Boo Corrigan: "We're Going To Try To Be Good At Everything"
NC State AD Boo Corrigan met with the media on Friday to discuss a variety of topics relative to Wolfpack athletics.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
Opening statement
Last year, obviously moving in, moving into the new academic year, excited about where we are, who we are, and what we’re doing. So questions?
Yes, just more of a kind of recap of last year. I mean, what was it like to be the AD for all of that success?
Well, I mean, it's great, but you're happy for everyone, right? As you go through this, about five ACC championships, the national championship, two teams in the Final Four, College World Series, and just the excitement around it, right? And a lot of things that haven't happened in a long time. But, you know, you look around and, you know, you see the students and the experience they're having and how happy they are, and the coaches and the trainers. And then, you know, you look up a little bit and you look into the crowd and you see the fan base and people that haven't experienced an ACC championship, right, in men's basketball. And the opportunity to have not one, but two teams in the Final Four. And those of you that were in Dallas, there was a big cheer at one point. I think other people in the arena thought we were crazy, but everyone started cheering, you know, as the women beat Texas and go to the Final Four. So it was just a great year for everyone. And we like to remind people, if you have children that are 10 or younger, all they know is championships. That's a pretty good place to live.
This has been a football program that, for the bulk of Dave's time here, has been sort of knocking on the door without kind of crashing through. I think a lot of people view this year as probably the best team that he's had or one of, but there's also a lot of transition in college football. The cost of admission of playing at the highest level has gone up.
What do you view your sort of role or the administration's role or the school's role in supporting the football program and kind of getting us to that next level?
You know, I don't think it's a lot different than what it has been. You know what I'm saying? I mean, it's going to change July 1st, 25’, you know, as we go into the new era of college football.
But we're in the role of support is what we are and make sure that we have a good culture in the athletic department, one of trust, one of accountability with our coaches and make sure that they know that we are in it with them, right? Not in it against them, but, you know, when and where we can help. We're excited for the opportunity to do that. I think you can go specifically to football and the ability for Dave for five consecutive years, the same coaches on the defensive side of the ball. As we do lose a coach like a Tim Beck who goes on to become a head coach, we're able to fill that position with Robert Anae, who comes in with a great history of being an offensive coordinator and the ability to move forward. So, you know, it's different. As I remind my 94 year old mother, it's a lot different than it used to be, right? But there's a lot of things that are different in our ability to embrace what's different. I think it's what's really helped us.
Kind of piggybacking on Dave's question from a big picture perspective. There was a report yesterday that Ohio State is considering drastically cutting back the budget for Olympic sports to put more resources in football. As the landscape changes, how much more difficult is it to manage?
Well, I think it continues to change, right? I mean, I think that's an easy way to do it, but we've never been, as a department, afraid of any of that, right? Our goal is to find solutions, right?
Everyone uses challenges. We use opportunity, right? As we move forward, I think one of the great things about being here is the depth of our sports, right? And the 22 sports that we have and being competitive. And, you know, it's going to, it's hard to look at Braden Holloway, who's been so successful with our swimming program, who goes to the Olympics as an assistant coach and say, well, you know, we're going to try to be good at everything. And the way that we look at it to be candid with you is we got to do what's right for NC State. And other people are going to make other decisions that is in the best interest of Ohio State or wherever else it is around the country. We got to do what's in the best interest of NC State.
Well, from that standpoint, you will have, whatever the number is, 20, 21 million in revenue sharing to be distributed. And you are at a unique place in which baseball matters to fans, basketball matters to fans. Football, of course, is the revenue driver, though. Have you, I guess, what's it like with your head coaches trying to decide how that pie gets split? And have you gotten any, come to any conclusions on that yet?
Well, I think, I don't think, I know we've met with all of our coaches and we've had really open and honest conversations with our coaches about where we are. And right now, believe it or not, I don't know is an acceptable answer. You know, I mean, we've got to figure out how we're going to do it. We've got to be creative in the way that we approach this from finding new revenue streams to continuing to grow the pie. Fortunately for us, we've got a great relationship with the Wolfpack Club, who have done a wonderful job with us. But one thing we're not going to do is we're not just going to all of a sudden, every ticket's got a 50% premium on it, right? We want to make sure that our fans are here, that our fans are part of it. Is it going to be in part on donation? Is it going to be put on tickets and other elements that we have? Sure, but we've got to continue to be creative in what we're doing and finding new revenue streams.
How many roster spots will you be losing and how many scholarships might you have to fund?
