Today was NCSU Athletic Director Lee Fowler’s last day in office and we at Frumpzilla would like to bid him farewell. Just as his card reads(presumably from his daughter), “May you prosper in all that you do, wherever you turn”. As long as that isn’t in Raleigh, because let’s face it, Yow is the time for a change.

(I really just wanted an excuse to post this picture that I find quite funny.)

MIRACULOUS.

A man, Lord Jesus Christ, aka Lord Jesus Christ, suffered minor injuries while walking down a Northampton street on Tuesday….cheating death as 200o pounds of of hurtling steel and flammable liquids hurtled towards Christ as he crossed on a crosswalk.

At the same time, Lord Jesus Christ, aka Timothy Tebow, leads the NFL in jersey sales only a few short weeks into his NFL career.  Tebow’s brand bested such tried All-Pro, NFL warriors like Donovan McNabb, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Brett Farve as a third-string situational, developmental QB.

In we trust.  Hallelujah!!

For the past ten years, one man has has reigned over NC State athletics. This man, at times, has been both myth and legend. One thing he has not been is effective. This man is @Lee_Folwer. Today, Folwer steps down from his post and moves on to the next step in his life. Not before sitting down with us in the Frumpzilla offices(read: the internet).

You’ve all enjoyed his quips and thoughts on Twitter, however we are both excited and saddened to bring you his final interview ever. It wasn’t cheap (who needs profit anyways?), but at least we are now familiar with the ins-and-outs of wiring money to the Cayman Islands. After the Frump is the entire transcript of @Lee_Folwer’s last interview.

Questions from the Frumpzilla staff in italics, Lee’s responses/commentary in red.

First, I want to make a statement.  NC State has offered me an opportunity to do what I do best….NOTHING!!!   AND I STILL GET FREAKIN’ PAID?  HOW SWEET IS THAT????  Look, we all know how gullible these people are, but Jesus H. tap dancing Christ…not even I expected this one.

So, I gotta continue going through the motions for another month or so, but then it’s hello Branson, goodbye lunatic fringe.  The big LOL cat is in ur bank account cashin’ ur chex, baaaaby.

So, what the hell, I’ll take your questions…

The Admiral:  Lee — tell us about your favorite Homecoming memory while at NC State.

The details are sorta fuzzy, but it’s gotta be the one where Oblinger took me, Ruffin McNeil, and a couple of unnamed donors down to Cabo to watch it on television.  There was so much tequila on that private plane, I don’t even remember who we played.  I do remember the girl who won our Mexican homecoming queen pageant could scratch behind her ears with her feet, though.  Those were the days…

The Admiral:  What person associated with NC State athletics, employed by the university or otherwise, do you feel the closest kinship with?

Sorry.  I can’t talk about that one.  There’s a restraining order.

The Admiral:  What is your favorite charity?

If I had to pick just one, it would probably be UNICEF.  They do good work.  If you think about it, without them, NC Central wouldn’t have half the students it does today.

The Admiral:  Could you ever envision a career in politics?

I’m sure I could win an office if I ran, because I’m all about winning, but I think I would see myself more in a diplomatic role.  Put it this way, I wouldn’t turn my country down if I could be Ambassador in Hawaii or maybe Vegas.

The Admiral:  The V8 5.7 or the V8 5.0 and why? (Firebird engines)

It doesn’t matter.  A bird with a pull start Briggs and Stratton still pulls in ass like a black hole.

The Admiral:   If your sock drawer has 6 black socks, 4 brown socks, 8 white socks, and 2 tan socks, how many socks would you have to pull out in the dark to be sure you had a matching pair?

What in the hell do you think I have a wife for?  If she’s too stupid to turn on the lights, that’s her problem, not mine.

The Admiral:   What is on your “bucket list”?

Usually regular, but if it’s on my expense account, I go with extra crispy.

Cochese:  If you could trade your mustache (RIP) for any in the world, whose would it be?

Let’s put this mustache mess to bed once and for all.

The accident is still a deeply painful subject for me.  I feel like a rape victim because I was robbed of my personality by big corporate greed and faulty product design.  I read every word in the Remington Trimmer Owner’s Manual.  It said nothing about blade guard failure or any warnings about operating it after drinking only six or seven glasses of wine.

This is far from over.  I WILL have justice.

B-Diddy: At the start of your tenure here, is this where you hoped NCSU would be in a decade?

I’ve always liked Raleigh, so I see no reason to change that, but if we were going to move it, Branson would have been my choice.

B-Diddy: So much of your success seems to be easily attributable to Mr. Bobby Purcell and his exhaustive fundraising efforts, where does your contribution fit in?

I taught Purcell every thing he knows, to be honest with you, and no matter what people think, we wouldn’t even have some of the big butts to kiss if it weren’t for me.  That is a direct result of my professional swagger and suave disposition.  It takes a real smooth talker to get big money suckers in your back pocket.  You either have to be born with that talent, like yours truly, or take years learning.  Bobby is learning.

B-Diddy: Tell the truth, have you ever taken a Lifetime Rights contract, rolled a cigar with it, and giggled to yourself on your boat?

Did Kennel tell you this?  You can’t tell that senile old dingbat anything.  He probably made that up.

B-Diddy: Is your departure going to be emotional or are you ready to move on somewhere where you will be appreciated?

I’m sure there will be a lot of tears from the staff in the Case Center for the next few weeks.  Personally, I don’t think one man will be able to fill my loafers, plain and simple.

As to appreciated, look pal, I am appreciated every where I go.  You can see it in women’s eyes.  Just walk into any Waffle House with me on a Saturday morning when I’m wearing my track suit.  It’s like the waitresses are all hypnotized.  Again, this is something I was just born with.  That’s just how the big guy rolls, daddy-o.  He don’t need your stinkin’ job with a  pocket full of buy out cash.

B-Diddy: Are you confident you’ll be able to postpone your departure from NC State long enough to get one last free golf trip to Ireland?

Truthfully the Ireland trip is really why I chose to bag the job, now I can tell you that.  I can’t think of any sane person who would willingly go overseas with Coach Nyquil and a crew of backwoods farmers.  Now, thank GOD, it won’t be me.  Let that memo-writing dwarf squire those yokels around.

As to golf, hell, I built my own course just so I wouldn’t have to wait for tee times.  Lonnie’s name might be on it, but make no mistake about who owns it, baby.  That’s big daddy’s track.  Life membership has its perks.

B-Diddy: There was a report of your daughter approaching a fan at a basketball game to defend your honor, saying “I don’t wear a shirt into your Dad’s work that says he sucks”. Do you appreciate your family fighting your fights for you? Do you appreciate the passion your family has for the job you’re doing?

Look, Folwerette means well but, to be honest, she sorta missed the stop at the brain station.  Granted, she loves her daddy, but she also believes in the Easter Bunny.  You folks need to give her a break.

As to my family’s passion, hell, they’re all women.  Passion’s a good thing except for the time one of them invited that biker gang up to the lake.  It took poolboy a month to overseed those donuts.

B-Diddy: Word has it you’ve been interviewing at quite a few schools before Mississippi State, San Diego State included. Is it disheartening to move in your mind from San Diego to Mississippi? What went wrong with that SDS interview?

Like I said before, I know my magnetism works on women, but others see it, too.  I won’t lie, I looked at other opportunities, but it’s hard to find the combination of low expectations, nice cash, a tv show, and a free golf course I had at State.

As to San Diego, I really wasn’t impressed, but the people out there are gullible as hell.  They have some ship tied up near there they call the Queen Mary.  Those people actually pay good money to go on board and walk around.  They don’t even know the real one hit an iceberg and sunk even after there was a damn movie about it!  Make no mistake, I could sell LTR’s to those rubes.

Overall though, that entire situation just didn’t seem right.  I think the whole place is a big fake. We drove up and down that damn beach and never even saw the Golden Gate Bridge.  After that, things just smelled fishy, and trust me, I was at Memphis, so I know fishy.

B-Diddy: The latest Director’s Cup standings have Miss. St. at #66 among the 66 BCS schools and #146 overall. In comparison, NC State is #60 among BCS schools and #88 overall. Does it excite you to move to a position where even minimal work will show progress and allow you to switch on cruise control until retirement?

From what I know, unless it’s full of Rebel Yell, those folks don’t give a damn about any cup.  It would take even less effort than here to do that job.

Ciaran: My girlfriend — sorry, ladies — was banned from Carter-Finley Stadium for life during the Duke game last season. In the citation the officer clearly recounted that, from peeping through the cracks of a bathroom stall, she discovered my significant other was mixing an alcoholic beverage by pouring airplane bottles into her soft drink.

Where do you stand on the issue of “stall gazing” as a method to ensure fans comply with Carter-Finley’s alcohol policies?  How about “stall gazing” in general?

Tell her to come see me before June 30th.  We can probably work something out.  Tell her to wear that little black number.

Ciaran: As you may know, I’m the only one at Frumpzilla that’s not intimately connected to N.C. State athletics. I’m a big Georgia fan, SEC homer, etc.  With that in mind, what do you expect your potential touchdown in Starkville to bring to the SEC landscape?

Dude, I quit reading that one at “know”…too many words.

Ciaran: I find it interesting that you’re strongly considering a move to not only another “State” school, but also one with a mascot in the Canidae family.  How big of a factor in your decision to interview was the familiarity MSU presented in this regard?

