For a second time in the last year, NC State is looking for a major sport head coach. Last spring Wolfpack fans everywhere followed a coaching search that seemed to drag on as several coaches decided they were not up to the challenge of coaching the Wolfpack. However, Sidney Lowe decided to come home to lead the Pack and has done very well early in his tenure. So, the dominate topic of conversation in Wolfpack Nation is who will be the next football coach of North Carolina State University?

Through the first couple of days of the coaching search there are several names that have surfaced as candidates for the job. The first choice was obvious to all Wolfpack fans, Bill Cowher. Coach Cowher has stated in the past he would love to come back to Raleigh and coach the Pack. Last time we had an opening he felt the timing was not right. However, NC State fans everywhere were hoping that with the Super Bowl he won as coach of the Steelers last year he would be ready to make the move back to Raleigh. Throw in the fact that he recently bought a home in Raleigh is seemed like it could happen. However, in a press conference today Cowher said that he was not a candidate for the job, see http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/515855.html for details. Landing Cohwer would have been AWESOME, but I was realistic from the beginning and saw that it was pretty unlikely that he would come. However, you can’t hit a home run if you don’t swing for the fences. So with Cowher out of the picture where do we turn now?

 

So glad you asked. I will throw a couple name around that have been thrown out there and my feelings towards them. First let’s look at Jimbo Fisher, the offensive coordinator at LSU. He is a great offensive mind and his squads are consistently pretty good. He has been in the SEC, a very good football conference, for a while now and should be used to the level of competition. He is also young, 41, and could be a long term solution for the Wolfpack. However, he has never been a head coach. If he were to come it would be key for him to get good assistants to help him with the transition to the head job. I really like the idea of Jimbo being the next coach in Raleigh.

 

Another name getting a lot of attention is Paul Johnson, currently the head coach at the Naval Academy. Johnson, a North Carolina native, has several things going for him. First of all he has been a head coach and has been very successful. He won Division I-AA championships at Georgia Southern and has built the Navy program into a consistent winner and bowl team. He is known for his high quality offences that can change to maximize the talent available. On the down side he has never coach at the ACC level and the adjustment could be tough, but not impossible. If he and his staff could recruit the top level athletes necessary to compete he should successful. Paul Johnson is a solid choice.

 

Now we move on to Norm Chow, an assistance coach with the Tennessee Titans and formerly with the Wolfpack. Chow was the offensive coordinator in Raleigh Chuck and Philip’s first year. He helped build the offence that lead to lots of success for the Wolfpack. He is also an offensive mastermind that would not doubt improve the Wolfpack offence. However, Chow would be 60 next fall and that does seem a bit old to get your first head coaching job. He would certainly be a name hire, but I don’t know if he would be the right hire.

 

David Cutcliffe has thrown his name into the ring as well. He is currently the offensive coordinator at Tennessee. Once again, are you noticing a theme, he is known for this offensive mind and could help in that area. However, he has had some health problems and only a modest amount of success at Ole Miss. I think there are better coaches out there but certainly someone we should take a look at.

 

Mike Sherman has also said he might be interested in the job. Sherman was the coach of the Green Bay Packers for several years. I don’t really know a lot about him so I will withhold any comments.

 

Overall, I believe there are several good candidates out there for the Wolfpack. Developments could come much slower than they did in basketball search because of the use of a search agency that will help control the flow on information. My thoughts on the current landscape are that Jimbo Fisher and Paul Johnson are the two best candidates. Each has their positives and negatives but I feel both could be successful in Raleigh. If I had to choose one guy right now to lead the Pack I would to with Jimbo.

 

Good Luck to all those involved in the search and I am looking for a much better football season in 2007! GO PACK!!!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 at 8:44 pm and is filed under General, Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.