A View of the Search from the Cheap Seats

Debbie Yow Mark Gottfried93

I don’t author much here on SFN and there’s a good reason for that. I’m not an insider. I don’t have any inside sources. I don’t pretend to. And when I am given a nugget of info from well connected friends, I don’t go and spout them off on the interwebs.

What I saw and felt is probably a lot what you guys experienced. All the stages of grief being experienced on a daily basis. One of the worst rollercoaster rides of all time…

Initially

Sid’s gone. Man, we almost had A-listers in the bag last time around and we had Fowler running the joint – this is a no brainer. Rick Barnes would be nice, but we could do better. How about some Sean Miller.

And Then…

Miller’s out of the tournament and he’s not in Raleigh… Ok, I guess Rick Barnes isn’t all that bad. Let’s grab him! He’ll surely want to come! And if he doesn’t, no problem. We’ve got a lot of B-Listers who would chomp at the bit. That Shaka guy is in the Sweet 16!

But wait!

Barnes is out, Miller is out, BUT BILLY DONOVAN IS IN! HOLY CRAP! OH WE BACK! DID YOU SEE JULES’ TWEET?!

Reality…

He’s not coming either… why don’t we have a coach yet. Gregg Marshall will surely come… that Shaka Smart guy is attractive but he’s still coaching… Let’s just nab a B-Lister and get this show on the road.

Who wrote that letter?

That’s a rather odd letter from Debbie Yow… doesn’t sound good.

Who?

Mark Gottfried – gotta check Wikipedia. I have no idea who he is.

Many of us may not know a lot about Gottfried, but the more I learned, the more I’m starting to think that we’ll be ok. But this is what we know.

  1. Assistant UCLA (1987 – 1995); National Champions (1994).
  2. Head Coach Murray State (1995 – 1998); record 68 – 24; NIT (1996), NCAA Tournament (1997, 1998); Ohio Valley Champions (1996, 1997, 1998).
  3. Head Coach Alabama (1998 – 2009); record 210 – 132; NIT (1999, 2001, 2007), NCAA Tournament (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006); NCAA Tournament Elite 8 (2004); AP #1 (2003); SEC Champions (2002); SEC Coach of the Year (2002)

He has experience which Debbie Yow Promised. He was the Flavor of the Month candidate while coaching Murray State, widely considered a top mid-major school at the time. His tenure in Alabama ended with controversy though and, to be honest, he posted a sub stellar SEC record of 84 – 83 playing a bunch of football schools (and Florida).

I’m optimistic though. After I got through the shock of “Who?” and began to take a deep look at Gottfried, I became a bit more comfortable with the hire. No doubt this hire could be considered a failure comparing Mark to Sean Miller, Billy Donovan, and Rick Barnes. Regardless, he’s the coach now and we’ll hope for the best.

Adding to the optimism is the word around town that Dino Gaudio may join the staff as an assistant. This would be an AWESOME way to spend funds that are left unspent hiring Gottfried at $1.2 million a year. That has yet to happen – and you know how Internet rumors go. So hold on tight and keep the hope.

Welcome Coach Gottfried and GO PACK!

Debbie Yow Mark Gottfried

93 Responses to A View of the Search from the Cheap Seats

  1. BassPacker 04/06/2011 at 7:37 AM #

    I sit back and watched the “search” play out on the forums and media. Am I impressed with the results….no. Am I disappointed in the hire….No. Gottfried maybe the man we need at the moment.

    He seems to be ready to jump into the ACC fire, he had plenty of time to refuel his jets on the golf course. And he’s had plenty of time to watch and learn the last two years from the sidelines as an ESPN analyst. Look at it this way, he has something to prove both to StateFans and himself, need motivation.. hes got it. Just hope the players buy into it and stay and also come to State.

    I’d also rather hire a Gottfried who brings in a top notch assistant package rather than throw all the money in on a flash hire like Smart. State rolled the dice on Lowe….it CRAPPED out. This hire could under the right coaching package end up being a quick and sure fire winner. IMO, part of the problem with Lowe was his brain trust on the bench, or lack of. If Gottfried brings in Dino, maybe Pearl and other top name assistants, I’m one who likes this hire.

    Welcome to Raleigh Coach Gottfried !!!! Go Pack !

