A View from the Cheap Seats

General NCS Football47

Tom O’Brien may be an Ohio native who’s spent the past decade in Boston, but he’s got a certain nature about him that seems distinctly southern.

In a way not entirely different than Sidney Lowe, O’Brien has unified a fan base that hasn’t been completely united across the board in twenty years, a refreshing change of tempo around here. With a coaching philosophy that’s considered simple and an approach that seems deliberate, he still shows an apparent panache for fitting in.

One of the first things he did upon his arrival in Raleigh was contact former players for a reunion – a town hall meeting of sorts. Whereas Lowe already knew what it meant to be a State fan and what we would expect of him, O’Brien was keen enough to bring in the very best representatives of State that could explain exactly that to him: winners like Bill Cowher and Torry Holt.

A legacy of George Welsh, who is second only to Bobby Bowden in all-time ACC victories with 80, O’Brien is also a staple of winning consistency. Two years after taking over a Boston College program mired in scandal, he led the Eagles to eight consecutive winning seasons; he became a perennial eight-game winner and won nine games four of his final five years in Chestnut Hill. To put that into perspective, we’ve had only four nine-win seasons in the past twenty years (two of those were under Sheridan in ’91 and ’92).

It’s a consistency that, as far as I can tell, is born out of pragmatism. We’ve been told by our athletic administration for years that we can only win if we have $100 million facilities; yet O’Brien has done nothing but win despite pitiful resources, outdated facilities, and an apathetic fan base much too occupied with winning Super Bowls and beating the Yankees.

Now he has arguably the nation’s finest college football facilities; add to that a large, rabid, loyal fan base (with open checkbooks, let’s not forget), and it seems nothing less than a winning combination.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his hiring is the seemingly appropriate quiet buzz it has generated. While it’s garnered nowhere near the circus-like attention that Nick Saban has received, the national media has seemed largely impressed by O’Brien’s move South. O’Brien may be the antithesis to Saban’s flashy style (Saban’s won a title so he’s earned it) but, except for the buzz being generated, it’s no stretch to say that as of right now, this season, Alabama is no further ahead as a program than we are.

After all, buzz doesn’t win championships – a painful lesson we’ve all no doubt learned – and after the past seven years, it’s nice to finally not have the circus in town each fall. For the first time in as long as I can remember, all State fans seem to be very excited and intensely hopeful about the future; it’s an odd feeling, I know.

I like the guy; I think the South suits him quite well. My only question is: Coach, just how bad are we going to beat Carolina?

About LRM

Charter member of the Lunatic Fringe and a fan, loyal to a fault.

General NCS Football

47 Responses to A View from the Cheap Seats

  1. choppack1 08/10/2007 at 11:57 PM #

    ncsu_kappa – even if you buy the bizarre coincidence argument – you’re talking about a staff that 6 years to find a QB – and according to you, they failed miserably…Do you really think it was just 3 bad QBs?

    Me, I think it was mostly coaching.

  2. PAPacker 08/11/2007 at 10:42 AM #

    Forgive the tangent folks, but can we get a thread on why no one has offered John Wall (according to Pack Pride) and who DJ. Richardson is?

  3. BJD95 08/11/2007 at 10:54 AM #

    In the Gator Bowl year, we also could have easily lost to Texas Tech (FG missed by an inch, only one of that distance their kicker missed all year) and Duke (QB missed wide open receiver on a play which would have set up a game winning 45-yard FG attempt – kicker was 3-3 on 45-50+ yard attempts that day). We caught some good breaks, not just bad that year. We just remember the bad more.

    GT was the turning point, but not for the reasons cited. ABC did the big pre-game intro worshipping at the altar of the “Cult of Chuck” – from that point on (and maybe/probably it had started even earlier), Amato REALLY believed his own hype and his staff chemistry went to shit. Every failure was not his responsibility, just those around him “letting him down.” Trust me, I’ve heard ample evidence from trustworthy sources on that front.

  4. BJD95 08/11/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    If you haven’t already, go back and read our “State of Wolfpack Football” entry from last offseason:

    http://www.statefansnation.com/index.php/archives/2006/02/14/the-state-of-wolfpack-football/

  5. beowolf 08/11/2007 at 12:02 PM #

    No discussion of the GT game is complete without recognizing the officials robbing Terence Holt of an INT at the GT 20 yard line at the start of the 2nd half. He caught it like a wide receiver in the 2-minute drill, laying out and catching the ball out-of-bounds while keeping his feet in bounds. It could have easily changed the momentum, to give Rivers & co. the ball in the red zone to start the 2nd half. Refs ruled Holt out because the “the ball” was out of bounds. Horrible call. GT keeps possession and holds the ball for about 7 minutes (owing to the penalty already mentioned).

  6. LRM 08/11/2007 at 4:38 PM #

    Greg Golden dropped an INT that hit him in the numbers late in the third quarter as well; they went on to score a TD on that drive.

