Bill, tractor, ancsu, etc.: I don’t think anyone is saying to fire Gott, at least I’m not. It’s just that I think we have probably jumped the shark (possibly in year 1), or at least we know about what we’re going to get with him. We’ll be a bubble team that will probably schedule our way in. We’ll typically be better at the end of the year than at the beginning. We’ll be a tough out in the ACC tournament and with the right match up could win a couple of games in the NCAAs.
We know the flaws too. They’re consistent year over year, regardless of players. Those flaws will what will keep us maddeningly inconsistent and not really ever breaking through.
Ironically, that’s kind of the definition of mediocre for a high major. When you factor in that we consistently have top 20 in attendance, and top 15 in overall program value, and at least one Burger Boy sitting on the bench at any time, it’s more like the definition of under achieving. I’ve seen several pieces of analysis that measure performance against various factors (brand value, money spent, talent, etc.), and NC State is the biggest underachiever in college basketball over the past 15 or so years.
The problem with hiring a coach like Gott is that they bring you to a very difficult decision. Are the results good enough? What is reasonably good enough given all the mediocrity that we’ve accepted since the late 80s? If not, how do you handle a transition? It’s always tougher to take good to great than it is to take bad to good.
I don’t believe the job was a tough sell last time. Yow undoubtedly made some rookie mistakes in the search, but I do NOT believe that we were turned down by all these candidates (like what happened with Fowler). It seems that we were waiting on Smart, and thought we had him wrapped up (probably a verbal agreement paired with something like “the lawyers are working out the final details”) and told other candidates that the guy was Smart. The way they all backed out within a 24 hour window clearly signaled they were told they weren’t it about the same time. Then Smart backed out, and we really were left holding the bag. Then there was the letter, and ultimately we landed Gott. Those other candidates couldn’t take the job given they’d publicly backed out.
Yeah, Gary was spewing vitriol and that may have had something to do with why Smart declined, but we had some really good candidates (Smart, Marshall, Cronin, Buzz and Archie and possibly Sean) who were clearly interested. We just mismanaged the end game and ended up with the only guy who didn’t have a current gig that he had to keep on the hook. The job was viewed as a good job though or we would not have had that caliber of candidates.
If a move were made at this point, the job would be a tough sell. It’s not a new AD wanting her guy in place after the last guy was an alum hire who was given a ton of time, but couldn’t get it done. Imagine trying to sell it after “X straight NCAA tournaments, and Yow and the fans still aren’t happy.” What kind of endorsement is there from Yow if she fired Gott after being so much in his camp? It will be about like the Fowler search after he’d called his fans the lunatic fringe and publicly painting a horribly inaccurate picture. Oh yeah, the ACC is tougher now too with the addition of Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt and UVA’s recent uptick. It’s not just Duke and UNC any more.
I suspect Yow is going to give Gott a very long leash. She really has no other choice (much as I said about DD when there were other suggesting otherwise).
I also suspect I know where this thing is headed. It’s not going to be pretty. The only question is how long it takes to play out and how much staff and player churn happens until the fan base sees the obvious.
