N.C. State’s athletic future looks bright

AD & Department Debbie Yow21

NC State Athletics Director Debbie Yow

Stumbled upon this great puff piece while doing research for baseball articles.  Haven’t seen it linked elsewhere and wanted to get it up for anyone that hasn’t seen it yet.  Just a little something to get you excited about next school year’s potential, and keep you excited thru the long college sports black hole of summer we are about to endure.

Andrew Jones of FoxSportsCarolinas.com thinks that N.C. State’s athletic future looks bright…

Times are pretty good these days if you’re an N.C. State fan. And they could be on the verge of getting a lot better.

Known for their long-suffering loyalty to the red and white, Wolfpack fans have endured some positively awful basketball and frightful football over the last couple of decades. The non-revenue sports haven’t excelled, either.

[snip]

Senior quarterback Mike Glennon is a certain NFL prospect. The Pack has the ACC’s best secondary, a darn good offensive line, and has the inner cycles that make programs efficient is working in proper order.

The season-opener versus Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Classic in Atlanta could springboard NCSU to one of its best seasons ever. That potential is real.

[snip]

Mark Gottfried will enter his second season at the helm with a team probably picked to win the ACC and as a second-tier Final Four contender. The Wolfpack’s incoming recruiting class is ranked among the top-five by just about every service, and optimism for N.C. State basketball hasn’t been this high since the 1980s.

Then toss in the many Olympic sports teams that are improving and the nationally-ranked baseball team, which is led by a pair of freshmen, including arguably the nation’s top pitcher in Carlos Rodon. The baseball Wolfpack is hosting an NCAA regional site and is a dark horse to reach the College World Series in Omaha.

Not coincidentally, many of these strides have taken root since Debbie Yow was named athletic director two years ago. Yow proved when running Maryland’s department for 16 years that she understood how to cultivate a culture of winning and uniformity.

Fractured and falling behind the rest of the ACC under its previous leadership, N.C. State is now the athletic department collectively moving forward the fastest. For a change, good times are indeed ahead for the red and white.

Not sure what a “second-tier final four contender” is exactly, but after the past 20+ years, any kind of final four contender is a welcome change.

Go Pack!

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About Wufpacker

A 2nd generation alumnus and raised since birth to be irrationally dedicated to all things NC State. Class of '88 and '92.

AD & Department Debbie Yow

21 Responses to N.C. State’s athletic future looks bright

  1. Gowolves 06/04/2012 at 11:31 AM #

    Not trying to be downer on this article. I welcome the success and the Pack nation has been starving for some consistent winning for some time.

    With that being said I do hope we do continue to be financially responsible. Maryland was left in a wreck. Take it for what you want but I am hearing money grumblings already over there. Department budgets being frozen. Bonuses paid to basketball coaches putting a sting to the rest of the departments. The wrestling coach (former) even spoke how is recruiting budgets went up the last few years.

    You can say what you want about “Foul up” and all of it is true but he did take care of P&L. Of course to the detriment of out athletic success.

  2. leftbrain99 06/04/2012 at 12:15 PM #

    I would say a “2nd tier Final Four contender” is essentially a team projected to being ranked 5-8. Since rankings don’t directly determine the Final Four, these are the teams with the 2nd best chance of making the Final Four.

  3. old13 06/04/2012 at 12:31 PM #

    Gowolves, FWIW I have read that UMd was in a BIG financial mess, extremely in the red, when DY got there; that DY had it headed in the right direction to bring the original debt under control when she left; and that the current problems have little, if anything, to do with DY, and much more to do with FB and BB (revenue sport) performance the last couple of years resulting in drastic decreases in fan attendance and, of course, the economy in general. But I do agree that Pack Athletics needs to be fiscally prudent.

  4. treznor 06/04/2012 at 12:36 PM #

    I would slightly disagree leftbrain99. There are more than 4 ‘Final Four contenders’. I would say generally there are 5-7 teams that many would consider to be Final Four contenders in a given year and then (according to this article) we’d be in the next group of teams, which would probably roughly correspond to ‘I’m not picking them for the Final Four, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if they got there’.

  5. Wufpacker 06/04/2012 at 12:48 PM #

    ^ & ^^^

    See? It’s not as cut and dried a definition as one might think at first glance, is it?

    Personally, I think it means this particular writer sees the potential in place for big things, but given recent results isn’t quite ready to jump on the “NCSU top 5” bandwagon that most other sports outlets are currently riding. Hedging his bets, so to speak. Can’t say I blame him, really.

  6. tjfoose1 06/04/2012 at 1:28 PM #

    “Not trying to be downer on this article”.

    Um, yeah, you are. Stop looking for negatives where they don’t exist. Stop propagating the rumor, innuendo, and hearsay of those purposely trying to be a “downer”.