  2. wvillepack 04/06/2011 at 7:40 AM #

    Do any of you really think that a Barnes, Miller, etc. would come to nscu? Get a grip on reality. Since Jimmy V was run out of town we have sucked hind tit in the acc. Spent most of the last 20 years in the bottom third of the conference. This is not any coaches “dream job”. This is not a job any coach would give up his current job for. We have sucked for so long I am just happy a coach is willing to come here. Stop whinning and get behind this guy and give him a chance. If he doesn’t produced in a couple of years, we can run him down then. Right now we just need to thank him for accepting the challenge of rebuilding a team that has not accomplished much of anything since 1987. If Yow could have gotten a “bigger name” coach she would have. Let’s get behind Gottfried and support him so the next time we hire a coach, they will be lining up at the door to coach here.

  3. DC_wolf 04/06/2011 at 7:54 AM #

    JSRy2k, fantastic points. You may have further stoked my optimism. I wish more posters would bring this objectivity to the boards. Hey, even I wanted Sean Miller after he pasted Duke but I realize the obstacles inherent in taking the NCSU position. We should all get behind someone willing to take on the job.

  4. wolflane74 04/06/2011 at 7:55 AM #

    Okay, to all of the people who think this was a bad hire, review Lowes credentials as a coach before and after the hire. Enough said. Go Pack! Welcome Coach Gottfried!

  5. Howler 04/06/2011 at 7:56 AM #

    If you’re a State fan, what else are you going to do right now but support the new coach? But let’s not kid ourselves. This was bad. Debbie Yow had my complete confidence until Monday night. Her e-mail letter makes even less sense now that we know she hired a coach twenty hours after sending it. Her direct hit at Gary Williams and use of the word “sabotage” at the press conference, even if true, was unprofessional beyond belief. It’s like she had a complete meltdown after Smart and Marshall decided to stay put. Our new coach did not go through the vetting process because he was well acquainted with our AD. Remind anyone of the recent Wake Forest hire?

    BJD had posted previously that the circumstances of the search led him to believe there was an 80% chance that Debbie Yow had a homerun hire up her sleeve. Well, for what it is worth, that other 20% really sucks.

  6. LakistaMcCuller 04/06/2011 at 8:00 AM #

    “Anyone who is unhappy with this hire needs a reality check. 24 hrs ago we were at full panic mode.”

    What concerns me is not that We (fans) were in full panic mode, but that DY was. This was a panic hire. I hope it works out, but it looks like we hired a C-list candidate at a cheap price, I guess we don’t need to feel pressured to buy LTRs and so on….

  7. roandaddy 04/06/2011 at 8:04 AM #

    Serious question.. but what was the budget for this hire?

    Seems we now have two reasonably “cheap” coaches. Paying $1.2M is a LONG LONG way from what BD and probably RB are making. To even put the two in the conversation is laughable unless there was a huge honey pot of money for the coach we decided not to tap. Maybe saving cash is a good thing in this economy.

  8. TomCat 04/06/2011 at 8:10 AM #

    I just had the craziest dream (I have– to stop eating late night pizza)….. Dreamed I recieved some strange meandering email — from Debbie Yow(?) saying her job was too hard.. and she couldn’t think of any compelling pitch to get anybody– to be our basketball coach– so she was just going to hire a friend of hers. The guy needed a break, had found Jesus (some hanky panky in his prev job) but most importantly, he already had a few red ties and pocket hankerchiefs. Problem solved! ———— I woke up in a cold sweat with my heart racing. Man, that dream seemed so vivid and real, like it really happened. —- Now, back to the grind. How’s everybody doing? Any news on the coaching search?…… Mike Gottfried? Welcome Mike. Regardless of how you got here or the path which brought you here– you are our guy now and yhe Wolfpack nation will rally around your endeavor. —— The road back for basketball going to be a step by step process. I know everyone wanted a hire that would fast track us to the top — but the fact remains there is some work to be done. This is a less attractive job from a pure NCAA track record standpoint) than the one Lowe inherited —– but Gottfried may be just the guy– just like NC State– hungry, experienced and tirelessly driven to restore our reputation– together. It’s a bit tough to swallow now, with all the big caviar dreams for the hire, but when we look back — this may be the point we look back and say….. this was the right time the right place and the right guy…. for both parties.