I don’t know the Canidae’s personally, but I’m sure they’re good people.  Maybe if I take the job, I’ll meet them.

Ciaran: As a follow-up, if Bulldogs, like, traveled in packs, who you got in a throw down?

Did you drink a bunch of cough medicine before you wrote these questions?

Ciaran: Okay, real quick…word association.  “Inept”

Outept?

Ciaran: “Mustache”

I can’t describe the positions in one word.  Sorry.

Ciaran: “Cigar”

Boss Man.  Dammit, two words, my bad.

Ciaran: “Hillbilly”

LTR.   Are abbreviations considered one word?

Ciaran: “Barry Manilow”

Steroids

Ciaran: “Annabelle Vaughan”

Hoover

Ciaran: “Cougar”

Firebird

Ciaran: “Roy Williams”

winner

Ciaran: “Sidney Lowe”

donuts

Ciaran: “C.J. Leslie”

Who?

Ciaran: “Carolina”

song

Ciaran: “N.C. State”

PAYDAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!

Ciaran: “Mississippi State”

spelling

Ciaran: “Chapel Hill”

clefhangers

Ciaran: “Raleigh”

circles

Ciaran: “Starkville”

No circles

Ciaran: “Frumpzilla”

Japs.

***Update: For those that may be wondering, the Lee Folwer interview has been delayed.  Mr. Folwer is stalling on us, allegedly waiting on the check to clear.  We think he’s just a bit nervous about answering the tough questions.  Either way, the interview will definitely be up this week.  So stay tuned!***

And we’re hoping some of our readers would like to contribute. We can’t really go into what kind of strings had to be pulled to get this gig, but just know that, come Monday morning, the entire Frumpzilla staff is rolling out a full frontal assault; dusting every crevice, finely combing every former mustache hair, of the genius that is Lee Folwer.

Now, we’ve obviously got several questions lined up for Mr. Folwer, but we could always use some more. So, if you’ve got something you’d like to ask Lee, send us an email or hit us up on Twitter and/or Facebook.  We’ll do our best to make sure your voice is heard!

It is posted on a public message board and therefore fair game.  Welcome to the land of unwanted internet fame, DieHardDeacon

Why anyone would post this on a forum devoted to sports, and to a 90% male audience is beyond me…not that there’s anything wrong with it.

This is Wake Fan at his most causal – his most vulnerable…in his essence, if you will.  Drink it in folks.

My sick WF tat is full view along with my RJ Reynolds 10 years of service watch and necklace combo.  Don’t hate.

Good thing I had these gloves on for my “workout” – you aint got nuthin’ on me Riley Skinner! You bitch!

Frump it for even more!

Cross my heart and hope to die, big boy…or you can just attach a leash to it like those crazy mothers in the mall LOL!

I am a coy lil’ slut aren’t I! LOL

Anyone remember that TV show “Salute your Shorts?” Evan certainly does! LOLOLOLOL xoxo.

The pouty-face look is harder than it looks

This is what I call, “business casual”

Its not called the ‘fist of fury’ for nuthin’! – bring out the gimp!

Dont believe me?  Here is the original link…

(Thanks to the Admiral for the lead)

Maybe this guy and Chas McFarland are tat buddies?  Another question for another day, perhaps.  For now, I guess all that’s left to say is…

What a beautiful day and an excellent excuse to tailgate.  As opposed to years past, both sides of Carter-Finley were open and about 20-25k Pack fans showed up…both sides of the lower levels were close to being full.  Additionally, about 300 former players were on hand for the annual reunion, including Bill Cowher, Jerricho Cotchery, Torry Holt and Mario Williams.  Before I get into the on-field observations, I want to mention the efforts made by the current and former players to engage the fans.  For example, I watched Mario Williams come down into the section I was sitting in and slowly make his way across all of the sections, walking parallel to the field…obviously something he did on purpose.  He took the time to sign every autograph and take every picture he could.  As an alum and a fan, I really appreciated that.

Now, onto the game itself…Frump it for my “expert” opinions.

OFFENSE

• I wish my first observation could be something “less obvious” and more accurately demonstrate my knowledge of the nuances of the game…but I would be doing the star of the game a disservice.  Mike Glennon looked FANTASTIC.  There is not a throw he did not make today.  From the Favre-like pitch to James Washington out the backfield, to the forty yard rope he dropped right into Owen Specner’s lap down the sideline he was very impressive.  Glennon made throws on the run (one that comes to mind was a 50-yarder that fell incomplete but was right on target), the pocket and under pressure.  When he gets his chance, he will be a star.
• The receiving corps had a nice day today.  In past seasons I would always seem to hear that we were struggling to catch the ball consistently in practice.  I have not heard that this season and I saw great effort today.  I only remember one dropped ball (TJ Graham) and even that play was a broken one in which TJ was coming back to the QB out of the endzone.  The seniors all played well (Spencer, Davis and Williams all had at least 4 catches) and Jay Smith had a great showing catching the ball for the Red team.  George Bryan was his usual self at TE, Asa Watson apparently runs like a WR (86 yard reception down the hashes and nobody was close to him) and Anthony Talbert showed good hands on a diving grab.  As I wrote on Day 4, this is the strength of our team.
• Offensive line is hardest to watch because you have to consciously divert your attention away from the ball.  Mikal Overgaard got the start at RT and I thought he played well.  He certainly passes the look test and Glennon was not really chased from the pocket.  Both DE’s he faced are experienced players.  If Overgaard can contribute at RT that will be a huge boost for the Pack, especially in the event RJ Mattes is not ready to go (although I did see RJ walking without a limp and without a brace which has to be a positive sign).  I want to also mention Camden Wentz.  Wentz well his ground well although we will have to get a better push up the middle for the running game.  His continued development is the most important component to our offensive success this season.  For the second team, I thought Sam Jones and Duran Christophe played very well.  Both are huge and both move very well.  Christophe executed an excellent tackle trap on a play that was called back for holding (not him) that really stood out to me.  It is not a stretch to say this the deepest offensive line we have had in a loooong time.
• The running game was not great today, even though walk-on Travis Leggett put up some good numbers for the second team.  There was not a lot of push and it seemed as if both Washington and Leggett were not able to consistently find the holes.  Washington did demonstrate those great hands out of the backfield with 3 catches and had one run in particular where you can see how much potential he really has when given some space.

DEFENSE

• Defensive line play today was solid, but not spectacular.  The DE spot is in good hands as Lemon and Akinniyi started and played well.  I was especially impressed with Akinniyi – coming into today I was not sure what to expect from him but he definitely can play.  I really like how he always gets his hands up in the passing lanes…I think he had 2-3 deflections.  DT play was good and did not give up a lot of push up the middle.  Kuhn is in incredible physical shape.  Slay’s quickness seemed to compliment him well, although I would really prefer to see Sweezy paired with Kuhn to REALLY keep people off the linebackers.  Hopefully Sweezy makes it back so we can see that…those two will keep Irving clean.  Cato-Bishop flashed his athleticism on a few plays, but I would like to see him at DE rather than DT.
• Speaking of Irving, it was really great to see him back out there.  He looked like the old Nate to me…in the backfield disrupting and playing sideline to sideline.  You can really tell how he elevates the play around him.  Manning and Cole were solid and did not seem to give up a lot in their defensive zones (against the pass).  Manning’s speed really jumps out at you – on Owen Spencer’s long TD I thought Manning was going to catch him.  I hope Manning takes that next step in fall camp.  Maddox and Lucas were solid for the second team but suffered from a lack of good DT play in front of them.  Mageo is just not a space eater.  In my opinion, that is more to blame for Leggett’s yardage than the LB play.
• The numbers do not show a great day for the DB’s (693 total yards through the air) , but hear me out before jumping off the ledge.  Firstly, the Pack WR corps are probably the best in the ACC.  Coupled with Glennon’s precision, there aren’t many defensive backfields that would have done much better.  I saw the first team DB’s in position most of the day…they were burned by perfect throws and great WR’s making plays…not by deception, and there is an important distinction there.  The second team I cannot be as kind to.  They were burned and out of position on several occasions.  I will mention that I thought Dean Haynes played well (he was at CB) as did Jordan Monk.  Both will contribute this season.  He will have to find some safeties to play behind Bishop and Wolff because they were not here today.

OVERVIEW

• The Pack offense will score a lot of points this season but needs to get more push for the running game
• The Pack D will not be as bad as last year, but they will need to get more pressure on the QB from the DE’s
• We played a great game fundamentally…few penalties, few missed tackles and solid blocking and protection
• While our wins and losses have not reflected it to this point, we play much better football under TOB…this may not be the “break out” season, but you have to like our youth and their experience moving forward
• 30+ players were held out of the game for injury purposes…I was disappointed we did not get to see Morgan Alexander…CAN WE PLEASE GET HEALTHY ALREADY?
• I really liked this season’s recruiting class’s highlight films being shown on the jumbo tron
• Really good to see Dana Bible on the sidelines
• You could hear Tenuta yelling at his guys in the stands…LB play is so crucial this season

Thanks for reading our breakdowns…stay tuned for more…

Day 7 – Defensive Backs

Day 6 – Linebackers

Day 5 – Defensive Line

Day 4 – Receivers

Day 3 – Offensive Line

Day 2 – Backfield (RB and QB)

Day 1 – Overview

Much maligned in 2009, this young group must step up its play in 2010 if the Pack hopes to win.

