What's ahead for N.C. State Wolfpack football? Head Coach Dave Doeren returns for 8th season; Interesting, tough 2020 schedule looms

Wolfpack AD Boo Corrigan

            Is the writing on the wall for Dave Doeren?
            Lest you live in a vacuum, all it takes is a little reading between the lines of a statement from N.C. State’s athletics director Boo Corrigan in which he spouts typical post-season support of his head football coach, who just completed his seventh season (4-8 overall and 1-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) with the Wolfpack.

            “The conclusion of a season is a time to reflect, look in the mirror and evaluate the overall direction of the program,” said Corrigan, just seven months on the job in Raleigh, in the December 2 statement. “Dave Doeren is our football coach. He has earned it by winning nine games in back-to-back seasons and I look forward to doing all I can to help. The 2019 season didn’t unfold the way any of us wanted but we will continue to invest in this program, and to provide the resources to help N.C. State football compete at the highest level.”

Wolfpack football coach Dave Doeren

            Part of the “help” required to “compete at the highest level” was a staff change. Instead of breaking Doeren’s contract at a fee of more than $6.6 million and looking for another head coach, defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable was shown the door. He’s owed just $800,000 for the single year remaining on his contract. Firing of an assistant, especially a coordinator, happens often when a head coach is on the hot seat and when coach is told to make staff changes if he wants to stay.

            As far as competing at the highest level, it shouldn’t take much for Doeren to move upward because being at the bottom means upward (or status quo, unfortunately) is the only way to go. After seven seasons in Raleigh, Doeren has a 21-35 ACC record. The 1-7 mark this year and his 0-8 record in 2013 landed the Wolfpack in dead last both seasons in what many football experts say is the weakest from top to bottom of the Power 5 conferences: ACC, Southeastern, Big 10, Big 12, and Pac 12.

            In between the first and last seasons, Doeren coached the Wolfpack to three straight 3-5 conference records and then jumped up to 6-2 and 5-3. Corrigan’s stated reason for retention was about overall wins in seasons 2017 and 2018. Hopefully for Wolfpack fans, improvement will mean winning at least four ACC games sooner than later, though the fan base deserves better.

            The 2020 season doesn’t get any easier for the Wolfpack, even if its personnel is healthy and talented, both of which are to be seen.

            For starters, next fall, it appears N.C State, coming off a dismal 2019 season, will open the on the road in an ACC match-up. If that holds true, and with a home game against Mississippi State set for the next weekend, the Wolfpack will have to get much better faster or there could be a 2019 repeat in 2020.

            More on the schedule a few paragraphs later.

            After the Wolfpack’s 2019 final game last Saturday, a miserable and embarrassing 41-10 loss at home to North Carolina, The News & Observer columnist Luke DeCock, in his post-mortem column, summed up N.C. State’s game performance and future:

There’s none of (UNC’s post-game) optimism at N.C. State, where the Wolfpack dropped its sixth straight to close out a difficult, injury-plagued season at 4-8. Even if fully healthy, it’s hard to see any obvious areas of automatic improvement next season, especially given the quarterback situation, and Dave Doeren already reshuffled his staff after last season, always the hole card of a coach with few other options.

N.C. State has certainly had its moments in this rivalry under Doeren, but with the inroads North Carolina has made on the recruiting trail under (coach Mack) Brown and the Wolfpack in a rebuilding process of indeterminate length, the gap between the programs at the moment appears to be as big as Saturday’s final score.

            If what DeCock writes holds true, that’s not exactly heart-warming for the Wolfpack program, especially for the fans who should and rightfully expect much better from the program and from the coach who will be entering his 8th season. Unfortunately, that seven-year 21-35 record against ACC brethren is a just plain lousy, ninth worst among the 12 head coaches N.C. State has had since 1953 when the ACC was formed.

            So here comes 2020.

Instead of suffering in the heat and humidity of a Labor Day weekend game in Raleigh’s Carter-Finley Stadium, the Wolfpack—according to schedules of the 2020 season found on the website FBschedules.com—could open at Clemson, at Louisville, or at Syracuse on the first weekend in September.

Or, not play that weekend at all and then be without an open date for the next 12 weeks.

N.C. State’s non-conference games are Sept. 12 (Mississippi State, home), Sept. 19 (at Troy), Sept. 26 (Delaware, home), and Nov. 21 (Liberty, home).

