Transcript from Live Chat with Tom O’Brien

'12 Football ACC & Other NCS Football Tom O'Brien45

Lots of good stuff here from GoPack.

QUESTION: Coach, after a successful 2010 season and a healthy beginning roster to start the 2011 season. What message are you and your staff going trying to send to the players and NC State community to build off the recent success and how has Glennon began take over that role of leader which Russell left behind?

O’Brien: In our initial meeting when we came back in January, we stressed the fact that 2010 was over and that day was the first day of the 2011 season. We accomplished great things by being ranked 25th in the country and winning the bowl game BUT we understand how difficult it is to move forward. My message to the team was that whatever they did last year in preparation for 2010 will not be good enough in preparation for 2011. We as a coaching staff, as a strength and conditioning staff and as a football team all have to be better. THAT has been the emphasis since the first workout in January and will continue to be until the last game of the 2011 season.

'12 Football ACC & Other NCS Football Tom O'Brien

45 Responses to Transcript from Live Chat with Tom O’Brien

  1. mafpack 03/09/2011 at 11:58 AM #

    This part made me chuckle:

    QUESTION: Will we ever see the fullback rush the football while you’re the head coach?

    Yes! It will happen. I’ve talked to Taylor Gentry and told him that somehow, some way, he’s going to run the football. It might be a “where’s waldo” moment, so you might have to look hard, but I promised him that he will carry the ball this year.

  2. mafpack 03/09/2011 at 12:02 PM #

    Oh wow, first time I’ve seen this said so plainly by TOB. I cut out a big chunk in the middle, so please go to the link the read the entire response, its a good one.

    QUESTION: What happens if Russell Wilson comes back? Hard to not play someone that good, but is that fair to Mike Glennon?

    O’Brien: Russell has made the decision to give major league baseball his full attention. … . We wish Russell the best – if he comes back, we’ll welcome him, but he knows he’ll come back as the backup quarterback.

  3. BJD95 03/09/2011 at 12:07 PM #

    I love seeing his dry wit on full display, and that he’s still hungry and not satisfied with 2010’s end result. Pleased, but not satisfied. Pitch perfect.

    Exactly the right answer on RW. This is Mike Glennon’s team now, and everybody has to know that in order for Mike to have leadership credibility.

  4. mafpack 03/09/2011 at 12:18 PM #

    Absolutely agree BJD.

    One of my concerns going into this spring season was having a ‘lame duck’ quarterback in Glennon, while everyone waited for the ‘real’ quarterback to return from playing baseball.

    I love TOB’s response and the authority that it now places with Glennon to command this offense and establish himself as its leader without reservation.

  5. OldWuf 03/09/2011 at 12:31 PM #

    I love our coach. Great responses. No shortcuts; planning, leadership and hard work.

  6. cWOhLFrPAiCKs 03/09/2011 at 12:34 PM #

    Good to know what’s going on with EJ Carter. Hopefully he’ll be able to join the team in the summer and at least serve as depth at the beginning of the year. Can’t wait for football season to get here! Another good year for the Pack on the way!

  7. Daily Update 03/09/2011 at 12:44 PM #

    I think TOB handles the responsibility of “head coach” very well. Great guy to be running your organization. He has faults, but overall he is a good leader of a program in terms of overall operations.

  8. triadwolf 03/09/2011 at 1:19 PM #

    I don’t think we ever have to worry about TOB saying something like:

    “When I found out I didn’t tell anybody because I wasn’t exactly sure who to go to…” JT

    Or something along those lines.

  9. STLPack01 03/09/2011 at 1:38 PM #

    Seems pretty clear that DY gave TOB a baseline metric to achieve this past year: compete for the division and finish in the top 25.

    It’s nice to know that strong leadership can produce results.

    I’m also guessing that Sid’s metric was equally simple: make the NCAA tournament.

    I wonder what TOB’s metric will be for this coming season? Personally, I can live with competing for the division and finishing in the top 25 as a solid baseline metric for our football program.

  10. thekind 03/09/2011 at 3:10 PM #

    TOB just says that he is going to bench the best QB in the ACC and the 2nd best QB to ever put on a State uniform in his senior year, and you all brag on the man.

    Please get your heads out of your A$$es. TOB should be fired for stupidity!

    This is borderline racism if you ask me.

  11. thekind 03/09/2011 at 3:15 PM #

    And just for the record, I could qb the Pack to 7 wins next year with that aweful schedule.

  12. Daily Update 03/09/2011 at 3:23 PM #

    Borderline racism? Huh.

    Russell isn’t participating in the program this Spring. He also hasn’t committed to return in the Fall. RW has given the coaches no choice but to move on. RW has a great opportunity in baseball that TOB acknowledges, but TOB has to plan for next year.

  13. wolfbuff 03/09/2011 at 3:28 PM #

    “I’ve talked to Taylor Gentry and told him that somehow, some way, he’s going to run the football.”

    I hope so. Taylor Gentry is by far my favorite player on the team. He is either making the tackle, in on the tackle, or around the ball on every special teams play. It was fun to see him catch a couple of clutch passes last year. He’s as tough as nails and will be a bruiser of a runner if he gets the chance.

    Disclaimer: I do not know Taylor, his family, or anything about him personally. Just that he’s a heckuva a hard-nosed football player.

  14. thekind 03/09/2011 at 3:32 PM #

    MG has had 3 years to beat out RW and it hasn’t happened. I am not bad mouthing MG. I appreciate his time at State and he seems like he has played the role as a back-up with class. But the bottom line is… the best player should play.

