The Power of Perception: Does N.C. State Really Need a Big Name Coach?

by Frank Williams - April 13, 2006

My April 7th article, entitled The PR Battle Herb Sendek Couldn't Win, discussed the role perception played in Herb Sendek's eventual decision to leave N.C. State and accept the head coaching job at Arizona State. Now, perception is playing a role in the Wolfpack's search for a new coach.

N.C. State has pursued two big-name coaches, Rick Barnes (Texas) and John Calipari (Memphis), in the days since Sendek's resignation. Both have rejected the Wolfpack's offers, instead choosing to remain at their respective institutions.

Based upon my discussions with other NCSU alumni and the comments posted on message boards such as StateFans.com, it is obvious that many Wolfpack fans believe that State needs to hire a big-name coach in order to take the basketball program to the next level. History indicates that this is not necessarily the case.

Consider the following, taken from an article written by CBS SportsLine writer Matt Rehm: "I'd be shocked if Jay Wright left Villanova, so that leaves Texas A&M's Billy Gillispie, Miami's Frank Haith, LSU's John Brady, former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, Charlotte's Bobby Lutz, Winthrop's Gregg Marshall and 1983 national championship hero Dereck Whittenburg among the remaining options. Whoever they ultimately hire might not be a better coach than Sendek, but at least he'll be a different coach, which is what N.C. State needs. None of the candidates listed above has the star power of Barnes or Calipari. Then again, Mike Krzyzewski was a little-known coach from Army. Dean Smith was Frank McGuire's assistant and had no head coaching experience in basketball (although he had served as the baseball and golf coach at the Air Force Academy). Jim Valvano came to N.C. State from Iona, and despite the controversy surrounding his ouster, I'd say his hiring worked out pretty well, too."

Krzyzewski, Smith and Valvano were not big names when they became head coaches in the ACC. They made their names while coaching in the ACC.

Ned Barnett, a sports columnist for The News & Observer, echoes this sentiment in a column entitled "Big name just isn't necessary." Barnett says, "The big names have been asked and have declined. That should appease fans who wanted State to hire a prominent coach. Now State is free to take a better course. It can hire someone who is young, promising and intent on making a name instead of being one. Many State fans don't want to hear this. They lived with Herb Sendek's low profile for 10 years. Now it's time, they say, for a coach with the spark and the recruiting connections to electrify State basketball like it was in the days of Jim Valvano, Norm Sloan and Everett Case. But those coaches became famous college coaches at State. They didn't bring fame with them."

Barnett also says, "Sometimes what's in a name isn't so much, and sometimes what's in a no-name is a lot. When Carolina, Duke and Kansas hired young unknowns -- Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams -- it worked out pretty well. Valvano came to State from that national basketball powerhouse Iona."

Many of N.C. State's most vocal fans hold to the perception that the 'Pack must hire a big-name coach if the program is to revisit its glory days. However, history shows us that some of the best coaches in ACC history were virtually unknown when they entered the league. They proved their greatness and built their name while coaching in the ACC.

As Ned Barnett says in the final paragraph of his column, "State is not going to hire away a big-name college coach, but it still can hire the next great one."

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