Alpha: Toney Baker Is 2009 Football’s X-Man

One of the more heralded football recruits in recent memory to make their way to West Raleigh is certainly Toney Baker. The Jamestown, NC player was a consensus All-American, and it was the Army All-Star game on national television that Toney did the hat dance where he ultimately donned the red and white cap with a Block-S on it. At the time it felt natural that Baker would achieve all-star status and lead the Wolfpack program into a post-Philip-Rivers era of consistent bowls contention for conference championships.

It didn’t work out that way.

NC State football fell into a swoon. Chuck Amato was fired. And, Toney Baker suffered a devastating knee injury inthe first game of the 2007 season against Central Florida. Baker has since missed effectively two full seasons while undergoing two knee surgeries. Baker has remained in college throughout, done everything asked of him by his rehab trainers and by the Wolfpack staff. Today, all accounts from NC State indicate that Baker’s perspective that he is ready to go is accurate.

“The way I feel running now and the way I felt then is completely different. In my mind, I felt like it was time, but maybe it was just a little too early. But sitting out and waiting last season, I can really feel the difference.””

If Baker returns to form, he will share backfield duties with Jamelle Eugene, the versatile Wolfpack running back that was an after thought when he joined the program. Eugene is missing spring practice because of a shoulder injury, and as a result, Baker will get plenty of repetitions in the spring. He’s splitting time with redshirt freshman Brandon Barnes and true freshman James Washington III, the next generation of Wolfpack backs, leaving Baker as the “old man” on the squad — albeit a talented “old man” who is itching to get back to form and back on the sod of Carter-Finley Stadium carrying the ball for the Pack. He’s also excited to be playing with Russell Wilson, the talented NC State quarterback:

“It has changed a lot having him as quarterback,” Baker said. “There is somebody on defense who will have to account for Russell Wilson on every play, and that will open up the running game. The fact that he can throw the football will open it up even more.”

Analysis: If Baker comes back as healthy and strong as he was pre-injury, he will add a potent weapon to Dana Bible’s offense and provide some much-needed depth in the running back corps. Helping carry the load of running duties with Jamelle Eugene will keep both of them stronger during games and throughout the course of the season, and also allow Brandon Barnes to come in as a lightning-fast change of pace back that can break a game wide-open late.  Fresh legs in the fourth quarter can mean victories, and having three strong backs will give you not only that, but will also help avoid a major dropoff should one of them be injured and miss some playing time.  In short, a healthy and productive Baker can mean nothing but good things for a Wolfpack offense that is designed to control the clock and time of possession of the opposition.

'09 Football Chuck Amato General

95 Responses to Alpha: Toney Baker Is 2009 Football’s X-Man

  1. wufpup76 03/31/2009 at 9:56 AM #

    “I’m surprised that Memphis can shell out $2.3 million much less over $4…”

    ^FedEx

    Will there be an update on the “coaching carousel” thread after Bennet’s hire and probably a decision either way by Calimari sometime today (to help keep this thread on track)? Sorry to stick my big nose where it doesn’t belong 🙁

  2. Noah 03/31/2009 at 10:16 AM #

    Way back in olden times, I did an article on ACL tears. I talked to Bernard King and then interviewed Danny Manning (to let you know how long ago this was). At the time, they were using the inner condyler tendon to repair the knee.

    The thing I remember is that all the doctors and trainers and rehab guys all used the same phrase. They said, “The thing to remember is that the knee will NEVER be normal again. The question is, ‘Will it be functional?'”

    I don’t know if they were doing cadavers at the time or not.

    I know that the scars have gotten much smaller. They can get into smaller spaces now. Bernard King’s legs looked like they had used a chainsaw to operate.