Schedules for Clemson, Louisville and Syracuse, along with Georgia Tech, which is not on the Wolfpack’s calendar, do not have games scheduled (according to the FBschedules.com site) for Labor Day weekend. That usually means playing a conference game that weekend, but with five of 14 conference teams not scheduled for Labor Day, and since only four teams could meet that weekend, something will change between now and when the official ACC schedule is published in January, maybe.

            While using spring practice to improve current personnel and using part of pre-season camp to determine the role of incoming freshmen, there will be at least one week of preparation for the opening game, especially important to get off on the right foot in conference play, the season’s first game. One week may not be enough, and with N.C. State’s young team (again next fall, though it shouldn’t be as young as touted in 2019), time is simply not on the Wolfpack’s side.

            After Labor Day is the home game with Mississippi State which was 6-6, 3-5 in the Southeastern Conference in 2019. It’s a Power 5 matchup that’s program-establishing for both teams. The Bulldogs open the season the previous week against New Mexico which was 2-10 in 2019. An easier opener, it seems, than the Wolfpack’s.

            Two of the three remaining non-conference games will not be effortless. The Wolfpack travels to Troy in game three. The Trojans were 5-7 overall and 3-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. In addition to hosting N.C. State, Troy plays at Tennessee in 2020.

            The easiest game for 2020 should be at home against Delaware, another 5-7, 3-5 (Colonial Athletic Association) team. The Liberty game in late November, a week prior to the end of the season, is supposed to be a breather game before playing at North Carolina, if the Wolfpack and Tar Heels keep the Thanksgiving weekend spot on the ACC schedule. The two schools jointly requested that a few years ago, but in nine of 10 seasons of Mack Brown’s first stint at UNC, the Tar Heels and Duke played the last regular season game for each team. Will Brown want to return to that long-time tradition? It’s a good question to ask.

            Liberty, FBS independent, was 7-5 in 2019 with one win against New Mexico and two versus Mexico State, one in Las Cruces and one in Lynchburg. A game late in the season will not be easy for the Wolfpack, especially if there’s a losing streak underway and with that game in Chapel Hill pending.

            Speaking of Duke, the Blue Devils and the Wolfpack renew their rivalry for the first time since 2013, a game Duke won 38-20 in Durham. Duke also won, 49-28, in Carter-Finley Stadium in 2009. In 2008, State won, 27-17, at Wallace Wade “Outdoor” Stadium. N.C. State and Duke did not play 2004-2007, but the Blue Devils and the Wolfpack, about 30 miles apart, had played every season starting with the 1945 game and through 2003.

Overall, Duke leads the series, 41-36-5. This will be just the third game between Duke and State in 17 seasons, and that’s not just a shame; it’s a damn shame. What was once a good rivalry game has turned into just another conference game because of ACC expansion. No matter the date of the game, it will be a tough one for the Wolfpack.

            Duke, a home game for N.C. State, takes the place of Georgia Tech on the Wolfpack’s 2019 schedule. The remaining games are the same as last year with conference home games against Boston College, Florida State, and Wake Forest, and games at Clemson, Louisville, Syracuse, and North Carolina. Of those seven divisional games, maybe a win against Boston College can be penciled in; the other six will be toss-ups at best. State will not be favored.

            With just 13 weeks of regular season games in 2020, it’s likely the Wolfpack’s open date will be either October 17 or 24, the two Saturdays when the North Carolina State Fair is scheduled. The other State Fair date will be used for an away game. So, look for the Wolfpack’s schedule to have two home games in September, three in October and two in November, or something similar.

On the surface, the Wolfpack could and should win at least three non-conference games. If the team wins all four, no matter what happens Labor Day weekend, overall the team is looking at another losing season and a way-down-the-line finish in the ACC.

Hopefully not.

In Doeren’s second season, N.C. State was 7-5 overall regular season record and 3-5 in the ACC. Don’t expect much more than that in 2020, and maybe less.

What is the writing on the wall for Dave Doeren? Yes, Doeren won nine games in his fifth and sixth seasons, and yes, his team made it to five straight bowl games. But in total, the football program has been mediocre at best, especially when looking at the 21-35 ACC record.

So, as far as the writing on the wall is concerned, Wolfpack fans want to know but only Doeren and Corrigan have the answer.

State-Carolina: One game DOES a season make

     It has been said, by many wise men not in a position of truth, that one game does not a season make. But, this week, for Wolfpack fans, a win by N.C. State over its arch-rival, North Carolina, will go a long way of healing a dismal and trying season of football.

