State Fires Tom O'Brien

[jimsumner]

Any time a school higher on the food chain hires a successful coach from a school lower on the food chain, it looks good. On paper.

And sometimes, it turns out to be a good hire. Think of Jim Grobe. Or Dick Sheridan.

But not always. Remember Mark Duffner? Absolutely dominated at Holy Cross. Went to Maryland, looked like a great hire. Went splat and got fired a few years later.

So, who knows?

But it certainly isn't the wow! hire I expected when O'Brien was axed.

[Newton_14]

Any time a school higher on the food chain hires a successful coach from a school lower on the food chain, it looks good. On paper.

And sometimes, it turns out to be a good hire. Think of Jim Grobe. Or Dick Sheridan.

But not always. Remember Mark Duffner? Absolutely dominated at Holy Cross. Went to Maryland, looked like a great hire. Went splat and got fired a few years later.

So, who knows?

But it certainly isn't the wow! hire I expected when O'Brien was axed.

Jim, do you think State looked at Logan at all? I know he has stated he is done, but the lure to coach is a strong pull for most of these guys. I always thought he was a good college coach.

[jimsumner]

Jim, do you think State looked at Logan at all? I know he has stated he is done, but the lure to coach is a strong pull for most of these guys. I always thought he was a good college coach.

I never heard Logan's name mentioned.

I thought Dykes was the guy.

Not sure what happened.

Keep in mind that there are higher-profile jobs than State available.

[Newton_14]

I never heard Logan's name mentioned.

I thought Dykes was the guy.

Not sure what happened.

Keep in mind that there are higher-profile jobs than State available.

Mark Thomas stated yesterday that he felt it was going to be Dykes as well. The higher profile jobs being available hurt them for sure. Yow is taking a gamble here. Time will tell I guess. Definitely not a noise making hire.

[OldPhiKap]

I never heard Logan's name mentioned.

I thought Dykes was the guy.

Not sure what happened.

Keep in mind that there are higher-profile jobs than State available.

I would bet that the Texas job opens up after they lose to Kansas State in the next few hours.

[pamtar]

Anyone who has followed state football over the last twenty years would vomit at the idea of Steve Logan being their head coach. Not saying he isn't a great coach, and would probably do a great job, but no. Just no.

[moonpie23]

Anyone who has followed state football over the last twenty years would vomit at the idea of Steve Logan being their head coach. Not saying he isn't a great coach, and would probably do a great job, but no. Just no.

well, i'm a Gamecock, and trust me, I hated Spurrier.....umm...that is until he was OUR Spurrier...

i'm a heat fan, and...well, i HATED ray ray....that is to say....until he was OUR ray ray...

[chris13]

Maybe Gary Williams called Dykes

[YmoBeThere]

Any time a school higher on the food chain hires a successful coach from a school lower on the food chain, it looks good. On paper.

And sometimes, it turns out to be a good hire. Think of Jim Grobe. Or Dick Sheridan.

But not always. Remember Mark Duffner? Absolutely dominated at Holy Cross. Went to Maryland, looked like a great hire. Went splat and got fired a few years later.

So, who knows?

But it certainly isn't the wow! hire I expected when O'Brien was axed.

Or Brian Kelly...Grand Valley State to Central Michigan to Cincinnati to the BCS title game.

[PackMan97]

I never heard Logan's name mentioned.

I thought Dykes was the guy.

Not sure what happened.

Keep in mind that there are higher-profile jobs than State available.

I believe the media ran with the Dykes idea (smokescreen maybe?), but my gut says Doeren was the #1 all along. Apparently he was interviewed on Monday and has been in from the very beggining. Our four targets appear to have been Dykes, Morris (Clemson OC), Doeren and Hazzel (Kent St).

He fits the mold perfectly...the part I'm excited the most about is that he was the DC at WI for five years. As much as I loved Dykes and the though of the Air Raid offense coming to Raleigh, I was worried we'd be losing game 70-73 as Dykes has never shown much interest in D.

Best of all...Doeren's wardrobe is already red

Illinois after two straight championship seasons to take over at North Carolina State.
N.C. State announced Doeren's hiring Saturday - less than 24 hours after he guided the 19th-ranked Huskies to their second consecutive Mid-American Conference championship, and just six days after firing Tom O'Brien.

Doeren claimed a MAC title both years he was at NIU and is 23-4 since taking over the Huskies with a 17-1 record in conference play.

...

