From the News and Observer:
N.C. State has officially hired Tom O’Brien as its new head football coach.
O’Brien’s contract was approved today by the UNC board of governors and NCSU’s board of trustees. He will receive a seven-year contract that will pay him a minimum of $1.1 million a year and as much as $1.8 million, based on incentives.
There will be a news conference at 1:00 tomorrow in the Murphy Center. I would imagine that it will be televised on News 14, and likely also on the WRAL News Channel (for those with digital cable). Please place any streaming video links (or good articles) in the comment section.
We here at SFN are excited to have Tom O’Brien as our head coach. At worst, he’s Dick Sheridan v2.0. At best, he reaches some of those contract incentives (and an incentive-laden contract makes me feel even more strongly that TOB thinks he can really win here), and sticks the Holes with the longest ACC title drought among the Big Four. Think of it this way – many of us old and semi-oldtimers have always wondered how Dick Sheridan would have fared if he were a better recruiter, or if he had the upgraded facilities to showcase. In a sense, we may be getting ready to find out.
Make no mistake about it – we don’t lie to you here. If we didn’t think it was a good hire, we wouldn’t say that it was. We would simply hope that it turned out well, and encourage everyone to give him a fair chance. This is a very good hire. Start dreaming again for Wolfpack football. And dream big.