    RW is the best QB in the ACC for goodness sake. Only State could bench this kid for his senior year.

    IF he comes back is there any doubt that he is the best QB on our team?

  15. Daily Update 03/09/2011 at 3:50 PM #

    Is RW on the team this year? We don’t know yet. All you can do is prepare for him not being here. It is our only choice at this time.

  16. thekind 03/09/2011 at 4:05 PM #

    DU-
    You did not answer my question.
    Yes or no… IF RW does come back is there any doubt that he is the best QB on the team?

  17. coach13 03/09/2011 at 4:06 PM #

    Racism? Boy there’s one in every crowd.

    Let’s see, if Glennon starts and lights it up, keeps State undefeted, I’d say no, Wilson is not the best QB on the team. It’s a what have you done for me lately world, and if Wilson aint there, he’ll be too far behind.

    I’ll take the coaches word on it.

  18. lsutton5144 03/09/2011 at 4:09 PM #

    If RW misses spring practice, plays baseball for six months, and then shows up to play football, at that point he probably would not be the best quarterback on the team. That could change as the season evolves, or it may be that it’s Glennon’s time to shine and RW may never recover from his attention to baseball. Not preparing in the manner that TOB has described is the equivalent of letting RW hold the entire program hostage.

  19. baxter 03/09/2011 at 4:10 PM #

    “Seems pretty clear that DY gave TOB a baseline metric to achieve this past year: compete for the division and finish in the top 25.

    It’s nice to know that strong leadership can produce results.”

    I’m going to go ahead and call BS to that. TOB and staff don’t need incentive from an AD to want to be one of the best teams in the country. DY wasn’t coaching the team, recruiting the players, getting kids through rehab or helping them be better in the community. TOB and staff did all that, the fruits of their labor were last season’s results.

  20. baxter 03/09/2011 at 4:15 PM #

    RW was the best QB in the ACC the last two years. But you can’t say he is better than Glennon in this upcoming Fall because of that. You don’t know what kind of form either will be in at the start of Fall other than Glennon will be more likely in stride with the receivers than RW.

    RW chose to follow baseball and put his football future up in the air. Until he comes back and beats MG consistently in practice or there is an injury, it’s MG’s team. RW did the right thing and came out early, said he was following baseball and understood if he came back he’d have to beat out a guy who is 6 months ahead of him with the new offense and WR development.

  21. thekind 03/09/2011 at 4:24 PM #

    LSutton
    RW just played baseball all last summer and did not do spring football. Did MG beat him out? No. In fact, after playing baseball all summer, RW only lead us to a 9-4 season and the AP top 25.

    I think it is safe to say that RW can take some time off and be a very effective football player in the Fall. In fact, I remember redaing that RW worked hard out in the summer with fellow baseball players.

    The bottom line is that RW is as good as any QB I have seen at State including Rivers. Like Rivers, he is a fine representative of NC State, and conducts himself on and off the field with dignity and class.

    Youa ll that think that MG should just be given the nod at QB are nuts. Best player plays… and there is no doubt that he is the best at State.

    The kid deserves to have his jersey retired for goodness sake. Wake up Pack fans. Borrowing the words of another great Wolfpacker..” this is a debacle”.

  22. lsutton5144 03/09/2011 at 4:30 PM #

    kind, you must be a relative. And at this time, he is not the best at State right now since he is not in the program at this time. I’ll be happy with either one at quarterback. But if you can’t stand to see Glennon play, then stay home and don’t cut on the TV.

  23. STLPack01 03/09/2011 at 4:32 PM #

    @baxter: call bs all you want. It’s an idea that has been floated on this site before.

    The fact of the matter is that TOB keeps mentioning this particular idea in the media, and others have speculated that it was exactly the benchmark set for him. We know that there was a meeting with DY and benchmarks were set. We know that TOB keeps repeating the “Finishing the season in the top 25” statement. While agree that DY is not the coach, that there were significant issues with injuries in years past, and that it’s tough to argue causality, I still believe (and I think others will agree with me) that it exhibits strong leadership by DY to demand results. I’m not bashing TOB at all. He came through with flying colors (though we did lay a stinking rotten egg at Maryland…)

    So I take your bs, sir, and toss it back to you.

  24. packplantpath 03/09/2011 at 4:36 PM #

    Keep in mind, last year we were still playing an offense geared to Wilson’s strengths and to minimize his major weakness of height. If we knew Wilson was coming back, I suspect we would do the same this spring. But, given that it is doubtful that Wilson will be back, TOB will probably start spring practice with an offense tailored to Glennon.

    If Wilson decides to come back, you can’t switch back to Wilson’s playbook and formations very easy. It would confuse the heck out of the rest of the team and set things back quite a bit for the start of the season. So, Wilson would have to beat out Glennon in an offense designed for Glennon’s pro-style skillset. I doubt he could do it, but if he could, he would almost certainly start.

    This is all going to be a moot point though. Wilson won’t be back (no, I have no inside info, just a feeling).

  25. thekind 03/09/2011 at 4:40 PM #

    I never wrote that I couldn’t stand to see MG play and I dont appreciate you inferring so.
    For the 100th time, I said IF he comes back.

    Furthermore, just because I call out TOB on some BS, does not make me a relative of RW.

    A very sacred rule in sports is that “the best players should always play.” My point is that IF (IF and IF) RW comes back he is clearly the best QB on our team.

    For all of the replies I have read, I have not read one poster that will state that they feel like MG is the better qb than RW.

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