In case you missed it, Tom O’Brien is on the hot seat

'10 Football College Football Tom O'Brien71

In more football news, apparently Tom O’Brien is on the hot seat. Thanks to 99.9 FM’s Joe Ovies for bringing this to my attention this morning via Twitter.

O’Brien’s ‘rebuilding’ window is closing fast

Three seasons ago, Tom O’Brien surprised more than a few people by jumping abruptly from Boston College to N.C. State. At best, it looked like a lateral move: O’Brien went from an up-and-coming squad riding a six-year bowl winning streak to a division rival coming off three straight finishes of ninth place or worse in the ACC.

But if the switch was a lateral move for O’Brien, it’s starting to look like it might have been for the Wolfpack as well. NCSU’s final three seasons under Chuck Amato featured one winning season and one bowl win; their first three under O’Brien have tallied zero of either. Particularly in a fluctuating division devoid of any true powerhouse teams, that’s not going to cut it, and the pressure is on O’Brien in year four to demonstrate some kind of progress.

Whether you think O’Brien is on the hot seat or not, it goes without saying that 2010 will be  hugely important for the overall direction of the program. A successful season (say 8-4 with a bowl trip) and it will be tough to argue against TOB’s approach. Another 5-7 campaign or worse and the seat will get warmer throughout the year.

Let us know what you guys think. Should TOB be on the hot seat?

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'10 Football College Football Tom O'Brien

71 Responses to In case you missed it, Tom O’Brien is on the hot seat

  1. section2chuck 03/26/2010 at 1:11 PM #

    Your on the hot seat when you have no room for error in the upcoming season. He should be on the hot seat so far we have done nothing in 3 years, big deal we beat Carolina, I’m sorry but this season is put up or shut up for TOB, another 5-7 or 6-6 we might need to rethink the head coaching position. Same for Sidney Lowe next season.

  2. ruffles31 03/26/2010 at 1:12 PM #

    No, he is not on the hot seat….yet. However, another bad start and a losing record will put him on a very warm seat in 2011.

    He has had to build up the player depth and scholarship players on this team by trying to get to 85 players. Injuries have really hurt his past couple of teams. And he has been unlucky. However, as you say, this year starts the time when no one can complain about who/what was around from the previous regime. This is his program now fully.

  3. sbas2 03/26/2010 at 1:14 PM #

    not yet-even if State goes 5-7 next year. next years schedule is somewhat brutal. three straight wins over UNC and the way that he is
    building the team gives him at least two more years.

  4. blackdom 03/26/2010 at 1:16 PM #

    How in the world can he be on the hot seat when you are going on a 5 yr “Lowe” in basketball?

  5. DRW 03/26/2010 at 1:24 PM #

    When has a coach at NC State ever really been on the hotseat? Especially since Lee Foulup has been in charge?

  6. ntheweeds 03/26/2010 at 1:27 PM #

    TOB is not on the hot seat! Especially since we have Fowler as AD. He does not fire people unless they just run a terrible program.

    If you look at the mess he walked into, you know why we have struggled. Since TOB came to Raleigh he has dismissed a ton of players who quite frankly we should have allowed into school in the first place.

    We will have a pretty good team this year, but don’t be surprised is we are only 7-5 going into a bowl game. It did take TOB a few years to get it going at Boston College but once he did they were pretty solid every year.

  7. gcpack 03/26/2010 at 1:29 PM #

    He has two more years for demonstrable progess such as increasing the win total by a 2 or 3 games. The only way he would be out after the ’10 season is if the team loses 7 or 8 straight(ala Amato) or ends up with only 1 or 2 wins. Remember we’ve had alot of injuries in his three years,,,many more than most teams ever experience.

  8. Prowling Woofie 03/26/2010 at 1:42 PM #

    Sorry gcpack, injuries only count if you’re UNX… the media doesn’t recognize injuries on the Wolfpack roster.

  9. 1999ncsu 03/26/2010 at 2:01 PM #

    hang nails count as injuries at UNC

  10. Wulfpack 03/26/2010 at 2:01 PM #

    I guess it comes down to who you ask. If you ask reasonable NCSU fans, I suspect many will think he should be. Ask general college football fans, and the number probably grows. Ask Lee Fowler, and TOB’s cozy for at least another year. However, if the reports are true that LF may be on his way out, you better believe the new AD will conduct a thorough evaluation of all programs, making this year a very important year for TOB.

    The honeymoon is over. He has got to start winning some football games. I am much more perplexed as to why TOB has not been able to win here when compared to Sidney Lowe. I get why Sid is struggling. I really do not get why TOB is.

  11. patientwuf 03/26/2010 at 2:16 PM #

    I believe TOB knows its time to get the ship going in another direction.
    Offensively we are okay, defensively we need help(TENUTA).

  12. Wolfy__79 03/26/2010 at 2:17 PM #

    IMO, TOB is a solid coach. i’ve been shocked at the results he’s had so far, especially in year 3? for what he was coming from in BC, i did not expect it to take 3+ years to rebuild our team regardless of injuries. but the roster was really depleted. chuck didn’t really leave any favors on the table when he was let go.

    the training wheels are off for me, i have to see the results this year to be convinced that he’s the right fit for NCSU. i’ve thought all along that his personality somewhat level’s the NCSU football program out and GREAT things are to come. i also believe NCSU has a higher ceiling than BC. hopefully this begins this year. my goals for this year are for us to have a shot at the ACC championship game and a decent bowl game. next year i feel we should be favorites to compete for the ACC title and flirting with a BCS bid. and the following season, all of the above and an appearance in the ACC’s BCS birth. these are lofty but realistic expectations for me.

