Joe Giglio at the N&O deserves the credit for being first to break the story. PLEASE click on the link to the story so that the journalist who broke the story can get all of the traffic/credit as possible. It is only fair.
Lee Fowler and N.C. State agreed to end their working relationship today after Fowler served almost 10 years as N.C. State’s athletic director.
Fowler, 58, will continue to work through June 30 and will receive payment for the remainder of his contract, which is worth $280,000 annually until Sept. 2013.
There will be A LOT more to come!
Do us a favor and check into this entry with a comment just so that we can see how many people we can get to reply/rejoice on the blog. Let’s make this the most commented entry in the history of SFN! (meaning that we will need more than 500 comments!!!) Additionally, please don’t ignore our message boards as a place to discuss all sorts of tangential items related to the recent developments.
Congrats, again to Joe Giglio for getting the big scoop and congrats to SFN for being first!
Looks like the new chancellor and Board of Trustees is more aligned as members of the lunatic fringe and “HateFansNation” with this move towards wanting to finally do better in West Raleigh. So, by criticizing us in recent years & months you have been criticizing and taking an opposing position of that of our own Chancellor and Board of Trustees!?! WOW!! Please tell me who is the “lunatic fringe” now? How does it make you feel to not be a part of the new ‘status quo’ and to be a “Hater” for not agreeing with the direction of the University?
1pm Update: Fowler’s Statement
“Naturally I am disappointed that I will not see firsthand the fruits of 10 year’s work, but I have the greatest confidence that with the caliber of facilities and coaches we now have, along with a talented and dedicated administrative staff, the athletics program is poised for great success going forward.
“I thank Chancellors Fox, Oblinger, Woodward and Woodson for the privilege of working under their excellent leadership. I want to thank and acknowledge Donn Ward and the great NC State faculty for their unwavering support.
“Additionally, my family and I want to express our thanks for the outpouring of love and support we’ve received. Finally, I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His faithfulness in guiding my decisions and look forward to what His blessings will bring to NC State and me.â€
4:30pm Update: Fowler Knew The Deal In March
NCSU chancellor: Fowler knew of job status since March – Triangle Business Journal:
Lee Fowler has known since March that his run as athletics director at North Carolina State University would end June 30, Chancellor Randy Woodson said Tuesday afternoon.
In a telephone interview a few hours after the university announced Fowler’s resignation, Woodson said that former interim chancellor Jim Woodward informed Fowler in March that the university would part ways with the athletics director by June 30.
Woodson added that the timing of the announcement was left up to him.
Fowler’s performance has been heavily criticized by many Wolfpack fans, which was a major factor in the decision to go in another direction.
“The ability for him to continue to be successful in this environment is clearly compromised,†Woodson said of the public sentiment about the athletics director.
Of the fans, Woodson said, “They’re hungry for success, and that’s where you’re getting a lot of the vocal criticism.â€
Woodson said that he decided to put off an announcement until after May 1 to give Fowler a chance to find a new job somewhere else.
5:00pm Update: Woodson responds
My God I love this guy! He’s a no BS leader who is the right man to take NC State in the right direction. Although the ball started rolling under Woodward, Woodson “did the deed.”
Listen here to 99.9 the fan pitch a few softballs to Chancellor Woodson until Randy himself backed up the conversation to give his reason WHY NC State needed to move forward.
99.9: [Lee Fowler homering]… What are you looking for in the successor?
Chancellor Woodson: Well let me start by saying that I couldn’t agree more with you that Lee Fowler over the 10 years he’s been here has done much to transform athletics at NC State and I would certainly start with facilities. And that’s been… certainly a lot of contributors have supported us in that regard, but we’re a very different place now than we were 10 years ago in terms of competing for outstanding talent both in terms of coaches and athletes. But with those facilities comes expectations. And I don’t think there’s any doubt that NC State Athletics is not where we want it to be in terms of competing at the highest level athletically and success in the classroom. Our graduation rate is not where we would like it to be in terms of academics. Those are the things that I’m always going to hold an athletic director accountable for. Number one, you gotta be able to manage the budget, you gotta live within your means, you gotta grow revenue and you gotta be successful on the financial side. Number two, you gotta build and maintain outstanding facilities that allow you to compete. And then finally you gotta compete. And the competing is, again, athletically and academically.
Let this be a mandate from Chancellor Woodson to NC State’s next Athletic Director: The status quo is unacceptable. We will not take our role as being 3rd place in our own backyard. We will expect to be able to compete with Duke and North Carolina, something that our former AD relegated as an impossibility.
I am sure Woodson’s requirement goes much further than regional success.
It is the fist time that I have looked at the horizon and saw hope for NC State’s Athletic programs. I say this, because I have full confidence in the guy behind the wheel leading this ship.
