Zarzour Catches Up with TOB at ACC Media Days

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Sports Talk’s Taylor Zarzour recently had a one-on-one with coach Tom O’Brien at the ACC Media Days event. Zarzour’s interview was centered around Russell Wilson, injuries, expectations for the Wolfpack offensive line, and more.

This interview is a testament to TOB’s steady-as-we-go style. O’Brien is far from excitable from behind the mic, but he shows a quiet confidence in this year’s squad. Check out the audio from Sports Talk right here.

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18 Responses to Zarzour Catches Up with TOB at ACC Media Days

  1. bradleyb123 07/28/2010 at 9:36 AM #

    It’s nice that TOB is confident and all, but I wish I was more confident. Our horrible defense caught me off guard last year, and they’re just a year older now. We still have Mike Archer, so I’m afraid to relax and be confident that our defense will improve much. Plus, we have big unknowns at running back, so our offense could actually be worse. Our offense (IMO) is our only hope for a decent season. If it takes a step backward, it could be a really bad year.

  2. Plz2BStateFan 07/28/2010 at 11:13 AM #

    Anyone notice how many times they mention injuries?

    just saying

    CALM DOWN 1998

    HEY, PRIDE, DROPE THE BASEBALL BAT!

    just sayin

  3. mafpack 07/28/2010 at 12:26 PM #

    Forget the rest of it, that 30 seconds where TOB talks about Tenuta, his ability to draw up defense schemes and the bond that the LB core has made with him, absolutely made my morning!

    Dear God please let Tenuta have the kind of influence on this defense that we all hope he does!

  4. nav 07/28/2010 at 12:35 PM #

    If our D has a turnaround year either Tenuta needs to be promoted to DC or I can see him leaving for another program. If he is the real deal I would be happy for him to be our head coach in waiting person.

  5. newt 07/28/2010 at 12:36 PM #

    I have a hard time listening to audio files, so if anybody ever feels the urge to sum up some of the interviews posted on here, I would certainly read and be grateful.

    Like what I’m reading that I’m hearing about Tenuta!

  6. Statefan1998 07/28/2010 at 12:45 PM #

    plz, I have not said anything in like 10 minutes about that.

  7. hoop 07/28/2010 at 12:52 PM #

    This interview was definitely not boring. TOB is nothing if not honest. For somebody who’s personality is regarded as being a little flat, he sure does come up with some great quotes.

    “If I can get 12 games out of Nate Irving, ya know, we’re gonna play 13 or 14.”

    But then, regarding defense,
    “Somebodies gonna have to step up and play.”

    Last question:
    When asked if NC State fans needed any getting used to,
    Have you had to get adjusted to NC State fans and their passion?
    “…they’re great… We are the state university, let’s face it. And we should be a football program that rivals Ohio State and Penn State. I mean, we’re the same school. So, that’s my job. I gotta get us there and that’s what we’re workin to be.”

    I just don’t get people asking for Archers’ head given all the injuries and youth. It’s just senseless.

  8. VaWolf82 07/28/2010 at 1:05 PM #

    Our horrible defense caught me off guard last year

    You can’t say that you weren’t warned. You just didn’t want to believe.

    http://www.statefansnation.com/index.php/archives/2009/07/13/2008-ncsu-football-review/

  9. statered 07/28/2010 at 1:28 PM #

    I knew the defense would be bad but I had no idea that it would be absolutely horrid. I also had no idea to what extent we would try to fit players to the scheme as opposed to scheme to players. I have no clue as to what we were hoping to accomplish last year on defence but whatever it was we failed miserably.

    I guess what cuaght me off guard was our horrible defensive coaching.

  10. packplantpath 07/28/2010 at 2:08 PM #

    VA, it’s true you did warn us. But I admit to being a bit surprised by the awfulness of it as well. Bad I could understand, but bad would have been a step up.

  11. Plz2BStateFan 07/28/2010 at 2:16 PM #

    It was a special kind of meltdown.

    The shock of it ruined the young players confidence which compounded the problem.

    Last year really shook my confidence in TOB specifically because he is the one who picked Archer as DC. I kept saying on other boards that the OC and DC positions are more important than the head coach. If he doesnt get that right its all for nothing……And why the hell would he hire Archer with what he did at Kentucky!

    rabblrabblerabblerabblerabble
    ———————————————-
    We should really have like 5 different threads, and they can all talk about how bad that defense was.

  12. VaWolf82 07/28/2010 at 2:45 PM #

    bad would have been a step up.

    Sad, but true.

  13. bradleyb123 07/28/2010 at 3:21 PM #

    Looks like I wasn’t the only one caught off guard. I mean, I wasn’t expecting an NFL-caliber defense, but the degree of bad was just awful. I’m not sure I ever remember seeing a defense that bad. It was about as bad as some of Amato’s last offenses were.

    And someone questioned how we could knock Mike Archer given the youth and injuries to our defense. You have a point there, but Archer didn’t exactly kill it at Kentucky, either. His defenses gave up an average of something like 31 ppg at Kentucky. Granted, that was against some very good SEC offenses. But still, it was about what our defense gave up last season. I’m not sure what he’s even done to earn anyone’s vote of confidence, especially TOB’s.

  14. BSIE80 07/28/2010 at 8:00 PM #

    Our D was bad. I could not believe that out of 80 players or so we could not find 11 good D players. More specifically, we could not find DB’s out of this group.
    It has to be the coaching as bad as we were. We were not prepared.
    I really don’t see anything different for this year.
    TOB even sounds like he does not know what to expect either. I think he was shocked by it all as well. The thing is, what did he do about it! I guess we will see soon.

  15. turfpack 07/28/2010 at 10:46 PM #

    TOB did do something about it- Hired one of the the best defensive mind in the game and his biz packages would even give NFL defenses a headace.As a ex-defensive coach – the three things you can’t have are -young,inexperienced and injuries- noone can have a good defense with this trio. Leadership on defense is a must- hopefully with Nate back this will be a great plus. I am more worried about the DL and it’s ability to stop the run this year-if it works out it would be a great help for the LB’s and the secondary.I still have confidence in TOB but would love to see the turn-a-round this year.

  16. BSIE80 07/29/2010 at 10:48 AM #

    I would like to see a good turn around also. I just disagree that the lack of experience and injuries had much to do with how bad we were. I can understand us losing games because of it, but not giving up that many points.
    Archer is still the D coach. The linebackers coach coaches the linebackers on technique, position, etc. Does he also decide when to blitz?? I think Archer is in charge of the play calling.
    Also, the good programs reload with talent, they have injuries to deal with, and they start freshman and sophmores. I think they just have better preparation, which is coaching.

  17. GAWolf 07/29/2010 at 11:09 AM #

    I love Nate as much as the next guy, but I do believe Tenuta will have a larger impact on our defense than the return of Irving. and Turf ks correct….tob took the high road on archer but that doesnt mean he didnt take efforts to fix what we perceive as a problem. The tenuta hire is, in my opinion, as huge as Amato’s hiring of Chow.

  18. coach13 07/29/2010 at 1:28 PM #

    Most Head coaches lean offense or defense as far as their expertise and thus rely more heavily on their OC or DC to know what they’re doing. TOB is offense. He relied on Archer too much, but did recognize the problem. If the defense does not turn around quickly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tenuta take over by midseason and eventually replace Archer completely.

    I would like to have heard an explanation why recruiting is so far behind EVERY, and I mean EVERY, other ACC school for next year’s class. Can’t successfully be THE STATE UNIVERSITY with second tier recruits. I sure would love to see Amato hired as recruiting specialist. He could bring in some D players.

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