     Fans of the light (and dark) Carolina blue might quickly say that Duke is their rival, not N.C. State. But, this week, the Tar Heels must play as if it’s the ultimate rivalry game, especially with a chance to gain a sixth win and a bowl game trip in late December.

     The two teams meet in Raleigh’s Carter-Finley Stadium Saturday evening for the 108th time. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised nationwide on ACCN.

     Except for the game with UNC, the Wolfpack’s season appeared over a few weeks ago, if not for sure last Thursday at Georgia Tech. With a conference record of 1-6 and an overall mark of 4-7, the game Saturday is N.C. State’s senior day, its season-ender, and its bowl game all wrapped into one neat package.

     Many Wolfpack fans proclaim year in and year out State could be 1-11 and claim success if the one victory came at the demise of the Tar Heels. An 11-1 record with a loss to Carolina would be devastating, especially if the defeat to UNC was the season’s last game, even with a berth in the ACC title game and a trip to the Orange Bowl already established.

     The Tar Heels don’t feel the same, but, this year, with neither team showing superlative skills, adding a win, especially because of the opponent is important to both.

     Outwardly, the Tar Heels don’t look at a game with N.C. State any more important than any other game that a win would make the team bowl eligible. It’s just another game for Carolina; the Wolfpack happens to be the opponent.

     Saturday, N.C. State fans will say, is a chance for the Wolfpack to get three victories in one: a win over Carolina, a loss by the Tar Heels, and a stop to bowl game talk by UNC in a season where its current 5-6 record feels to be light years ahead of the Wolfpack’s season.

     Fans of the Tar Heels will point to history with its lopsided winning mark in the series that started in 1894 with 65 wins to the Wolfpack’s 36. There have been six ties.

     However, after not meeting in 1952, the two have played every year since the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the record is much closer with North Carolina ahead 34-31.

     N.C. State would like to close that gap, starting Saturday. UNC would like to extend the difference, get a sixth victory for the year, and be rewarded with a bowl game.

     Yes, it has been said that one game does not a season make. Make no mistake. This is a rivalry game for both schools. It’s about bragging rights; it’s about recruiting in North Carolina. It’s about going to a bowl or being the spoiler to prevent it.

     The record books are tossed. The jawing continues. Kickoff can’t come soon enough. This game DOES and WILL a season make, one way or another.

Are these trying times for NC State football? Yes!

Earle Edwards

                Imagine for a moment or maybe just a fleeting millisecond, it’s the summer of 2030, and to the surprise of many, Dave Doeren announces his retirement just prior to his 18th season as N.C. State’s head football coach. To have such a thought would be more than a simple taxing-on-the-brain, especially at this point in the 2019 season, as Doeren approaches the end of his 7th year with the Wolfpack.

Dave Doeren

                It’s trying times, such as the 4-6 overall and 1-5 Atlantic Coast Conference records with two games remaining, when knowing Wolfpack fans can only hope Doeren turns out to be as successful as Earle Edwards who led the Wolfpack for 17 years, 1954-70.

                Edwards had a rocky start in Raleigh, especially in ACC play. In his first six seasons, the Wolfpack won nine conference games, lost 22, and tied three, a 28.1% ACC win rate. To his credit, in his seventh year, the Wolfpack was 4-1-1 against the ACC and upped the ratio to 34.2%. Rocky at best for seven seasons except in 1957, his fourth year, when the Wolfpack won the conference title. In those seven seasons, Edwards was 4-3 against North Carolina despite playing all but one of the seven in Chapel Hill. Even with bad overall and conference records, Edwards was a hero because of beating UNC.

                Doeren and the Wolfpack were 20-28 (41.7%) in the ACC his first six seasons, 2013-2018. With a 1-5 ACC record this year (at this writing), the head coach has a 38.9% winning mark in the league. The last two 2019 games—at Georgia Tech (2-8, 1-6) this week and at home Thanksgiving weekend against North Carolina (4-6, 3-4 with a home game against Mercer this week)—are not going to be easy. To the surprise of many, the Wolfpack could win both, post records of 6-6 and 3-5, go to a bowl game, declare the season success, and pay Doeren a bonus. Or the Wolfpack could lose both or split, obviously.

In any event, Doeren’s record in conference games is not good and could get worse. The season appears headed to a somewhat meaningful clash with the Tar Heels. If both N.C. State and UNC win this week, the November 30 game will be a qualifier for a post-season bowl game. If that’s the case, that game could be the ultimate Toilet Bowl: two teams with losing records trying to get a sixth win to qualify just so the team can practice another three weeks and have a recruiting edge over the other.