  3. Greywolf 03/31/2009 at 10:30 AM #

    LF or for that matter any AD conducting a search for a prominent coach, is a thing of the past. The public nature of an AD’s job prohibits the discretion needed. I am not embarrassed by our AD in our previous coaching search, I’m embarrassed by the University’s tight-fisted pay policies as relates to paying coaches and the untenable position in which it puts the AD. Which is why I decline to be in any lynching party.
    `
    If I was in a job interview, one of the subjects in the interview would be salary range. If the salary range was below my requirements I would excuse myself from candidacy for the job. Would this mean that I was offered the job and turned it down?
    `
    NCSU could have had any coach it wanted if we had been willing to pay the going rate. We are like the man who sends his wife out with $20 and tells her to buy the very best china she can find. Then ridicules her because she brought home a set that didn’t meet his specifications.
    `
    “Didn’t you tell them who I was? With my family name we should be able to buy the very best at cut-rate prices. Sellers should be willing to sell to us at lower than market value prices to say that we used their china. And what took so long to find the ones you did find? You bitch! I ought to divorce your sorry ass.”
    `
    I once thought poorly of Calipari for what is perceived as using NCSU for a raise. My current guess is our “salary range” in his interview was below his requirements. I don’t blame him or Memphis for coming up with a salary for C that would keep him at Memphis for sometime to come. I doubt Memphis ever thought that Calipari or any coach would be offered nearly $6 million a year.
    `
    Who would NCSU be bringing in to replace Calipari if we had ponied up what it took to get him 3 years ago? Sean Miller? At a price considerably lower than his predecessor? There’s a situation that’s ripe for resentment and another coaching search 3 years down the road.
    `
    Doing an occasional good job as AD at NCSU is like pissing in your pants in a dark suit — it gives you a warm feeling but nobody seems to notice.

  4. Greywolf 03/31/2009 at 10:41 AM #

    This is the “Alpha: Toney Baker Is 2009 Football’s X-Man” thread, right?

    “Will there be an update on the “coaching carousel” thread after Bennet’s hire and probably a decision either way by Calimari sometime today (to help keep this thread on track)? ”
    `
    This is definitely “cross-threaded.” I was reading and thought I was on the Coaching Carousel thread until I looked as I was exiting.

  5. Alpha Wolf 03/31/2009 at 10:50 AM #

    The thing I remember is that all the doctors and trainers and rehab guys all used the same phrase. They said, “The thing to remember is that the knee will NEVER be normal again. The question is, ‘Will it be functional?’”

    Much has changed in the field of orthopedics since then, but your point is well taken.

    I did note, however, that Tiger Woods was putting incredible torque on his repaired knee at times last Sunday — stuff that would not have been at all possible with ACL repairs of only 10-15 years ago.

  6. whitefang 03/31/2009 at 12:02 PM #

    Since this has turned into an ortho thread – I think much has to do with the patient too. Who was the DB who played for the Panthers several years ago that had torn ACL’s in both knees in HS that were never repaired? Think he played for UNC. I never knew how that was even possible.

  7. Noah 03/31/2009 at 12:25 PM #

    The ACL is sort of stabilizer, IIRC. When you bend your knee, part of the joint corkscrews and the the ACL keeps things in place.

    I don’t know how much pressure that swinging a golf club puts on your knee. The hip probably takes the big portion of the force, I would guess.

  8. Alpha Wolf 03/31/2009 at 12:29 PM #

    Noah, the shot I am talking about is when he was buried up against the lip of the bunker on 17. Tiger lifted a leg halfway up the slope leading down into the sand, but had a lot of weight on it. His swing was a full bore slam and he rotated hard and bowed that knee such that the ACL had to take all of the stress. You had to see it — I have had knee surgery and I know that when I pulled a move even halfway close it was completely healed and ready go.

    Also, a good golfer does drive his knees around when s/he hits. It’s us Sunday amateurs that don’t get our power from below the waist.

  9. Noah 03/31/2009 at 1:42 PM #

    Interesting. I didn’t know that.

    Tiger Woods is supposed to be something of a workout warrior, isn’t he?

  10. Classof89 03/31/2009 at 1:43 PM #

    I donate a lot of money to this football program, and I certainly consider it well within my rights to bitch when we schedule a team playing football for the very first time. Tickets for even the cheapest game at C-F are well north of $30 now. I wouldn’t pay two plugged nickels to watch us play a team like South Alabama, and now my $1200+ season ticket bill will include having to sit through two games against a glorified high school team…

    Some of you are living in some hazy nostalgic world where college sports are an extension of the educational mission of the university and engaged in by student-athletes. Newsflash: that era passed about 40 years ago. College football is big business, I am a customer, and I think scheduling South Alabama is a boneheaded General Motors type of business decision.

  11. anti-smurf 03/31/2009 at 3:09 PM #

    I wonder if TOB has some sort of connection with someone invloved in that program, and is essentially “throwing them a bone” by agreeing to this? That’s th only way it makes sense to me.

