Soroye shaping up for UVa
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
December 5, 2006

This past summer, no Virginia player worked harder at improving his body than Tunji Soroye. Under the guidance of strength and conditioning coach Shaun Brown, Soroye packed on some 30 pounds to his 6-foot-11 frame.

With a new physique came an added confidence that

coach Dave Leitao raved about in the preseason.

Unfortunately, Soroye hasn’t been able to show off his improvement to Virginia fans just yet.

Soroye missed the first four games of the season after undergoing a procedure for a sports hernia injury.

“It was very frustrating,” Soroye said. “It was something I couldn’t do anything about except work hard and try and get back in shape.”

Soroye said his injury didn’t have anything to do with his intensive training.

“I felt the injury before I put on the weight, so it wasn’t the weight,” he said.

The junior from Nigeria made his season debut in a loss at Purdue on Wednesday. Coming off the bench, he had two blocks and one rebound in 17 minutes.

On Sunday afternoon, in Virginia’s 67-62 home victory over N.C. State, Soroye was in the starting lineup.

Less than four minutes into the game, he received a nice feed inside from Jason Cain and hit a layup as he was being fouled for a 3-point play.

However, that was his only basket of the day - and he collected just one rebound in his 11 minutes of action.

Soroye, who has only participated in six practices this season, is staying upbeat.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “I’m just trying to get in shape. I was winded, [but] I don’t feel the pain anymore.”

When healthy - and in shape - Soroye could be of huge benefit to the Cavs, who do not possess any other shotblockers. Last season, Soroye averaged 1.23 swats a game.

Soroye doesn’t believe he’s that far away from returning to top form.

“I just have to keep working at it,” he said. “Hopefully it won’t take that long.”

Taking care of the rock

Turnovers had been a major problem for Virginia through its first five games - UVa averaged 15 per contest.

But against N.C. State, the Cavaliers were much more prudent in their decision-making. They didn’t commit a turnover until 4:52 remained in the first half and had a season-low of nine.

Harris bounces back

Since scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds against Morgan State in the second game of the season, freshman Will Harris had struggled to find his rhythm.

Against Purdue, he played just nine minutes and missed all four of his shots.

But versus N.C. State, Harris looked like a different player. He showed off his inside-outside game in dropping 14 points and hauling in six rebounds.

“For me, being a freshman, it’s all about feeling out the game,” Harris said. “Getting into these big-game situations, the main thing for me is to step up to the challenge. Being one of the young guys, it’s important not to back down from the challenges.”

What’s up with Lars?

One of the bigger quandaries through the first six games has been the play of sophomore Lars Mikalauskas.

After a solid freshman season, Mikalauskas was expected to be one of Virginia’s best big men. However, through six games he looks as though he’s stuck in mud as he tries to recuperate from sprains to both ankles.

He’s averaging less than three points and two rebounds per game.

Against N.C. State, Mikalauskas played a career-low of three minutes.

Out of the polls

After ascending to No. 25 in the Associated Press poll last week, Virginia has returned to the “Others receiving votes” category.

Having cracked the top 25 for the first time since 2004, the Cavaliers abruptly lost to Purdue in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge before rebounding with the win over N.C. State.

UVa is now 5-1 on the season and 1-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1995.

 

Passes expire
Doug Doughty
Roanoke Times

Until it was announced last week that Virginia was not exercising the rollover clause in Al Groh's contract, there had been no clear indication that Groh had a boss or bosses.

Outside of the admissions office, it was the first time that anybody had stood up to Groh or, in effect, told him "no."

Otherwise, maybe somebody would have stuck up a hand when Groh decided last winter to promote his son to offensive coordinator and asked, "Shouldn't we talk about this?"

Call it nepotism. Blame Al Groh, if you will. Somewhere along the line, there should have been some accountability, though. That's the fault of the people who allowed him the freedom to negotiate a contract extension with the school president or put his assistants off-limits to the media.

One of the defining moments of Frank Beamer's tenure at Virginia Tech followed a 2-8-1 season in 1992, when then-athletic director Dave Braine stepped forward and pushed Beamer to make changes to his staff, which he did.

That would never happen at Virginia. And it probably wouldn't happen at Virginia Tech now that Beamer has coached for 20 years and established himself as one of the premier coaches in college football. Beamer has more power now, but he's earned it.

Groh had three seasons between 2002-04 when his teams won a total of 25 games, but should that have given him unlimited power? Not if the next two years would yield an overall record of 14-14.

How refreshing it was, late in the season, to hear Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe talk about his philosophy on redshirting. While Grobe had experienced the benefits of redshirting in a previous stop at Ohio University, he was quick to credit Wake athletic director Ron Wellman for suggesting it would be a good approach for the Deacons.

Again, that's not the kind of thing that happens at Virginia. A suggestion would not have been offered, nor would it have been solicited.

When Wake Forest won the ACC championship this past weekend, somebody asked me the difference between the Deacons and Cavaliers.

First, the Deacons have redshirted 114 of 126 players during the Grobe era. Second, Wake has an imaginative offense predicated on deception. Third, the Deacons can win on the road.

Wake Forest's success comes at a bad time for Groh because both are UVa alumni and Groh, coming off a 5-7 season, doesn't come off well in a comparison. For that matter, Jon Tenuta, the defensive coordinator for ACC runner-up Georgia Tech, also played at UVa.

But be honest. When the Virginia and Wake Forest jobs came open following the 2000 season, what UVa fans were thinking about Jim Grobe?

Groh has said that some of his early success would not have been responsible without the use of true freshmen like D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Wali Lundy and Ahmad Brooks. "When they're ready, we're ready," he likes to say.

But you know what? Most of the time they aren't ready. Alex Field, for instance, a defensive end who played 33 plays as a true freshman in 2005 and outside linebacker Aaron Clark, a Rockbridge County graduate who played 116 snaps as a true freshman in 2005, then was credited with 16 plays this year.

Clark could have been redshirted as a freshman or sophomore but now finds himself halfway through his career, with nothing to show for it.

There are another dozen cases just like it.

This year, when Groh redshirted 15 of his 16 freshmen, the media asked on several occasions if he had changed his philosophy. Groh wouldn't bite. He does have a self-effacing side but one thing he never publicly admits he's made a mistake. He's never wrong.

In time, son Mike may turn out to be a fine coordinator but these kind of arrangements don't have a good track record. Jeff Bowden was forced out at Florida State, though not by his father, while Mike Price at Texas-El Paso and Bobby Ross at Army were 5-7 and 3-9 this year with their sons as offensive coordinators.

Mike Groh's promotion was announced March 3 in a dizzying 11-paragraph release that also designated an assistant head coach, a defensive coordinator, an assistant head coach for the offense, a running game coordinator, a special-teams coordinator, a recruiting coordinator and an assistant recruiting coordinator.

