Q: Do you feel that you had an adversarial relationship with the media while at N.C. State as some have suggested?
A:I think it’s all bull, because 95 percent of the [media] people that sat in those meetings, there was one paper that had it out — not just for me — but our university, in any sport, any game or any guy sitting in that [head football coach] seat, or the basketball seat. It was ridiculous.
I had more fun in these meetings, because I tried to make it fun. I said, ‘You guys have a job to do, and I’ve got a job to do, and I’ll do everything I can do to help you to a point, and you guys do everything you can to help me, to a point.’ I understand you have a job to do. I had people come up to me and say, ‘Chuck, don’t change. We love it. We haven’t had somebody take a 15-minute thing, turn it into a hour thing, and we’re laughing our [butt] off on the way out of here.’ There’s only one group. … It was bull. I didn’t have a problem with the press, even them. …
I’ve been around long enough to know, the power of the pen, you can’t beat them because you don’t run out of ink. You’re going to write whatever you want to. … They wanted me to be really [mad]. You know what, ‘Just keep feeding it. You’re doing my marketing for me [writing about] red shoes, the glasses, he drives a Corvette.’ … They would say, ‘Boy, you’re flamboyant.’ Why am I flamboyant? ‘Well, you drive a Corvette.’ Mike Krzyzewski drives a Jaguar, but I’ve never read that in the paper.
Post-script: Response to CTC from the N&O
