I’m assuming TOB brings in much-needed discipline, and competence at offensive play-calling.

    We’ll be much better at QB, solid at RB and WR, and should be OK on D and on the lines — I don’t see how we don’t AT MINIMUM have a winning season and qualify for a bowl game.

  12. class of 74 03/24/2007 at 5:15 AM #

    ^Agree. And never forget TOB was an OC with Welsh at UVA so I have to believe our offense, which has sucked since Rivers left, will be vastly improved. I’m not saying we will win 8 or 9 games but it sure would not shock me if it happened either. That’s one reason I felt Chuck needed to go. He had the talent, he just could not put it together on the offensive side.

  13. Sw0rdf1sh 03/24/2007 at 7:04 AM #

    I’ve always said, “everything runs through the offensive line”. That is one of the most important positions to staff, and I’m glad to see it is being worked on.

  14. Dogbreath 03/24/2007 at 8:52 AM #

    Is Jon Holt gone? That’s a start.

  15. Anthony Grundy 03/24/2007 at 9:23 AM #

    I’m not complete sold on TOB. If you ask anyone from BC they don’t like him for the exact same reason people were happy to see Sendek leave. He had some talent, won some games, got them to bowl games, but never employed a system that gave them a chance to be great. They beat some strong teams but lost key games every year that they should have won (e.g.losing to us last year). I for one, wish we had given Amato one more year with a better quarterback.

  16. BoKnowsNCS71 03/24/2007 at 9:34 AM #

    N&O today had a good write up about WP FB scrimmage. Evans had 3 TDs, Beck 2, and Burke . Stone caught 2 for TDs. Good news may be some offense finally. Bad news might be the end of our defense. Demario was out with a foot injury.

  17. cornellpackfan 03/24/2007 at 9:54 AM #

    “” they don’t like him for the exact same reason people were happy to see Sendek leave. He had some talent, won some games, got them to bowl games, but never employed a system that gave them a chance to be great.””

    yes i guess he had some talent, but the talent that o’brien could recruit at BC and the calibar of student that the talent had to be really limited his abilities. why do you think that o’brien was so happy to leave for a public state school? he knows that he can go after guys that will take him to the next level. in addition, the passion at BC doesn’t even touch what we have had here recently. just get behind o’brien like everyone got behind chuck give him his fair share of support that any new coach is due. the passionate fans and atmosphere that we have created at NCSU were enough to recruit one of the best coaches in the country i think this same atmosphere can sway some 18 year old kids as well. the man left BC in what would have been the most talent and most promising year he would have ever seen in his time there to come to NCSU, i think the man knows he can get to the next level here…

  18. packpigskinfan23 03/24/2007 at 10:20 AM #

    this years predictions… I am going out on a limb and saying we win 8. I honestly feel that it is very possible. we need to support OBrein. Regardless of if we go 4-8 or 9-3. If the students dont buy into his plan for the team right away… then we wont improve much on last year. its a lot diffrent then basketball where you only have to convince at least 10 players of the new system and rules.

  19. beowolf 03/24/2007 at 10:28 AM #

    TOB reminds me of Sheridan. Quiet winner, disciplinarian, teams showed steady improvement in the Ws & Ls. Unless your FB team goes undefeated, you’re going to have a “key loss” every year. And NC State football doesn’t have a championship tradition. I’ve only known one season over 9 wins in my time as an NC State FB fan (since 1981) — frankly I’d like to get to the point of BC fans being upset with a 10-win squad.

  20. Cosmo96 03/24/2007 at 10:28 AM #

    I’m expecting a Sheridan-like turnaround. Seriously. We have plenty of talent in place. I know there are some holes to fill, so I don’t know if we’ll compete for a championship, but I think a bowl is very likely.

  21. Anthony Grundy 03/24/2007 at 11:15 AM #

    Key losses to bad teams can be avoided. BC’s loss to us cost them the chance to play for a BCS spot. I just don’t want to “settle” with being above average. I want to NC State to play in the Orange bowl like Wake Forest. I want to be in the BCS picture. If a tiny private school with no football history can do it then so can we. If Rutgers can do it, so can we. I’m not saying it TOB can’t do it…I’m just not completely sold that he is the man (yet). Hopefully, he can replicate the progress of Sidney Lowe. I guess time will tell.

  22. beowolf 03/24/2007 at 11:36 AM #

    I understand you concerns, I just don’t see the need to start worrying already.

    Just because BC had some complaints about him, and we had complaints about Sendek, doesn’t mean TOB = Sendek. I’m optimistic about TOB; I look forward to what he can do with our program. With him added to all the intangibles we’ve added under Amato, I think we have all the elements in place to have a top-notch FB program here.

  23. forst8 03/24/2007 at 12:01 PM #

    Anyone who isn’t optimistic about the TOB era has not looked closely at his past record and the circumstances surrounding that record. This man can flat out coach and he gets loyalty from his players and from his assistant coaches. The opportunities for high power recruiting at NC State are much greater than at BC. He was really under some constraints at BC and yet had a great record there. Count me in as one who would like to get used to the kind of winning seasons he had at BC. I think the conditions are ripe for him to far exceed what he did at BC and those of you who continue to have doubts about him will lose those doubts very quickly.

  24. legacyman 03/24/2007 at 1:25 PM #

    The only difference I can see so far between Chuck and Tom is that TOB has had a stable coaching staff for a good while. Losing key assistants almost every year and especially a great recruiter cost Chuck. Many of the defections were for better situation ssuch as at Florida. Some defections were because of reasons better left undiscussed.

    Many think that TOB will instill a better brand of discipline and eliminate the boneheaded penalties that we suffered at least once each game. Some one a few months ago posted the penalty averages per game and TOB averaged one penalty less per game than Chuck so that isn’t enough to get excited about. So I feel that no one should give that as a cause for optimism. Now what is left? I really don’t see anything that TOB has done better but I certainly hope there is something for our big money guys and AD have run off a fiercely loyal football coach in Chuck.

    I hope that there is no reason after next season to say I told you so but if it is warranted it will happen. I am still upset the way Chuck was treated and I know there are many on here who don’t share my feelings but that is allowed in this fine country.

  25. Frank 03/24/2007 at 1:49 PM #

    After almost every loss last season Chuck said they were trying to correct the problems, but nothing got better. I don’t think Chuck knew what the problems were, much less how to correct them.

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