We’re Back! And By The Way, We Have a Coach

Debbie Yow Mark Gottfried151

SFN has been overloaded with traffic the past few weeks. We’ve hit records that have TRIPLED our previous record. Over the past month, we’ve had nearly 400,000 unique visitors. We had a single day record of 28,161 unique visitors yesterday (reporting for today isn’t yet over – but I expect our prolonged downtime will not overtake yesterday’s record). For the books, our previous record 10,135 unique visitors on October 12, 2010 (Carolina scandal). After some much needed maintenance, hopefully we’re back on track.

Oh by the way, we have a coach. Welcome Coach Gottfried! Expect analysis from the SFN crew on Mark Gottfried, Debbie Yow, Gary Williams, and the search in general as stories are confirmed in the coming days.

In case you’re wondering, yes, FireMarkGottfried.com was registered today (not by us). It may not be what you think it is.

Debbie Yow Mark Gottfried

151 Responses to We’re Back! And By The Way, We Have a Coach

  1. beeeejay 04/05/2011 at 11:16 PM #

    Of course all state fans will support the new coach it is what we do but man this is a letdown to bring someone out of the booth. I do hope that yow is correct about us having a stellar staff because that will be the key. And hell he almost can’t have a worse acc record than sid

  2. ryebread 04/05/2011 at 11:19 PM #

    BJD: First — don’t worry about the “leading us on” towards a big name hire.

    I was the poster that mentioned Occam’s Razor this past weekend with respect to Smart. I had to look it up to spell it correctly. 😉 Based on all the rumor mill stuff I’d pieced together, I figured we were waiting to make an offer to Smart as soon as he was eliminated. I honestly figured he’d jump on it. While I wasn’t thrilled about the risk associated with that hire, I figured there was a 50/50 chance he’d do okay and I have to admit that I liked VCU’s style of play. We could have done worse.

    As I say that, I must also draw attention to the fact that I came to the exact same conclusion that you did on Monday. When Smart’s decision was first announced, I immediately thought we were going to hire Marshall who was the obvious fall back. When Cronin bowed out in quick succession, while I never thought he was a candidate, I did think the timing was odd. When I heard that Marshall was also pulling out in a matter of hours, then I thought we’d not needed the B-list and had dismissed them. We’d already hooked the big name and that that big name was still playing. Stephens made ZERO sense to me but the timing pointed to him being the guy. I am saying this because I went from the Occam’s Razor read (which I think was correct about Smart), to swinging back to thinking we may have pulled a rabbit out of the hat. Talk about both ends of the spectrum! I went from right on to totally off. It happens.

    Now, some additional, shorter, random thoughts:
    – My initial response to Gottfried: Stick a fork in the basketball program because our legacy is done. Hide all the coeds. My god we really were desperate enough to hire a coach who was fired midseason during a scandal and hasn’t coached in 2+ seasons. Did we not learn last time when we hired a guy who had no recruiting ties? When Yow whiffed, she went with an old friend, ah la WF with BZZZZZZ.

    – My calmer view on Gottfried: Well, he’s a clear step up from Lowe. Perhaps he’s learned some things at ESPN and has made contacts that could give him good assistants (like Lavin did). I’m still worried about defense and recruiting (he’s been out of high school coaching circles). Hide all the coeds.

    – On the smokescreens: This definitely is going down as a wild search. I’ve got ZERO insider information, but a lot of good sources in the past seemed to have zero insider information as well. I don’t think this was due to masterful planning. I think it was solely due to the fact that there was so much noise that we couldn’t really get a read.

    – On Yow: I think she flat out mishandled this. She knew when she sent out that email on Tuesday night that she had Gottfried under contract. I think that the “plan C” candidates (Marshall and Cronin) were sent packing. She sent that email out to temper expectations. That was the wrong move — particularly given she was going to announce a hire the next day. For those who don’t agree, how would you like it if your new boss sent out an email to all of your new coworkers and clients saying “our job sucks, we couldn’t get anyone good to accept” the day before hiring you? Yow’s honeymoon is over, IMHO and she’s officially on the clock.

    – Assistants: This will be extremely important. If I were Gottfried, I’d try to get a very experienced assistant who is good at defense and who might offer a Gene Keady effect (maybe Skinner?), a young guy who is an ace recruiter (has to have met someone at ESPN) and I’d take a strong look at Hodge (who I think could be great a great advocate for NC State and could really grow into something special). The great thing about his ESPN job is that he currently has a blank slate and a full rolodex.

    – What this says about NC State basketball: Our legacy is officially so far in our past that it doesn’t matter any more — much like Duke’s in football. We’re much like Oregon State, Georgia Tech, and TAMU — the technical school with the smaller budget playing in the shadow of the state’s big money, Nike backed, flagship university. The truth hurts, but I’ve come to accept it.

