Some perspective on the NC State job

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For me, the question shouldn’t revolve around whether the Wolfpack can climb over both Duke and North Carolina in the race for neighborhood supremacy. Because let’s face it, if you have even an ounce of rationality, you know that ain’t happening while Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams are still around. But once you get past that intimidating dynamic, ask yourself this: Is it insane to think that N.C. State could legitimately emerge as the third or fourth or even fifth best program in the league very quickly?

Consider this: Since March 2009, seven of the ACC’s 12 programs have undergone coaching changes. If that doesn’t scream that the league’s wide open, I don’t know what does. Of the five coaches in the conference who have been around for more than two seasons – and yes, there are only five now! – tell me which ones you don’t think State could better regularly. Leonard Hamilton? Seth Greenberg? Gary Williams?

Good column and information from Dan Wiederer today. He highlights a point that so many people outside the NC State community can’t seem to understand. That point was cemented even further in this season’s Final Four that ended last night with #3 seed UConn cheating beating #6 seed Butler for the national title.

If people don’t remember, then UConn actually finished 9-9 in the Big East and in 9th place overall. Did having Syracuse, Georgetown, Pitt, Louisville, etc… in front of them in the standings keep them from winning the national title?

The run made by VCU was amazing in the post-season. But this was a team who only finished 4th in the Colonial Athletic Association! 4th!!!! If a school like VCU can make the Final Four having finished 4th in their conference with essentially only 1 player on the team recruited by an ACC school, then coaches can certainly make that type or run in March at a school like NC State that has top 15 talent since 1998.

This perception that somehow NC State’s job is so difficult and that our expectations are out of line couldn’t be further from reality. Very few people expect the next NC State coach to come in and win regular season titles in the ACC. You don’t have to. How about just finishing 3rd to 7th, getting a top 10 seed in the NCAAs, and making a run every few years to the Sweet 16, Elite 8 or Final 4? Build the program over time and be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that will be presented to NC State when both Coach K and Roy Williams retire.

As Dan notes in his column, the ACC is wide open. A school that recruits top 15 talent, has a 20,000 seat arena, a new practice facility, the right amount of academics, and access to talent throughout the East is a prime opportunity. That is the reality of the NC State job no matter what anyone in the national media says about NC State.

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61 Responses to Some perspective on the NC State job

  1. scotchzombie 04/05/2011 at 1:46 PM #

    My initial reaction to the letter was the same – coupled with a bit of CYA.

  2. anonimus 04/05/2011 at 1:46 PM #

    What conference were the officials from in the Duke-Az & UNC-KU games? Seems the playing field get’s leveled outside the hallowed ground of the ACC for the opponents of the blues brothers. Maybe NCSU needs to go USC and abandoned the house Case built.

  3. mwcric 04/05/2011 at 1:46 PM #

    Not one NC State coach has ever had a winning record versus UNC (not sure about Duke). It’s not that it’s wrong to expect to compete with Duke and Carolina, it’s that we seem to have an Ahab-esque obsession with those two schools. It’s irrational. How about we simply want to strive to be a consistent top-4 ACC school, period, regardless of who the other three teams in that group are?

    Yow absolutely needs to be held accountable for this search. Even if the eventual coach proves to be successful, this search is a failure. It has gone on for three weeks, and it was no secret that it was going to happen, barring a miracle, at least six weeks prior to Sid stepping down. She knew in advance that she was most likely going to have to head up a coaching search. She spent $50,000 on a search firm. Yet in the public eye we are no better off than we were three weeks into the last search.

    Yow’s problem is that she set the bar very high at her presser – the fans didn’t do that, the media didn’t do that, SHE did it and did it all on her own. She basically said it was okay for fans to expect a big name on our sidelines next winter, and that anything less wouldn’t do. She did a poor job of managing expectations upwards instead of downwards, so that folks just automatically assumed a heavyweight was all but assured. That was a hell of a bluff on her part, and obviously it failed – very publicly.

    She has proven to have inadequate skills at adapting to changing situations. She shot for the moon and had no alternate plan if she missed. She bought into the faulty and foolish belief that NC State absolutely had to acquire a major brand name for automatically respectability among media and the fanbase. I said from the start this was asinine – there simply is very little precedent to this tack ever working. We didn’t NEED a top coach. We NEED a good coach, period. Doesn’t matter what his pedigree is, where he’s from, how long he’s been coaching. Winning solves all of that.

  4. anonimus 04/05/2011 at 1:56 PM #

    I don’t expect to dethrone either of the blues, but for crying out loud you have to win 30% of the time against those two and compete 90% of the time! Bring herb back if you want to sit in 4th place every year and NEVER beat UNC or Duke. It’s not unreasonable to want to win 1/3 of the time against your in-state rivals. That’s all most fans want to see. We know it’s unrealistic to believe a guy will come in and put Roy and K in the kiddie pool, but if you’re winning 30% of those games (Like Maryland used to) you’re relevant and in the hunt for something at the end of the season. ACC tourney champ and a good seed in NCAA.

  5. mwcric 04/05/2011 at 1:56 PM #

    You don’t go on a search for a CEO, and when the search bogs down tell your shareholders, “Well, what do you expect? This job sucks!” It’s just basic PR, people. Maybe it’s bothering me more than most of you because I work in PR. Go back and watch her press conference from three weeks and immediately after it’s over read her e-mail. Night and freaking day. There are much better ways to say, “Look, we need to temper our expectations some.” How about, “We have spent much of the last three weeks evaluating coaching talent and discussing our outstanding opportunity with a variety of coaching professionals at every level, and we continue to patiently search for the best fit for our program. It is important that we are thorough and patient with this search, as it is occurring at such a pivotal time in ACC history.” That took me all of 75 seconds to write. It’s not perfect, but I’m not waving a white flag in there anywhere and saying, “Please come work for me! Look – I have money!” Jebus.

  6. mwcric 04/05/2011 at 1:58 PM #

    I would rather consistently go 13-3 in the ACC with losses to UNC and Duke than 3-13 with Duke and UNC our only wins.

  7. anonimus 04/05/2011 at 2:03 PM #

    13-3 with regular season losses to Duke and UNC is palatable if you do more than flame out in the ACC and NCAA tourney. Hang a banner for something! Sweet 16. ACC tourney champ. Something! Nobody wants to come in and watch their team sit in 4th place forever. I’d take volatility over consistent dry white toast.

  8. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 04/05/2011 at 2:08 PM #

    I think if State has one hope for a home run it is Tubby Smith. He is currently making $1.75 million per year, a lot for Minnesota, plus this year started getting a $250K retirement incentive.

    I would think he would listen for $3 million. I’m not a fan of throwing out dollar figures like I’m paying for it but if State has the money why not go for a mega offer to Tubby.

    He certainly would make most happy and I’m sure he would listen, if, the price is right.

  9. NCstate2011 04/05/2011 at 2:08 PM #

    So I hear Tubby, Mike Hopkins are on our new list. Any input?

  10. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 04/05/2011 at 2:12 PM #

    New coach at 5:00 today.

  11. bmamba101 04/05/2011 at 11:07 PM #

    We could be better by refusing to play the nobodies/do nothing schools at the beginning of the year. I wouldn’t go to those games if somebody gave me tickets and paid for my gas. Let’s play all tough teams. When K and Roy retire Duke and Carolina will come up with great coaches and still field top national teams. Don’t be delirium. Duke and Carolina will still be close to the top. We just have to get there too!!

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