It was enough to make your head spin and almost forget the Groh-Groh connection, not that that was the idea.

So, Al Groh has four years left on his contract instead of five? Big deal. People have been calling this a vote of no-confidence, but what it really is -- finally -- is a sign that somebody at UVa is paying attention to Groh. It wouldn't hurt him to reciprocate.
 

Big Jim keeps it old school
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
December 7, 2006

Jim Dombrowski is a man’s man, an old school guy that most of us can relate with.

The former Virginia All-American offensive tackle (1985), who went on to star for the New Orleans Saints, represented the Cavaliers at last weekend’s ACC Legends celebration in Jacksonville, Fla., coinciding with the conference’s championship football game.

The old game

Dombrowski, who anchored UVa’s offensive line for four years and helped turn around the fortunes of Wahoo football, said his NFL career came at the end of what he considers the old NFL and at the beginning of the current NFL.

To him, old is better.

“To me, there’s a vastly different mindset to the NFL players today than the older players and I blame the sports highlights shows for that,” said Dombrowski, who played in a club record 14 consecutive games for the Saints and is in that franchise’s hall of fame. “Today, it’s all about ‘me stuff’ ... ‘look at me.’

“They make a play and dance and prance, whereas in the old NFL you let your actions speak for you,” said Dombrowski. “I am not a big fan of this ‘me, me, me’ stuff. I would prefer all of football go back to just playing the game. Yeah, get excited and get emotional because it’s a passionate game, but leave all the prancing and dancing out. I’d love to see all that stuff removed.”

One of the great things about being honored at the Legends weekend and making the ACC’s 50th Anniversary team a few years ago was that Dombrowski got to hang out with players of his own ilk, something he finds enjoyable. Of the 12 legends in Jacksonville, he had either played against or watched eight of them.

‘The Manster’

Besides all the receptions and luncheons and other activities the dozen legends participated in, Dombrowski’s

favorite time spent was just hanging out with former Maryland and Dallas Cowboys star Randy White, better known in football circles as simply “The Manster.”

“Sitting there listening to some of the stories from somebody like Randy is just really enjoyable to me,” Dombrowski said. “That’s what weekend’s like this are all about.”

The big Cavalier tackle related his best Randy White story.

When White was drafted by the Cowboys, the rookie had found his way into a bar to have some drinks with a couple of real legends in Bobby Layne and Ray Nitschke, the notorious middle linebacker of Green Bay Packers fame.

“Randy had said something complimentary about Nitschke in the newspaper that week, and at first Nitschke wouldn’t talk to him,” Dombrowski said. “Eventually Nitschke loosened up and as the story goes, the fierce ex-linebacker growled at White, ‘Hey kid, come here.’

“Nitschke goes, ‘I read what you said about me in the paper. That’s kind of nice. But I’ve got one word of advice for ya. When you go to that Dallas place, go down there and kick everybody’s [bleep]. Don’t worry about making any friends. If you kick enough people’s [bleep], you’ll have all the friends you ever want.”

Dombrowski said that after he thought about it for a second, Nitschke was absolutely right.

“If you kick enough people’s [bleep], you’re probably going to end up in the NFL Hall of Fame and everybody wants to meet and greet and talk with NFL Hall of Famers,” said Dombrowski. “Stories like that, I get a big, big kick out of.”

But this past weekend was more about honoring the ACC Legends for their deeds during their college days.

Dombrowski was UVa’s first unanimous All-American. For two years he was the ACC’s best blocker and received the Jacobs Blocking Trophy. He helped the Cavaliers make it to the first bowl game in school history, the 1984 Peach Bowl, and beat Big Ten runner-up Purdue in that game.

Later, he was the first-round draft choice of the Saints in 1986 and went on to play 11 years with that club until a severe knee injury ended his career. He became only the fifth player in Virginia football history to have his number (73) retired.

Not only that, but he left Charlottesville with another considerable gain, wife Sandy Greene. Jim, a native New Yorker, and his wife and kids come back to Charlottesville a few times a year to visit relatives.

He has fond memories of his playing career here but could hardly believe that the 20th anniversary of his draft class has come and gone.

Now a certified financial planner in New Orleans, he looks back on those days as special times. His favorite football memory will never change.

“The Peach Bowl,” Dombrowski said without hesitation. “That was a culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of guys and we were able to be rewarded for the hard work. With a school as old as Virginia, there aren’t many times you can do the ‘first’ in anything, and to be able to be on that first bowl team and get the first victory, I think that’s pretty special.”

That was a pretty good Purdue team, starring quarterback Jim Everett, who later became a teammate of Dombrowski’s with the Saints. And that afforded the Wahoo an upperhand on the Boilermaker.

“I thanked him quite often for throwing that interception late in the game,” Dombrowski said of Everett. “He pointed out that the receiver slipped, which he did, but the fact remains that it was his interception that sealed the game. I don’t run into him often, but when I do, I thank him.”

The city of N’awlins grew on Dombrowski over the years. He has taken up hunting and fishing, which are easily accessible to him there, and he likes the culture, the flavor of the city.

However, the effects of Hurricane Katrina continue to linger and Dombrowski said small businesses are suffering because many residents have not returned. Eventually that could even drive him to live elsewhere if conditions don’t improve.

“I think New Orleans has a period of about 12 to 18 months to get its act together or it could die and essentially become the French Quarter and the uptown area and that would be it,” he said.

“If things remain the same we could see a second wave of exodus, and if that happens I think that’s pretty much the death knell of the city.”

Until then, Dombrowski will keep his association with the Saints, which have now embraced their alumni under new coach Sean Peyton, and he’ll keep on refereeing his kids’ soccer games.

Well, maybe not. He tore a piece of cartilage in his knee recently trying to run up and down the field.

“It’s hell getting old,” Dombrowski said.

 

UVa fans react to Groh's contract
Fan forums are collected by Doug Doughty and consist of reactions from a select group of contacts to discuss Virginia Tech or Virginia sports. To learn more about the forums, send an e-mail to Doug Doughty.

I think there are two main reasons fans are unhappy with Groh (assuming that this season's losing record is an aberration):

1. He's overpaid.

2. VT has been the superior program over the last 8 years.

If it wasn't for these two things, people would overall be happy with Groh. He's going to consistently give us 7-9 wins a year, with an occasional rebuilding year like this year. That is good enough for UVA. As much as I'd like to be a top-15 program, we've never been one and probably won't be one in the near future.

Groh is not good enough to make us a top-15 program, but he is getting paid like a coach from a top-15 program. I think if Groh willingly renegotiated his contract to get $1 million a year, that would make a lot of people more happy because then the results would be commensurate with the compensation we are giving him (I say "we" because it's the fans that give the money to pay his salary).