Like that rhyming?  Pretty sick.  Someone forward this blog to Dre.

Anywho…No question that the youngest position group on the field last season were the defensive backs and it is no question that it showed.  Typical of young players, there were flashes of potential (Pittsburgh), often followed by head-scratching periods of growing pains (Duke).  Fortunately, there is no better way to be baptized on the football field than to be done so by fire and that experience should begin to payoff this season…

Frump it for projected starters and analyis….don’t forget the rest of the spring breakdown, listed below and be on the lookout next week for a Frump-exclusive look at the Spring game set to kick tomorrow.

Day 6 – Linebackers

Day 5 – Defensive Line

Day 4 – Receivers

Day 3 – Offensive Line

Day 2 – Backfield (RB and QB)

Day 1 – Overview

CORNERBACK

CB So Rashard Smith 5-11 176 While the Pack was young in the secondary last season, it did not help that arguably its biggest play maker spent over half the season injured.  Smith was the talk of fall camp and proved it on Saturdays.  Starting 3 games and playing in 5, Smith keyed up a sack, 2 TFL and a PBU.  The Pack sorely missed his aggressiveness and swagger in the defensive backfield.  Should he stay healthy, Smith is a rising star with the potential to lock down his side of the field.

CB Fr David Amerson 6-1 182 Yes…it is true that I am predicting a high school safety with limited experience, who was recruited as a safety, to come in and start for the Pack as a true freshman.  Before you get the straight jacket just know that Amerson is a great, rangy athlete who is not afraid the mix it up.  TOB craves a physical presence at the corner position and Amerson proved he was just that at the Shrine Bowl game, punctuating team NC’s win over the Sandlapper’s with several big hits.   At a position battle where the difference in experience between players is minimal, athleticism will usually win out.  I am betting that is the case with Amerson.

IN THE MIX

It is a shame that So Jarvis Byrd 5-11 180 was injured late in the season because he would likely be starting…that said, we do not expect him to play this season while recovering from a torn ACL.  That leaves Rs So CJ Wilson 5-11 179, Rs So Gary Grant 6-0 186 and Jr Jordan Monk 6-0 184 to battle it out for the nickle rotation.  I expect to see all of them at some point.

SAFETY

SS So Brandon Bishop 6-2 210 Brandon will hope to build on his up and down season last year.  Bishop rarely made the wrong read, only it was often too late and he would be behind the play.  Hopefully, his experience last season will allow him to play faster instead of having to react what the offense is doing.  If the mental portion of the game catches up with his physical traits, he will be a fine safety.

FS Rs So Earl Wolff 6-0 201 In his third year in the program, Pack fans have to hope that the light will come on for Mr. Wolff.  The opposite of Bishop, who played too cautiously, Wolff had a bad habit of playing too aggressively, putting himself out of the play….especially against play action.  Wolff will have to do a better job of staying home and on assignment so the Pack can limit the big play

IN THE MIX

Fr Dontae Johnson 6-3 180, Rs Fr Dean Haynes 5-11 193 and Rs Fr Donald Coleman 6-0 195 will all need to contribute in some form this season.  Haynes has the ability to play in the nickle while Coleman is a little more physical and can come in to spell Bishop against run-heavy teams.  Johnson’s play will likely mostly be limited to special teams, but if he is not red shirting you know TOB will get him some game experience.  One name I have not mentioned is Fr DJ Green 6-4 202…that is because I am not sure what position the staff will put him at.  He is an athletic freak so I am betting that the staff will choose to red shirt him, place him on the scout team and let his natural talents dictate where he ends up.  His measurables are very similar to a one Willie Young’s his freshman year.

Overall the Pack has one thing they did not have last season….EXPERIENCE.  I think that will go a long way.  I do think you will still see us give up the occassional big play, I just hope we do better against the short passing game…defending a ‘west coast’ passing game gets a lot easier once you have seen it and that is truly what killed us last season.  I think you will see improvement but the lack of a dominant pass rush will continue to unfairly magnify their short comings.

There is no doubt that NC State now has a physical, athletic secondary, similar to those that TOB put on the field while at BC.  They just need to grow up and the Pack will win some games this season.

This spring the Wolfpack welcomed back to their linebacking corps a huge missing piece from the puzzle last season in Rs Jr Nate Irving.  Today’s addition will breakdown the linebackers…this is a group of players NC State fans should be very excited about as they boast depth, speed, experience and youth…a rare combination.  This group will need to able to both take the pressure off the young secondary and get to the QB in order for the Wolfpack D to take a step forward.

FRUMP IT!!

As always, don’t forget to go back and read up on the rest of our positional breakdown.  Amaze your friends with your thorough and expert knowledge at this weekend’s spring game – Saturday April 17th at 1pm…lets PACK Carter-Finley! (see what I did there?)

Day 5 – Defensive Line

Day 4 – Receivers

Day 3 – Offensive Line

Day 2 – Backfield (RB and QB)

Day 1 – Overview

PROJECTED STARTERS

SLB Rs Jr Audie Cole 6-4 239

Cole led NC State will 85 tackles last season and added 4 sacks and 8 TFL in a solid campaign as a first year starter.  Cole MUST improve on his consistency…hopefully his season he will able to rely more on his instincts and athletic ability, versus having to “think” about what do to.  The split second to “think” was often all it took as teams went with quick drops and outs toward the middle season and never relented.

MLB Rs Sr Nate Irving 6-1 235

Projected to be one of the best defensive players in the conference last season, to say that Irving’s leadership, intensity and play-making was sorely missed by the Pack D last season would be an understatement.  By all accounts his recovery is coming right along and in an effort to get the best 3 players on the field, the staff has decided to move #56 to the middle.  While Nate is probably a hair undersized for the middle, there is no doubt he will make his presence felt.  That impact will likely be felt mostly against the pass…Nate is athletic enough to make all of the drops and experienced enough to make the read quickly, which should limit how often Pack fans should see the opposing TE running free in the middle third (God willing).

WLB Rs So Terrell Manning 6-3 224

Manning is likely the key to the success of this season’s linebacking corps.  With Cole and Irving, you have two players who have proven themselves.   Manning is all potential and athleticism, which is why I think he beats our Dwayne Maddox for the job.  Its no secret (as mentioned before) how the Pack was gashed in the flats and Manning is the perfect player to stop plays like that.  Should he prove worthy, the Pack LBs will be a solid group.

BACKUPS

The Pack has the luxury of having two experienced backups and will use them to keep all 5 men fresh.  Jr Sterling Lucas 6-2 238 and Jr Dwayne Maddox will both see significant minutes in addition to the starters and will likely find themselves playing almost as much.  Hopefully, Archer & Tenuta will also see the emergence of either Rs So William Beasley 6-3 225, Rs Fr Hans Rice 6-2 217 or Rs Fr Ryan Cheek 6-1 244 so that one of the youngsters can prepare for a larger role next season.  Its likely, however, that the sixth player will be Sr walk-on Asante Cureton 5-11 214 who was second on the team last season in special teams tackles and has the reputation of being a fierce hitter.

If this group of linebackers can both read and react in the zone defense and blitz the QB in a manner equal to their athletic ability, you will see a marked improvement in the defense as a whole.  If they, again, struggle with consistency the Pack will likely continue to give up large chunks of yardage.  As they go, our D will go.

The 2010 defensive line will arguably be the most interesting position group to cover this upcoming season.  It is an odd mix of veterans and new faces…in a few cases, both adjectives would apply to the same player.  This year’s Wolfpack Dline will  be somewhat of an enigma and is an uncertainty heading into the fall.

To give you an example of what I mean, the starting defensive line could very well could consist of 2 red-shirt seniors defensive ends, one senior defensive tackle and one red-shirt junior defensive tackle.  Typically, a line that “age” would be a dominating, experienced force.  In this case, that same defensive line would have a combined 1 start at NC State and only a total of nine years on campus between them.

Frump it to see my thoughts on how this scenario will play out.

Here are quick links to previous breakdowns for your reading pleasure.

Day 4 – Receivers

Day 3 – Offensive Line

Day 2 – Backfield (RB and QB)

Day 1 – Overview

PROJECTED STARTERS

DE Rs Sr Michael Lemon 6-4 267 (pictured on the front page)

Michael Lemon is a 2nd year transfer into NC State after being dismissed from UGA several years ago.  Lemon arrived to fall came late but immediately cracked the depth chart, eventually starting one game.  Lemon’s play-making ability was immediately on display when he opened the season with an interception versus USC.  He has a penchant for rushing the QB and despite not having played for two years was fourth in the team last season with 12 QB hurries

DT Rs Sr Nathan Mageo 6-3 285

A JUCO transfer last season, Mageo spent the year backing up Alan-Michael Cash and finished the season with 2 TFL and a sack.  Nageo will have to replace Cash’s tenacity and ability to get into the backfield.  In this writer’s opinion, Cash was the best DT to play at NCSU in the past decade (maybe you could argue a motivated John McCargo, but I would take Cash) and Mageo’s play will be crucial to NC State stopping the run.

DT Rs Jr JR Sweezy 6-5 293

Sweezy is in a spot of trouble at the moment, but Frump’s prediction is that it will be cleared up for the majority of the season.  Pack fans should hope so….Frump has heard that the staff were expecting big things from Sweezy this season.  Sweezy w0uld be an enormous loss just in the numbers game if he is not able to play.  With him, NCSU has a solid 4-man rotation at the DT spot.