Good question. I would, I would guesstimate based on the new roster limits that are there, we've got about 550 now. I think our projections are somewhere between 480 and 490 what would be the number of spots available. And again, in conversation with our coaches, there's a max kind of that you can go to, right? What do we need to be competitive, right? And being competitive means being competitive in the ACC. And if you're competitive in the ACC, you're competitive nationally, right? So what are we doing in and around that? And it's not unlike, you know, two years ago as NIL comes on and it's, oh boy, what are we going to do? How are we going to do it? I think based on results, we've managed it pretty well, right? And we're going to take the same approach of, we had a guy come in for our offsite a couple of weeks ago, a guy named Mike Irwin, who's running 50 miles. And I'm like, how do you train for that? And his comment was, I just try to get to the next tree, right? And then that tree, I get to the next tree, I get to the next tree. And I think that's a large part of how we're approaching this, right? We want to make sure that whatever we're doing is well thought out, then you take a step, right? And then you think about the next thing and then you take a step as opposed to this, we're going to run down the hill. We have every decision. We have every conclusion made at this point. We're going to continue to grow and make sure that we engage with our coaches. And I think that's really important. Ultimately, they're the ones that are going to be out recruiting young people to come to this great university. We want to make sure that they're a part of everything that's good for us.
Starting maybe with the COVID year, how do you kind of guard against donor fatigue?
I think it's really important to look at it that way. Once again, we kind of pride ourselves on being transparent. I know that gets overused at times, but I could go backwards and really think about that COVID year is also a year that really allowed us to establish our culture, right? We started off the year with a $22 million deficit. We ended up breaking even that year and people could see that, hey, we're good stewards of what's going on, of what's happening. If you think backwards to that year specifically, all season tickets had already been sold. We gave our season ticket owners three options. Would you turn it into a donation? Would you move it to next year? Or do you want a refund? And about 1% of the people asked for a refund. Right? So we have a fan base that is really engaged. We have alumni that are really engaged and take great pride in this university. We're going to continue to communicate with them, to be engaged with them as we continue to move forward.
Are you okay with the house settlement? Or are there some parts that you don’t think are necessarily fair or have not worked out for you?
Fair's tough, right? It's a tough word right now. I think as I look at it, the biggest piece of it is what protections do we really have from further lawsuits, right? Are we going to get into this and then in another year have another set of lawsuits that are going to change it again? I think the idea of looking at a horizon of 10 years and where we're going to be is probably closer to three years at this point, right? Just to make sure, because it has been changing so much, right? And the idea of 10 years ago, someone predicting where we would be today, that would have been a pretty good prediction, right? I don't know that anyone would have come up with where we are today, and I feel the same way about 10 years from now. So again, the phrase we use is keep your knees bent. You don't know what direction it's coming, right? But if you're prepared for it and your knees are bent, you've got a better shot at dealing with it.
Is it out of control right now? NIL?
The phrase wild, wild west, that's right to what's going on right now. But to us and our coaches, it's still about finding the right people that fit into our culture, right? That want to be a part of NC State, that want to be a part of the academics at NC State, that want to be a part of the program and what, you know, Coach Doeren stands for, or Pat Popolizio, or Kim Landrus in Gymnastics, right? I mean, they want to be a part of that. Fit always matters, right? I mean, it's easy for everyone to fall in love with talent, right, right away, and oh my lord, they can do this. Do you have the opportunity in the transfer portal to really evaluate that? I think that's tougher and tougher because I feel like those decisions are made quicker and quicker, right? With a high school recruit, I think you have a little bit more time to do that, but I'm super proud of our coaches for the way that they've handled that, right, and making sure that fit always matters.
You talk a lot about culture and the culture of the school. Randy Woodson announced his retirement at the end of next June.
You trying to get me to cry?
Can you talk a little bit about why the culture he created here as the chancellor attracted you to here and the impact on what athletics has been able to do in his 14 years as chancellor?
He's just been an amazing leader. I mean, I've had the opportunity to be around a lot of great leaders and not just specific to eight and a half years at West Point, but before that and the mentors I've had in Kevin White, at both Notre Dame and Duke. Chancellor Woodson kind of feels like one of one, you know, in his ability to lead. His intellect is as high as anyone. He's got an ability to relate to what's going on. I know for me, he's been incredibly supportive in allowing us to do our jobs, but at the same time, it's not do whatever you want. It's, hey boss, here's what we're thinking, and he'll pause for a little bit and say, have you thought about this? Have you thought about this? So it's, he's one that has allowed me to think about what I want to do, and then after visiting with him, I can verify that it's the right thing to do, and that's something I really miss.
He seems like somebody who really enjoys athletics and sports and has had a hand in it. With the NCAA through the ACC, all of those things. But he doesn’t seem like someone who is micromanaging. Is that accurate?