    Hoepfully we can back out of it like Fowler has done so many times with our opponents.

  12. Greywolf 03/31/2009 at 3:40 PM #

    Classof89
    March 31st, 2009 at 1:43 pm
    “I donate a lot of money to this football program, and I certainly consider it well within my rights to bitch when we schedule a team playing football for the very first time.”
    `
    It’s within your rights to bitch even if you don’t donate a lot of money. TheCOWDOG wasn’t objecting to your or anybody’s complaining about the schedule. TheCOWDOG was asserting that you don’t know how these things go down. The Associate AD for accountable for football scheduling does not make this kind of move without full knowledge and approval if not at the request of TOB. Why not say, “What do they have, pictures of O’Brien committing lewd acts with a goat?”
    `
    It’s likely that this is done for economics — buy low (USA) and sell high (tickets). How is this a boneheaded General Motors type of business decision? Is it that someone won’t buy season tickets because USA is on the schedule at home? Perhaps we needed an away game to keep prices down by keeping the number of home games down that year. I’ll bet that we are compensated nicely if not richly for that game. And Mobile is not a bad weekend site. Probably better than Columbus OH. Criticism is not necessarily valid just because it is directed at LF accompanied by the obligatory crudities and insults.

  13. Greywolf 03/31/2009 at 3:50 PM #

    anti-smurf
    March 31st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
    “I wonder if TOB has some sort of connection with someone invloved in that program, and is essentially “throwing them a bone” by agreeing to this? That’s th only way it makes sense to me.

    Hoepfully we can back out of it like Fowler has done so many times with our opponents.”
    `
    This makes sense in a number of ways other than TOB “throwing them a bone,” which knowing TOB like I think I do, makes no sense at all to me.
    `
    Help me here, what other than the alleged ECU deal has Fowler backed out of? If he is backing out of deals, I want to know because I absolutely do not approve of indiscriminate not keeping ones word. This is something to complain about that the Chancellor and BOT would listen to. Bring out your cites and proof. We need it to help get LF fired.

  14. Classof89 03/31/2009 at 4:56 PM #

    TOB having knowledge and input into the schedule is not the same as having final responsibility for the schedule, which most certainly is Lee Fowler’s responsibility.

    And if the Athletics Department’s mission is to extract as much cash from the fan base and maximize profits, then they are taking a “General Motors” approach to customer satisfaction and therefore deserve all the general approbation that goes with this scheduling decision…

    And if they wanted to minimize home games why not do that this year (eight home games) by scheduling a home and home away first with a BCS school instead of padding the schedule with two Division I-AA pansies?

  15. TheCOWDOG 03/31/2009 at 5:32 PM #

    Navy and Tennessee have also hooked up with South Alabama. Haven’t checked to see if their fanbases are bitchin’ yet.

    Look, I totally agree with anyone who does not concur with the schedule. It is as Grey said. We are so quick to fire off on Fowler for everything, having little or no knowledge of how it goes down.

    I’m actually finding myself halfway defending him. And it’s not really something I envisioned.

  16. Noah 03/31/2009 at 5:51 PM #

    I think Lee Fowler is an incompetent douchenozzle. But I’m not going to criticize him for this.

    If you’ve never been, take the trip to Mobile. It’s a very pretty town. Definitely a better trip than Columbus freaking Ohio.

  17. TheCOWDOG 03/31/2009 at 6:27 PM #

    ^
    They’ll be a D1-A team by then also.

    I don’t recall why we wound up with the two clunkers this year.

    2010, 11 and 12 have room for only one potential 2A game.

  18. RabidWolf 04/01/2009 at 6:27 AM #

    “What do they have, pictures of Fowler committing lewd acts with a goat? ”

    Hey…I thought EVERYBODY had a set of those! It would explain a LOT.

  19. FredandDwight82 04/01/2009 at 10:30 AM #

    “Hey…I thought EVERYBODY had a set of those! It would explain a LOT.”

    I am SO glad I do NOT have a set. Words can not express my relief…

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Topics about Football » StateFans Nation » Toney Baker Is 2009 Football’s X-Man - 03/31/2009

    OYncp3 Thanks so much for the article.Thanks Again. Fantastic.

Leave a Reply