Fowler Speaks, ‘Feels good about program.’

99.9 FM Interview with Lee Fowler

His first comment about basketball is that had Horner made the three-pointer he took with the Wolfpack up four with about 6:20 left, the game might have been different.  Maybe.  But then Fowler says it was back and forth the rest of the game.  Hmmm.  I seem to remember a 19-2 FSU run the rest of that particular contest, but maybe my eyes deceived me.  I’m not a basketball coach, after all.  And no, State wasn’t fouling the entire way down the stretch.

Other comments:

‘We’ve just got to stick together’

‘You have to have talent, you can’t just out-coach people.’

‘All you can is what you can do.’

Fowler also talked about football and said that he and  Tom O’Brien feels comfortable with where the program is.

And of course, Fowler has negative comments about the Internet (and talk radio.)  He says that is shortens the lifespan of coaching tenures by requiring coaches to produce quicker.

He also asked fans to be patient, said help is on the way the next couple of years.

Then he talked about facilities.  I wonder if he has seen the inside of Cameron Indoor Stadium lately?

AD & Department General NC State Administration NCS Basketball NCS Football Sidney Lowe Tom O'Brien

58 Responses to Fowler Speaks, ‘Feels good about program.’

  1. catchme16 01/15/2009 at 10:37 PM #

    wow for someone who “knows” basketball he obviously hasn’t watched our team play. Please get him out of Raleigh

    Oh and Sid is in Alabama tonight at the Cousins and Favors game both players looked really good not that it really matters

  2. wufpup76 01/15/2009 at 10:46 PM #

    How many more years will the same story fly?

    There’s *ALWAYS* reasons for not doing anything …

    “Well guys, we’re only in year 10 of my uber-genius 25 year championship plan. You know, if those freakin’ morons on those gosh dang interwebs would just leave us more knowledgeable people alone the world would be a LOT better.”

    “It’s not my fault; it’s the interwebs! All of our programs are in GREAT shape!”

    Does anyone at NC State take accountability for anything – much less acknowledge any problems at all?

    Of course he has to go on the air and defend his programs and say he “feels good” about everything – but the point is Why Go On The Air At All??????

  3. catchme16 01/15/2009 at 11:01 PM #

    I really can’t stand it any time that he opens his mouth. He doesn’t bring anything to this university except subpar results and then tells us that we need to be patient and give everything more time even though we have not been relevant in any sport during his tenure. As a student it angers me that this man still takes home a pretty nice paycheck for doing absolutely nothing.

  4. wufpup76 01/15/2009 at 11:11 PM #

    2 things I noticed:

    1 – He does call himself “Coach Fowler” in the interview

    2 – It sounded like he wrote the questions and faxed them over to 99.9 for those guys to ask … Seriously

    “Lee – tell us more about how the internet and sports radio make your job tougher”

    “Lee – you guys have really done an outstanding job with facilities. Please tell us more about that!!!”

    No pointed, seat-squirming questions … really, no valid questions at all … just sounded like a Lee Fowler celebration interview about how he’s doing his job in these trying times with the economy and whiny fans weighing him down

  5. Justin Gainey 01/15/2009 at 11:34 PM #

    Not to keep beating a dead horse, but I just watched Minnesota comeback from an 11pt defecit at halftime, at Wisconsin, to win in OT. They were actually down by 14 at one point. That shows how coaching adjustments are made. All these people that says Sid needs more time, look what tubby smith has done with Minnesota in only his 2nd year. Talking bout adjustments at halftime, what a good coach. So this proves, coaching goes a long way. And i know Minnesota and the Big ten is not as attractive job or for a player as NC State and the ACC. He is playing with what he was dealt, and doing a damn good job. he has his team ranked 18th in the country with only one loss. Damn, we need a coach like this!

  6. bradleyb123 01/15/2009 at 11:45 PM #

    OK, so football is on the rise. I feel great about the FOOTBALL program at NC State.

    But if he feels good about NC State athletics IN GENERAL, then one has to wonder… what would make him feel BAD about it?

  7. JeremyH 01/16/2009 at 12:41 AM #

    Tubby Smith is a good coach.

  8. packpowerfan 01/16/2009 at 1:10 AM #

    Here’s some good news on a total tangent for you alumni. Tomorrow night is the UNC Camp-out, and students, myself included, will be braving the single-digit weather for a chance for tickets to watch our team break out against UNX. Yes…you read that statement correctly…and I am obviously the eternal optimist.

  9. wufpup76 01/16/2009 at 1:59 AM #

    ^Hats off to you sir …

    It would be nice if Sidney or someone from the program or athletics department acknowledged the students doing something like that … Maybe a pizza or two or something

    Nah, let’s just keep crapping on our people

  10. Gene 01/16/2009 at 2:14 AM #

    Uncle Jed still seems baffled as to why fans aren’t / weren’t happy with the results Sendek got.