I know some people feel duped because when Groh was hired, he said things like, "We are going to win championships." Then he got a top-10 recruiting class and we got our hopes up. It's always hard to have your hopes dashed. But what was he supposed to say? "We are going to be a middle of the pack ACC team!"

Every new coach says things like that (we're going to turn this thing around and win championships). You have to shoot high. I don't think we can fault him for not doing what he said he would do in that respect.

The other thing is that it ticks us off that our arch-rival has been the better program recently and there doesn't appear to be any end in sight. We used to say that they had a better record because they played a bunch of pansies in the Big East. Now they've been arguably the top team in the ACC the past three years and won seven of the last eight from us.

They do this with recruiting classes that are comparable to ours (ranking-wise). If they were not successful, people would be a lot happier with Groh. That's not very fair to him because it's not his fault that they are good, but that's the way it is.

Here are a few lesser reasons people are unhappy with him:

1. His abysmal record on the road.

2. His perceived arrogance and orneriness with the media.

3. His son's promotion to offensive coordinator, which looks like nepotism.

So in conclusion, I think they made the right decision. I am not in the Fire Groh camp, but I think they should wait until after next year to decide if they want to extend the contract. I think Groh is overall a good coach for UVA, but definitely overpaid. We'll see if the same fan support is there if we become a perennial seven-eight win team and people realize he's not going to make us a top-20 program.

Ultimately he was given the fat contract because lots of money was coming in. As we saw with Gillen, it doesn't take long for people to turn and stop giving money. If that happens with Groh, he'll be let go eventually, but it'd take a few years.

I also think in his contract there should be a reasonable buyout. It's ridiculous to think we might have to pay him $6 million to fire him. I also think that not renewing the contract will probably not have much effect on recruiting, as some people have hypothesized.

JOHN GILMER
CHARLOTTESVILLE

Underachieving before now

Extension? Perhaps the decision should be whether or not Groh will be the coach in 2007? I am not quite to that point, but many of my UVA buddies are.

I believe the decision is appropriate not to extend Groh's contract at this time. Frankly, Groh has not come close to the goals HE set at the beginning of his coaching career.

Although this year’s team exhibited some hope for the future , I believe a 5-7 record is unacceptable especially considering the relatively easy schedule.

Even more disturbing to me is the underachieving Groh teams when they have had good talent and started a high percentage of upper class men.

For example, the 2003 team played in the Continental Tire Bowl and beat Pittsburgh. Not bad.....until you look at the roster. To name a few on

offense- Matt Schaub, Heath Miller, Wali Lundy, Alvin Pearman, Patrick Estes, Conner Hughes and an offensive line that was considered to be one of the best in the country. To name a few on defense-Chris Canty, Darryl Blacstock, Amahd Brooks, Brennan Schmidt, and Kai Parham. I can't see a reason why that team was not playing in a huge bowl game...unless it is was the coaching.

The total lack of ability to win road games against competitive teams, and the seemingly lack of player development during the Groh era is not acceptable.

Now for the good. I believe this year’s team played with heart and has a solid nucleus of talented players for the next few years. They played clean and it was the best-coached Groh team I have seen in terms of players being in position and lack of penalties. The players seemed motivated and never gave up. Additionally, recruiting for next year has been good on paper.

Good luck to the Hoos next year. The Groh scenario will be much clearer by the end of the season.

CHUCK DYSON
ROANOKE

Road play crucial

I believe it was some what of a statement from Craig Littlepage. Meaning for what type of salary he is paying Al Groh, he expects more.

Don't get me wrong. Why everyone wants to bash Groh … let’s not forget he has done pretty well in bowl games and I think this is a good thing.

But i don't think the extension had too much to do with this year. I believe that they want to see more success on the road from Groh teams. Its really what has hampered them since he has been here.

I do think Groh needs to have successful l year in ‘07, not winning the ACC title, though it would be nice. But an 9-3 or 8-4 and a decent bowl. But 8-4 probably wont get you a great bowl. I think another average year then either Virginia will either have to look at who else is available and would it be an upgrade? Or stick with Groh for at least another 3 years to see if he can really build something?

I think Groh’s biggest problem has been the ability to recruit good skill players. If he can land a few guys, I think he can be very successful. If not, then UVA is just average. UVA has spent too much money on football to be average.

DOUG RUTZ
FRONT ROYAL

66 in four years

I see no issue with the AD's decision. However, I do not think this should be interpreted as a loss of confidence in coach Groh either.

One has to set the right level of expectations for UVa's football program. Due to its higher than most admissions standards, it is not likely that UVa will ever have much better than a good starting team. Depth will always be an issue. Therefore, when UVa suffers the injuries and early exits it has, no one should expect much from the program.

Next year the expectations will be higher with very little graduation of key players. In addition, it is very likely the coaching staff is putting together a nice recruiting class now that coach Groh doesn't have to spend time finding a new set of assistant coaches.

Finally, coach Groh is 62. If he coaches the remaining four years on his contract he'll be 66 or 67 and probably ready for a well deserved retirement.

I like coach Groh personally, and professionally. His teams almost always get stronger as the year progresses which means to me that he's helping the players get better individually and collectively. Now if he could only find a few more players that can catch a forward pass and one who can consistently punt the ball 40-plus yards with some height, the team will likely be much improved next year.

HENRY SCHUMANN
TAMPA, FLA.

See what 2007 brings

I believe that UVa should evaluate the 2007 squad to see if it is an upgrade from the 2006 season. Theoretically, UVa is losing no superstar. Marcus Hamilton was a good player, Jason Snelling was solid, and Deyon Williams fits in between solid and good (if not injured) among the notable graduating seniors.

Since the underclassmen gained a lot of valuable experience this past season, then it is reasonable to expect at least a 7-8 win regular season. The defense was top 20 caliber, so that is a great start. If Jameel Sewell matures into an Aaron Brooks type QB and the OL steps it up a notch, there is no reason that UVa shouldn't be vastly improved offensively. Finding a playmaker on offense at a skill position will be the biggest determining factor being around .500 or contending for the ACC title.

Bottom line is if the Cavs end up sub .500, then it's probably best to go in another direction. If they pull out a 9 or 10 win season, then extension talks should begin after next season.

BRIAN FERGUSON
ROANOKE

A backward step

Regarding the choice not to extend Al Groh's contract, I see no reason for rewarding a 5-7 season. The situation must be qualified by ceteris paribus, and our inability to qualify for a bowl game is a backward step for the program. Unfortunately, for Al Groh, he is beholden to the stigma of the Pete Gillen 10-year contract extension, which will hover over all UVA coaches for the foreseeable future.

In speaking to fellow UVA donors/fans today about the decision, the overall emotion was not angst towards Al Groh or Craig Littlepage, but relief, because the decision not to renew means CL is not just rubberstamping the future of UVA athletics in the hands of the incumbents. Success should be rewarded, not tenure.