The Wolfpack could lose both at Georgia Tech and to UNC at home, handing Doeren a 1-7 league mark, a bookend to his 0-8 start his freshman year, 2013. If that’s the case, Doeren’s Wolfpack teams will be 21-35 in seven years of ACC play, a 37.5% winning percentage, better but nearly exact to Edwards in seven years except Doeren doesn’t have an ACC title. To his credit, Doeren is 4-2 against UNC. A loss drops that to 4-3, same as Edwards. Even if N.C. State wins out, the ACC record would be 23-33 (41.1%).

                So, why would anyone hope Doeren turns out to be as good a coach as Edwards?

                From 1961 through 1970, Edwards’s Wolfpack was 42-33 (62.7%) in conference games and won four conference titles (1963, 1964, 1965, and 1968). If Doeren can match those numbers and titles, retiring in the summer of 2030 would send him out with lots of love. However, in the next 10 seasons, 2020 through 2029, Doeren’s Wolfpack must win 50 of 80 league games, an average yearly mark of 5-3, to match Edwards's final 10 years percentage. But that would not be good enough to win an ACC title much less get to the ACC title game so there would need to be at least four very good seasons and several down years. In his first seven years, Doeren’s ACC average is 3-5. Records of 5-3 for the next 10 seasons would be a huge turn-around, but still mediocre in the ACC.

                The 2019 pre-season Wolfpack hype gave fans hope for a much better season than what has transpired, especially after back-to-back overall 9-4 records and 6-2 and 5-3 ACC marks the last two seasons. There were predictions of at least eight wins, maybe nine, and some prognosticators said there could be 10 or 11 wins, even with inexperience at quarterback. Those projections, of which little or no objections came from within the football program, included three cupcake non-conference games and a Power 5 game at West Virginia, a team that pummeled the Wolfpack, 44-27, but has proven (4-6, 2-5 after 10 games) to be as bad as N.C. State.

                There has been some worthwhile reasoning offered along the way: the team is young, and injuries have weakened the squad, and he lost some key coaches. But this is Doeren’s seventh season. That’s seven recruiting classes in a program that has established itself as a pipeline of top-rated NFL picks. Shouldn’t there be many more upperclassmen than the roster shows; how about better depth than shown on the field? And, if Doeren is a good head coach, losing assistants to other programs shouldn’t matter so much.

                Much of Doeren’s recruiting success (and he has been successful especially with North Carolina talent) has been directly related to the downfall of football in Chapel Hill. But with UNC coach Larry Fedora out and Mack Brown in, that bus of out recruiting the Tar Heels has left the station and may not return.

From his start in Raleigh, Doeren has portrayed N.C. State as a program that works hard and gets dirty. But during the embarrassing 44-10 loss at Wake Forest and a second half defensive collapse in a 34-20 loss at home against Louisville, Doeren, through the eyes of television, looked like a deer in staring into headlights, not knowing which way to go. That will turn off recruits as fast as Brown will gather them in. Brown as already flipped two Wolfpack commitments this year. Are there are more to come?

Last March, Doeren was awarded a new five-year contract, a base salary of $1.625 million, matched by media rights holders and equipment suppliers boosting him over $3.2 million annually, a stupid amount to pay a football coach with an ACC average of 3-5. In a statement provided by N.C. State after the new contract—negotiated by then athletics director Debbie Yow, agreed to by Chancellor Randy Woodson, and rubber-stamped by the NCSU Board of Trustees and the UNC Board of Governors—was announced, Doeren said in part, “…we’re excited with what we’re building with N.C. State football…”

Doren’s ACC percentage is 9th best of the 12 head coaches at NC State since 1953 when the league was formed. No one should be excited about that. Pointing to overall season records and bowl games is okay if you wish to go down that road, but the Wolfpack’s non-conference schedules have included many weak sisters. Going to a bowl game is as easy as scheduling six wins, three or four non-league games and being 2-6 or 3-5 in the ACC. It’s hard not to go to a bowl game if you’re a member of the ACC. 