    The man does not care about winning.

  11. Astral Rain 01/16/2009 at 7:21 AM #

    Honestly, I think the only thing that’s going to get him out of office is if we discovered he was an alien or something, or we could link him to Madoff.

    Nothing will get done, I’m resigned to that.

  12. 66pack 01/16/2009 at 8:07 AM #

    IDIOT

  13. Rochester 01/16/2009 at 8:08 AM #

    ^Our Athletics Department is kind of like a Ponzi scheme. We invest money into it and never get any kind of payout. Can we file charges against Fowler?

  14. Par Shooter 01/16/2009 at 8:11 AM #

    “You have to have talent, you can’t just out-coach people.”

    Reading that quote from our AD makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

  15. Rick 01/16/2009 at 8:12 AM #

    Fowler is truly worthless.

    I am to the point when I say “let’s just get rid of the AD job altogether.” I would rather have no one than that bungling cougar hunting fool.

  16. haze 01/16/2009 at 8:19 AM #

    LF interviews always tell you the same things…

    1) I, Coach Fowler, want you, the audience, to know more about me, Coach Fowler.
    2) Change is for plate tectonics, not athletic programs.

    He constantly confirms for me that getting TOB to Raleigh was the probabilistic equivalent of an asteroid strike on Bermuda.

  17. Wulfpack 01/16/2009 at 8:30 AM #

    “All these people that says Sid needs more time, look what tubby smith has done with Minnesota in only his 2nd year.”

    That’s a very interesting point. I’m not a big fan of the Gophers, but they sure as hell didn’t have ANY talent when he arrived. Now that’s a coach that can get it done.

    Fowler’s a buffoon. I don’t think that anybody believes a word out of his mouth, other than the high rollers…

  18. wingatewolf 01/16/2009 at 8:31 AM #

    Can’t stand Fowler but realistically what’s he going to say, I suck?

    He’s horrible and the only way he goes if money quits flowing.

    On Tubby Smith, interesting note here. My wife’s a Georgia graduate and was there when Tubby was there. She said that Tubby would personally come by their sorority house to invite them to the game. He did that to fraternity houses also. He’s the guy they should’ve gotten.

    And after watching Virginia play last night they will beat us as they have a guard and a 3 point shot and can rebound on occasion.

  19. 61Packer 01/16/2009 at 8:32 AM #

    Come and lissen to muh story ’bout a man named Jed……….

  20. BoKnowsNCS71 01/16/2009 at 8:44 AM #

    But I guess Tubby did not also stick around the Sorority house and have a couple of drinks?

  21. Par Shooter 01/16/2009 at 8:45 AM #

    Listening to the audio now. It’s very clear that his goal for men’s bball is to go 8-8 in conference based on his comments about winning home games and steal 1 or 2 on the road. This helps explain why he deified Herb to such an incredible extent.

    Based on the interview his intended course of action is very clear. Just as with Herb after year 5, he is going to let a couple of recruits hold our program hostage with a coach who has no business being our coach. The die has been cast. The only variable is whether a situation similar to Amato develops and “Coach” is told what to do by others. The only solace I take from all of this is that it is more acceptable to give a guy time after year 3 than year 5.

    “Coach” does make one totally false assertion – that Sid is somehow recruiting differently than Herb and his predecessors by getting on kids early. Herb’s staff was pretty well known for getting in the mix with guys early but they just couldn’t close the deal with the top guys. Even if Sid is getting on guys earlier (and I don’t think he is) its probably more about macro trends in recruiting than Sid having some wizard-like strategy.

  22. wingatewolf 01/16/2009 at 8:50 AM #

    BoKnowsNCS71
    Jan 16th, 2009 at 8:44 am
    But I guess Tubby did not also stick around the Sorority house and have a couple of drinks?

    My wife is beautiful but I’ve seen her other “sisters.” And you’d have to do a lot of drinking to see them as good looking.

  23. RegularExpression 01/16/2009 at 8:56 AM #

    Another interesting tidbit from this interview – Mark Thomas asked the cream puff question about facilities and ended by saying that we have the finest football and basketball facilities in the nation. Fowler was quick to correct by saying that the facilities are some of the NEWEST, but we don’t have 100,000 seats like some schools so that is why our budget ranks near the bottom of the ACC and BCS.

    The excuses will never end. You silly lunatics, it wasn’t fuh-cilities, it is the budget!

  24. Alpha Wolf 01/16/2009 at 8:59 AM #

    ^ The largest stadium in the ACC seats nowhere near 100K.

    Just sayin’

  25. RegularExpression 01/16/2009 at 9:11 AM #

    Alpha, you are going to frustrate yourself by interjecting logic into this debate. If the administration at NC State would spend as much time on their jobs as they do looking for excuses we might actually see some progress.

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