RYAN DREWNIAK
ALEXANDRIA

Groh misses point

I do not mind being quoted in saying that Al Groh should be fired. Not only does his coaching style dissallow Virginia players to form together as a team (as his only appeal is for Virginia players to go to the NFL), but his perspective on Virginia football and its past is completely wrong.

He has tried to transform Virginia football into something that it never could be; like Virginia Tech football. Virginia football has its own special place embedded within its own culture and community; one of tradition and history.

Ironically (compared to Virginia Tech) the only way that Virginia football will be truly successful is if it retains its traditional and historical roots and builds upon that uniqueness. Like many Virginia alumns would agree with me, there is something about Charlottesville that could never be compromised with anywhere and we need a coach that could realize that and field a team that not only is proud of our community but could also compete with the best teams in the nation.

BENJAMIN SMOOT
CHARLOTTESVILLE

A vicious cycle

Sad state of affairs any way you look at it. On one hand, his disciplinary tact is just what everyone is looking for (I.e. look no further than disgruntled fans to the other state U to the west.) On the other, the harsh truth is that regardless of what is quoted as being the playing field to this accord, W's count LARGE!

Again looking at both sides of the coin, it is refreshing to see a University actually grant meritorious extensions based on performance, yet it does not offer the support required for excelling in the recruiting arena, which in turn affects bottom line results. A vicious cycle has begun and Signing day is just around the corner.

ALAN BLANKENSHIP
KNOXVILLE, TENN.

Beamer comparisons

I support Craig Littlepage's decision to not roll over Al Groh's contract. Fair or otherwise, his success is measured against Beamer's at Va Tech, and to date he has come up short. Its perhaps unfair that Al Groh has not had the advantage of a 20-yr run, with a stable coaching staff, but the bottom line is that he was hired to take us to that next level- consistent 9-10 win seasons, and in serious yearly contention for the conference title. We're not there yet.

A really first-rate program should not drop off as much as we did this year- instead we should "reload". Littlepage's action signals that the patience of the Wahoo Nation is not infinite. I believe (and hope) that Groh can turn things around, but the days of being satisfied with 7 or 8 win years at UVA are over. After 6 years, it’s time for Groh to take us to the promised land.

STEVE GORDON
LOVINGSTON

A business decision

I think the decision not to roll over the contract is the only rational decision that could be made. The current year results, while more or less expected, doesn't warrant keeping the potential buyout extended for another year. Three or four years guaranteed should be sufficient not to discourage recruiting. Anything above that should be a reward based on tangible results each year - have a good season you get a year, have a bad season you lose it. Build the sustained program that everyone wants, and it can be extended further.

JOE BROOKS
CLEMMONS, N.C.

Why no buyout?

I feel UVA made the correct decision. I am still amazed that he was given the existing contract with no buyout right after the Pete Gillen buyout. Coach Groh has not performed at the level to justify the existing agreement. That is not his fault as to the contract but he has not been successful on the field. He has not done well with high school coaches,media or UVA fans.

This Bill Parcels act has to stop; he needs to understand he has to right the ship. By not extending his contract maybe he will get the message. Wake Forest has proved it can be done. Does coach Grobe have any kids that anyone else but Duke wanted? I love to watch them play. We pay nearly $2million to watch a stretch play run over and over again. I feel the fifth guy in the third row can put more zeal into an offense that that. Thanks for asking

BOB FADELY
WOODSTOCK

Contract better than most

I think it is a non-issue. Bad contract to begin with b/c of no buy out. Even if we had a better season this year it just makes good business sense to minimize exposure to the university. Coach Groh still has four guaranteed years left on his contract which is probably better terms than 90 percent of Division I college football coaches have. Any prospects impacted by negative recruiting against this probably were not coming anyway. Obviously he needs to win more to ensure his future as coach but that is the case everywhere except maybe Duke.

DARRYL ESTES
CHARLOTTESVILLE

Not the first mistake

Well, the fact of the matter is, based upon his previous performance, he should not have gotten such a sweet contract in the first place.

FIELDING LOGAN
SALEM

No more mediocrity

I think that this is a "wait and see" action. It is a little disheartening to see Wake Forest and Rutgers have these super seasons while we are losing to Western Michigan and East Carolina. I am in favor of giving Groh a chance to "right the ship". However, I don't want to give him the job security of being able to produce several more years of mediocrity.

STUART BAUMGARDNER
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Grobe looks good

You do not reward failure (5-7). It should have been in his contract: YOU GET A ROLL OVER IF YOU HAVE A WINNING SEASON. Alabama is looking and so is Miami. Seems [Jim] Grobe is the one they are looking for. WHY? Wake is playing for the ACC CHAMPIONSHIP.

MEL FULLER
SALEM

Beat Tech in 2007

UVa made the right decsion in not rolling over Groh's contract. A 5-7 season does not warrant a extra year. In my opinion, eight wins and and a win over Virginia Tech gets his rollover next year.

MARK COLEMAN
LYNCHBURG
 

ACC football is in crisis
David Teel
December 7 2006

Alert Annapolis and warn Westwood. Tell Bulldogs, Boilermakers and Bluegrass Country to beware. It's college football's bowl season, and opponents of ACC teams are in a heap o' trouble.

Or so the conference, and some select statistics, would have you believe.

ACC teams were 5-3 in bowls last season, marking the fifth consecutive year the conference has been .500 or better in postseason. No league can match that record.

But no one of sound mind believes the ACC rules college football or even rates with the sport's traditional power bases in the Big Ten, Pacific 10 and Southeastern Conference. Indeed, as eight of its teams prepare for bowls and three others transition to new head coaches, ACC football faces a serious crisis.

Granted, the conference's 12-team, two-division alignment remains an infant. And coaching changes at Miami, North Carolina and North Carolina State may energize those dormant programs.

But the painful expansions of 2004 and '05 were supposed to upgrade ACC football quickly. With the additions of Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College, a marquee conference title game and Bowl Championship Series at-large bids were not far behind.

Hasn't happened. Progress is negligible at best, and this season the ACC's collective performance declined markedly.

Consider games against the five other BCS conferences and Notre Dame. The ACC was 59-46 the previous four years, including 13-9 last season, when seven teams contributed victories.

This year ACC teams are 4-12 in such games. Conference champion Wake Forest defeated Syracuse, Connecticut and Mississippi; Virginia Tech beat Cincinnati. That's it.

Notice that none of the vanquished ranked among the top 25, let alone the top 10. That's because ACC teams rarely beat top-10 opponents from afar.

The ACC was 0-3 in such games this season with Georgia Tech falling to Notre Dame, Maryland to West Virginia, and Florida State to Florida. Long-term, the trend is much worse.

Since 2000, ACC teams are 3-30 against top-10, non-conference opponents. Florida State defeated Florida in 2000, Clemson toppled Tennessee in the 2003 Peach Bowl, and Virginia Tech beat West Virginia in 2004.