  7. Greywolf 06/04/2012 at 2:35 PM #

    For whatever reason State has been ‘under budget restraints’ since the very beginning. It seems to be a big state (not NC State) secret how the various athletic departments are budgeted and funded. The elected state government being mostly lawyers — and we know where who has the big law school — couldn’t have anything to do with it, could it?

    Even our best coaches are mostlys hidden gems such as high school coach, Everett Case or small college coaches such as Lou Holtz and Jim Valvano when we found them. Our little sister, UNX, could bring in Frank McGuire and more recently BMFD to supposedly take them to the top.

    I am so grateful that Debbie finds the money to keep quality coaches such as Jon Tonuta and our BB assistants that other schools try to steal away. You most often have to spend money to make money. The additional tickets sold to fill the PNB Arena will pay the salaries. We are selling out C-F but we can add seats if needed.

    For the first time EVER we have the facilities to if not attract athletes, keep them from being disgusted and turning away. I can’t even image what Earl Edwards could have accomplished had he not had to play home games in old Ridiculous Stadium.

    Like Mr. Jones says “…one of its(our) best seasons ever. That potential is real.” Let’s wait until November to squash that sentiment if required.

    foose, I believe we got us a sheep in Wolf’s clothing.

  8. Gowolves 06/04/2012 at 2:37 PM #

    Uh tjfoose1 before calling out something you don’t know anything about I know one person who works in the the AD and this person has told me of all the grumblings going on about money and budgets. This is not hearsay.

    This person also new of the changes in the dept the last few months before they hit the press. This person does know what they are talking about.

    EDIT: I have posted on this site many times. Due to circumstances I haven’t posted on here since last summer. Say what you want but I have been a Pack fan since the early 70’s. Don’t understand why you feel the need to attack me and the legitimate source I have.

  9. WIFF 06/04/2012 at 2:43 PM #

    Not trying to be a downer on this article, but Debbie is throwing up the worst looking Wolfpack hand gesture I have ever seen!

  10. Wufpacker 06/04/2012 at 2:52 PM #

    It’s a long leap from grumblings because times are tight and budgets are being frozen, to insinuating that DY is a legitimate risk to tank the department financially.

    And not to be a dick, but telling someone that some other unknown “source” has a vague opinion about something is pretty much the definition of hearsay.

  11. Gowolves 06/04/2012 at 3:10 PM #

    So you take it at face value that the problems that occurred at MD had nothing to do with her?

    I can’t go further in my explanations without risking this person’s indentity. These conversations had nothing to due the normal budget problems that occur during lean years. They told me in confidence. Why would I want to make sh*t up? I have better things to do than lead you guys down some rabbit hole.

    Believe what you want. All I am saying is we all heard about the financial problems that occurred before at MD. Then I hear this information. Any rational person would think this could be a concern. Why would you want to put your head in the sand and ignore it? I don’t think it is a long leap. I also didn’t say it was a legitimate risk.

  12. Wufpacker 06/04/2012 at 3:24 PM #

    @Gowolves – First of all….breathe.

    Not putting my head in the sand, but not going to either canonize or demonize based on info that isn’t verifiable (to me, anyway). Not even saying you may not be right. If you are, it’ll all come out in the wash.

    And maybe I misunderstood your first post, but why would a coach be upset because their recruiting budget went up?

  13. IMFletcherWolf 06/04/2012 at 3:40 PM #

    ^The former wrestling coach made positive comments about recent changes in the athletic dept, including his budget being increased. I’m sure his main gripe is that he was let go and not allowed to fully reap the benefits of all the improvements. That’s not a negative on Debbie as I see it.

    I trust that Debbie knows what she is doing with regards to the budget. I’m also sure that not every single person in the athletic department agrees with everything she says and does. Therefore, some negative attitudes towards her are inevitable and those people talk to people who post on message boards, etc.

    I’m enjoying our recent successes and look forward to more in the future. Negative nannies, go away!

  14. primacyone 06/04/2012 at 3:46 PM #

    “…The Pack has the ACC’s best secondary…”

    I would have never ever even dreamt this was even possble four years ago. Amazing.

  15. Gowolves 06/04/2012 at 3:54 PM #

    That was not my intention to insinuate that he was upset. I just remeber when the wrestling coach was fired and he mentioned in a interview that his recruiting budget went up before(the two years since DY had been there) he was fired. A lot of budgets went up across the board(Olympic sports) He was dicsussing how DY was holding everyone accountable. There have been a lot of articles on the finances since she has arrived. I may be wrong and need to look into this more but was the new appearal contract that much more than the one before? I don’t think it was drastically different.

    I am glad she is holding them to high standards on the field. The Pack hasn’t had that in 25 years over there.

    I agree I will take a breath. I do get fired up at times. I don’t like it when some speaks on something they know nothing about. We are good WP.

    I will bow out. This wasn’t meant to derail the thread but it did.

    I am glad the pack is getting some favorable press and will leave it that.

