O’Brien’s program making more waves (Update 12:30pm)

'09 Football Tom O'Brien34

teams-on-the-riseLet’s turn to something good for a moment, shall we?

On the heels of this fantastic “State of Football” entry that may have gotten lost in the recent administrative news coming out of Raleigh we’ve decided to focus a little more on some football!

There is no doubt that The Sporting News and Matt Hayes have been very complimentary of NC State’s Tom O’Brien in recent years. Even back with TOB was initially hired Hayes was singing the praises.

Nobody could previously foreseen the ridiculous two-year string of baffling injuries that have stunted the on-the-field production of Coach O’Brien’s Wolfpack. This year, however the program enters the season a tad deeper in some key areas and with truly reliable options at quarterback (for the first time since Philip Rivers departed).

The momentum of State’s finish in the 2008 season has propelled the program into some attractive media spotlights this summer including this one from Tom Deinhart at TSN and this one from Joe Giglio at the N&O. And, as you can see here, Matt Hayes has listed NC State as one of his choices as a program on the rise.

* For more on this topic from Hayes and TSN, you can click here. But due to another name mentioned here we are not going to quote anything from the article other than to note that future NC State opponent Tennessee is listed as one of the programs on the decline.

* Check out the Washington Huskies as Dave Curtis’ top choice for a Bandwagon to attach yourself. Don’t talk to me about the impact that good leadership and good decisioning can have on a program. Just last couple of years the Huskies had one of the worst programs in the country under the decisioning of their former Athletics Director, Todd Turner. Of course, Washington wouldn’t put up with Turner and ultimately fired him, compelling us to pen this entry of which we are proud.

* Is it any coincidence that the same Todd Turner was NC State’s Athletics Director in the 1990s when our overall athletics program began accelerated our descent to the bottom of the ACC? Does it scare the hell out of you that Turner ran the most successful Athletics Department at NC State Willis Casey & Jim Valvano? For more on Turner you can search our site and use our Tags.

* For even more thorough look at some items related to this entry you will enjoy this entry.

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'09 Football Tom O'Brien

34 Responses to O’Brien’s program making more waves (Update 12:30pm)

  1. john of sparta 06/11/2009 at 6:16 PM #

    well, we have an MLB player as QB.
    we have a blocking/tackling Head Coach.
    we are in the ACC C/Div = VaT.
    so close. so ever-lovin’ close.

  2. BoKnowsNCS71 06/12/2009 at 10:33 AM #

    TOB is really something special. Although, I think the NC State Administration needs to apologize to him and the other coaches for embarassing the school so badly in recent months.

  3. packalum44 06/12/2009 at 12:53 PM #

    ^ Behind closed doors maybe. I don’t think this affects O’Brien too much. Very minimal if any affect on recruiting. TOB doesn’t even get involved in the marketing aspect of the f-ball program. When asked how many seats had been sold for the bowl game he shrugged and said that wasn’t his area.

    I can tell you that this “news” is only confined to the sleepy state of NC. No one knows or cares about this in the DC metro, which is the closest metropolitan area to Raleigh. Political scandals up here and nationwide make this seem laughable.

  4. Pinehurst 06/12/2009 at 6:26 PM #

    I am excited about the Pack. Good solid groundwork being laid for long term success. The Administration’s foul ups? They are bad. Will it affect recruits and athletics, don’t think so. You could look at it this way, we have joined the big time, again.

  5. Greywolf 06/13/2009 at 11:43 PM #

    Dogbreath Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
    “… He may have been credited with one, but I didn’t see Robbie Leonard make a solo tackle the entire season.”

    Dogbreath, perhaps you were watching some of those hot dancing girls in the tight black pants when Robbie made one or two solo tackles. 😉 Do you think the State coaches were just dumb for having him in the game at WSLB? Leonard was a walk-on who gave everything on every play. He may not have made a lot of solo tackles but he made plays until help arrived. He was smart and did what he was asked to do. With more teams using 3 wideout sets, the LB in Leonard’s position has to think pass coverage first and run stop second. I was concerned about his size at LB until I understood his role.

    I think more than anything it bothers me to hear one of us talk about a walk-on (or any NCSU athlete who is doing the best he can — not a Harrison Beck) like they were scum. TOB has a scout squad member carry one of the flags and be one of those who lead the team on the field at C-F. It takes more than Russell Wilson or even the top 50 players to successfully prepare for a game. So Dogbreath, most of what I was saying wasn’t directed at you. No offense intended.

  6. choppack1 06/14/2009 at 10:32 PM #

    On the whole I thought Leonard did pretty well. He was limited athletically – but he played smart – he knew his assignments and played them. Put another way, when Irving and AMC were healthy, Leonard was fine. However, when those guys were out – he was a lot more exposed. You could compare this to a kid who didn’t play his position smart, but has a lot of athleticism…the talented guys don’t help him as much, because his mistakes leave a huge gap.

    Heck, I’m glad to see walk-ons like him really contribute. That’s something that has been missing over the years and I think TOB will change that.

  7. VaWolf82 06/15/2009 at 7:05 AM #

    Heck, I’m glad to see walk-ons like him really contribute. That’s something that has been missing over the years…

    I don’t know where you are headed with this…but getting “contributions” from walk-ons is not any sort of key to success. The key to success is to have enough depth that walk-ons are not needed to fill holes on your two-deep.

  8. LKNpackfan 06/15/2009 at 3:26 PM #

    Not only was he a walk-on, Leonard was a walk-on DB. With his slow first step and the void at LB, TOB asked Robbie to add 30 lbs in the off-season so he could try him on the weakside closer to the football. The coaches had him getting up at 3am to drink a 2,000 calorie shake every night all summer long. The kid did the best he could and he did it with pride, there’s no shame in that.

  9. Greywolf 06/15/2009 at 9:46 PM #

    VaWolf82,
    You are right on about the two-deep filled by scholarship players. While I can’t speak for Chop, when I think contributions from walk-ons I’m thinking special teams and scout squad. I can’t remember #90’s last name, the 6-7 tight-end, but Eric was asked by TOB to walk on. When Ant and Kushner both went down, Eric actually moved up to the 2-deep.

    TOB honors the commitment and sacrifice that walk-ons make to make the team better with only a rare chance of making the starting line-up. It’s more of the Marine in TOB – The Few, the Proud, the Grunts.

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