And don't even think about blaming woebegone Duke. The Blue Devils are responsible for none of the 28 defeats. Florida State leads with 10, followed by Georgia Tech and North Carolina with three each. Dismal doesn't begin to describe it.

ACC champions are the worst offenders. Since Florida State defeated Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl after the 1999 season, ACC titleists have lost six consecutive bowls. No conference has performed worse in BCS games.

This season's bowl fare offers some, but far from total, redemption. Wake Forest faces No. 5 Louisville in the Orange Bowl, and Georgia Tech encounters No. 13 West Virginia in the Gator Bowl, games in which the ACC is a touchdown or more underdog - though Georgia Tech could catch a break if West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez bails for Alabama or Miami.

The conference's other postseason opponents - Georgia, Purdue, Navy, Kentucky, UCLA and Nevada - are unranked and speak to shortcomings in the ACC's bowl arrangements.

For example, the Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A Bowl has the first selection of ACC teams after the BCS and chose Virginia Tech, the conference's highest-ranked team at No. 14. But since the game has only the fourth post-BCS pick of SEC teams, the Hokies' opponent is Georgia instead of top-25 entrants Tennessee, Arkansas or Auburn.

No offense. The SEC simply prefers bowl pairings against the Big Ten (Capital One and Outback) and Big 12 (Cotton). As well it should.

The Gator Bowl-ACC marriage also has issues. A new contract that bases selection, in part, on teams' conference records, forced the Gator to bypass its preferred choice, Clemson, for Georgia Tech, though few Georgia Tech fans figure to return to the city, Jacksonville, Fla., where the Yellow Jackets just lost the ACC championship game.

That title game, by the way, drew an announced (wink, wink) crowd of 62,850, nearly 10,000 less than last year's inaugural bash between Virginia Tech and Florida State. Blame wet weather, the teams' low Q-ratings or community apathy. Heck, blame bad mojo.

There's a lot of that going around ACC football these days.
 

NFL adversaries admire Barber's future course
Updated 12/6/2006 10:29 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print |
By Jim Corbett, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — What type of reaction has Tiki Barber encountered from snorting defensive players who have lined up against him since the Oct. 18 revelation that this would be Barber's final NFL season?
Any parting shots? Some unexpected going-away gifts delivered at the bottom of a pile? Any in-game trash talk about heading to the hammock and the good life of a network morning news/entertainment show host?

"The reaction has been cool," Barber says. "Nobody's heckled me."

In fact, Barber has found quite the opposite reaction than some might expect.

When the hitting is over, the bravado has lifted. That's when Barber received the ultimate compliment from one of his fiercest rivals, Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl safety Roy Williams, after the Giants' Oct. 23 win against their NFC East foes.

"The first game after it came out that I was retiring, Roy Williams came up to me afterward and said, 'Tiki, I'm going to miss you. I respect the way you play,'" Barber says. "Roy's my arch rival. Things like that show me players respect me and understand my decision and are generally happy and proud of me. That means a lot.

"(Former Giant and current Bears punter) Brad Maynard said, 'I'm going to miss watching you play.' The reaction has been extreme respect."

Barber has done everything possible to leave the one legacy anyone who respects the game embraces: Leave the game better than you found it. Pass the torch. In this case, the Tiki torch.

He has tried to mentor younger teammates, helping groom fellow Giants running back Brandon Jacobs to follow in his footsteps as best he can.

"I've had a good opportunity the last couple of years with Brandon to talk to him about the things I've learned and my approach towards football and things in life that transcend football," Barber says. "Jason Bell, one of our defensive backs, his locker is two down from mine. He'll see or hear about some of the things I'm doing off the field. He jokes a lot, but I know he's serious when he says, 'That's inspirational, Tiki. I've got to get my life outside of football started.'"

Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson approached Barber after Chicago's Nov. 12 win in the Meadowlands.

"He said, 'Tiki, I want to give you a call in the offseason,'" Barber recalls. "He said, 'I'm from the hood. I want to get myself in a more polished way and start thinking about other things off the field.'

"Even though guys don't understand what I do or why I do what I do, they want to emulate it."

Enduring a monster Tuesday workload the past two years to prepare for his transition to a news-based morning show host, Barber has impressed one ex-Giant, former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Phil Simms, who has worked hard in his own right to emerge as one of the game's most respected NFL television analysts.

"I watch Tiki on the Fox morning show and I'm going 'Wow! That's so hard to do,'" Simms says.

"He's playing football while he's doing that show. Man, I admire that.

"He's taken a different approach to this than most ex-athletes. Tiki's setting the bar really high."

"Tiki gets Pro Bowl honors. But for a New York athlete it's amazing that he doesn't really get the credit he deserves," Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi says. "He's just a great player. He's gotten faster, better and bigger as the years have gone on. That's not something that happens. He's defied all the rules when it comes to running backs.

"A lot of it is hard work. He's forged a Hall-of-Fame career. I hope he gets his honors. I just hope for all of our sakes, he gets a Super Bowl championship first."

Barber has the same exceptional vision for seeing what's ahead in his news broadcasting future as he does for finding daylight as a running back. And he's worked hard at sharpening that vision and talent for several years as he's steadfastly worked to prepare for both the coming season and the next phase of his life.

"Tiki has the rare ability of someone in a game of talented individuals to look ahead," Giants treasurer Jonathan Tisch, son of the late Giants co-owner Preston Robert Tisch, says. "Maybe there's a parallel to his vision and him finding a hole on the field. He also knew he had to find the next hole ahead in his life."

Mark Lepselter, longtime business manager for Tiki and his twin brother Ronde, is practically a third brother the way he's been embraced by the Barbers and their families. He has been helping Tiki Barber prepare for his transition game for the last nine years.

"Tiki is looking for an opportunity for growth," Lepselter says. "He's relentless about learning. His ascension in the NFL is similar to what he'll be in the news business as he went from good to great player to elite player.

"NBC's Matt Lauer is the guy he wants to strive to emulate down the road as he gets better and better in the broadcasting industry."

Lepselter adds that Barber's long-term goals are unprecedented for athletes who have made the transition from the field to the studio.

"No professional athlete has ever done anything like Tiki is trying. Not only will broadcasting be the linchpin of his future, the deal will be a hybrid deal in so far as it's going to be a news and sports deal, definitely, a morning show deal. But it will also entail other aspects of news."

Lepselter has met extensively with every network, including Fox News Channel and Fox Sports, HBO, ABC/ESPN and CNN.

What? No Dancing With the Stars?

"We're not doing reality TV," Lepselter says. "No disrespect. His path is clear.

"I met Tiki in 1997 when he was a backup and I represented a backup offensive lineman, Jerry Reynolds. Jerry said, 'You want to get to know this guy. This guy's different.' Tiki's unusual. The guy's just done it on another level."