No, he definitely is not a micromanager. He's much higher. I mean, you know, we win the ACC tournament last year in D.C., and I had to not drag him down to the court, right, to celebrate, but it was, I'm like, come on, let's go. He's like, I don't need to go. I'm like, yes, you do. You need to be there for this, you know, so he takes great pride in it, in what we do and how we do it, and, you know, you win five ACC championships in the last five years. We've won four more than any other school in the ACC. We have three national championships, and at the same time, the highest graduation rate, and looking at that and looking at what I would imagine if he had a goal list for us, we're doing okay on those goals right now, but we're excited about where it is. We're going to miss him greatly, but we know we'll get a great leader because this is a great university.
Did you know him before he hired you?
I didn't know him before I walked into the room. When I met him the first time, I did an undisclosed location. I don't know if you can disclose. Exactly, but met with him. I think we were supposed to be together an hour. We were closer than two, and I remember leaving that conversation and calling my wife, Kristen, and saying, I don't know if we're going to get this job, but I'd love to work for this guy, and it's been true every day that he's been here.
I was going to say, going back to the success of the program right now, a lot of that is due to your patience, due to keeping some of the coaches that you've had, Kevin Keatts and Dave Doeren, now at this point. How much do you feel seeing the recent success is paying off?
You just try to do the right thing every day. You know what I'm saying? If you believe in the leaders that you have, a lot of times the question from our standpoint is, what can we do to help you? What do you need us to do? What can we do? Whether it's around staff, whether it's around nutrition, strength and conditioning, whatever it is, my goal is always to make sure that we're asking questions of what it is. Historically, it feels like looking back. There were times where we were four or five years, and let's make a change. Making a change is a big deal, right? And looking at a coach and saying, hey, we're making a change is a big deal, right? So if you can weather a little bit, but you believe in the person that is leading your program, I think it's great to see this success.
When you look, when you reflect back to being on the college football playoff committee and the time management of also being an NC State athletic director, do you look back on that time fondly or do you now realize, man, how did I pull that off?
There's never, I pulled that off. It was an honor to be a part of that committee, just as it's an honor to be the AD at NC State. Personally, probably could have done without all the TV stuff. It's not my favorite thing to do. Regardless of who we were picking, that was just, man, that's, you're sitting on a stool, there's a camera right there and no one else. And you're doing this and you're trying to, you know, make eye contact and you're trying to remember everything that's going on and all those things. But no, it was a real honor to be a part of that. I had a lot of time. I used to jokingly say to people, you know, what's the hardest part? I don't know, but I get to watch a lot of good football games. So, I mean, every week you're watching 10 or 12 football games and making sure that you're up to speed on the other games that are going on and just spending a lot of time. But it's, you know, there's worse things in the world to spend time on than college football.
What has the juggling act of trying to arrange travel and things like that, all the logistics, not necessarily for football and basketball, but for wrestling and soccer and volleyball, now that you've got teams in California?
We've got really good people with all of our programs that are spending a lot of time on that, right? To make sure that as we go about that, are we getting the rest that we need? Are we taking the right flights? I know this year in particular, we probably booked a lot of things earlier than we ever had historically, right? To make sure that we understand what are the connections with time? Are we getting back? How are we handling that? But it's going to take some time, right? Before you really get comfortable with what's going on and how all that works.
Talking about the playoff committee and doing the TV ended up being sort of the face of a very controversial decision. One, what advice might you give to playoff committee members now who might be going through that in the future? And two, do you wish there was more sort of openness and transparency about the process? So it wasn't just one guy in front of a camera who's got to take the heat for everybody who may have had things to say that you didn't maybe even necessarily agree with inside that room.
Well, I mean, the key to being the chair is that you're speaking for 13 people, right? And I don't think people understand that all the time. It's not like the chair has four votes and everyone else has one. I mean, it's 13 people coming to a conclusion. It got a little dicey at the end. I will share that. But at the end of the day, my job as the chair was to represent the committee the best that I could as we went through really the last two years with ESPN. And then from ESPN, you go to a radio, as you all know, right? It's all around the country. And then you have another radio head after that. And in that side of it, I think Ward and Manuel is going to do a great job.
Why not kind of open it up more? Why not have everybody release their final ballot or something like that so that you're not the one who has to try to speak for 13 unique voices?
Yeah, I think ultimately that's going to be the management committee that comes to that conclusion as to whether or not they should do that. I mean, the role of the committee itself is to pick the teams, right? And it's very central on what your job is, right, as a committee member. You know, I did see they change one of the criteria. Do they do something with conference championships? Well, I thought I saw something coming out of their last meeting.
That will be diminished within the next coming years.
Yeah, because we had the criteria we had and everything around it was set up that way. But it was an honor to be a part of that. It really was. And looking back on it, it's something that I will treasure having been a part of. Are there other ways to do it? That's for other people to figure out.