If Doeren is locked in as head football coach, Wolfpack fans should hope he turns out to be as good as Edwards. Dreaming of success such as of when Lou Holtz and Bo Rein combined for 31 ACC wins against 13 losses and two ties in eight straight seasons, 1972-1979, and won the Wolfpack’s last two ACC titles appears to be out of the question. Dick Sheridan (31-18-1) was the last Wolfpack coach to be above .500 against ACC teams, but Mike O’Cain (26-30), Chuck Amato (25-31), Tom O’Brien (22-26), and even Monte Kiffin (8-10) did better percentage-wise than has Doeren thus far.

Trying times for N.C. State football? Absolutely. This year anyway. Check back for an update after the 2029 season, Doeren’s 17th at N.C. State, if you can image that, even for that fleeting millisecond. Or maybe check back after the 2019 season-ender against the Tar Heels. To a fault, Wolfpack fans are forgiving of coaches that beat UNC no matter what happens in other games that season. If the Wolfpack wins that game, Doeren will ride off the field on his players shoulders and there will probably be a contract extension waiting for him. 

Yes, considering everything, these are trying times for Wolfpack football fans.

Click to enlarge and read.

ACC Basketball Equitable Scheduling

Now that the Atlantic Coast Conference will be playing a 20-game conference basketball schedule, starting this season but much to the chagrin (mildly put) of many of the 15-team league’s head coaches, it’s time to take a deeper dive at equitable scheduling. 

What we have is not equitable. A one-time run through ACC opponents for 14 of 20 conference games is fair enough. But, the other six games for each school is where balanced becomes unbalanced.

All ACC teams are not equal therefore schedules cannot be equally balanced. Duke and North Carolina headline the league every year. Other ACC members might win a national title (Virginia most recently) and take national headlines for beating UNC or Duke during the regular season. If your team has two games in one season against either or both UNC and Duke, you have a tougher league schedule than those with one game versus those elite programs. For instance, N.C. State plays Duke and UNC twice each this year. Is that fair?

There’s no way schedules can be equaled in one season. So, here is not to reason why but here is to propose two different scheduling scenarios that over a two-year period evens the competition.

SCENARIO ONE: Expand to a 21-game conference schedule. With 15 teams, each league member would play the other 14 teams once and then seven for a second time. The next year, each team would play all 14 and then the other seven. In two years, each league team will have played all teams three times, not just once, twice or four times, a huge upside to equitable scheduling.

The downside, of course, is UNC and Duke would play one regular season game one year and two the next, leaving a void in ESPN’s twice a year “Battle of the Blues” with its huge reach across the United States and around the world. The ACC benefits with the increased rating, and we all know that ratings equal dollars.

As far as the Wolfpack playing UNC only three times in two years, giving up a game against UNC every two years to give the ACC a two-year balanced schedule would be admirable and probably satisfy the red and white alums who prefer not to lose to UNC most of the time.

This first scenario is possible but not probable because the UNC-Duke schedule would bother the bean counters at league owner ESPN. This brings us to:

SCENARIO TWO: Reduce the number of conference games to 18. This requires breaking the conference into two divisions with UNC and Duke in one division and the remaining 13 teams in the other division. In the latter, each of the 13 teams would play the other six teams once and six teams twice. The next year, the schedule would reverse so all 13 teams will have played the other 12 teams three times in two seasons. None of the 13 would play UNC or Duke. That’s 18 games each for those 13 teams.

UNC and Duke would play 18 times in one season, nine in Chapel Hill and nine in Durham, unless they agreed to play on some neutral courts such as Greensboro, Charlotte, Madison Square Garden in New York, the Forum in Los Angeles, in Chicago and other places, maybe even in London and Paris or in Japan and China. All UNC-Duke games could be televised on the entire family of ESPN networks with many different angles explored during the games. Dick Vitale could have his own channel to rant and rave constantly throughout the broadcast as would Jay Bilas. These 18 games would create a ratings bonanza, so all 15 league teams would benefit.

As far as participation in the ACC Tournament, that’s easy. After the final games of the regular season, the 12th and 13th teams of the 13-team division have a play-in game on Tuesday of tournament week. On Wednesday, seeds 5 through 12 play to eliminate four teams with the winners facing seeds 1-4 on Thursday. Friday night, the Thursday winners play (semifinals), and the group of 13 finals are played Saturday afternoon. The winner is congratulated.

So, what about UNC and Duke in the ACC tournament?

Easy. The two would play Saturday, with tip-off coming one hour after the 13-team division finals. The winner of the UNC-Duke game is crowned ACC Champion and receives the league’s automatic NCAA bid, which is how it should be, of course, and is an NCAA number one seed. The loser is a number two seed.

 And, those are my suggestions for equitable scheduling of ACC basketball.