And his will to achieve has never known any limits.

"Tiki sustained a bad knee injury when he was 12 years old," his mother, Geraldine Barber, says. "It was terrible. He was doing something he had no business doing — riding his bike around a construction site that was clearly marked. He and Ronde rode through the construction site and Tiki got too close to the edge and he and his bike went over a 30-foot drop."

Geraldine tried not to fixate on the grotesquely twisted kneecap that had the surgeon telling her privately that Tiki would likely never play contact sports.

"Tiki's sitting on the gurney inside the hospital ER and I said, 'What happened?'" his mom recalls. "They were waiting for the surgeon to come. I walked over and looked underneath the sheet and Tiki's kneecap is sitting up on top of his knee, totally out of place.

"I said to myself, 'OK, I don't need to see this.'

"The whole time, Tiki's asking, 'Am I getting out of here in time to make our baseball all-star game today?'

"I said, 'I don't think we're going to be done in time.'"

To this day, Tiki has a very slight limp according to his mom.

"The surgeon told me, 'He probably won't play contact sports and he'll probably have arthritis,'" Geraldine says. "To see him now, you'd never know. Every now and then he does get the arthritis."

How does she feel about his decision to retire from football after 10 seasons and 16,788 total yards?

"Tiki's taken some heat lately for being narcissistic and selfish about his decision," his mom says. "He's taken the hit. He just wants to win. What I sincerely hope kids will take from his decision is that you don't have to be what everyone thinks you are."

But mom has no doubt that her son's drive will propel him to further success after the NFL.

"If I had allowed the surgeon to tell me that he'll never walk straight again and he shouldn't have played sports, it would have broken his spirit.

"Tiki's always been very open-minded. He absolutely thrives on a challenge.

"Both of my kids are phenomenal fathers. I know he wants to be a part of his sons' lives — not just on weekends, he wants to be there to watch them be kids.

"It's been neat watching Tiki emerge in the New York arena where you have a lot of opportunities a lot of people can only dream of having. That's what I'm proudest of, how he's taken advantage of those opportunities."

One last question for Tiki: Any circumstance where he would reverse field and play one more season with the Giants?

"No, nope, nothing," Barber says emphatically as he gets ready to go to a meeting with another network programming executive.

"I'm not obsessed with being an NFL player. I never have been."

 

Groh not ready to ‘anoint’ Sewell
Coach thinks Lalich could play in 2007

In looking at the 2007 football season, it has become increasingly apparent that, as the quarterback goes, so goes Virginia.

Presumably, that quarterback will be Jameel Sewell, who will be a third-year sophomore, but Sewell’s performance over the past three games was just spotty enough to raise some question.

“Obviously, one of those games in there was brilliant, against top competition, as good a competition [Miami] as there is,” coach Al Groh said in a postseason news conference Nov. 28.

“I was talking to somebody who told me that he had been talking to Tom O’Brien, who said that Miami team had the best-looking defense he had seen all year. That was Tom’s perspective.

“In the two games that bracketed that game, the moving parts were just going too fast [at Florida State and Virginia Tech.]. Hopefully, that’s something that solidifies itself.”

The UVa defense should be good again, the offensive line should be experienced, wide receiver Kevin Ogletree will return from a 52-reception season and there is depth and talent at tight end.

Of course, tailback is an issue, but so is quarterback.

“I was listening to something driving in [to work] and they were talking about Rex Grossman,” said Groh of the Chicago Bears’ third-year quarterback. “I guess he’s had some of those games where things have just been moving too fast.

“Somwehere along the line, he was anointed. I would say, in this particular case [with Sewell], you might want to keep the anointing oils in the closet for a while.”

Groh let it be known that Sewell might have a restricted spring schedule after undergoing surgery to his left [throwing] wrist, which makes you wonder who will be getting repetitions in the spring.

One-game starter Kevin McCabe has another year of eligibility at his disposal, but McCabe couldn’t possibly have been happy with results of the 2006 season, when he threw a game-winning touchdown pass against Wyoming, started the next week against Western Michigan, then was benched for good at halftime of the Western Michigan game.

McCabe didn’t step on the field in the last 8 ½ games.

“I’m going to talk to Kevin [and] see what his plans are and talk to him about my plans,” Groh said. “I haven’t made a determination there yet.”

ASIDE FROM SEWELL, the only scholarship quarterbacks who are certain to be at spring practice are rising fourth-year junior Scott Deke, who has yet to play in a college game, and redshirt freshman Marc Verica.

(Of course, they could always take a look at the state’s all-time total-offense leader, ex-Gretna quarterback Vic Hall, but we don’t want to go there. Hall was a back-up cornerback and special-teams “gunner” this past season as a redshirt freshman).

If there is a challenge to Sewell, it most likely would come from Peter Lalich, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback recruit from West Springfield. You see true freshman quarterbacks play elsewhere in college football (Arkansas, Georgia and Florida this season), but it hasn’t happened at Virginia.

Heck, the Cavaliers had not previously used a redshirt freshman quarterback to the degree that they used Sewell this season.

Lalich was chosen for the Elite 11 camp held every year for the nation’s top prep quarterbacks “and I went out there and watched him out there next to Troy Smith, the [Jordan] Palmer kid from UTEP, the quarterback at Pitt [Tyler Palko], as well as 10 other quarterbacks from around the country,” West Springfield coach Bill Renner.

“I’ll tell you what now, and I bounced around the NFL for five years, if God keeps Peter Lalich healthy, he’s playing in the NFL. He’s that good. He’s as talented as anybody at any position in this state, [but] picking a quarterback is very specific to what you want to get done.

“If you want to throw the ball down the field and you want to have a pro-style passing game, Peter Lalich is as good as anybody in the country. If you want to run around and do the Michael Vick thing, then you pick [Hampton’s] Tyrod Taylor. I learned that from [Lalich] being recruited and people saying, ‘That’s not the offense we run.’ ”

So, could Lalich play for the Cavaliers next year?

“I don’t think this kid needs a redshirt year,” Renner said. “Forget the physical talent. OK? Let’s put aside the fact that he’s very skilled physically. He’s mentally more superior than he’s physically skilled. That’s a pretty big statement.

“In the last three games, he probably called 90 percent of his own plays. He understood the offense. He understood what we wanted to attack. He just has a photographic mind and that just impresses me more than any physical attribute. This kid, mentally, knows football. And, that’s why he can play as a freshman.”

IN RECRUITING, Fork Union Military Academy coach John Shuman said Virginia has indicated it will offer a scholarship to Anthony Castonzo, a 6-foot-6 ½, 255-pound offensive tackle and tight end from Lake Zurich, Ill. Shuman said Castonzo was a 4.4 student out of high school and had 36 out of a possible 36 on the ACT.