DE Rs Jr Jeff Reiskamp 6-3 235

This DE spot is up for grabs and I think Reiskamp gets the nod…Reiskamp’s aggressiveness was missing from the Pack last season and he really fits the mold of a TOB-type player.  He can both rush the passer and stop the run.  He really played well as a freshman and I think he emerges as a solid starter this season, although he will need to add a little weight to hold up over the course of the season.

BACKUPS

In the rotation at DT will also be Rs Jr Markus Kuhn 6-4 300 and So Brian Slay 6-3 290.  Kuhn is a physical presence and Slay plays more in the mold of a Michael-Alan Cash….he is quick with his hands and seems to have a knack for getting off the ball and getting into the backfield.  He will need to get more physical and the point of attack to be most effective.

Backing up the DE’s will be Sr Audi Augustin and Sr David Akinniyi.  Augustin has been a career back up and really played well before being injured last season vs Virginia Tech.  Akinniyi is a 3-year starter and transfer from Northeastern.  Both will see the field.  A name to keep in mind is Rs Fr Darryl Cato-Bishop 6-4 281 who has been turning heads since arriving on campus last season as an unknown.  He is big, fast and athletic…he could be the Pack’s next star at DE.

(Thanks to Pack Pride for the pic)

Today, Frump will be evaluating the deepest and most talented position group(s) on the NC State roster, the Wolfpack receiving corps.  Headlined by returning first team All-ACC TE George Bryan, the Pack is poised to continue to make it rain on opposing secondaries in 2010.  Also, don’t forget to check out all of the write ups in preparation for next weekend’s spring game…Frump!!!

Day 3 – Offensive Line

Day 2 – Backfield (RB and QB)

Day 1 – Overview

TIGHT ENDS

Starter – (RsJr) George Bryan 6-5 265

Bryan is a returning first team All-ACC performer and will look to build on his budding professional resume this season.  While Bryan is a capable blocker, his strength lies with his hands….simply put, the dude catches everything (40 receptions, 6 TD’s last season).  While his speed will not blow you away, he simply makes plays and is capable of some respectable YAC.  Bryan is especially dangerous in the red zone.

Reserve TE’s: So Asa Watson 6-4 225, Rs So Mario Carter 6-4 262, Rs Fr Anthony Talbert 6-4 246

Analysis – The Pack knows what it has in Bryan, but needs to develop some depth behind him.  Watson is the only other TE with a reception (and he has one).  Watson is the little brother of former Dawg and current Patriot Ben Watson and is similarly gifted…good athlete with good hands.  He was pressed into action last season before the staff probably would’ve liked, due to the second ACL tear of Mario Carter.  Carter is definitely the “X” factor in the TE equation.  Carter looked FANTASTIC in last season’s spring game and was expected to contribute last season before tearing his ACL for the second time at the end of spring camp.  If Carter can get and stay healthy, he will be yet another weapon in the offensive arsenal.  Talbert is probably still a year away from contributing major minutes and is raw from a receiving standpoint.

WIDE RECEIVERS

The Pack returns almost every scholarship WR from the roster last season…a unit that boasts three Seniors and combined for 128 receptions and 19 TDs.  Highlighting this group is a pair that works very well together; Rs Sr Jarvis Williams 6-4-219 and Sr Owen Spencer 6-3 185.  Williams provides a big target across the middle and in the red zone, while Spencer is a threat to take it deep on every play.  The third senior is fifth year player Darrell Davis 6-4 211.  Davis plays a little slower than Williams, but has a similar game.  Davis has great body control and is not afraid to sit down in the middle of the field, make a tough catch and absorb a hit.  Three Juniors compliment the three Seniors; speedy Jr. TJ Graham 6-0 180 cis another stretch the field threat and is a player the coaches will certainly work to get the ball more in the open field this season.  Rs Jr Jay Smith 6-2 209 and Rs Jr Steven Howard 6-2 200 are both excellent all-around players who are capable of being featured receivers themselves.  The wild card in the equation is unquestionably Rs Fr Morgan Alexander 5-11 180.  Since the day he stepped on campus, Frump has heard nothing but rave reviews from the speedster.  Multiple sources have commented on how explosive he was and how there was little doubt Alexander has the tools to be a future star.

See, as you may recall, Frump’s kinda had it out for NCSU Athletic Director Lee Fowler for some time now. Naturally we thought our sentiment was somewhat isolated to Raleigh and the general heart of the Wolfpack’s fan base, but, after reading the last couple lines of Engadget’s piece on keeping the blind from leading the blind, we now know things may or may not have gone national:

We’re told that the researchers have already presented their findings, and if all goes well, they’ll have a fully functioning prototype “within a year.” Here’s hoping a suitable replacement to Lee Fowler is also unearthed during the same window.

I guess this means Engadget will now be added to Lee Folwer’s ever growing list of “media enemies.”

Credit The Admiral with the link, Ringo with the lovely shoop…

Day 1: Quarterback

Day 2: Offensive Backfield

Coach Tom O’Brien and Assistant Don Horton have long been renowned for their ability to develop and coach offensive lineman.  NFL rosters are littered with their former players and Wolfpack fans have seen a steady progression in the rebuilding of the NC STATE unit since their arrival.  This year’s version will be the deepest set of lineman enjoyed by TOB and Horton in terms of numbers and talent.  It will also be one of the youngest position groups put on the field (next to the defensive backs) this season.  Horton and TOB will have their work cut out for them as the Pack will be forced to replace three starters this season, while a forth will be recovering from a major knee injury.

Frump it for in-depth, Frump-only analysis….

Frump’s PROJECTED STARTERS

LT (Sr) Jake Vermiglio 6-5 325

Vermiglio sports the most experience by far of all the returning offensive linemen and has been a starter for three seasons.  #70 is the anchor – big, nasty and athletic, he brings the attitude that will hopefully rub off on the new pups.

Projection – Jake has first team all-ACC and NFL potential – he will be the rock up front.

LG (Rs So) 6-3 314 Zach Allen

Allen saw quite a bit of playing time last season backing up the starters, especially towards the latter part of the schedule.  Allen plays with great drive off the ball (in his high school film he literally looks like a bulldozer) but will really need to lean on Vermiglio for the mental part of the game

Projection – Allen’s performance (along with Wentz) will be crucial to the Pack’s success, especially running the ball…his physicality and aggressiveness will likely produce some great moments and some miscues.  Early on, his performance could be inconsistent but should greatly improve as Allen (and Wentz) gain experience.

C (So) 6-3 290 Camden Wentz

Coach O’Brien does not like to play true freshman, especially when those freshmen play on the offensive line.  So it should mean something to Wolfpack fans that the staff choose to take the redshirt off of Wentz and get him some game experience last season backing up Ted Larson.

Projection – The center position is the lynch pin of the offensive line and should Wentz be proven incapable, Rs Jr Wayne Crawford could get the nod.  I think it is very telling that Wentz was thrust into game action last season when it really was not an absolutely necessary move for him to do so.  Wentz or Crawford’s ability to master the mental part of the position will prove to be the deciding factor in how effective this season’s offensive line is.

RG (Rs So) 6-6 303 RJ Mattes

Mattes was simply steller last season at the RG position.  He started every game before going down with a torn ACL against FSU and showed flashes of professional potential last season.  Lets hope the knee does not slow that progress.

Projection – I think Mattes is a natural tackle but his injury last season will force him inside.  The Pack needs him on the field from the start. but his knee may not be healed early enough to allow him the time to acclimate back to the outside.  To get him on the field, I think they will stick him back in his RG spot where he really shined as a redshirt freshman.

RT (Rs So) Andrew Wallace 6-5 299

Wallace filled in nicely last year during the rash of injuries and illness that fell across the Wolfpack line towards the end of the season.  His standout performance was when he stepped in at the last minute for a sick Jake Vermiglio and started against Maryland.  Wallace and the rest of the banged up OL held the Terps to only one sack and were crucial to the W.

Projection – Before his injury, this spot had RJ Mattes’ name all over it.  While my sources expect Mattes back for the fall, it is likely he will be a little too rusty to play the edge.  Andrew will have some bumps early but proves capable at RT.  The mobility of Russell (hopefully) is important to Wallace’s success.  Its very possible that Wallace moves back inside should Mattes progress faster or a freshman steps up.

BACK UPS AND WILD CARDS

There are four players who could potentially shake up the offensive line rotation:

1.  Rs Fr Sam Jones 6-7 321 – Jones is still raw, but is physically everything you want in an offensive lineman.  He is reportedly very athletic and only needs to refine  his technique.  Jones could see some action at either the guard or tackle position.

2.  Rs Fr Denzelle Goode 6-6 336 – Goode is a player that I have felt will be an impact, all-ACC type player for NC STATE before he graduates, ever since I first watched him.  At the risk of being cliche’ he has “it.”  Like Zach Allen, his high school film is full of the opposition being driven 10-20 yards down the field.  He plays with a great tenacity and is a prototypical guard.

3.  JC (transfer) Rs Jr Mikal Overgaard 6-6 280 – A JUCO transfer, Overgaard was recruited to play earlier rather than later.  All accounts tout Overgaard’s great footwork and frame.  He could definitely factor into the RT position should he continue to grow and can apply all of the things Coach Horton will cram down his throat before fall.