Doeren came to Northern Illinois in December 2010 after five seasons as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator. He replaced Jerry Kill at NIU and led the Huskies to an 11-win season in 2011 that was capped by a MAC title and a win over Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz2DtGMBO2t

[Jarhead]

On Friday I was talking with a friend who is a State alum. He told me that Dave Doeren of Northern Illinois is the choice for NC State Head Coach. I expected to see it somewhere in the media yesterday, but the first reliable confirmation for me was at the breakfast table this morning. Front page of the News and Observer. I guess that I don't get around much. Looks like a good choice to me. My state friend is happy, so congratulations to Yow. Very fast decision, don't you think?

[Olympic Fan]

I think Jim's point that any time a coach steps up a level, you are taking a risk. Do you get Brian Kelly or Mark Duffner?

Doeren seems like a good risk, although I don't think he's a slam dunk.

I watched his Northern Illinois team upset Kent State Friday night in the MAC title game and they appeared to be a well coached team -- nothing uncoventional, just a solid, well-coached team.

It was their second straight MAC title ... and his 23-4 record at NIU is awfully good.

But ...

Just a small caveat. It's not like Doeren built the NIU program. Joe Novak did that, inheriting a program than was as down as Duke was when Cutcliffe got here. He endured a 1-10, 0-11 start and finally got to the point where he coachesd seven straight winning seasons, including three MAC division titles (but never won the overall title).

He ran out of gas and finished with a 2-9 season and retired. He was replaced by Jerry Kill, who quickly got the program back on tract with a 6-7 bowl season, a 7-6 bowl season and a 10-3 division championship season (lost in the title game).

THAT'S the program he handed off to Doeren (to take the Minnesota program, where he's strill struggling to get it going).

Doeren, to his credit, has taken the program where it has never been -- winning two MAC titles in his two years. But understand, he's basically doing that with Kill's players.

Is he the dynamic recruiting machine that Yow wants? I have no idea ... and I suggest, neither does Yow. It would concern me that he's been a midwestern guy all his life (except for one year as a grad assistant at Southern Cal) -- football recruiting is much more regional than basketball recruiting. He's never recruited in the South.

It will be interesting to see what kind of staff Doeren puts together. I hope he gets somebody with North Carolina recruiting roots (Ken Browning maybe?)

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I think Jim's point that any time a coach steps up a level, you are taking a risk. Do you get Brian Kelly or Mark Duffner?

Doeren seems like a good risk, although I don't think he's a slam dunk.

I watched his Northern Illinois team upset Kent State Friday night in the MAC title game and they appeared to be a well coached team -- nothing uncoventional, just a solid, well-coached team.

It was their second straight MAC title ... and his 23-4 record at NIU is awfully good.

But ...

Just a small caveat. It's not like Doeren built the NIU program. Joe Novak did that, inheriting a program than was as down as Duke was when Cutcliffe got here. He endured a 1-10, 0-11 start and finally got to the point where he coachesd seven straight winning seasons, including three MAC division titles (but never won the overall title).

He ran out of gas and finished with a 2-9 season and retired. He was replaced by Jerry Kill, who quickly got the program back on tract with a 6-7 bowl season, a 7-6 bowl season and a 10-3 division championship season (lost in the title game).

THAT'S the program he handed off to Doeren (to take the Minnesota program, where he's strill struggling to get it going).

Doeren, to his credit, has taken the program where it has never been -- winning two MAC titles in his two years. But understand, he's basically doing that with Kill's players.

Is he the dynamic recruiting machine that Yow wants? I have no idea ... and I suggest, neither does Yow. It would concern me that he's been a midwestern guy all his life (except for one year as a grad assistant at Southern Cal) -- football recruiting is much more regional than basketball recruiting. He's never recruited in the South.

It will be interesting to see what kind of staff Doeren puts together. I hope he gets somebody with North Carolina recruiting roots (Ken Browning maybe?)

Well put. I don't know how much you can tell about a coach after two years at a program that was in good shape when he arrived.Much as I think you have to give a coach 4 years so that he is primarily coaching his own recruits (unless there are extenuating circumstances), similarly, it is hard to judge a coach who is working with his predecessor's talent.

Similarly, from State's perspective, I'm concerned that he has never worked anywhere remotely close to Raleigh. Hopefully this will serve as an opportunity for Coach Cut to continue the great job he's done of improving recruiting in the area. One would have thought that Doeren would be a better fit for the Purdue opening - a program at a similar place in the pecking order as State, but right in the middle of his geographic comfort zone.

[PackMan97]

One would have thought that Doeren would be a better fit for the Purdue opening - a program at a similar place in the pecking order as State, but right in the middle of his geographic comfort zone.

In the presser he said three other high profile schools contacted him about interviews and he declined saying he didn't want to waste anyone's time after he interviewed with us on Monday. Sounds like he was our #1 pick from the start. I'd say he's 1-0 so far having won the press conference.

He may not be from the area, but that's part of why you hire a staff, to fill in where you lack.