You don't know that word: Look it up!

On July 11, The News & Observer published a letter from Dr. Assad Meymandi who has had many of his opinion letters published in The N&O. This--https://tinyurl.com/y3wh54o4--is a link to letters in the July 11 print edition. You'll need to scroll through others to get to his. Anyway, in my own letter to the newspaper, I suggested a dictionary is needed when reading his well-written letters. The newspaper would not print my letter, so here it is.

-----------------------------------

My mother always kept a dictionary nearby when she was reading anything, be it a book, newspaper, or magazine, and when she was listening to a high intellect television show such as William F. Buckley, Jr.’s, Firing Line.

While Mom was an excellent grammarian—knowing the difference between lie and lay and among sit, sat and set, and when to use I instead of me (“He is older than I” not “He is older than me” [or “myself” as some would try])—and while she had a good vocabulary, she pressed herself to make it an excellent vocabulary.

Besides, Mom wanted to fully understand what the writer or commentator was saying. And, if any of her six children wanted to know a word’s meaning, she would say, “look it up” and then hand over the dictionary.

George Will is a master of using words that requires me to scurry to the nearest Webster’s or to access the Dictionary app on my iPhone. Sometimes, as my wife and I read The News & Observer in the early a.m., we will be about halfway through one of his essays and stop to ask, “What is he trying to say?” Sometimes, after researching those words not familiar, we still don’t know what’s he’s trying to say. I’m sure we’re not alone.

There’s another regular author in The N&O, one who primarily offers letters to the editor, sentences with excellent structure and words requiring a dictionary or thesaurus: Dr. Assad Meymandi of Raleigh. His most recent work of word-art titled “Show some humility” was about the United States women’s soccer team and the players’ reaction to winning the World Cup, and required a little dictionary assistance. He wrote:

The cacophony generated by the super-enthusiastic rah, rah, rahs, the unwelcome meretricious behavior, and their arrogant, narcissistic aura call for some moderation. I suggest an infusion of a modicum of humility and temperance.

Interpretation: The women should have toned down their meaningless mixture of sounds, stop acting tawdry, stop making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights, and quit having personal undue fascination. Dr. Meymandi was saying celebrating is fine but with little bit of restraint and decorum (dignified behavior, speech and dress, if you have to look it up).

In other words, be happy and excited, act as if you’ve been there before, and let the fans of your accomplishment heap praise and joy, show admiration, and join you in being excited without making an unwanted spectacle of your celebration.

Thanks to Dr. Meymandi for steering me to the dictionary this time and many times before now, thanks to The New & Observe for being a good learning tool, sometimes, and thanks to Mom for the dictionary lesson.

And, boo-yah (look it up) for the U.S. Women’s soccer team in winning the World Cup. You done good!

ADIDAS SCANDAL: Where's the money? Did Dennis Smith Jr get $40,000? Did Mark Gottfried and Orlando Early pocket money? Those questions and more with no conclusions and no accusations

As the Adidas college basketball bribery scandal moves along—the latest with former Adidas executive James Gatto agreeing to pay $100,000 restitution to N.C. State University for legal fees and scholarship funds—the question that continues to linger, for me, is:

Did Dennis Smith Jr., or any member of his family ever receive money from anyone representing the Wolfpack program—head coach Mark Gottfried or assistant coach Orlando Early, the two in question—to guarantee Smith would attend and play for N.C. State?

I’ve "googled" that scenario over and over. Nowhere can I find the Smith family confirming reception of money. However, it looks bad for the home team, though appearances can be deceiving.

As the United States attorney in the Southern District of New York, with the aid of the FBI, continues to investigate this college athletics situation, the administration at N.C. State (welcome new Athletics Director Boo Corrigan) and Wolfpack fans are concerned the eventual fallout might mean sanctions and fines from the NCAA which will start its own examination once the federal courts conclude the case. The NCAA is hoping the federal case files are provided as a starting point.

So back to that question that asks if Smith received the any money from anyone representing the N.C. State basketball program:

In nearly every story written about the Adidas pay-for-play scandal, we are told there has been testimony that, as staff writer Steve Wisemen chronicled recently in The News & Observer, "Gatto provided a $40,000 payment for former N.C. State assistant Orlando Early to deliver to Smith’s father in 2015 to persuade Smith … to commit to N.C. State."