4. Fr Rob Crisp 6-8 300 – Crisp has all the tools to be a great offensive lineman…footwork, size, brain, attitude…its all there.  Should he come in and grasp the offense, I do not think it is a stretch that Mr. Crisp could be a starter.  I do think he will play this season as a back up, at minimum.  There is no denying his game and Coach O’Brien has shown he will play kids now to prepare them for larger roles later.

According to this interview, Andre is on his way back and should be participating in training camp this summer, fighting for a spot in the Giants backfield.

Now, after more than a half year of rehab, Brown says he’s encountering no pain and is running at full speed. But while the physical healing is pretty much complete, he knows he still must mentally mend.

“It’s just confidence, getting it back in my head,” Brown said. “It’s just going to take me making a move without me thinking about it so I can be out there making cuts and what not.”

By all accounts Andre is a great guy and was one of my favorite Wolfpackers of the past decade.  Safe to say Frump will be following Andre’s career.

Frump it for a highlight tape including Andre’s great run against FSU as a freshman and his absolute beasting of App State’s Corey Lynch (future NFL safety for the Bengals)

Is Coach Urban Meyer (heretofore referred to as “CUM”) just a tick or two away from a “Mike Gundy?”  It’s a yes or no, and based on this video’s content, signs point to “yes.”

The audio isn’t particularly great, but according to ESPN’s Chris Low, CUM had just been asked a question about Gator receiver Deonte Thompson commenting that John Brantley, as opposed to his predecessor Tim Tebow, was “a real quarterbarck.”  CUM’s retort: “You’ll be out of practice — you understand that? — if you do that again.” CUM continued: “I told you five years ago: Don’t mess with our players. Don’t do it. You did it. You do it one more time and the Orlando Sentinel’s not welcome here ever again. Is that clear? It’s yes or no.”

A touch sensitive, perhaps?  To be fair, I can understand CUM’s frustrations.  When you flesh out Thompson’s comment further, it’s fairly clear that Mr. Fowler was probably prodding for a story that really isn’t there (i.e. doing his job).  In full context, Deonte said this when asked what the biggest differences were between Tebow and Brantley as QB’s: “You never know with Tim. He can bolt. You’ll think he’s running, but then he’ll just come up and pass it to you. You just have to be ready at all times. With Brantley, everything’s with rhythm, time. Like, you know what I mean, a real quarterback.”

So, in other words: John Brantley is more of a traditional pocket passer, while Tebow is probably the first Quarterback/Scrambler/Fullback/On-Field Beacon of Christ’s love the game has ever seen.  Shocking. 

Either way, the Gator’s offense, missing Tebow as a significant contributor for the first time in four years, should be an interesting unit to monitor this season.  Some suspect Meyer’s scheme needs more of a Tebow type than a Brantley, in fact, to make things run as effectively as possible, and, assuming that’s true, the potential frustrations might just deliver some more CUM outbursts.  We can only hope.

Russell Wilson

As alluded to yesterday, one of the two major questions facing the Wolfpack this spring is the future of All-ACC Quarterback Russell Wilson.  Will he stay on and pilot one of the ACC’s most prolific offenses for another season? Or will Mike Glennon be forced to step in and take the reins?  Also, who is the favorite to replace Toney Baker and Jamelle Eugene at the tailback position?  FRUMP it, football fans…

(shout to packpride, a great resource for Wolfpack info)

QUARTERBACKS

Like the point guard in college basketball, THE most important position on the college football field is the Quarterback.  Russell Wilson has done a masterful job in his first two season’s at the helm, accounting for over 50 TD’s to date.  However, the Wolfpack must prepare this spring for the very real prospect of Wilson focusing his career on baseball.

6-6 220 lb. Mike Glennon is doing just that.  Glennon

Mike Glennon

is practicing this spring as if he will be the starter, taking ALL of the first team reps.  He must use this time wisely to develop a rhythm with his receiving corps, as well as establishing himself as a leader of this team.  It is a very real possibility that Mike Glennon will be ‘the man’ this season.  The Wolfpack are thin behind Glennon; the only other healthy QBs on the roster are two walk-ons, with scholarship QB Everette Proctor still recovering from shoulder surgery this fall.  It is likely that Proctor may not even remain at QB and that the coaching staff will decide to use his athleticism at the safety position once he is able to practice.  He is currently listed on the roster as “QB/S.” While the Pack will welcome heralded Tyler Brosius to the mix this fall, Glennon must be ready to play either as a starter or a back up.

Frump prediction – Nobody knows what Wilson will decide to do.  During the season, we heard rumors it was his last.  Immediately following, the talk was that Wilson loved the game of football too much to give it up yet.  The latest is that maybe he is leaning towards a focus on the baseball field.  I think Wilson will ultimately return for one more season. He is the ultimate team guy and I think he will miss his teammates and the unique camaraderie of football this spring.  Additionally, Wilson is not even a full-time starter for Avent’s squad, which will hinder his draft prospects.

RUNNING BACKS

Arguably the most interesting position battle this spring will involve the running back position, where the Pack sport three capable, if unproven players to carry the mail.

Curtis Underwood

1.  Curtis Underwood (RS JR) – The red-shirt junior from New Jersey is the veteran of the bunch and the likely favorite to win the position this spring.  Underwood has 2 things Coach O’Brien loves: a willingness to sacrifice for the good of the team (Underwood burned his redshirt as a freshman when injuries struck and accepted a redshirt last season to space out the depth chart a little better) and size.  Underwood is a stout 5-11 220 and has shown a penchant for being a tough, between the tackles runner.  Historically, TOB favors the larger bruising backs.

2.  James Washington (SO) – Washington surprised everyone last season when he saw significant playing

James Washington

time early last season as a true freshman.  Most assumed Washington would redshirt, but he  burst onto the scene as a true freshman early on against South Carolina.  Washington would collect a few scores over the next few weeks, demonstrating great pass catching ability and a clear change of pace to the bigger Toney Baker before suffering a minor knee injury and missing the rest of the year.  Washington is a game-changer with his quickness and speed.  Should he demonstrate an ability to pick up blocking assignments, his stock could explode and become a household name in the ACC.

Brandon Barnes

3.  Brandon Barnes (RS SO) – Barnes was a highly-rated player out of Bunn high school near Raleigh, but is still looking to make his impact on the Wolfpack squad.  Barnes is probably best described physically as a mix between Washington and Underwood and was known for his playmaking ability in high school…although it was mainly on defense.  There is no doubt Barnes will have his chance this season, as TOB loves to rotate his backs and keep them fresh.  Barnes MUST learn that he cannot always beat NCAA defenders to the edge and start taking the 3-4 tough yards instead of always looking for the homerun.

The Pack will also welcome three players in the fall who could make an impact at the running back position.  Two are highly recruited freshmen Anthony Creecy (Durham, NC) and Mustafa Greene (SC).  Both will likely redshirt and Creecy may even play WR, but TOB has shown with Washington that he is not afraid to play the young guys if they perform.  Also joining the Pack this fall will be junior college transfer Tobias Palmer.  Palmer may also redshirt and play WR, but he may be too dangerous to keep off the field.  He does not yet possess the physicality, but he has the speed in spades.  If he learns to play a more physical style, he could be the wild card of the bunch as he put up gaudy numbers as a JC running back.

FULLBACK

NC State had not used a fullback in the traditional sense under TOB, but that may change as they will welcome back (JR) Taylor Gentry.  The former walk-on does a little bit of everything and is a great receiver out of the backfield.  Word is he has put on some good weight so look for the Pack to throw a few more lead plays at the opposition this season…especially if the inexperienced Mike Glennon is at QB.  The Pack also may play true freshman Logan Winkles on special teams and in that lead blocking role.  Winkles sports a great highlight reel showing his physical nature and was the Georgia 5-A state heavyweight wrestling champion.

Frump prediction: Underwood begins the season as the starter, but Washington finishes it with more touches and cements his place as a rising star in the ACC. Washington simply looks too explosive to keep off the field.  I do not expect to see too much drop off in the rushing statistics over the course of the season.  The Pack passing game will continue to garner a lot of attention from opposing coordinators which should open up some running lanes.

Nate Irving

Huzzah!  Mark your calenders for April 17 (spring game) to get your football fix to last you through the summer.  Frump it for a breakdown of the weeks ahead…

Wolfpack spring football practice began today and like usual for Pack fans, hope springs eternal.  The Pack welcomes back a desperately-needed playmaker in Nate Irving from injuries sustained last season in a devastating car accident.  Can Irving return to his previous form?  The Pack D last season was a wreck itself as it could not settle on a rotation in the back 7 and gave up chunks of yardage to the likes of Thaddeus Lewis and Noodle-Arm Yates.  The spring will be crucial to establishing the starters in the secondary and getting the young guys as many reps as possible.  The experience gained last season and the addition of Jon Tenuta should help, but anyone who saw the gaping holes last season knows there is a looooong way to go.

The other major story of the spring is the QB situation, as Mike Glennon

Mike Glennon

will take 100% of the first team snaps while Russell Wilson plays baseball and contemplates his future.  Can Glennon progress to a point where he could be a legitimate starter should Wilson decide to end his playing days?  There is no question that should Wilson return, the Wolfpack offense will be prolific through the air, returning the entire receiving corps as well as All-ACC TE George Bryan.  The Wolfpack also must insert new faces along the offensive line and at running back, as the familiar faces of Toney Baker and Jamelle Eugene are now gone.

