Mark Gottfried Hired as N.C. State Basketball Coach

Mark Gottfried, former head coach at Alabama, reached a deal in principle to become the new head basketball coach at N.C. State. The question now becomes, did N.C. State settle on Gottfried because so many top head coaches rebuffed them?

Often schools like to have their new coach in place before the first of April, unless they are waiting on a specific candidate. In this case, N.C. State was waiting on VCU coach Shaka Smart. Smart turned them down in order to sign a new eight-year deal worth an average of $1.2 million annually. And Smart wasn’t even their top choice.

In recent weeks, N.C. State had reached out to Rick Barnes, Sean Miller, Ben Howland and Chris Mack among others. None of these coaches seriously considered leaving their current position to take the N.C. State job.

So why did so many coaches decide N.C. State wasn’t attractive enough for them?

For one, athletic director Debbie Yow has earned a reputation, fair or not, of being difficult to work with over the years. Her clashes with Maryland coach Gary Williams were so bad that it became an untenable situation for both sides. In June 2010, Yow left Maryland for N.C. State, presumably before Maryland could relieve her of her duties.

Today, when introducing Gottfried, Yow took a shot at Williams alleging he sabotaged the N.C. State coaching search with some of his remarks. Williams of course took offense to those accusations. The consensus opinion is many head coaches did not want to work for Yow, considering how she tried to get Williams fired on more than one occasion.

Taking a shot at Williams at her new coach’s introductory press conference is one thing. Taking a shot at Williams saying he sabotaged the coaching search is implying to Gottfried he isn’t the guy you wanted. While it is public knowledge Gottfried wasn’t the Wolfpack’s first choice, Yow should do everything she could to make Gottfried feel he was the guy she wanted all along.

Another reason the N.C. State job isn’t as desirable as in past years is the presence of Duke and North Carolina mere minutes from N.C. State’s Raleigh campus. Sure, Duke and UNC have always been there, but both programs are arguably as strong as they have ever been.

N.C. State has experienced moderate success since the departure of legendary coach Jim Valvano 21 years ago. Herb Sendek was the most successful, having reached the NCAA tournament five consecutive seasons before he left to become head coach at Arizona State.

Even with the presence of Duke and UNC, N.C. State has been able to recruit talented players. The problem has been keeping them in school. Gottfried faces a tough challenge in recruiting but good players will come.

N.C. State has deep and rich basketball tradition. They have two national championships, several conference championships and host of NCAA tournament appearances. The potential to get this program back to the NCAA tournament exists, but is Gottfried the right guy?

In 11 seasons at Alabama, Gottfried took his teams to the NCAA tournament five times. So he has experienced some success, although his last two-and-a-half seasons were somewhat disappointing.

Debbie Yow clearly wanted to make a splash hire. Yow wanted to re-energize an excellent fanbase before fans stopped coming to games altogether. Making a splash hire is often good in the short-term, but long-term can have a negative impact on the program unless you win consistently.

Maybe hiring Gottfried, who was on no one else’s radar, is a good move for N.C. State. Gottfried seemed to adapt his coaching style to meet the skill of his players. He seemed to place a strong emphasis on defense. Those are good traits to have for a head coach.

While this hire looks questionable, N.C. State fans should give Gottfried time to get his players in before assuming this will not work. Gottfried, at least from the outside, appears to be a better hire than former Wolfpack point guard Sidney Lowe was. Lowe was a sentimental pick but produced lackluster results.

N.C. State fans deserve a winner. Watching highlights of Jim Valvano running across the floor in 1983 looking for someone to hug is one of the NCAA’s more lasting images.

Good luck Mark Gottfried.