  9. Prowling Woofie 04/06/2011 at 8:26 AM #

    NCSU has a proud heritage in basketball. Many accomplishments, titles, trophies, and two very impressive banners in the rafters. The school that produced David Thompson, Tommy Burleson, Kenny Carr, Hawkeye Whitney, Spud Webb, Rodney Monroe, Todd Fuller, Tom Gugliotta, Jimmy V. Don’t Give Up – Don’t EVER Give Up !

    That was then. We haven’t been that place in a very long time.

    Obviously, we are not a destination that attracts high end coaches right now. Thankfully, we have cleaned out some administrative garbage, and are working toward rebuilding the culture of winning that was completely gutted by Academia 20 years ago.

    Debbie Yow handled the delicate situation that was thrust upon her regarding Sidney Lowe with grace and dignity. She then conducted a very private search in the midst of times that deny the existance of private searches. She went after big names, then moved to lesser names. In the end, she hired an ace in the hole, a quality coach with a better resume than ANY BASKETBALL COACH PREVIOUSLY HIRED at NCSU, who was flying below the radar as a TV analyst.

    Is he the home run king that everybody dreamed we would land ? No, perhaps not. Is he a solid coach with experience leading a major conference program through a rebuilding process with successful results ? Yes, he is, demonstrating that he can attract good players and implement a winning system at a school with NO basketball history, in a conference with only one ‘basketball’ school.

    Until NCSU can re-train itself to win routinely and consistantly, and climb into the upper half of the conference again, we will never be an attractive destination for high end coaches.

    How ’bout we give Coach Gottfried the chance to return us there ? How ’bout we support his hire and his agenda and his staff and his players ? There is strength in the Pack…

  10. Howler 04/06/2011 at 8:27 AM #

    A pretty good commentary at the link below; a view of Gottfried from the Alabama perspective.

    http://capstonereport.com/2011/04/06/gottfried-proves-american-dream-still-alive/11457/

  11. Rochester 04/06/2011 at 8:30 AM #

    The more I read about Gottfried, the more comfortable I am with this hire. I don’t think the coaching search was handled as well as it could have been, but the result may be about as good as could have been realistically expected at the start. We all had dreams of Miller, Donovan, etc., but most of us probably dreamed of shagging super models and that didn’t happen either.

    As has been mentioned once or twice in this string, it’s plainly, clearly obvious that all of the posters who teased us with their inside information the past three weeks were full of crap. Next time you see a coy post hinting about something that someone can’t share because it’s privileged information, don’t even bother being intrigued.

  12. Pack1997 04/06/2011 at 8:46 AM #

    I don’t have time to look it up but for all those who keep analyzing Gottfried record at Bama of 83-82 in a football conference please take a minute and think. What was his first few season like at Bama? Probably pretty crappy because he was building a program that had never been real good. He took a school where no one cared about bball to the elite 8 and top echelon team in the SEC. not bad when you consider he was competing against KY FL and TN. So let’s not focus on the overall record as much it really doesn’t show us anything.

    I am hoping he has learned a lot about defense and rebounding over the last 2 years.

  13. philliepacker 04/06/2011 at 8:54 AM #

    Actually it was his last 2 seasons that were very crappy

  14. fullmoon1 04/06/2011 at 8:58 AM #

    This C lister has a better track record than any of the B listers.

  15. Raleighpack 04/06/2011 at 8:59 AM #

    But the first shots were actually fired much earlier in the day, when CBSSports.com columnist Gregg Doyel — after identifying himself as a Yow sympathizer who finds the AD to be “just dripping with competency” — went after Williams. Hard. This was on David Glenn’s North Carolina radio show; you can hear it here, about eight minutes into the second segment.

    In praising the AD’s behavior, Doyel said Yow “just wants it done right, wants it done well,” and doesn’t have a big ego. Then he was asked about her notoriously poor relationship with Williams.

    “Let’s find one person in the world that says I’ve had a good relationship with Gary Williams,” Doyel said.

    And then he was asked if he thought Williams had influence on who would take the N.C. State job.

    “Well, he has influence, and not because people think Gary Williams is so brilliant and trustworthy that if he tells me something, dadgummit, it must be true,” Doyel said. “I don’t think he has that much influence. I don’t want to give that little tiny little petty human being that much credit. And by the way, I e-mailed Gary’s PR director yesterday back and forth three times, saying I want to talk to Gary very specifically about his influence on the N.C. State coaching search. They’ve not gotten back to me after I made it clear exactly what I want, so it’s very possible he’s gonna duck me, that coward.