    It was really the only defensive miscue the entire day; it took Tech something like four series to even gain positive yardage on the ground that day. If you’ll remember, they ran something like six plays inside the three that first half and came away only with two FGs. It could have easily been 14-3 at halftime without that incredible D.

    That was one of those “How did we lose?” games, because we absolutely dominated that game; we just couldn’t score.

  7. beowolf 08/11/2007 at 8:19 PM #

    The first of many TA fumbled away on us at key moments.

  8. ncsu_kappa 08/11/2007 at 9:47 PM #

    TA fumbles..MD, OSU, MIA, FSU…gosh talk about heartache. He is the epitome of the double edged sword. You fall in love with the guy over the clemson game where he runs rampant with the broken arm/hand/wrist whatever it was, then there was the 100+/100+ game against UVA. But in the end is he remembered by fumbles and injuries.

    Ok be honest guys, did you want him in the game or on the bench? Remember we had Josh Brown, Reggie Davis, and Bobby Washington and Darrell Blackmon

  9. beowolf 08/11/2007 at 11:04 PM #

    After the UNC game, I wanted him on the bench.

    Ironically, it’s that game that made me think he wasn’t point-shaving. See, in that game he scored a TD that was called back before he fumbled on the goal line.

  10. TNCSU 08/12/2007 at 9:54 AM #

    ^^^^Forgive the tangent folks, but can we get a thread on why no one has offered John Wall (according to Pack Pride) and who DJ. Richardson is?

    PAPacker, I agree. I’m curious as to our 2009 class and the rest of our 2008 class. Anyone know if/who we are still looking at for 2008 — possibly a big man if Big Lew is a medical hardship. Although Wall has been on our radar, he may be hesitant with Degand, Gonzalez, and Johnson on our roster — with Mays coming in next year. That would be a guard heavy team. Don’t know much about Richardson, but he looks like a guy in the Courtney Fells type mold — maybe a good replacement for Courtney.

  11. brickman 08/12/2007 at 12:50 PM #

    i heard big ben was hurt anyone have any info.

  12. redfred2 08/12/2007 at 1:54 PM #

    I know this is not general consensus among sports fans and a lot of people disagree with me, but the thing I enjoy most about collegiate athletics, MUCH MORE than the actual wins and losses themselves, is watching development. That is development as individuals, which eventually lends itself to overall development as a team. Even after Chow left Amato and staff had some good success in those areas, but with a very limited number of individuals and mainly on the defensive side of the ball, as would be expected. I think we’re already getting the sense that TOB is going to improve the framework from the ground up. The emphasis on the individual is over, flashiness is out, sound fundamentals and substance is in. I don’t know for sure but I’m guessing TOB drives something like a Toyota Corolla, or a plain jane Chevy pick up, something that functions well and is tried and proven, and not something that screams “HEY, IT’S ME, LOOK AT ME!!!” I could be wrong there though.

    As for Lowe,…well…does he really have any choice in the matter. The guy can’t help but add flash, there are really no other options with the BB program in comparison. It’s either that, or turn the RBC into a mortruary.

  13. packwolf90 08/12/2007 at 7:25 PM #

    John Wall has offers from Kansas, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Miami, and NC State among others. Trust me i’ve got an inside source on his aau team.

  14. ncsu_kappa 08/13/2007 at 7:40 AM #

    redfred, not a personal attack but I think you summed up what my opinion on people talking about Amato’s flash. If he won games it would be a confident swagger, when you don’t win its called over the top. Lowe is a perfect example of that. Why is it cool for one and not the other. In my opinion its irrelevant the amount of flash one person adds over another. There definitely is not a link to flash and wins and losses but when it came to building a rap sheet for CTC that was thrown on there.

    Also, I’ve seen this mentioned many times on the boards here. Where are these “focus on the individual” comments coming from and which individuals where focused on, and how is that different from any other program?

    Alot of the negative comments that I read about CTC seem to be subjective at best. We can’t say that he didn’t motivate his team. Just not true. We can’t say he was horrible in game coach, just not true. There are too many examples of great play calling and chance taking that lead to come back wins to say that either. QB development, and O-line depth were huge consenus shortfalls. Discipline wasn’t a problem like people like to claim. For the O-line half of our false starts came from Derek Morris the year that false starts were a huge problem. Back to O-line depth. As far as CTC we lost a lot of games we shouldn’t have for one reason or another, and for that we can throw him under the bus, but there have been alot of reaches on what we call bad qualities of a coach because they are different than Paterno, Bowden, and Carrol.

  15. choppack1 08/13/2007 at 9:19 PM #

    “Alot of the negative comments that I read about CTC seem to be subjective at best. ”
    There’s some truth to that. However, I’d submit the following diminishing returns as exhibit A that Amato had peaked and I for one didn’t see any evidence of improvement:
    1) The declining records after the peak of 2002-2003…Conference records of 4-4, 3-5, 3-5 and 2-6….Going from no bad non-conference losses to the debacles we saw in 2006.
    2) The lack of improvement of any 3 QBs. (We’ve already discussed this – you think it’s a fluke, I think it’s solid evidence of a staff not doing their job.
    3) the horrid TO ratios years 5, 6 and 7 (and not just QB TO’s.)

