WRAL Sports Fan

RE: Gottfried looking to change identity, culture at NC State

I'm somewhat optimistic about the new basketball coach. I think after four or five years, you will know the verdict. The truth will manifest itself in his recruiting.

I know you are not going to acknowledge the following statement. His job of recruiting against North Carolina and Duke is not going to be an easy task. Perhaps knowing that Roy and Mike will retire in the not too distant future could help.

I sincerely hope he can and will do a respectable job. Just remember, if he does not win a National Title in the first three or four years, this should not warrant another firing.

Jimmy V. and Coach Norman were both excellent coaches. They did NC State proud and were great ambassadors. Unfortunately, it's sad to say you even managed to run them off. Let's all hope that if Coach Gottfried does well, he won't meet the same fate as some of his successful predecessors.

This Tar Heel Grad and Fan wishes you and Coach Gottfried nothing but success. 

- Posted by cherokeetomahawk

Well put, but I'm not sure how to respond to that "recruiting against Carolina and Duke" comment. I don't think it matters, though. How many players do those two programs bring in every year? Assuming they always get the BEST, how many great recruits does that leave for Gott to pursue? A whole lot of them. I'm not really concerned with that angle of the recruiting.

RE: Gottfried looking to change identity, culture at NC State

I'm somewhat optimistic about the new basketball coach. I think after four or five years, you will know the verdict. The truth will manifest itself in his recruiting.

I know you are not going to acknowledge the following statement. His job of recruiting against North Carolina and Duke is not going to be an easy task. Perhaps knowing that Roy and Mike will retire in the not too distant future could help.

I sincerely hope he can and will do a respectable job. Just remember, if he does not win a National Title in the first three or four years, this should not warrant another firing.

Jimmy V. and Coach Norman were both excellent coaches. They did NC State proud and were great ambassadors. Unfortunately, it's sad to say you even managed to run them off. Let's all hope that if Coach Gottfried does well, he won't meet the same fate as some of his successful predecessors.

This Tar Heel Grad and Fan wishes you and Coach Gottfried nothing but success.

RE: Gottfried looking to change identity, culture at NC State

I wonder how many State fans understand that changing the culture means that they have to change. A school's fanbase is a big part of the culture. 

- Posted by Ken D.

"Nah, the program needs to change to match the crazy culture of the fan base!"

"To be honest, I really don't hope that Wolfpack fans change."

Thus illustrating my point. Fans always believe that they are a positive influence on the culture of an institution (though I believe TBK's remarks are probably a little tongue in cheek). I have said here for several years that one of the main reasons I stopped buying season tickets to Wolf Pack games was the toxic atmosphere in the stands. State fans, of course, jumped all over me for saying that.

I don't think I ever sat near the same fans from one year to the next, either in football or basketball games. But one thing was a constant, both places, every year. Constant griping about coaches, players, AD's, chancellors, referees - even trainers. A "here we go again" attitude every time things weren't going well for the home team. Frankly, it just wore me down.

If fans can have a positive influence on their teams, then they can also have a negative influence. I believe that if the culture doesn't change in the stands, it will be hard for it to change on the field and on the court. I don't think it was always that way at State - I never experienced it at Reynolds in the 70's - but if State fans today continue to act the same way, I think they are likely to get the same results. 

- Posted by Ken D.

OK, a serious reply. Yes, my post was tongue-in-cheek.

But I don't think the fans need to change... much. We could be a little more reasonable in our expectations. That's not to say we should stop demanding excellence. If you don't demand it, you will never get it. But we can't expect to make Final Fours every other year, especially without REGULAR top-5 or top-10 recruiting classes.

I think what we have with State's fan base is a bunch of people who used to have something to celebrate, and went from that to having the worst athletics program in the league in nearly every category. Of course we're upset and want better. Just because State has been stinking things up doesn't mean we should roll over and just accept that as it is good as it will be for us from now on.

Some area fan bases only have to worry about how the team is doing this year, knowing that if it's bad, it won't belong before it's good again. State fans do not have that. We know it's bad, and we know it isn't getting any better without changes at the top. Now we have that. We have a reason to get excited that maybe things will improve now. I don't think anyone expects a national championship any time soon. But we do expect to field a team that can get into the round of 64 (68/69) with regularity, and occasionally make a good run into that dance.

I don't really know what needs to change. We're passionate. We want our teams to win. We're not unreasonable. We've just been put in a bad position by bad chancellors, AD's and coaches for the last 20-25 years. That needed to change before we can reasonably expect improvement, and not we have that. The last thing we need to do is to suppress our hopes for something better.

RE: Gottfried looking to change identity, culture at NC State

I wonder how many State fans understand that changing the culture means that they have to change. A school's fanbase is a big part of the culture. 

- Posted by Ken D.

"Nah, the program needs to change to match the crazy culture of the fan base!"

"To be honest, I really don't hope that Wolfpack fans change."

Thus illustrating my point. Fans always believe that they are a positive influence on the culture of an institution (though I believe TBK's remarks are probably a little tongue in cheek). I have said here for several years that one of the main reasons I stopped buying season tickets to Wolf Pack games was the toxic atmosphere in the stands. State fans, of course, jumped all over me for saying that.

I don't think I ever sat near the same fans from one year to the next, either in football or basketball games. But one thing was a constant, both places, every year. Constant griping about coaches, players, AD's, chancellors, referees - even trainers. A "here we go again" attitude every time things weren't going well for the home team. Frankly, it just wore me down.

If fans can have a positive influence on their teams, then they can also have a negative influence. I believe that if the culture doesn't change in the stands, it will be hard for it to change on the field and on the court. I don't think it was always that way at State - I never experienced it at Reynolds in the 70's - but if State fans today continue to act the same way, I think they are likely to get the same results.

RE: Gottfried looking to change identity, culture at NC State

I wonder how many State fans understand that changing the culture means that they have to change. A school's fanbase is a big part of the culture. 

- Posted by Ken D.

To be honest, I really don't hope that Wolfpack fans change. We are passionate about our teams and our school. We go to the games and cheer loudly for our team. We tailgate in the parking lot and everyone in RED is your friend. We put on our school colors because we love our school, not just because we found the shirt at Walmart after they won the national championship. We celebrate wins, overreact when we lose and have a true hatred for our rival(s). That is what passionate fan bases do and I love it. I hope we never become like the Tarheel Nation...