    “But in the meantime, the reason he’s had an impact is this: if you’re a good coach at a good school…it’s hard to pull the trigger and say I’m winning here at Arizona or Texas, or I’m winning here at VCU, wherever it is that I’m winning at, and I want to go to N.C. State, where they haven’t won the last couple years. It requires a whole lot of confidence. And if you get one person — and that person’s Gary Williams — to say the AD’s not easy to work for, that will allow someone to justify their own [feelings]….Basically, Gary Williams is giving coaches an excuse to do the easy thing, which is stay where they are.”

    Well, if that’s all Gary Williams was doing, that’s not a terribly damning thing. The conversation then moved on. But Doyel wasn’t ready for it to be over. He had more to say.

    “Are we done talking about Gary Williams?” he later asked. “I want to make this very clear, that if Gary Williams does not return my call, he’s scared of me. And so he can act all big and bad, and he can stand there on his coaching bench and turn around and yell at his assistant coaches, who’ve done nothing wrong. And when a guy on the court travels, he can turn around and yell at the 12th man on his bench, because he’s a little bit tiny coward runt of a man. He can do all that.

    “But here I am on your radio show, and in an e-mail to his PR guy three times, begging him to talk to me about what he’s been saying behind Debbie Yow’s back and hurting the N.C. State head coaching search. And if he doesn’t call me back, then all that means to me is he’s a little bity tiny coward of a man.”
    Oh. Just that. Wait, not just that.

    “Gary Williams, you call me back, or you’re a spineless little fraction of a man,”Doyel concluded.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/gregg-doyel-and-debbie-yow-savage-gary-williams/2011/04/05/AF6gvclC_blog.html

  16. Lock 04/06/2011 at 9:03 AM #

    There is far too large a contingency in our fanbase that simply will not be happy unless they have something to bitch about.

    Grow up, go away, and don’t buy tickets so that those of us who don’t pretend to be internet experts and feel the need to compensate by talking big on the InterWebs can buy them.

    I’m glad Yow has enough respect for our fanbase to write to us about the search. I’m glad we are being seen in a more positive light now nationally. I’m glad we have a coach with more success than any of our last 3 coaches. I’m glad my father didn’t go to UNC and I didn’t grow up to be a smug ass.

    Some people on here don’t seem to share that last bit.

  17. MickQ 04/06/2011 at 9:04 AM #

    I was impressed by Gottfried at the presser. When asked about the last 2 1/2 years at Bama, he took accountability. He also said that he made mistakes. He has moved on. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Before the late slide at Bama, he did take them to the dance multiple times, did get a number 1 ranking, did go to the Elite 8, and did build a program from scratch. What’s not to like? He took some time off from coaching after his departure from Bama and has had a lot of time to observe, talk with other coaches, analyze the game, etc.

    Is he a Coach K or a Roy? No, but neither are too many other coaches. Yow got the best she could get under the circumstances and what she inherited. I don’t think the whiners on this post could have done better. Let’s get behind Yow and Gottfried and see how things shake out.

  18. tann84 04/06/2011 at 9:19 AM #

    Can’t please everyone I guess. Seriously some of you guys are like the fat girl with standards. You look in the mirror and see Angelina Jolie when everyone else sees you as Rosie O’Donnell. If you lost interest in NC State basketball yesterday then I really don’t know what to say. I don’t know who you thought we would get but this objectively is a really good hire for the situation we were in. This isn’t about seeing things with the rosy color glasses. Its about facing reality.

    No one outside of Raleigh thinks much of NC State. That is just fact. Some of you have a sense of entitlement of respect. Well you are the delusional lunatic fringe that everyone talks about. NC State in the last 20 years have been to exactly 1 sweet sixteen. George Mason has done better than we have, VCU, Butler, Wake Forest. There are tons of schools that we take a back seat to.

    No one gives a crap about 1983 outside of wake county. I wasn’t even born then. People know about it, but hey UNLV won a championship in 1990 but you don’t see people talking about that. You can’t make people come here. What was she suppose to do get some sort of mind control device and zap Rick Barnes into a zombie and force him to coach the team? The coaches made the decision not to come thats on them not Yow. Could she have sold the program better? I don’t know, we don’t have recordings of the interviews so we don’t know how she sold the job to those coaches. We’ll maybe find out later and then we can judge on that part.