    “Discipline wasn’t a problem like people like to claim. ”
    If you don’t call the mental mistakes of false starts, offsides, penlaties and TOs a “discipline” problem, then let’s at least agree that execution was horrible the last 3 years of the Amato. regime.

    “Back to O-line depth. As far as CTC we lost a lot of games we shouldn’t have for one reason or another, and for that we can throw him under the bus, but there have been alot of reaches on what we call bad qualities of a coach because they are different than Paterno, Bowden, and Carrol.”

    I’m guessing you think that Amato should have had another year. I for one, think this is the first firing the school handled right since the General Reed. We should have fired MOC after year 4, fired Sendek after year 4 or 5…In both of these cases, they kept the coaches – the result was a fractured fan base. One could argue that we got good things from both regimes, but the Amato train looked like it was heading off the cliffs. Based on his post-game demeanors and press conferences, I’m not sure how he would have handled this year if we got off to another bad start.

  16. ncsu_kappa 08/13/2007 at 11:58 PM #

    The last paragraph we are in agreement. I have no qualm with the firing b/c his record is his record is his record. But to blame our wins and losses on his attire, or to say he couldn’t game plan is ridiculous b/c with adequate QB play he was a mastermind. TT, Clemson, OSU, FSU, SC, there were many big games where he made some huge calls that worked out for us. Some didn’t but alot did.

    We saw our QB’s play last year, I can’t really blame offensive play calling on last year’s results because we couldn’t execute simple passes after the third game of the season and were abismal against App State.

    Chuck had a horrible final two years no one can argue that. Discipline… TB and AB fumbled a few times, Anthony Hill dropped balls, and our QB’s couldn’t find their own end zone. What would you do differently other than talk to them which he did b/c they commented about their talks in the N&O. Did he need to bench them all b/c they made a mistake?

    Fire the guy because he didn’t have the forsight to get a transfer QB with any skills to play the position on a college level. Not because his team was out of control, he had red shoes, and didn’t know a lick about football or recruiting. The are alot of good arguments against him, but alot of the ones I hear aren’t legitimate to justify firing him. IMHO. With that said I’m praying that TOB gets Glennon in immediately b/c I like the guy but I’ve got faith the size of a mustard seed in our QB’s.

  17. Packaholic1 08/14/2007 at 8:12 AM #

    Uh oh. Mike Archer:
    “Don’t read the newspaper. Don’t watch TV or listen to the radio. Today, it’s [Internet] message boards.”

    Sacrilege…

  18. TNCSU 08/14/2007 at 11:39 AM #

    Packwolf90,
    Any word on if the Pack is at the top of his list???

  19. redfred2 08/14/2007 at 9:03 PM #

    kappa, I am not saying that Amato made it a point to push and promote only certain individuals. What I’m saying is that I saw it as childlike, like a kid who is starstruck by biggest, fastest, and shiniest toy on the field, and because of that he couldn’t focus on the other work that needed to be done in general.

    I was very disappointed that Amato didn’t ever get over the hump. As a matter of fact I wouldn’t have been as upset as a lot of folks around here if he had been allowed to stay another year. You are jumping to a lot conclusions here. I don’t find fault in Amato’s style and I don’t enter it into the equation when evaluating his coaching. There is a basic rule though, it’s if you’re doing really good at something and doing really well, then you can afford to be cocky and showboat. But only then, otherwise you just look like a plain fool. It’s like being the guy who thinks he’s the biggest stud on the planet when everyone knows that his wife is running around with every Tom, Dick, and Harry in town. It gets to be a running joke.

    You bring back up some good arguments that have all been stated around here before. I’ll just say this, I was very reluctant and hated to see Amato go, especially considering the vision and spirit that he injected into the football program as well as the university as a whole. But if you’re trying to blame any of us fans for his firing, or trying to say that his personality wasn’t a factor in it, you are barking up the wrong tree. Amato’s personality was definitely a drawback, not for me personally, I loved it! Don’t forget this is NC State University, where the sticks in the mud do the makin’ and breakin’.

    Ten years, a whole decade of my BB loving lifetime, was alotted to a coach with a very, very similar W/L record. Why? Personality, or a basic lack thereof, that will buy you years at NCSU.

  20. packwolf90 08/15/2007 at 12:27 PM #

    “Packwolf90,
    Any word on if the Pack is at the top of his list???”

    Wall was basically an unknown before he went to Vegas for the Summer Championships. From what i hear Kansas, Indiana, State, and Ohio State are at the top right now.

  21. TNCSU 08/15/2007 at 2:26 PM #

    ^^Actually, he WAS known by our staff. His coming out party (in Vegas) was both GOOD and BAD for us. Hopefully, he’ll want to join another local, C.J. Leslie (2010) and play for the Pack.

  22. packwolf90 08/16/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    I think we have a better shot at getting Melvin Tab. He’s a JJ Hickson type player and once Hickson leaves Melvin can step in and we won’t skip a beat.

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