  16. howlie 06/04/2012 at 5:21 PM #

    “Not coincidentally…”

  17. ADVENTUROO 06/04/2012 at 9:22 PM #

    Most everything that was written about UMD AD’s budget indicated that it was about as solvent as the current administration’s budget….there was NONE. Debbie Yow had a tough row to hoe. What really put the cheese in a bind was the lack of SUPPORT. There was no support for GW or RF. That caused ticket sales to slump. Throw in the fact that you are NOT going to POST GAME (NCAA’s where the $$’s are big) and then add in all the NON-Revenue sports, which stand there with their palms UP….like the ENTITLEMENTS of our government.

    DY did a yoeman (yoewoman)job of getting the ship back on course. BUT, if you don’t have REVENUE, then you have shortfalls. What MD is suffering from now is “payouts” because they canned RF early.

    We have issues with support, especially, in the PNC. If we could add a few thousand there, we would be MUCH more solvent. The Coach’s Basketball Bonuses (You can read the contracts….I think that Gottfried got $62K this year and I don’t know what the assistants got) were NOT that big a deal in the overall scheme. Sidney Lowe HAS a job, so we do not pay him full salary. Lee Foulup is still (I think) getting almost $250K a year for NOT being here. Again, that is not that big a deal.

    Debbie Yow has just done TWO deals. One was the NEW sports network which increased our revenue. The other was the “sports clothing” deal. We now use ONE source for ALL equipment and clothing. We also get MORE revenue and our overall equipment/uniform costs are DOWN….so we get a double buck there.

    If you want to increase Basketball attendance, then you have to win. To win, you have to have good talent and coaching. We now have both. I certainly HOPE that our BB revenue increase.

    As to Football, there are STILL many LTR’s that loyal WP’ers can purchase. I was able to get two season tickets last year adjacent to where my crew has 6 LTR’s. One of our members purchased two more LTR’s. SO, we can still use a little shot in the arm in FB.

    Baseball is also up and coming. I am listening to the game tonight. Tony Haynes said it was a sellout. If we start to have better teams, then we will sell more tickets.

    Unlike our Sister school, the WPC does NOT compensate the coaches. In addition, our radio/TV contracts with the FB and BB head coaches is about half that of UNC. We pay our coaches from the GENERAL ATHLETIC fund. There is NO WPC stipend (the WPC does foot scholarships). There is NO State (General Assembly) MONEY given to the AD…..it is an entity on it’s own.

    I don’t pretend to be an expert on how the AD budget works, but I have read a LOT about UNC’s AD and NCSU’s AD budgets. We are making progress…but it will take time.

    I also have trust in DY. She is ONE MORE TOUGH COOKIE. She would do well as a governor and we certain could use one that understood FINANCE and ECONOMICS instead of SPEND-SPEND-SPEND and ask for MORE MONEY to keep S P E N D I N G!.

  18. Dan Allen 06/04/2012 at 9:46 PM #

    UMd is in a deep financial hole. Most of the local news accounts vaguely mention her tenure as AD when discussing the school’s monetary mess. And I believe they’re correct to an extent–Yow did overestimate the passion and commitment of UMd fan base.

    Having said that, let me offer a few things in Yow’s defense. First,the Md fans deserve at least as much blame for their tepidness when the team’s not winning. And, of course, Yow didn’t make these financial commitments in a vacuum–there’s a governing body that has to agree on the course the department took. And after taking this aggressive course, she was not allowed to lead in an aggressive manor. She was not allowed to replace the revenue-sport coaches she knew needed to go (and were gone less than a year after she was).

    I don’t worry about this happening at State. For better or worse, passion is in no short supply in the fan base.

  19. tjfoose1 06/04/2012 at 10:06 PM #

    Grumblings about a budget?.. Whoever heard of such a thing.

    Lighten up, chicken little. No offense intended. If you’ll notice, I differentiated between you and “those purposely trying to be a ‘downer'”.

    Learn to accept and handle success. Be proactive, yes, but we should strive to improve and succeed, not focus on worry and failure.

    Or more simply put, play to win, not to avoid losing.

  20. state73 06/04/2012 at 10:22 PM #

    Way to go PACK! Baseball team made it to the Sweet Sixteen same as men’s basketball. PACK sports are on the way up!! Great time to be a WOLFPACKER.

  21. elvislives 06/04/2012 at 11:22 PM #

    Copy/pasta from my comment in the forum:

    “Hold on to your expectations boys, but it feels like Spring has finally come to Wolfpack Athletics after a 25 year winter.”

    Not sure how hosting a Regional in baseball helps the revenue generation (as low as it may be) but 4 days and 7 extra games on the schedule has got to be a positive.

    Another Bowl game (win or lose) should bring “bonus” cash to the athletics department after another year of home game sellouts.

    Can’t wait to see the attendance figures for next year’s basketball games. Watch how 18K per game over 16 home games helps turn the bottom line black for the year.

    Things are looking up for the Wolfpack. Take ‘Foose’s advice and learn to accept the success that is on the horizon. All your base are belong to Wolfpack.

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