Follow Frumpzilla through the spring with daily practice updates and discussion of all things football, as well as some breakdowns of the position battles moving forward….Go Pack!!

Foster is a Freshman at Troup County High School in LaGrange, Georgia.  That’s right, a Freshman, and yet this is still probably one of the more impressive recruiting highlight reels you’re ever gonna see from a Linebacker.  He’s not playing small time ball either.  Class-AAA in Georgia is nothing to scoff at, and produces some big time talent on a regular basis.

Already weighing in at 6’2″, 205, it’s scary to think how Foster might develop over the next three years, and, barring something catastrophic, he’s all but sure to be one of the most prized recruits in the 2013 class.  That said, consider this post Reuben’s official induction as the 3rd member of Frumpzilla’s High School Talent Freak Show Hall of Fame.  He fits in nicely next to Nick Marshall (throwing the ball 70 yards in the air, in game, as a Sophomore) and Deuce Bello (in game, between the legs dunk).

You can track Reuben’s progress and the fight for his commitment at his Scout.com profile. He’s currently listing Alabama, Georgia, Auburn and Georgia Tech as his favorites, but there’s obviously a long way to go…

Coach Fowler, on the job

Just a quick look into the records of the ‘big three’ sports at my beloved NCSU since 9/5/2000 reveals a very average group of programs and ZERO ACC Titles under the reign of Coach Fowler …

(caution – ranting and [words] to follow)

Baseball Coach Elliot Avent

• Arguably the most successful of the “Big Three” sports over Mr. Fowler’s tenure, the Wolfpack Baseball team boasts a record of 337-207 or .619 % since 2000
• Coach Avent has gone to 6 NCAA Tournaments and 2 Super Regionals
• ZERO ACC Regular Season or ACC Tournament Titles
• Not a Fowler hire, but a solid coach with an above average program in a challenging conference

Former Coach Chuck Amato

Football Coach Tom O'Brien

• Under Chuck Amato and Tom O’Brien, NC State Football is a pedestrian 60-51 or .540 since 2000…even with All-World stud QB Phillip Rivers as a four-year starter during that time
• The slightly above .500 record has led to 6 slightly above.500 type bowls, mostly with All-World stud QB Phillip Rivers at the helm…the Pack was 4-2 in those bowls
• ZERO ACC Titles
• O’Brien is a Fowler hire, who at the time, seemed like slam dunk…unfortunately, O’Brien has struggled (to this point) to duplicate the success he had at BC for a myriad of reasons…the upcoming 2010 campaign will be telling for Coach O’Brien, who must start to achieve some tangible results on the field

Former Basketball Coach Herb Sendek

Basketball Coach Sidney Lowe

• The bane of most Wolfpack fans is probably the once-great basketball program, which is 206-133 or .607 since 2000
• The Pack did enjoy 5 straight NCAA appearances and one Sweet Sixteen at the beginning of the decade, but only one NIT postseason since
• ZERO ACC Regular Season or ACC Tournament Titles
• Sendek left NC STATE under the watch of Lee Fowler and to call the coaching search anything but embarrassing is to be disingenuous…Lowe is a beloved figure in NCSU history but, like Tom O’Brien, must start to show results on the court…a much-heralded recruiting class and their efforts next season will likely seal the fate of Coach Lowe

Writer’s note;

I am not a “fire the coach” guy.  I am a firm believer in giving people time to build their programs.  I do think Tom O’Brien will be successful and I do think Sidney Lowe will be successful if given a little more time.  Those beliefs could easily be interpreted as confidence in the decision-making ability of Lee Fowler.

They should not be…despite having some of the best facilities in the nation, a rabid fan base, a nation-wide brand and numerous and notable professional athletes flying the NCSU banner in their profiles, we are mired in mediocrity.

My beefs with Lee are as follows;

1.  Lee Fowler has consistently demonstrated his disconnect with the fan base…between the infamous “lunatic fringe” comments and the tailgating restrictions, he constantly alienates those of us who support the athletic department.

2.  NC STATE’s athletics have become synonymous with average – across the board – under the 10 year spell of Lee Fowler…even beyond the ‘big 3′ we have little to cheer about.

3.  Under Fowler, our sports marketing department seems completely incapable of creating effective brand-building tools without embarrassing themselves at every turn (see the basketball uniforms last season, the seemingly different and incoherent mish-mash football intro from year to year and the full-length motion picture spirit-sucking, crowd killing basketball intro video this season).  These most simple of exercises turn public and laughable and embody our very programs.

They do a SEVERE injustice to the fine student-athletes who take the court and field for us.

Its time for a new person at the top.  A person with some vision and some marketing smarts.  A person who does not loathe the very ones who pay his salary.

-chese

Seriously, we’ve got respected, established journalists out there (who shall remain nameless) shedding tears and using words like “profound” and “deep” in reference to this act Tiger just put on a bit ago. And before I get labeled a hater or something, let me just say that, before now, I was never particularly fazed by all this Tiger scandal stuff. It was entertaining more than anything, but never completely ruined Tiger’s aura, or whatever, for me. Now, however, after it became overwhelmingly clear that the most sincere thing at Tiger’s presser was his own level of self absorption (or possibly the look on his mother’s face), he just might be doomed.

But at least he’s not the first to pull a stunt like this, right? I mean, his performance may have been the most Oscar worthy, sure, but there is precedence, and we highlight a bit of what may have served as inspiration for Tiger here (and after the jump). We’ve also got the full clip of Tiger’s press conference for those of you that may have missed out, so please do enjoy (regardless of how unfair it all is).

Man alive. Kevin Borseth became a hero of mine after this. After seeing his bubble Wolverettes blow a twenty point lead to Wisconsin, at home, Borseth (who obviously was under the impression that other people actually care about women’s college basketball) freaked out, and apparently mistook the press conference podium for one of the refs.

He’s right, though: rebounds really have gone out of style these days, and Borseth’s homage to Gundy was certainly appropriate. Given the setting, an otherwise obligatory “I’m a man!” statement may have rubbed some folks the wrong way, but at the time I was more than satisfied with Borseth’s imagery of womens basketball players donning shoulder pads. Speaking of Mike Gundy…

Okay, I’ll be honest: this probably tops Tiger’s performance in terms of raw emotional power and poignancy. If only the player in question, and his family, felt that way. Donovan transferred shortly thereafter…

For fans of the more obscure, we offer Coastal Carolina coach Dave Bennett (who kinda has it out for sports bloggers) discussing just how gosh darn expensive it is up in Kent, Ohio (which is why he chose to fly his football team up there on the day of the game instead of letting the players lounge around in a hotel, eating expensive buffet breakfasts). “Good grannies alive,” indeed, Coach Bennett.

Lane Kiffin Press Conference Part 1 from R Mitchell on Vimeo.

Finally (before Tiger, of course) we give you Lane Kiffin’s introductory presser after being announced as the next head coach at Tennessee. Within the context of what happened about a year later, Kiffin’s comments about embracing the Volunteers’ great tradition, his incredible work ethic, and singing Rocky Top after beating Florida may actually rival Tiger in terms of sheer pandering.

And, as promised, here’s Tiger. Dear, dear Tiger. Let’s see, he covered the state of the U.S. education system; how he and his father helped over 9,000 children receive better education; domestic violence, or the lack it; dramatic pauses and stares; condemning the media, categorically; life lessons; self-actualization; brohugs; and, of course, Buddhism. He also touched on golf, I believe, but that was clearly overshadowed by the rest of his performance.

Shocking, really. Especially considering Tiger’s entire life has revolved around a sport so entrenched in the concept that less is more…

This is the most important BCS Egg Trophy Ever: Frumpzilla's Top 25 College Football Programs of the Decade

*****UPDATE: Due to a relatively high volume of great reader feedback (and requests), we’ve added several variations of our rankings below. Many thanks to all that have left feedback and offered suggestions on how to improve and expand the rankings.*****

I know, I know. The Super Bowl contenders are now set. Football fans, if not the vast majority of sports fans in general, are far more concerned with whether Drew wins his first or if Peyton can solidify himself as the greatest quarterback of all time. Understandable. I mean, even I’m more excited than usual for this Super Bowl.

So why do a “Best of the Decade” college football list now? Well, nearly a month removed from Alabama’s 8th, 13th or 27th National Championship (depending on who you ask), let’s just say I wasn’t quite ready to let go of my #1 sports passion yet.

Yes, not willing to wait for next season,  I decided instead to reexamine the depths of the last 10 in an effort to establish the final top 25: The Top 25 college football programs of the decade (it’s actually the Top 57, or so, but I figured I should use “Top 25″ in the title for SEO reasons).

Make the jump for Frumpzilla’s epic compilation, along with a detailed explanation of the methodology behind our rankings…

Qualification:

I didn’t possess the fortitude to crunch the numbers for every college football program, but I did for just about every program that’s relevant to this discussion. As long as a team ranked in the top 50 for number of weeks appearing in any weekly edition of the AP Top 25 between 2000 and 2010 (that’s seasons 2000-2009 only, by the way), they’re included. Beyond that I even included some extra local flavor, and I think all reasonable interests should be covered.

