Reports from every corner of the universe indicate that Boston College coach Tom O’Brien will be NC State’s new head man, and it says here that this is a terrific hire for the Wolfpack.
O'Brien felt slighted at B.C. in terms of fan support, facilities and pay. O’Brien goes 9-3 every year at with the Eagles and goes to crap bowls like the George Foreman Meineke Car Care Bowl ... 9-3 at State gets you to the Peach Bowl or better because our fans travel so well. I always felt Boston College teams played hard-nosed, fundamentally sound, disciplined football -- kinda like the Big 10, actually, in my opinion -- with dominant play in the trenches. The more I hear about this hire, the more I am liking it. Hell, who wouldn’t like a redheaded Irishman running your football team?
O'Brien was vastly underpaid (making roughly $250K less than Amato after 10 years at B.C.!) and had floated his name for several jobs in the last few years, INCLUDING UNC's before they hired Butch Davis. I think the ACC frowns on these situations in most cases, but there are no repercussions or recourse for punishment. Hell, State is the redheaded-stepchild of the league and always gets the crap end of the stick anyway, so I'm glad we didn't hesitate. Most people will tell you that commissioner John Swofford actually pushed State to interview Miami coach Frank Haith when Herb Sendek left, so I guess the "unwritten law" only extends so far.
NC State fans are running about 50-50 on this hire, with the ill-informed mouth-breathers who used to curse at Melanie Sendek in the RBC Center threatening to give up seating rights and typing things like, “Why dint we go own en get dat Johnsun boy from Naval?!!!!1111 Dang Foolwer11!!!” To be fair, here are some of the cons that have come up thus far:
He’s Herb Sendek: This is the most popular one. There is a notion among Boston College fans that O’Brien had taken their program as high as it could go under his direction and that he couldn’t win the big game. Except the Eagles have gone to eight consecutive bowls – a school record – and have won six of those in a row, the best streak in the country. Boston College has gone 9-3 three straight years. Sendek led State to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances and one Sweet Sixteen berth, but this is a school with two national championships, brought basketball to the forefront in the South and boasts the greatest player to ever lace up sneakers in the conference. Eagles fans remember Doug Flutie skipping around, throwing jump passes, doing dropkicks and sporting a wicked midget mullet. News flash, folks: that was almost a quarter of a century ago!
He’s not a “sexy” hire: No, he’s not -- but State couldn't have gotten that from anyone but Pittsburgh Steelers coach and NC State alum Bill Cowher.
He’s not on par with Bitch Davis: Why does it matter what UNC does? What have the Tar Heels ever done in football to make them a program to mirror for NC State? They are a basketball school who is trying to make a commitment to football by throwing millions of dollars around and trying to buy relevance on a national scale. He may be all they hope he can be; but can you honestly say that a guy who hasn’t coached on the college level in six years and has been out of football for almost three will do better right away than O’Brien, who has proven himself in this conference and over the past decade in college football?
He’s too old: O’Brien is 58 – two years older than Davis and two years younger than Chuck Amato. One of the positives there is that if he gets burned out in a few years, that may put NC State in a more feasible position to go after Cowher, if he is itching to get back in the game at that point.
Here is a list of a few of the other candidates on NC State’s list and a summary of how I feel about them in relation to the Wolfpack:
Paul Johnson, Navy:
This guy proved only one thing to me: that his stubborn attitude wouldn’t cut it in Raleigh; we already tried that with Amato. Apparently, Johnson likes to tell interested teams that he won’t interview if he isn’t one of the top two candidates … plus, he told State that he wouldn’t come to them to interview, they had to come to him. Dude, I don’t know if anyone told you this … but you are the coach at NAVY. Also, he makes $1.3 million a year at Navy! Can I justify paying a guy with stops at only Georgia Southern and Navy upwards of $1.5 million? No chance … especially with an option-based offense. I like to win as much as anyone, but am I going to sit there for three hours every Saturday watching a series of three-yard fullback dives? Nope. His attitude, questions about his recruiting ability and wondering whether he would be willing to tailor his offense to our personnel made me very glad we passed. Our strength on offense is the skill position guys like Justin Burke and Harrison Beck at quarterback, Andre Brown and Toney Baker at running back, and a flurry of tall, promising wide receivers. That doesn’t fit the flex option at all and I think Johnson is just stubborn enough to say, “I am going to prove to everyone that my offense works on the highest levels of college football, personnel be damned.” No thanks.
Jimbo Fisher, LSU, offensive coordinator:
This was the No. 1 guy on my list. Fisher recruits Florida for LSU, won a national title as the top coordinator, is only 41 years old, could have been had at a bargain price, would have assembled a top-notch staff and wanted the job badly. I still wish we would have at least interviewed him.
