Winning the Press Conference

Coaching Carousel Debbie Yow NCS Basketball95

As the Internet continues to grind out speculation regarding the the coaching vacancy in the Wolfpack men’s basketball program, the now legendary thread on the StateFans Nation forums got me to thinking; what really drives this collective desire to find out any information on who the next coach might be? Why would hiring Rick Barnes/Billy Donovan/Sean Miller excite a larger percentage of the fan base than hiring Shaka Smart or Gregg Marshall? As we pointed out last week, truly educated opinions on coaches are few and far between, it’s primarily a perception game that drives fan excitement.

And then it hit me.  The press conference to announce the new hire is the program’s first “win” under new leadership. Let’s just say that Debbie Yow rolls up to the podium with Billy Donovan in hand in a few days. The press will go nuts, the coverage will be national and the admins at StateFans Nation will probably have to get even more powerful servers to handle all the traffic. We’ll all stroll into work the next day with our chest stuck out and that Tarhole who works for you will have to grudgingly concede that little ‘ol NC State pulled off a big hire.

Under that scenario, we haven’t won the first game yet, but we have won the press conference and fired a strong first shot in the perception war. The payoff is immediate and it would feel really good to get that first win.

Contrast that with the announcement that we hired Shaka Smart/Gregg Marshall/insert mid-major here. I’d be pleased and not disappointed in the least.  However, in terms of fan excitement, we’d all have a very hopeful wait and see attitude. We wouldn’t get the immediate payoff of winning the press conference.

The irony is that winning the press conference is certainly no guarantee of restoring Wolfpack basketball to its previous greatness. It would will be nice to win the press conference, but there are much bigger fish to fry.

 

 

 

About SMD

SMD graduated from NC State at a time when beating UNC-CH in both major revenue sports was a regular occurrence. This was well before a time when I could express my frustrated attempts at being a writer on the "internets." When I'm not talking about the Pack, I'm probably arguing politics.

Coaching Carousel Debbie Yow NCS Basketball

95 Responses to Winning the Press Conference

  1. swamppack 04/04/2011 at 10:53 AM #

    Nail on the head, nail on the head , nail on the head, nail on the head……………………nail on the head.

    Would love to see the ignorant media eat big crow pie that day. And yes, EVERY hole fan I came into contact with that I know personally would get all the smack talked to them they could handle for one day.

    Good point of caution that a hire like that would not ensure success, but to watch the hole fan squirm to even know that State had a new coach such as BD would make my day, and they would squirm.

  2. Howler 04/04/2011 at 10:54 AM #

    I remember when UNC hired Roy. They definitely had a “winning the press conference attitude” for a good while thereafter, and I had an “oh crap” attitude upon hearing the news. A huge hire would definitely puff up the chest immediately, and would be an awesome way to begin the kick-off of some long-term success.

  3. gowpack 04/04/2011 at 10:57 AM #

    what’s the “would” crossed out and changed to “will”. Do you know something?

  4. Wolfman 9806 04/04/2011 at 11:15 AM #

    Come on, spill it, if you kow something!

  5. 94MEGrad 04/04/2011 at 11:21 AM #

    “what’s the “would” crossed out and changed to “will”. Do you know something?”

    I noticed this too. Probably just remaining hopeful like the rest of us.

  6. PoppaJohn 04/04/2011 at 11:45 AM #

    Not sure if anyone has seen this – David Glenn from this AM

    http://www.accsports.com/blogs/david-glenn/2011040410199/nc-state-update-shaka-smart-answer-coming-soon.php

    My interpretation is that there are three players in the mix, but if Shaka wants it, he’s got it.

  7. bradleyb123 04/04/2011 at 11:50 AM #

    I know I’m being selfish, but I want more than a winning coach to be hired. I want a hire that will give us immediate credibility. I’m tired of opposing fans and people in the media calling us “delusional”. So I want a hire that we can throw in their faces for years to come.

    Of course, the important thing is to bring in a winner. I’m not sold on Smart just yet… I sure hope he’s not our NUMBER ONE remaining target. Because that tells me we have a couple of Frank Haith’s waiting in the eaves for the Shaka deal to fall through. I’d prefer the Shaka deal to be our BACKUP plan.

  8. wormlikewhoa 04/04/2011 at 11:58 AM #

    Do you really think the only difference between Barnes/Miller/Donovan and Smart/Marshall is winning the press conference?

  9. Howler 04/04/2011 at 12:01 PM #

    Glenn has let it be known that he is pretty close with Smart and the VCU AD, and it sounds like all of his information is coming from the VCU side. All he is telling us is that Smart is a candidate. I don’t think Glenn knows anything about where Smart falls in our hierarchy of choices. After all, each candidate ought to think they are our top choice right now. Otherwise, the search committee and Yow aren’t doing their jobs correctly.

    That being said, I guess we can be happy and hopefully optimistic with a Smart hire, but it will just be a pleasant press conference instead of a homerun press conference.

  10. jg3000 04/04/2011 at 12:03 PM #

    Shaka staying at VCU.
    Dagger.