    The only thing that bothered me about this search was the letter that Debbie put out monday. Hindsight is 20/20 and I’m sure if she could do it all over again she wouldn’t have put it out. But to me thats the first real mistake she’s made so far as AD.

    Also, was it unprofessional for her to call out GW in the PC, of course it was, but it needed to be done. Everyone from Jeff Goodman to Seth Davis was on twitter monday talking about no one wanted to work with DY. Where do you think everyone got so scared of her from? Gregg Doyell has actually gone out and confirmed that Gary Williams was trying to sabotage the search. Also there was a reporter on 620 this morning, I forgot his name, from DC that wouldn’t say it wasn’t unlike Gary to do something like that. I think she was put into a corner and came out swinging. If she didn’t fight it then she would be branded as such and we don’t want that. Now it appears there are two sides to the story out there and if the current coach doesn’t have any problems then I think that whole issue will be under the rug.

  19. ncsujuri 04/06/2011 at 9:39 AM #

    Add me to the list of those who are optimistic though the hire did come out of the blue and shortly after the strange email. Maybe Gary Williams wrote the email?? haha, whatever

  21. packof81 04/06/2011 at 10:10 AM #

    I was wondering why Alabama got shed of him after he was successful there. So, he couldn’t keep his britches zipped. It cost him his job and he did a 2 year stint in the penalty box as an ESPN commentator. After all the big name coaching stars said no, Yow hired him.

    He obviously has ability. He may use this opportunity to redeem himself. He may indeed deliver the goods. We’ll see.

    The first thing he must do is win over Sid’s recruits. Harrow and Leslie are sitting on the fence. Brown said on TV he’d stay.

    Then we will see what kind of staff he is able to muster.

    As for Yow, this has been a bizarre turn of events to say the least. The letter was surreal. Like a few of the other posters, I thought it was a hoax when I first saw it. I read it again this morning and wish it had been a hoax. And what’s up with Gary Williams? Yes, he’s an SOB but why did she feel compelled to dredge up that garbage in the press conference? Her stock has taken several major hits in the last couple days.

  22. hammerpack 04/06/2011 at 10:11 AM #

    I just continue to find it interesting that there are so many “tier 1” coaches who are afraid of a true challenge. If they were sooooooooo good and confident in their abilities, why wouldn’t (can’t) they step up and compete in Wake County? Lots of nutless wonders at the top, and that includes the media.

    To Rick Barnes, Sean Miller, et al…just say you are scared of UNX and Dook…MAN UP!

    To Gary Williams: you may want to keep your mouth shut, DY has called you out!

    I’m glad we have Mark Gottfried…I predict we’ll look back this time next year thanking DY!

  23. BoKnowsNCS71 04/06/2011 at 10:12 AM #

    Regarding “A pretty good commentary at the link below; a view of Gottfried from the Alabama perspective.

    http://capstonereport.com/2011/04/06/gottfried-proves-american-dream-still-alive/11457/ ”

    Just replace HWSNBN with Mike Gottfried and Alabama with NC State and it just sounds oh so familiar.

    I am willing to give the new coach a break. On the plus side he has some talent in place, an ability to coach, will probably do a major realignment of the assistant coaching staff, hopefully will instill some discipline on a young team that desperately needs to learn to play with both the discipline and fervor of a mid major.

    Of course, after he takes us to the dance 5 years straight and then has a down season — like many programs — I just hope our fans won’t chase him away.

  24. Pack1997 04/06/2011 at 10:33 AM #

    This isn’t about Sendek! We didn’t chase him away he left, period. He wasn’t fired he knew the cupboard was bare and got out while he could save face. His result at AZ St confirm what kind of coach he is. If he was so great we wouldn’t have been in the predicament we have been in for the past 5 years. All the radio guys in Chlt said as much yesterday! Let’s focus on our current coach and not make snide remarks that have no factual basis.

  25. boonami 04/06/2011 at 10:56 AM #

    one rumor I heard this morning is that the players aren’t happy as they all wanted smart and Leslie and Brown may bolt. hope it’s not true.

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