Norm Chow, Tennessee Titans, offensive coordinator:
I wanted us to interview him, too. Ask him why he has never been a head coach? Does he really want to be one? Does he have the passion and energy to attend to every detail that goes along with running your own program? Look him in the eye, ask him these questions, hear his answers and make an informed decision on how to proceed.
Steve Logan, radio host:
If we hired a coach that EZU fired, I would have driven myself into a bridge abutment. I really don’t know what else to say about that.
Mike Sherman, Houston Texans, assistant head coach:
I would have talked to him, but that’s about it. He’s looking to get back into the NFL because he’s floating his name for every job.
Steve Kragthorpe, Tulsa:
He’s looking to land a gig at one of the powerhouse programs and is content to stay put until he gets one.
Here a neat trick I like to use sometimes. Take out one variable – the coach’s name.
Coach A is one of the best coaches in America. Coach A has the longest bowl winning streak in the nation. Coach A graduates players. Coach A wins in a part of the country where college football is about fourth-fiddle on the sports hierarchy. Coach A is a member of your conference. Coach A has won and successfully recruited within your conference. Coach A is interested in your job. Wouldn’t you be interested in Coach A?
Coach A is Tom O’Brien … and he’s the new leader of the Pack.
7 comments:
Nice write up with several good points. Wolfpack fans unite and support our new coach!
Chris J
class of 91
Tom O'Brien was a good hire. Paul Johnson would have been a great hire.
Paul Johnson is not stubborn. He just doesn't want to whore himself out for every job that opens. Johnson is in a good situation at Navy, and I don't see anything wrong with a coach telling a school to come to him. Let's not forget that this is N.C. State we are talking about. Johnson's name has been linked to the Alabama job, and there will certainly be bigger and better opportunties in the future for Johnson.
As for your comments about Johnson's offense being nothing more than 3 yard fullback dives, I can only assume that you have never watched Navy play and have never looked at how effecient Coach Johnson's teams are at putting points on the board.
Navy's fullback Adam Ballard is averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Slotback Reggie Campbell is averaging 7.6 yards per carry. Slotback Shun White is averaging
11.3 yards per carry. Navy's quarterback is averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Navy has had rushing touchdowns of 81 yards, 68 yards, 53 yards, 52 yards, 50 yards, and 33 yards this season. In fact, Navy's fullback averaged as many yards per carry as any N.C. State player that had at least 20 carries. Finally, N.C. State did not have a touchdown run of more than 50 yards this season. If you are going to say that Johnson plays a weaker schedule, I will agree with you. However, Johnson has much weaker talent. In the five years Johnson has been at Navy, he has never coached more than a 2 star player. This says nothing about his recruiting ability. It simply shows how difficult it is to convince people to attend a service academy. Coach Johnson does more with less than any coach in America.
Paul Johnsons is an offensive mastermind. He fits his offense to his talent and always finds a way to outsmart the opposing defense. When he was the OC at Hawaii, he passed the ball because he had players that could pass the ball. Navy runs the ball 90% of the time because they don't have the talent to pass the ball.
Paul Johnson is one of the most talented coaches in America. Coach O'Brien was a good hire. Paul Johnson would have been a great hire.
Thanks for sharing. I disagree with most of what you say, but I can appreciate some of your points. Paul Johnson certainly won't end up at Alabama unless they run out of top coaches to throw ridiculous money at, but he will be successful at Navy for years and years if he wants. He will eventually get a good opportunity to test himself at a higher level, but he was not a good fit for NC State. The Pack got the right guy at the right time.
That guy types pretty well considering Paul Johnson's dick is in his mouth.
You hit the nail on the head!!! Everyone get ready and stand up and cheer for your beloved WOLFPACK!!! Watch what he does for our offensive line and RB's!!!! PEACE TO ALL.........P-man
Scooter,
You said you disagree with most of what I said. What specifically do you disagree with?
I disagree with placing any emphasis on what the Navy slotback's yards-per-carry is in relation to someone's coaching ability. I disagree with citing how many 50-yard touchdown runs a team has against inferior competition as any reason to promote a coach's ability. I disagree in using subjective recruiting rankings and a poor schedule to leap to the conclusion that a coach does more with less than anyone in the country. And I disagree with any of the relevant facts that anyone can find for either Tom O'Brien or Paul Johnson that could possibly lead someone to believe that Johnson would be a "great" hire and O'Brien simply a "good" one.
One could make a compelling argument that O'Brien does more with less than any coach in the country. But even that does not matter to me and shouldn't to anyone else. What matters is that O'Brien has won immediately in the Atlantic Coast Conference while dealing with limited resources. With Johnson, you are taking a leap of faith that his coaching skills could translate into better competition and recruiting battles; with O'Brien, the facts speak for themselves and no leaps have to be made.
That being said, I hope Johnson gets an opportunity now at West Virginia. Myself and many others will be intrigued to see what he can do on a higher level of competition.
Thanks.
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