Scoring:

Winning is everything, so, naturally, I used total wins from seasons 2000-2009 as my base scoring system. Conference Championship game wins and bowl wins are included in this number, too. Everything beyond that operated as a bonus, and those bonuses are as follows…

Conference Championship Bonus:

I struggled with this one, because, while I certainly felt programs needed to be rewarded for the luster a conference championship adds, winning the Mountain West or Western Athletic Conference isn’t exactly the same as winning the SEC. Nor is having to play that extra conference championship game when other champs essentially get a bye week.

Still, given that one of our goals here was to reduce the element of subjectivity as much as reasonably possible, I didn’t think it would be fair to give teams from certain conferences greater bonuses than others. Instead I decided to keep the bonus relatively moderate, and just give 1 bonus point for any conference championship season. If a team was only a Co-Champion for a given season, they were rewarded 1/2 a bonus point. Notre Dame, being an Independent, was rewarded 1/2 a point for every BCS bid they received (join a conference, Irish, if you want the full point).

Bowl Wins:

Bowl wins garnered 1 bonus point. BCS bowls are not included in this number, as you’ll see below.

BCS Bowl Wins:

BCS bowl wins got your school 2 bonus points. Please note, however, that these points, as well as all the the other bonus points, do not stack upon each other. For example: Georgia winning the Sugar Bowl in 2002 would earn the Dawgs 2 bonus points for a BCS bowl win; NOT 1 bonus point for a bowl win plus ANOTHER 2 points for a BCS bowl win.

Final Top 25 Finish:

1 bonus point was awarded for each season a team finished in the final AP Top 25.

Final Top 10 Finish:

2 bonus points were awarded for finishing a season in the  AP Top 10. This does not stack upon the Top 25 bonus point. For instance, finishing #8 in the country for a given year would only earn a program 2 bonus points; NOT 1 bonus point for finishing in the Top 25 AND another 2 for finishing in the Top 10.

Final Top 5 Finish:

If a team finished in the final AP Top 5 for the season, they received 3 bonus points. This is not stacked with any other bonuses, as noted above.

MNC Bonus:

If a team ended the season as the BCS National Champion (aka, the Mythical National Champion) they were awarded 13 bonus points. Again, these points did not stack with any other bonuses. Winning the MNC would NOT get you 13 bonus points AND the 3 bonus points for finishing in the Top 5, for example.

My rationale here was that 13 points, while being the natural equivalent of a perfect season, also happened to match the scoring for a win (1), Conference Championship (1), bowl win (1), BCS bowl win (2), Top 25 finish (1), Top 10 finish (2), Top 5 finish (3) and then an additional 2 points for winning the BCS Title game. Moreover, though 13 points is certainly a substantial bonus, I imagine fans of nearly every program would gladly sacrifice that many wins over the course of a decade in exchange for a MNC.

Strength of Schedule:

In order to protect against, or at least minimize the impact of, the inevitable pitfall of questions related to disparities in competition level, I used Jeff Sagarin’s Strength of Schedule ratings as a final, additional bonus. Sagarin’s SOS ratings have not been free of controversy, of course, and he’s still never revealed how he computes them, but they were the only ratings I found that made it easy and accessible to prune data. They’re also used by the official BCS rankings, so I felt that added a level of authority.

To apply the bonus, I simply averaged a team’s Sagarin Strength of Schedule (SSOS) rating from each season this decade and added the result to their score. You can see each year’s SSOS’s and corresponding final average in the table below the final rankings table.

Caveats:

USC and LSU obviously caused some problems. For their AP and USA Today Coaches Poll shake up in 2003, I gave them each 1/2 credit for a national championship, BCS bowl win, and Top 5 finish.

Also, despite several of the teams ranked having changed conferences (in some cases multiple times) over the course of the decade, each team’s conference is listed related to the current alignment.

The Top 25 of the Decade

Most of you probably haven’t taken the time to peruse the methodology (that’s fine, it’s a bit dense), but, if you have, thanks for reading.  Now on to the fun part. You can see the full, detailed results in the Excel table below, but for those of you that can’t be bothered to look at the rankings more intently, here are the results for the Top 25 (Win based scoring system).

1. USC
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Ohio State
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Georgia
8. Boise State
9. Miami
10. Virginia Tech
11. Oregon
12. Florida State
13. TCU
14. Auburn
15. West Virginia
16. Boston College
17. Utah
18. Alabama
19. Michigan
20. Wisconsin
21. Nebraska (tie with Iowa)
22. Iowa (tie with Nebraska)
23. Texas Tech
24. Oregon State
25. Tennessee

And for those of you that appreciate the finer points, here are the full rankings with data plugged in…

And then here is the SSOS data…

*****As mentioned above, we’ve received a lot of feedback and requests related to this article. As such, we decided to run the data through some different base scoring systems to see how it altered results (Winning %, Bonus Heavy, and Win-Loss Delta). None of the bonuses have been touched, and Sagarin’s SOS ratings are still incorporated in each set.***

The Top 25 under a Win Percentage Base Scoring System

Here a program’s win percentage from 2000-2009 was converted to serve as the base score instead of total wins.

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Miami
8. Georgia
9. Boise State
10. Virginia Tech
11. Oregon
12. West Virginia
13. Utah
14. Texas Christian
15. Auburn
16. Florida State
17. Boston College
18. Alabama
19. Michigan
20. Iowa
21. Oregon State
22. Nebraska
23. Penn State
24. Wisconsin
25. Tennessee

Data here…

The Top 25 under a “true” win percentage/bonus heavy based scoring system

Here win percentage is not converted, but rather, for example, is left at .769 instead of 76.9. This naturally increases the weight/importance of the bonuses (winning conference championships, winning bowls, winning BCS bowls, finishing as high as possible in the AP Poll, and, most importantly, National Championships) substantially.

1. USC
2. Florida
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas
6. LSU
7. Miami
8. Georgia
9. Virginia Tech
10. Florida State
11. Alabama
12. Oregon
13. West Virginia
14. Auburn
15. Utah
16. Michigan
17. Iowa
18. Boston College
19. Boise State
20. Oregon State
21. Penn State
22. Nebraska
23. Tennessee
24. California
25. Texas Christian

Here is the data…

The Top 25 under a Win-Loss Delta base scoring system

Here losses are subtracted from wins with the difference serving as a program’s base score prior to bonuses.

1. Texas
2. USC
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. Florida
6. Boise State
7. LSU
8. Georgia
9. Miami
10. Virginia Tech
11. Texas Christian
12. Oregon
13. Utah
14. Auburn
15. West Virginia
16. Boston College
17. Florida State
18. Michigan
19. Wisconsin
20. Nebraska
21. Texas Tech
22. Alabama
23. Louisville
24. Iowa
25. Tennessee

And here’s the data…

“Master Score”

Finally, below you’ll find a Master Sheet of all the data used in the compilation of these rankings. It’s sorted by the column titled “Master Score,” which is simply the sum of each program’s score under each of the four ranking systems. We’re not offering it as the comprehensive, best set of rankings of the group or anything; rather just a nice statistical data dump for all you stat lovers out there. Nevertheless, here’s The Top 25 by each program’s “Master Score”:

1. USC
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Miami
8. Georgia
9. Boise State
10. Virginia Tech
11. Oregon
12. Texas Christian
13. West Virginia
14. Auburn
15. Florida State
16. Utah
17. Boston College
18. Alabama
19. Michigan
20. Iowa
21. Oregon State
22. Nebraska
23. Wisconsin
24. Tennessee
25. Texas Tech

And here’s the Master Sheet…

Disclaimer:

Now, we don’t have editors here at Frumpzilla (I mean, that should be clear from our motto), so it’s possible there are some errors present in the calculations that led to our final rankings. If you find any, please be sure to let us know.

Moreover, none of us, at least to my knowledge, are statisticians, or even particularly good at math. The GingerHead Man can do this really neat trick with instantly calculating and extracting the number of vowels present in even really big words, or something, but that’s about it. We’re just fans that enjoy a friendly debate (and lists). That said, I’m sure someone out there can develop a better methodology, and if you have any thoughts, suggestions or ideas, please constructively critique away.

Oh, and if you just want to bitch about your team being ranked too low (i.e. below Boise State, TCU and/or Utah), or even not ranked at all, please feel free to do that as well. Leave a comment, or drop us a line, insulting or otherwise, at frumpmail@gmail.com.

But you can’t judge a book by its cover, right? Herschel being my childhood hero/sports idol, I was kind of worried when I first heard about his new MMA aspirations.  I was worried still after I saw the weigh-in photos, despite the relatively unimposing look of the guy he’d be fighting.  Even the tattoo of stylized poultry that graced Walker’s opponent did nothing to alleviate my concerns.

Still, I love the guy, so I had no choice but to cautiously tune in last night, prepared for the worst…(Video and some additional “analysis” after the jump)

Okay, so the analysis isn’t exactly MMA specific.  I’ll admit it, I’m not a huge fan of the sport; never really taken the time to educate myself about it.  That’s not to say I don’t respect it, of course, just that I probably don’t possess the skill set to offer any meaningful commentary. From reading what those that apparently do follow MMA have said, however, I guess Herschel pretty much dominated this one, or something.  How much of an accomplishment that was appears to be a topic of debate, but then that’s not the biggest storyline here, IMO.