  13. Plz2BStateFan 03/26/2010 at 2:18 PM #

    TOB is only on the hot seat so long as the Secondary and Kickoff/Punting are so bad.

    As long as Bible is around, TOB’s fate will be determined by these areas of concern. Thank god we hired that LB coach from GT. Cant think of his name.

    I for one do not think TOB is in anyway a bad football coach. He may have just made a bad decision in Archer. And as usual, the assistants a coach puts around him are often more important than the decision of which coach the school hires.

  14. Wolfy__79 03/26/2010 at 2:23 PM #

    but TOB’s reputation buys him more flexibility for the bad seasons we’ve had. i think it’s critical to be patient with him, we haven’t had a coach of this caliber since sheridan. i want us to really make a name for us in the conference as a league leader.. when it comes to bball, we’ve got a much higher ceiling,… i expect bigger things there.

  15. Plz2BStateFan 03/26/2010 at 2:27 PM #

    It just bothers me that we wasted the opportunity of last years schedule. Now look at this years schedule. Its crazy. And NOW TOB is on the “Hot Seat”

    Unfortunate timing.

  16. rtpack24 03/26/2010 at 2:40 PM #

    TOB has said in the past that his program is a perfomance based organization. We have not been good on defense since he has been here and last year we were horrible on D. Our special teams last year were pitiful and yet he makes no changes. He did replace a coach that left with an excellent hire in Tenuta. He needs to deiver this year and I am sure he realizes that.

  17. travelwolf 03/26/2010 at 2:45 PM #

    TOB is not on ‘my’ hot seat – although from this year on, I expect some improvement every year. He also needs to recruit better for us to develop a national program. But, no, he’s not even on a warm seat.

    Lowe is on a warm seat – although it’s a little cooler than 2009. Lowe also needs to show improvement – or rather a good measure of improvement.

    In general, we are patient fans, I believe. Too patient usually.

  18. JEOH2 03/26/2010 at 3:00 PM #

    He’s had three years and was one half away from having a winning season in his second year. If a “hot seat” implies that someone should either win or be fired after that year…then no (baring losing like 8 or more games). If it implies that this coming year is the most important in terms of direction for NC State Football under Tom O’Brien, then yes he is on the hot seat along with Sid…

    Basically, for both major revenue sports, their coaches, and us fans this is the most important year in NC State Athletics in a long while…

  19. johnnybbad 03/26/2010 at 3:01 PM #

    Relax people. Tom will turn it around. He is gradually doing what he did at Boston by beefing up the lines. He didn’t put a program like BC on top without knowing what he’s doing. What we need to concentrate on is Lee Fowler. Nuttin’ personal Lee, but you’ve gotta go….along w/ Sidney Lowe.

  20. Wolfy__79 03/26/2010 at 3:18 PM #

    well, the tailgaiting is still great in the down years. maybe this leads to our increased patience?

  21. packof81 03/26/2010 at 3:30 PM #

    What does the term “hot seat” even mean in the context of NC State? Has there ever been a coach outright fired for the poor performance of a team at NC State?

    That being said, TOB is a proven college football coach. He certainly got results at BC. If TOB can’t get results here, who can?

  22. imawolf 03/26/2010 at 3:35 PM #

    Tom is not on my hot seat. Let us not forget what his recruiting budget is vs., the sheep across the interstate….. He is building a solid group of young men.

  23. GAWolf 03/26/2010 at 3:36 PM #

    The Tenuta hire took him off anything resembling a heated seat for me. That gives me hope for the future. And hopefully Coach Bible is doing well.

  24. Tau837 03/26/2010 at 3:48 PM #

    If Fowler stays, he isn’t on the hot seat until 2011 at the earliest, and even that would be pretty unlikely IMO.

    If Fowler goes, it depends on who the new AD is IMO. For example, if it is Bobby Purcell or someone else with existing ties to the program who already has a personal relationship with O’Brien, that could serve to give him more time. If it is a new AD who doesn’t know O’Brien, perhaps he would use his first year on the job to assess the program… in which case it is possible that one more year is all O’Brien would get, depending on how the team does this year, what future recruiting is looking like, etc.

    I want O’Brien to succeed. I like him. But it is starting to feel like we have wasted Russell Wilson, who has been one of the best QBs in the nation for two years. I also think at one time in recent years, State had amongst the best football facilities in college football. I can only assume as time passes, we are losing ground to other programs on that front. We need to take advantage of that window to move the program forward so better results take the place of better facilities. It doesn’t seem like that is happening.

    Personally, whenever we hire a basketball or football coach, I assume we will give that coach five years to produce before potentially firing him, assuming no extraordinary circumstances, like some combination of the following: a lot of players failing academically or in trouble off the field/court, coaches in trouble off the field/court, historically poor performance on the field/court, NCAA violations, etc.

  25. thekind 03/26/2010 at 3:54 PM #

    Ima wolf- “a solid group of young men”….
    Are you blind? Do you watch the same games that I see? We have SUCKED under General TOB!

    I have never understood why TOB gets so many hall passes. He has the best QB in the ACC and we are still a pathetic football team. He does not recruit well.
    One more year of failure, and we chalk this one up as another Fowl-up.

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