    – How I think this will work out: Well, we’re not beating UNC or Duke any time soon with this hire. I do think we can consistently get back to the top 4-5 finishes in the league paired with regular NCAA tournament bids that our resources should allow for. It’s all in the assistants.

  3. IamGumbyDammit 04/05/2011 at 11:19 PM #

    I do have to give Yow props for calling out Gary Williams. Straight shooter and she had a great point – how could she have a reputation with basketball coaches across the country when she’s worked primarily with Gary Williams – unless he was the one talking up the reputation?

  4. PackAche 04/05/2011 at 11:30 PM #

    I was soooo close to the edge last night… the search was going bad and the infamous letter stunk of failure and cya. glad this ended today. not sure if i would have made it till friday.

    MG came out of no-where. initially i didnt have an opinion as i was too stunned. i thought he did ok in the presser, of which the funniest part was him forgetting woodson’s name (this guy here on my right). i thought yow looked visibly rattled and on edge. said some things she normally has the poise and class to avoid.

    As i reflect more on the hire and learn some, i am beginning to warm on MG, despite his resemblance to my father-in-law. as has already been outlined, he has experience and his records is respectable. mostly i like the fact that he is not intimidated by various hues of blue. hopefully he recruits well and we can start to expect wins again instead of being surprised by them. heck, if he turns the pack around, i might even start to like my father-in-law.

    Welcome to the pack Mike Gottfried.

  5. werncstate 04/05/2011 at 11:34 PM #

    ryebread you just waisted 2 minutes of my life. Don’t you like coeds?

  6. OldWuf 04/05/2011 at 11:34 PM #

    Listening to xm on the road today, after discussing MG’s exit from Alabama and the off the court issues, stated: “their AD could have been blindfolded, spun around in Times Square and hired the first person she touched and gotten a better coach…”-Paul Finebaum. Ouch. First time I’ve heard a commentator say that we deserved a better coach than we were conSidering/got. For the record, my criticism of our coaching hire will end today. I will be solidly behind our new coach and team. I hope DY has made the hire that will advance the BB program. I hope she hasn’t pulled a “Ron Wellman”.

  7. Par Shooter 04/05/2011 at 11:40 PM #

    This entire thing is obviously a complete trainwreck. So the idea is that Gary was able to convince at least 1 candidate that Debbie is crazy and difficult to work with? And her response to that is to rail on him in the PC hiring our 8th choice? I’m sure that Gary has already called whomever he talked out of our job and said “see what I’m talking about?” And it appears he is correct. At the best she is criminally incompetent. Our only hope is that Woodson has seen enough and will ensure that she is far from here for the next search. I just hope he’ll still be here by then.

    This may be the worst hire in a BCS conference in 25 years. I’d kill for Bzz over this guy. At least he hasn’t been laid up in exile from a scandal for the last 2.5 yrs.

  8. lush 04/05/2011 at 11:46 PM #

    ^Finebaum is good buddies with Gary, and was verbally assaulted for being an asshole by Gottfrieds wife while he was at Alabama

  9. skippyjon jones 04/05/2011 at 11:49 PM #

    OK, wait one minute…put the Gary Williams thing in this light.

    The fanbase has “institutionalized” Rick Barns for !once! getting in the face of Dean Smith at the ACCT over Iker Iturbe and now we are stressing over DebYow stating the FACTS about Gary Williams?

    We have spent the last 20+ years WISHING WE HAD A COACH WITH SOME FIRE IN THEM. Now we have an AD and a COACH who might not always be PC, but has a desire to throw caution to the wind and go for broke….I will take Fire and Passion any day and put it up against the competition in the ACC.

    Once again: Sit back and enjoy the ride.

  10. lush 04/05/2011 at 11:49 PM #

    “This may be the worst hire in a BCS conference in 25 years.”

    Unbelievably ignorant. Perhaps you’d prefer frank haith? Maybe jeff Bzdelick? Get a clue.

  11. Par Shooter 04/05/2011 at 11:55 PM #

    Would definitely take Haith over Gottfried. I was on board with hiring Haith 5 yrs ago and felt he was our “floor” then (much as I thought Marshall was our floor this time around).

    I do stand corrected though, the worst BCS hire in the last 25 years is probably Sid. All kidding aside. I’d think this hire is in the close running for the next worst.