Herschel finding success in yet another “hobby”  is what I find most interesting.  Notwithstanding all his football accomplishments, let’s see: he’s danced ballet professionally; been a member of the U.S. Olympic Bobsled team; released fitness videos; developed a profitable food services enterprise; and, now, won his first (and hopefully last) professional MMA fight, amongst other things. I mean, maybe the whole multiple-personality thing plays into this, or at least lessens the tax one would think is imposed on those with merely one identity attempting to take on so many pursuits at such a high level.  Either way, Herschel may be one of the more bizarre “renaissance men” of the modern era.

So why hope this was his last foray into the MMA arena?  Well, I guess I have my own, selfish reasons for that.  For one, I obviously don’t want to see him get his ass kicked, and I have to think that’s probably inevitable if he continues down this road.  Moreover, I’m not too sure how I feel about him handing other people’s asses to them either. 

It’s funny: Seeing clips of him pound opposing defenders and defenses, and steam rolling guys like Bill Bates the way he did back in 1980, is something that will never grow old.  Seeing him straddle half-naked men and pound their faces with his fists, putting them in submission holds, or whatever it is he’d be doing to win those contests, however, is something I must say I find inescapably unsettling (regardless of how humble he may be about it afterwards).

Ok, I’m a fan of red as much as the next guy, but this is just crossing all sorts of lines.  After seeing the success a school like Boise St. has had after installing a blue field, Eastern Washington has decided to go ahead with making their turf red.

“There is no doubt that one of Boise State’s claims to fame has been their blue turf and like it or dislike it, it has certainly brought them a tremendous amount of notoriety,” EWU athletic director Bill Chaves said.

EW’s field will be the second oddly colored field in the NCAA(Div I).  When you think about it, it’s really hard to blame EW for their actions.  Did anyone know of the Broncos outside of Boise before they came out with that eye-throbbing blue turf and received a bowl game?  I know I hadn’t, I just remember cursing them as I got a headache the first time I saw one of their games on tv.  It’s easy to see that once their field made it to tv, the ball started rolling on recruiting, which has brought them to their recent success in the world of college football.

I blame the NCAA.  As of now, there are no rules against coloring your turf any shade under the sun.  I understand Boise St. caught them by surprise, but that was in 1986!!!  NCAA, you’ve had 24 years to put safeguards in place to prevent eye sores like EW’s red turf from coming to fruition.  What’s going to stop a school from having a brown field with brown uni’s so you can’t see the ball?  How bout checkerboard?  Let’s just turn into the Arena Football League.

Since there aren’t any rules against it, it’s hard to blame Eastern Washington for this plan, I just hope I never have to watch one of their games on tv(ahem: ESPN).

tip from Rivals.

Back to the Frump!!

Before his demise as the head football coach at Clemson, Tommy Bowden was always reliable to produce some form of hilarity, ridiculousness, or general shenaniganry.

(4/08) On freshman Kyle Parker, who is having a really good season with the baseball team:

“I’ve watched him practice and I’ve watched him play (baseball). He’s really good looking. If I was a girl, I’d be very interested in him. He wears those tight pants. When you wear loose stuff, you can’t tell the definition of a guy’s body. In baseball, everything’s tight and you can tell he’s very well put together.”

Good night, sweet prince.

MORE HILARITY FROM EVERYONE’S FAVORITE BOWDEN

Its raining men

link to original article from Scout.com

-Chese

Make sure you make it to the end, because he starts to freak out a bit when he realizes he’s gonna be hangin’ out in Wal-Mart for awhile.  Enjoy.

Credit BB&T for the tip.

Frump for the update

Evidently, Tennessee coaches were calling the UT spring enrollees not to go to class, so they can follow the coaching staff to USC. 

UT had 10 spring enrollees. 

Stay classy, Lane.  Maybe Al Davis isnt so crazy after all?

-chese

How’s the rest of the top flight coaching talent in the country reacting to this, though?  Well, that’s gonna require quite a bit of digging, but Frumpzilla has happened to get its paws on Florida coach, and former Kiffin rival, Urban Meyer’s reaction upon hearing about the shakeup at tonight’s Kentucky-Florida basketball game:

Georgia fans are desperate to find out whether former Dawg, Kirby Smart, will be the next Defensive Coordinator in Athens.  Some of them over at Scout’s free boards are even tracking planes and flight plans, like this one, which is set to land in the greater Atlanta area (not too far from Athens) in about 15 minutes (8:17 ET).  According to that thread, this plane belongs to a Georgia booster, and, given that this information is coming from Georgia’s free board, you can bet that this is highly reliable. (make sure you’ve got your sarcasm switch set to “On” for that one).

Speaking of reliable sources, Smart’s Wikipedia page was updated today to state that on January 10th he’d accepted the postion of Defensive Coordinator at UGA, signing a 4 year contract that will pay him in the region of $800,000 annually.  This sentence has since been deleted within the last hour or so, staying true to a heated editing war on Smart’s Wikipedia page that’s been going on for the past 72 hours (Seriously, go to the page and refresh every half hour or so.  Pretty funny).

Check back for updates…after the Frump.

9:27 PM, 1/10/10:  Unless Kirby Smart was disguised as either a pilot or mechanic, he apparently wasn’t on that plane.  Most Georgia fans still appear to be optimistic, however.

10:43 AM, 1/11/10:  Reports are hitting mainstream media outlets that Smart has certainly been officially offered the position, and at about the price range speculated upon above ($800k/year).  Some are saying it’s already done deal, but I’ve been able to find nothing from a public, reliable source on that front.  This would put Smart in the Top 5 of assistant coaches’ salaries in NCAA football.  Word is Smart is mulling the offer over, as well as potential counter offers from the Crimson Tide, who apparently are quite eager to keep him in Tuscaloosa.

11:27 AM, 1/11/10:  More planes being tracked by the Georgia faithful (same forum link from above).  This time it’s a plane that left for Tuscaloosa from Athens and landed about 2 hours ago.  Press conference this afternoon?  We’ll see…

12:02 PM, 1/11/10:  Smart is reportedly conflicted about the offer from Georgia according to Zach Klein (Kirby’s been with Saban quite awhile, after all).  Plane is still on the ground in Tuscaloosa; Smart’s Wikipedia page has taken a beating today…

1:19 PM, 1/11/10:  Bit of a lull in reliable, public info out there, so figured it might be a good time to address this question:  Why would Kirby Smart, fresh off a MNC and Broyles Award winning season with Alabama, make what  many would consider, at best, a lateral move to become DC at Georgia?  Here are some facts to consider: 

Smart is from Georgia; his family is from Georgia; his family still lives in Georgia; Smart grew up a Georgia fan; Smart played football at Georgia; Smart met his wife, also from Georgia, and a former Lady Dawgs basketball player, at the University of Georgia; Smart coached at Georgia on two separate occasions after graduating from Georgia; Smart’s wife has reportedly expressed a desire to move back to Georgia (potentially HUGE).

Here are some possibilities to consider:  Smart is often perceived as Saban’s puppet; “It’s Saban’s defense,” is something you’ll hear quite a bit, and thus Smart may think getting out of Saban’s shadow could be good for his career.  There are also rumors that Mark Richt may retire from coaching, sooner that his age of 49 would suggest, in order to concentrate on his faith and missionary work.  If that’s the case, it’s possible Georgia could lure Smart with a Head Coach in Waiting title.

All of this is also ignoring the fact that Georgia’s offer apparently at least doubles Smart’s current salary.  Not that Alabama can’t afford to match that, obviously, but if it’s really Saban’s defense, and Saban’s alone, would they be willing to?  Only time will tell.  If Smart does decide to stay in Tuscaloosa, expect the Dawgs to already have a backup candidate in place rather quickly.  Rumors would suggest that the most likely name would be Cowboys’ DL coach, Todd Grantham.

1:44 PM, 1/11/10:  And the Wikipedia Wars continue!  Smart’s page just updated to say he’s accepted the Georgia offer (screen capture).  By the time you read this, and check the page yourself, I’m sure that line will be nuked.

 2:50 PM, 1/11/10: BamaBeat reporting that Saban has said Smart is staying with the Crimson Tide.

FINAL UPDATE 4:15 PM, 1/11/10:  Kirby Smart explains his decision for staying with the Tide in this article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Well, the magic of the camera phone, and the power of message boards (the message boards of jealous fanbases (Auburn, in this case)), has made my dream a reality.  This first one is just a tease.  Frump it here for several more…

The first Google result was for an all male chorus billing themselves as “An Orchestra of Voices,” but I figured that was probably a mistake.  So I went to Coastal Carolina’s about page and found that a Chanticleer is actually “a proud and fierce rooster that dominates the barnyard.”

Fitting, in a groundbreaking manner, in fact, which we explore a bit more after the Frump.  There’s also another choice cut of Bennett discussing why the Chanticleers chose to fly up to Ohio on the day of the game (instead of the day before) for this year’s season opener against Kent.  Trust us, it’s worth it…

You know, a lot of programs like to keep things “in the family”; they’ll hire former players and/or staff members, and I think there’s a lot to be said for that in terms of program stability and confidence.  What the Chanticleers have done here, however, is take this approach to an enitrely new level, and an extreme and hilarious level at that: They’ve hired their mascot, and in as literal a fashion as practically possible. 

Don’t tell me Coach Bennett isn’t a dead ringer for one of our all time favorite toons, Frumpsters: “I SAY, I SAY…TURDY-FIGH DOLLUHS FOR A BU-FAYYYY BREF-USS???”  It’s, like, almost too good to be true, no?