Gatto says he gave money to Early, but Early, to the best of what I can find, doesn’t admit to receiving it or, therefore, giving it to Smith’s father. The innuendo in Wiseman’s story may lead some to believe Early got the money and gave it to Smith. Not so fast, as Lee Corso would say. An ESPN.com article in early March provides us with additional “ifs” and “maybes” on this subject:

"According to a disclosure from federal prosecutors," wrote ESPN Senior writer Mark Schlabach on March 9, "former NC State assistant coach Orlando Early's attorney said his client disclosed that Gottfried on two occasions gave him envelopes—containing what Early believed was cash—to deliver to star guard Dennis Smith Jr.'s trainer to ensure he signed with the Wolfpack in 2015. Smith's trainer, Shawn Farmer, was supposed to deliver the envelopes to Dennis Smith Sr."

Let's dissect what Schlabach reported. So, Early, in the disclosure, "believed" the envelopes contained cash? Did he open the alleged envelopes? If not, can he at any time confirm what was in them, if there were envelopes? If he delivered the envelopes to Farmer, did Farmer open the envelopes to determine what was enclosed and did he give the envelopes to Smith Sr. or any one of the Smith family and following?

Last fall, at trial, former Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola said he gave to Early $40,000 earmarked for Smith Jr., to keep him at an Adidas school, specifically N.C. State. Gassnola also said he never discussed this with anyone else at or connected to N.C. State. So, did he give Early the $40,000? Can anyone confirm Gassnola gave $40,000 to Early? (Not, according to Gassnola himself.) So, is this a he said, he said situation?

There seems to be a great deal of vague stuff in this case, even with federal proceedings.

A few months ago, I remember reading somewhere (maybe in the local newspaper) that Smith Jr., said he knows nothing about any such payment of any amount to him or to a member of his family.  It appears today, neither Smith Jr., nor anyone in his family are talking at all about it. Early, most recently a college scout for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, is being mum on the subject. And Gottfried, bless his heart, after being fired by Wolfpack athletics director Debbie Yow who hired Gottfried in the first place, was able to secure a job with Cal State Northridge after lots of vetting by officials at CSNU.

Back to that March 9 ESPN.com story: "As part of our hiring process, Coach Gottfried confirmed to CSUN that he had no involvement in, nor knowledge of, any impermissible payments provided to prospective student-athletes during his tenure as a head coach at previous institutions," the school said in a statement upon hiring Gottfried. "This affirmation is included in his employment documents and is a condition of employment."

"No involvement in, nor knowledge of, any impermissible payments provided to prospective student-athletes." Good answer. But did Gottfried ever receive money earmarked for prospective student athletes and then not give it to the prospect? That might be a good question for CSUN to ask.

The merry-go-round keeps spinning.

This story will have a long life, if and when the federal case concludes and the NCAA starts its own investigation which may not deal with facts, using unsure conclusions to point fingers. The NCAA hates to be wrong even when it’s wrong.

So, was money exchanged and if so where is it? Where did it go?

At this point, let me remind everyone that I am not making unsupported speculations and I’m not accusing anyone of anything. I’m just asking questions. So, let’s proceed.

One might want to jump to conclusions there’s been wrong-doing by Gottfried and Early. On the other hand, maybe not, even if cash was given by an Adidas representative and received by Early. As part of his contract with N.C. State, wasn’t part of Gottfried’s income from the contract N.C. State has with Adidas? If so, what would be the crime in receiving another $40,000 from Adidas, even through a third party, if he did, though I’m not saying he did?

All of this gives us an inconclusive situation and leads to more questions.

Did someone at Adidas tell Early $40,000 cash was available to bribe Smith Jr., to attend N.C. State?If so, did Early tell Gottfried who knew better than to receive and to give it to Smith, knowing to do so and get caught would end his coaching career?

What if Gottfried told Early to take the money, don’t give it to anyone connected to Smith Jr., and keep it? Other than not reporting it on his taxes, what would be the crime in that? What one person intended to happen doesn’t make another person guilty of what the first intended but didn’t happen. No accusations and no conclusions here, just questions.

So, where’s the money if there was any at all?

Did Early accepted it as T.J. Gassnola says? Did Early give it to the Smith family? Did Early keep the $40,000? Did he tell Gottfried about it? Did the two of them each take a share of the money and move on?

One more non-conclusion and non-accusation: Maybe Early and Gottfried split the money, and since then the two have had a good laugh at Adidas. I’m not saying that happened, but could it have?

Stay tuned. It’s a story that will have a long life, a lot of finger pointing.