  12. Par Shooter 04/06/2011 at 12:13 AM #

    skip,
    It’s not about “fire”. Sid had plenty of “fire”, he just wasn’t a good coach. It’s really about being smart, professional and successful. Deb hasn’t really been these things during her last days at Md or here. I thought she had handled herself well until the mess today but that’s just simply unprofessional. Gary got the best of her. I’ll bet he is giddy tonight. She should have never given him the satisfaction of hearing his name spoken in our PC to hire a new coach.

  13. newt 04/06/2011 at 12:16 AM #

    OK, for the first time I have to admit that there is indeed a lunatic fringe, and this is coming from someone who who got into it with Lee to his face.

  14. Wufpacker 04/06/2011 at 12:28 AM #

    FWIW, the problem isn’t that DY called GW out for his jack-assery (a la Barnes with Dean). The problem is WHEN and WHERE she did it. Personally, I think GW probably not only did what it is he’s being accused of (aka what DY knows about), but it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s more that she does not yet know about. I think calling him out on it was not only the right thing to do, but was very much deserved on his part.

    But to do it at the introductory press conference of the new coach was just not the correct time or place. It was ill-advised and, similar to last night’s letter, was an example of opening the mouth before putting the brain in gear. I’m suspect that both were the result of stress and lack of sleep, and that next week DY will agree that they were both ill-advised. I hope so, at least.

    Regarding the hire, I’m in the camp that is moderately pleased, but I will take a wait an see attitude before making a final judgement.

    One interesting thing. When the name leaked today, I was not on SFN at the time. Of course the massive f5 strikes (and I ain’t talking about any military operation here) brought the servers crashing down before I was able to get on. When I finally got free tonight and got the chance to get on, I was very surprised by what I saw. There are way, way more folks that are at least willing to give the guy a chance than I expected, which was the first surprise.

    The second surprise is that the few who are obviously against the hire are way, way more outspoken against it than I expected.

    Who says State fans are predictable?

  15. raleigh-cary 04/06/2011 at 12:28 AM #

    Hey, Coach Gottfried did great at the press conference. Spoke with confidence and seemed down-to-earth. Best of all he didn’t say the F-word, compare basketball records to Haiti, or have anyone removed from the press conference because they were sitting in the wrong place. Already looking better than Roy.

  16. MrPlywood 04/06/2011 at 1:09 AM #

    Lavin was out of coaching for 7 years and he did OK upon returning. State offered him too, correct? Not saying that MG is Lavin, but it’s a precedent.

  17. JeremyH 04/06/2011 at 1:57 AM #

    did we hire Yow out of her connection to the school through her late sister?

    did she hire Gottfried because she knew him years ago?

    why can’t we just hire best for the job?

  18. Wufpacker 04/06/2011 at 2:20 AM #

    So, let me get this straight. When she had a previous relationship with Donovan, hiring him was NOT nepotism? But because we didn’t hire him, and because some of you don’t like the hire, this IS nepotism?

    Just want to understand your flawed reasoning.

  19. Wufpacker 04/06/2011 at 2:21 AM #

    And when I said “your” flawed reasoning I wasn’t calling you out specifically, JeremyH.

  20. Hamlet 04/06/2011 at 4:47 AM #

    Great post, ryebread. I couldn’t agree more.

    This was an utter failure of a coaching search. There are no other logical conclusions. Yow hired a buddy, a man out of coaching for two years, and was rejected by the ‘active’ coaching community.

    Gottfried might prove to be a decent coach (MIGHT), but it doesn’t get Yow off the hook for this botched search and her ridiculous self-promotion and lousy PR efforts.

    I sincerely hope that Woodson is as unimpressed as the rest of us.

  21. fullmoon1 04/06/2011 at 6:25 AM #

    Guys, a member of the press called out Debbie’s reputation and brought up Sweaty Gary. It is not like Yow practively mentioned it. While we were searching for a coach his sweatiness was railing in the media about how hard she is to work for. I guess gary had to get his name out there somehow since he can’t do it by winning games like he used to.

  22. gtspack 04/06/2011 at 6:33 AM #

    I’m a little concerned about MG’s last two years at Alabama. It was rumored that he started having problems with players and an afair with a student. Up until then he seemed perfect and as far as being out of coaching for two year I think having face time on ESPN only helps in recruiting.
    At worst case we have him for three years then bring Archie Miller in. In which I thought Archie was ready now.

  23. blackdom 04/06/2011 at 7:05 AM #

    You have got to be kidding me? An improvement from Lowe? Sure,but so would a middle school gym teacher. This is a joke.

  24. Statefan1998 04/06/2011 at 7:08 AM #

    Vindication!

  25. OldWuf 04/06/2011 at 7:12 AM #

    ^
    lush-
    Thanks for the history on Finebaum, I resorted to listening to him when I couldn’t get the news on SFN. Makes me feel a little better.

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