  11. quypack93 04/04/2011 at 12:04 PM #

    So, you want fun wedding or happy, successful marriage? I pick the latter. In today’s “fast food” media’s attention span, the “winning news conference” thing wouldn’t would not outlive the life span of a fruit fly if we don’t win thereafter. Unlike most, I don’t care much about sticking it to the naysayers in the media. Remember, journalists are not unlike strippers. “Entertainers” dance for tips, sports writers write for clicks. The more they enrage a fan base, the more clicks they get. Don’t take it personal. Don’t get suckered in on their games. Hire who we think it’s best for NC State, don’t do so just to “stick it” to a certain people. We have to live with who we hire, they just move to the next story, the next fan base to enrage. If we start winning, you can be certain that, even Mike Patrick, will talk about our great tradition and old glories. That makes good stories too. Just win and the rest will take care of itself.

  12. cWOhLFrPAiCKs 04/04/2011 at 12:05 PM #

    ^ http://bit.ly/hvd2rm

    I don’t think this is a dagger. I think this happened because we already have our coach. Seriously. I think (as someone else pointed out) that all of the coaches we talked to were given the impression that they are our first choice (as it should be!). That’s why there is so much conflicting info out there. So I figure that we have our coach locked up, and Shaka’s side (VCU) is saying he turned down the job, making VCU look that much better. Politics at work here, people. Politics at work.

  13. ADVENTUROO 04/04/2011 at 12:08 PM #

    http://www.accsports.com/blogs/david-glenn/2011040410200/nc-state-update-smart-withdraws-name.php

    DG reporting…..how credible….I certainly don’t know, but he would really look like an idiot if SS showed up with Debbie at a presser…

  14. PoppaJohn 04/04/2011 at 12:14 PM #

    Shaka’s not ready for the big boy pants yet – still hoping Greg’s the man

  15. PacksTime 04/04/2011 at 12:15 PM #

    I am not real big on hiring Shaka. Yes VCU made a great run this year, however, the is NC State, not VCU. This is the ACC, our conference is always used as a target for other schools to make there mark. They pride themselves on saying we beat an ACC team even in the years where we haven’t been strong. At this time in our program we need a homerun, not a base hit.

    It just feels that we are not aiming high enough. The word is that NC State is a difficult place to coach. Well yes it is, our fan base doesn’t want simply a winning record, we want to complete on the national scale. We need recruiting help, we need to make a statement. Hiring a mid major coach only helps him. And if/when he crashes and burns then it will be the same thing. The fans and alumni are too demanding. Forgive me if being tired of not being mentioned on a national scale is demanding. It is getting to the point where top talent isn’t even looking in our direction. We need to show how determined we are to build with this hire. Not look like a bunch of love sick teenagers drooling after the latest heart throb.

  16. nav 04/04/2011 at 12:17 PM #

    Great. Now State is getting publicly dissed by One Hit Wonder coaches.

  17. bradleyb123 04/04/2011 at 12:18 PM #

    I don’t believe this. Smart would not be SMART to turn down NC State (if we really offered him). Now is the time to cash in on his (very) recent success. Next year, if and when VCU is just VCU again, he may have missed his boat.

    I’m kind of glad about this “news”. Because that tells me there’s a good chance we didn’t actually offer him the job. So maybe we have something good in the works.

  18. bradleyb123 04/04/2011 at 12:22 PM #

    nav, you’re assuming these “reports” are true.

  19. quypack93 04/04/2011 at 12:25 PM #

    crazy, isn’t it? once the story got released, the story of his answer followed almost immediately. with friends in the media, you can use them as your pr reps. just saying.

  20. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 04/04/2011 at 12:25 PM #

    I don’t think Fowler managed to get turned down by a mid-major coach. Ugggg. How does this get leaked after nothing for weeks?

  21. haze 04/04/2011 at 12:29 PM #

    SS staying at VCU reads OK for NC State, IMO.

    First, staying at VCU is probably a mistake for SS; good club, but too many upper classmen and too much success to guarantee a quick and comparable return to splendor next year (i.e. not likely to pull a Stevens). SS should leave if he can get a good job.

    Second, the job. With OU taking Kruger and Mizzou committing suicide, the only jobs of import are NC State and Miami. NC State is a very good job and, importantly, a MUCH better position than Miami. So, not taking an NC State offer implies that he wasn’t DY’s choice or there was a money issue w/ NC State.

    Third, the money. If DY was low-balling due to lack of experience, then SS may turn back to VCU with hopes of getting a better offer in another year or two (not entirely unlikely). I see this as low-balling a good house b/c you’re looking at 2 or 3 others. It’s not an insult, it speaks to a lack of unique-ness in the market (i.e. comparable choices). If SS was DY’s unique choice, he’d be hired by now.

    In sum, it feels like we have what DY believes to be a comparable or better choice or choices available. That could be Marshall at $1.5MM/yr, Cronin paying us $1.5MM/yr or Brad Stevens in play for $5MM/yr. I don’t know, but I expect an SS comp that wants the job for reasonable $.

  22. CG 04/04/2011 at 12:29 PM #

    Strange that they just “tested emergency alert system” and had sirens all over campus…

  23. eas 04/04/2011 at 12:30 PM #

    It does make it look like Smart turned us down. I thought 2 million for 6 years is awful high for his experience, regardless of how many times he dives on the floor. I sure hope this scenario isn’t true.

  24. RememberV 04/04/2011 at 12:30 PM #

    Chill folks, DG is a asshat, his job is to get hits on that web page and that is just what he is doing. He is good at his job, which is to get people to listen to his show and read his website. His job his not to report facts about sports.

  25. nav 04/04/2011 at 12:31 PM #

    If this report is true I have to wonder if DY is sitting around wondering what she stepped into when she accepted the State gig.

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