Ned Barnett's attempt at humor falls short

On Sunday, March 24, The News & Observer Associate Editor Ned Barnett took a stab at humor in writing about the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. Humor died with his stab. Here's his routine: A funny week for the UNC Board of Governors

I penned a response to Ned's effort, hoping he would give me a forum to counter his assertion, all in good fun and my own attempt at humoring Barnett. It didn't work. He responded quickly, denying access to his circulation. I think he missed my point and took it personally. Anyway, with my own soap box, here's my take which is followed by Ned's turn down. Enjoy!
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NED MISSES THE MARK WITH HUMOR ATTEMPT

Dear Ned,

Your attempt to use humor as criticism in your Sunday column—A funny week for the UNC Board of Governors—didn’t quite get there. Your rehash of past events with your bias of what you want to see without consideration for what others, especially the Republican controlled BOG, visualize as their responsibilities, was not funny.

It’s almost as if you’re looking down at the UNC BOG from your own Fourth Estate Ivory Tower. The established media has a tendency to do that. That’s one of many reasons there’s a Fifth Estate of journalist who publish beyond the mainstream media.

You found it funny Senator Phil Berger said, “There’s a lot of diversity amongst Republicans.” Without fact and not considering fiction, I’d agree with Berger just as, believe it or not, there is multiplicity amongst Democrats. Within the BOG there is a variety of ideas. The current BOG seems to have a common direction, one with which you, Erskine Bowles, Richard Vinroot and, much of time, I don’t agree.

But it is what it is.

Your use of the ouster of ECU Chancellor Cecil Stanton as humor wouldn’t stand a chance at Goodnights Comedy Club. Neither would BOG member Steve Long’s attack of Chairman Harry Smith, who I take from my conversations with Smith seems to want the best for the UNC System with an approach different from a historical perspective. Give him credit for hiring Bill Roper as interim President which lead to the hiring of Kevin Guskiewiczas interim Chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Speaking of the UNC-CH chancellor, you took a swipe at Carol Folt, the former UNC-CH Chancellor who is the new President of the University of Southern California. “Um, Ok” you wrote about what USC said of her hiring. Much to her disagreement, the BOG closed down Gene Nichol’s Poverty Center among other things, but her decisions on Silent Sam showed her backbone which led to an early dismissal after she announced her resignation. Maybe she gets the last laugh, going to a large private school that has its own issues but with not so many layers of supervision (Trustees, Governors, Berger).

Despite your thoughts and desires, the members of the BOG probably feel they are doing something worthwhile and responsible. The group which disagrees is no larger group than those who did the same years ago when the BOG make-up was primarily from the Democratic Party.

While your stab at humor is lost, you missed one opportunity to make us laugh.

BOG member Thom Goolsby, a former North Carolina State Senator who has been reappointed to the Board by Berger, offered an idea about student loans. Goolsby suggested UNC system schools be co-signers. “Right now it’s just our students that take all the risk,” he said. “(UNC co-signing) puts us in their shoes and holds us just as accountable.”

Goolsby might get kudos if that idea had been an original thought or come from someone with integrity. It wasn’t, and it didn’t. He got it from Tucker Carlson, a FOX News commentator.

From "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on March 18, 2019:
Have colleges co-sign the loans. And why shouldn't they? If you and I enter into a partnership in business and we succeed, we share the rewards. But we also share the risk. If we fail, we're both on the hook for that. That's how honest arrangements work. College loans don't work that way. Colleges get rich, no matter what happens to the kids. The kids are on their own.

If students get a degree and a decent job and repay their loans, that's great. But if they drop out of college, or their degrees turn out to be worthless, as so many are, and they can't repay what they have borrowed, so what? The college doesn't care. They've got no stake in the outcome. Colleges get all of the benefit and none of the risk. That is the definition of a scam. It's amazing it could even be legal. It should not be legal.

Neither Carlson nor Goolsby thought before they spoke. Getting students through school is one thing. Making them pay off the loans after graduation is another. When students default on their loans, the co-signer is stuck with the bill. With the Carlson/Goolsby idea, that would be the members of the UNC system.

That wouldn’t be humorous. But, Ned, you know what is? Goolsby getting his ideas from Tucker Carlson.

Now that’s funny.
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NED'S REBUTTAL:
Thanks for the review of my column. The BOG is doing a great job. They've run off two system presidents and two chancellors and brought UNC unwanted national attention for the Silent Sam mess, but  nobody's perfect.