Castonzo was at Virginia on an unofficial tour Thursday with former Cave Spring quarterback Danny Aiken, who has attracted UVa’s interest as a deep snapper. Aiken also played tight end and defensive end at Fork Union and had a touchdown Tuesday in a scrimmage attended by dozens of scouts.

Shuman said that North Carolina has provided the papers that would enable linebacker Jarrell Miller to get a release from the national letter-of-intent he signed with the Tar Heels last year, but Miller, who has expressed an interest in UVa, is experiencing second thoughts.

Win -- at what cost?
Boosters' funds create concerns
Robbi Pickeral, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL - For the second time in four years, North Carolina's Educational Foundation is embarking on a multimillion-dollar fundraising drive to supplement the salary of a new coach -- a move that raises questions about the role of boosters, and big money, in intercollegiate athletics.
"No employee of a university should be beholden to some group outside of the university," said Murray Sperber, a professor emeritus at Indiana University and a leading authority on the role of college sports. "You look at the chain of command as to whose boss is whose, and it's not supposed to be the Rams."

UNC Chancellor James Moeser said that isn't the case at Carolina, where checks and balances are in place to make sure no donor erodes his, or athletics director Dick Baddour's, authority.

Still, by asking the foundation -- also known as the Rams Club -- to raise more than $8 million to help pay new football coach Butch Davis' salary, UNC is joining a national trend that allows fans to help pay coaches much more than educators are paid at the same institution.

"It's outrageous,'' said John R. Jordan Jr., a retired Raleigh attorney and former chairman of the UNC system Board of Governors who was outspoken about enormous contracts as far back as 1990. "It shows a lack of values. The university wasn't created to play football or any other collegiate sport. It was created to educate. Intercollegiate sports are fine but need to be kept in their place."

But Moeser, Baddour and N.C. State chancellor James Oblinger said last week that escalating salaries are simply the reality if schools want to be competitive.

Mike O'Cain's total compensation as the football coach at NCSU in 1999 was $250,000; Carl Torbush, a year later, made a total of $500,000 at UNC. Salaries have roared upward since then. Former UNC football coach John Bunting's deal was worth roughly $750,000 a year, and State coach Chuck Amato made about $1 million before being fired.

According to a Nov. 16 story in USA Today, at least 42 of the 119 Division I-A football coaches nationwide have total compensations of more than $1 million, and at least nine make more than $2 million. Those figures do not include Davis, who will average $1.86 million over seven years, without bonuses, or Tom O'Brien, who may make more than $1 million when he is hired by N.C. State.

"What we're witnessing is a national phenomenon," said Bill Friday, former co-chairman of the Knight Commission, created in 1989 to reform college athletics. "There are at least 15, 20 coaches in that salary range, and this is what the Knight Commission spoke up about a couple of years ago, raising the question, 'Why is this necessary?' ... There is no evidence that there is a correlation between spending and winning. The argument is that, 'The marketplace is telling us what to do.' If that's the case, the marketplace is telling us things are out of control."

Boosters doing more

That salary escalation has led boosters to contribute more to paychecks. In 2002, for instance, the Ole Miss Loyalty Foundation directly compensated then-football coach David Cutcliffe $737,625, according to The New York Times. In 2004, Texas coach Mack Brown received a $1.6 million annuity, financed through donations, on his 53rd birthday.

Earlier this fall, $537,500 from Florida State's booster club was used to pay off Seminoles offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden. The Seminoles' boosters also are obligated to make up the difference in head coach Bobby Bowden's $125,000-a-year annuity if TV money doesn't cover it.

Moeser, who recently served on an NCAA presidential task force that called on campus leaders to moderate their sports budgets, and Oblinger insist priorities are not out of whack at their institutions.

Moeser points out UNC has raised more than $1.9 billion in the eight-year, $2 billion Carolina First campaign. He said less than 10 percent of that (not including what the Rams Club will raise separately for Davis) is earmarked for athletics.

Oblinger said N.C. State always wants to be competitive in salaries with other schools in its peer group -- whether it's faculty salaries, chancellor salaries or coaching salaries.

"Am I real pleased that some of these numbers are astronomical compared to what some of our best professors are compensated?" Oblinger asked. "That's the market; and we're in a particular market. ... We're in the ACC; we're very competitive ... and we're competing there."

According to USA Today's figures, only one ACC coach is making more than Davis: Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech, who earns about $2 million a season, some of which is supplemented by donations to the Hokie Club.

Oblinger last week wouldn't discuss specifically what State will be willing to pay its new coach, and athletics director Lee Fowler declined comment. But Oblinger said, "We're not going for somebody who has no experience to take the job, so we know there's going to be an expense associated with it. ...

"I'm of the mind-set that we're in the ballpark with that package that Coach Amato had; that's just how it sorts out."

Mac Campbell, president of the Wolfpack Club, said last week that State's boosters would pony up extra funds for a coach if asked. But he didn't think it would be necessary, nor would it be appropriate.

"I, for one, don't think booster organizations should be involved [in raising money for coaches],'' he said. "We're volunteers, and not full-time employees ... and we should do what we do best and raise the money for facilities, scholarships and for other ancillary things."

In the past, those "ancillary things" have included moving expenses and some assistant coaches' contracts. The Wolfpack Club's biggest coaching contribution, Oblinger said, was Amato's $120,000-a-year annuity, worth $720,000 when he was fired last month.

Burley B. Mitchell Jr., a member of NCSU's board of trustees and a former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, said he doesn't like seeing that much booster money going into a coach's contract. But, he said, "It's something we have to live with. It would make us less competitive if we did not do it.

"It's a national phenomenon. You're either going to be in or be out. If you're in, you're in for the whole thing."

UNC eyes improvement

Money for UNC boosters will cover $8.05 million in "supplemental compensation" for Davis over seven years, plus up to $1.1 million in a retention bonus that would kick in after five seasons.

Baddour said the commitment to Davis shows UNC's determination to improve in football. Carolina has posted only three winning seasons since Mack Brown left for Texas in 1997.

"We could have made a decision that we're going to take a bigger gamble, a bigger chance [on a less experienced coach], and pay less money,'' Baddour said. "But given where we've been in the last nine years, that's not an option, in my opinion. And fortunately, others see it the same way.

"So, do I have those resources right here, right now? No. So where do we go? We have to go to the people who have been supportive of the program."

And by "people," he means a lot of them. One way to keep boosters in check, UNC believes, is to spread out the donations, which are tax-deductible to the givers because the Educational Foundation is a nonprofit.

"I would rather have a lot of contributions in the thousands of dollars than multimillion dollars,'' Moeser said. "That's why we have a list of 100 people. There might be a danger of having a donor so large that they have a sense of ownership. We don't want that, and we won't seek that, and I don't think that will be the result."

Rams Club president John Montgomery said about 50 people contributed to the foundation's 2003 drive to raise about $3.9 million in supplemental compensation for basketball coach Roy Williams, which is paid out over five years. No one person gave $1 million or more, Montgomery said. He would not say what the largest donation was.

Not that who gives what matters to Williams.

"You have to be aware of the outside influences and the outside expectations and the outside stress,'' Williams said. "But I've never been concerned about what somebody else may do to put more pressure on me. If I go home, like after Gonzaga, and I don't sleep, it's not because I'm wondering if I made [a donor] who gave 'X' amount of dollars mad."

With the hirings of Williams and Davis, Baddour said, the athletics department went to the Rams Club only after it had made a hire -- another way to keep control of the situation.

"We didn't, purposely, go raise the money and then select the coach,'' Baddour said. "That would have created an environment where people could say, 'I want influence,' or at least create the image, that impression of, 'I want influence over who you pick.' "

Approve two parts

The Board of Governors had to approve two parts of Davis' contract: the retention bonus and the buyout clause that would require the school to reimburse Davis for outside money from apparel and television deals if he were fired without cause.

The former would need to be approved for any UNC System employee, board chairman Jim Phillips Jr. said; the latter needed to be approved because of a rule against excessive buyouts the board adopted in 1991.

The main reasons the board agreed to the terms of the deal, Phillips said, is that the marketplace has changed substantially since the rule was passed -- and that, because of the Rams Club, UNC could pay the buyout money without endangering public funds.

"What drives that issue is a concern about financial wherewithal for the campuses to do that -- are they getting themselves in over their head from a financial perspective?'' Phillips said.

Moeser said he doesn't believe it will take long to raise the money. Although several boosters did not return calls for this story, others already have pledged their support for Davis.

Susan Prevette, who has attended UNC games for years with Rams Club executive committee member Gene Anderson, said they will support the Davis fundraising campaign.

"Gene and I loved Coach Bunting, and one of the thoughts that went through our minds was, 'Will we ever feel that kind of affection for a new football coach?' " Prevette said. "And with Butch Davis, we already do ... and we feel like a lot of others do, too.

"[The salary] is just business. If the seats are full, if you've got 10,000 additional people at $40 a seat, do the math. ... That extra money pays for a lot of things in the athletics department."

Rhoda Osterneck, a long-time Tar Heels supporter who endows four athletics scholarships, said she won't donate to Davis' salary.

"I don't feel that any coach in the country deserves all the money they're making," she said. "I feel like a lot of these professors need some money. ...

"That doesn't mean I don't support the new coach; I like him and I think he will win. And I want to win. ... And there will be plenty of big donors that will pay for him. Plenty of people will give."

And when those people give, Moeser said, there shouldn't be a concern.

"I'm not going to say they [boosters] don't have any influence, because that wouldn't be truthful,'' he said. "But so do individual people who buy season tickets, then vote with their seat by either not renewing their season tickets or don't show up.

"So when you have 40,000 people in Kenan Stadium for a homecoming, ACC conference game, that's a very important signal from your fan base that something is awry here -- and that's a signal that the program could not sustain itself if it stayed on that trajectory."

 

The call of the wild Wolfpack

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- You gotta love N.C. State.

Here in a state of swirling allegiances, where die-hard fans live and cry with such blind devotion that they learn to hate the opposition, Wolfpack athletics continue to entertain us all.

There's nothing else like it in collegiate sports, a modern sports machine that soars and crashes with regularity, all the while getting louder and louder, always headed for some great triumph or great fall.

And now this.

N.C. State, in its most brazen move yet, apparently has stolen Boston College's football coach. Just when it looked as if the Pack would venture off on some far-flung search for Chuck Amato's successor, it simply went back to Game 4 and took the opposing team's coach. For the first time since 1956, when North Carolina hired Jim Tatum away from Maryland, an ACC coach has left one school for the other.

For the past 50 years there's been something of a gentlemen's agreement that you don't do that sort of thing. Leave it to State to break the collegial code of conduct and hire away Tom O'Brien. As of late Thursday, there had been no announcement from either school or the conference. Don't expect one to come from the ACC offices, though the conference probably isn't too happy about it.

The strange thing is, no one seems all that happy about it. N.C. State's famously fanatical followers actually are livid. They seem to want Lee Fowler's head on a stick, and it's not clear why. All the besieged athletic director has done is go out and hire the antithesis of Amato, an experienced head coach who wins, graduates his players and causes no headaches for the AD or embarrassment to the fan base. O'Brien is the perfect hire for N.C. State.

By the reaction of State fans, you'd think Fowler had gone out and rehired current Virginia Tech quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain.

The stunning news landed on the message board at www.packpride.com at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. In less than three hours, the thread had been viewed more than 20,000 times, and more than 500 people had commented. You have to read it to believe it.

You also have to love it. N.C. State provides the kind of entertainment usually reserved for NASCAR, and it's not to be taken lightly. This kind of passion exists almost nowhere else. Boston College can only dream of a fan base so inspired that it can take down a basketball coach. Of course, there are those among the State followers who think Wolfpack football will now be coached by Herb Sendek.

The silence coming out of N.C. State is from the school's indecision on what to do next. Do they announce it? Do they wait until Monday? Do they continue to allow O'Brien to twist and BC to seethe and all of college football to continue to roll its eyes at N.C. State?

These are the days when it's most fun to watch State operate. These are the days when you look at the multimillion-dollar athletics operation and realize that despite all the money and layers of organization, these guys are just winging it. That's not a slam on the Wolfpack. In an otherwise bland world of button-down college sports, N.C. State's world is wide open.

If North Carolinians could be represented by just one of the Big Four schools, some would choose Carolina and some would choose Duke and some would choose Wake. But deep down, don't they all want to wear bright red?

This is a great time in N.C. State history, another great upheaval that makes national news and gives Pack fans both hope and dread of what comes next. If history is any indication, it will be a roiling mix of success and failure on a grand stage. This is what we love about the Wolfpack.

In a bold move that is fascinating to much of college football, State decided against any extended coaching search and instead went out and stole the coach from BC.

This was nowhere near as interesting as the strange affair that began with Sendek firing N.C. State before a series of coaches turned down the Pack, which then went out and hired a coach who didn't qualify under any of Fowler's original criteria. But in the end, he did something more brazen and shocking than anyone could have imagined.

He went out and hired a football coach he couldn't hire, a coach who already had a job in State's own conference, a coach who had released a statement one day earlier stating in no uncertain terms that he wasn't a candidate for any job in America.

So, of course, he ended up in Raleigh. And, of course, it landed awkwardly. And, of course, it caused such an outcry from so much of Wolfpack nation that you just had to smile. This is why Carolinians love State. Deep down, they all bleed Pantone(r) 186 Red.