With the expansion to 12 and eventually probably 16 down the road, do you see more fan bases feeling more excited about the playoff hunt and how different it will be compared to four teams?
Sure, I do. I mean, you look at 131 programs and only four are going. Now 12 are going, right? So, I mean, you just increase the percentage of possibility of being in that. I think there's a lot of people that have a lot of optimism going into the year, including us, right? Including where we sit right now. Had the opportunity to be one of the 12 or being one of the four. You had to have a lot of dominoes falling the right direction.
Have you spent time thinking about these lawsuits, the future of the ACC, where NC State fits in these conference realignment dominoes. Have you had those conversations with people just in case? Or how much time do you spend thinking about them?
We spend a lot of time being the best NC State we can be is what we spend time thinking about, right? And the success that we've had in the full stadium and licensing and you name whatever criteria it is and what can we do for the ACC to be as good as we can be, right? And increase our brand and increase the experience of our students. That's where our focus is.
The guy who was in front of the camera taking the heat in December, what was that like for you personally to have to listen to that and that week or so afterwards?
For me, it was okay, right? I'm not on social media. I don't spend any time on social media. Candidly, it was hard for my family. It was hard for my wife and her three kids. They took the brunt of it, to be honest with you. We were at one point in time after the first week, there were 2,500 voicemails and emails to the office. So that was difficult on a personal standpoint. That's about all I'm going to say about it. But it was an honor to be on the committee and I'm the guy speaking for 13, you know, as you go into it. But you know that going in, you know, it wasn't a matter of, you know, I don't feel well today. I'm not going out there, right? I mean, you're the guy on the hook and that's what you do when you make sure that you're prepared to answer the questions.
Where's NC State's growth potential in the next five to 10 years?
Up. You know, I mean, we came here to be great. We didn't come here to be good, right? I mean, you look at the university, the job that Chancellor Woodson has done in his tenure. You look at a passionate fan base. You look at a great city, right? A great recruiting area for you. We got to continue to capitalize on all the assets that we have, right? Being in the ACC, being at NC State, and continue to focus on being the best NC State we can be. And it felt like to me, when we got here, we spent a lot of time comparing, right? Well, they got this or they got that in comparison to Thief of Joy, right? What if we worry about us and being the best NC State we can be and then let them worry about us instead of us worrying about someone else?
And that's really been our focus.
How do you see the baseball renovations and the future changing from 11.7 scholarships?
What's the question?
How do you see that changing everything, just the renovations that are happening with the baseball complex?
I don't see it changing the renovation because that's something that was already there, right? That we've already been planning on. We're not going to stop the renovation. We're not going to stop anything we're doing over there as we go into that. But, you know, we're looking at everything, right? And that's what I'm talking about going from one tree to the next tree to figure out where we are, what we need to do to be competitive. And the ACC is a great conference. We know that. So if you're competitive in the ACC, you're going to be competitive nationally.
Where does that renovation stand right now? Where does that renovation stand right now, the latest on that?
It's going, right? I mean, it's been, let me phrase this the right way, there's been opportunities to do things faster. And due to other conditions, we haven't been able to do as fast as we want as we go into it. But there is earth moving over there now. And we'll see more as we get into the start of the season. People will start to see more and more construction going on with the hope of being in a better place during the season and at the end of the season and be done by 26’.
The money has been such a discussion point with the power conferences in the ACC, revenues against other schools and other leagues. The ACC is launching a success initiative about getting more money for their own success. I mean, as someone that is looking at the numbers and everything else, how much are you excited about something like that? The opportunity that the wind you're doing may actually correlate to financial growth. On top of you know, everything else you’re trying to accomplish.
Yeah, I am excited about it. Excited about it from the standpoint of, I think we got really good cultures in our programs. And, you know, my father had a pillow that he always had in his office.
He said, there's a quick and easy answer to every question. And it's usually wrong. Right? So the idea being, if you're going to go out and try to do, if we do this one thing, it's going to change everything. Is it still in your culture, right? Are we still building things the right way? Are we growing on the foundation that we have? And I think if we continue to grow on the foundation we have, we'll get better with, you know, by being better, you get more incentives. And I think that's what our goal is certainly every year is to get better.
Does it change anything in terms of how you evaluate program success or whatever? Like a lot can go with football. A big one with basketball last year. How does that sort of factor in evaluations about what a program can do?
You know, I think the coaches we have can win, right? So if you believe, and this goes back to one of the previous comments, if you believe in the people you have and you're investing in them, and that doesn't mean always them personally, but the people around them, then I think we get to celebrate a little bit more with the success initiative. We get to celebrate a little bit more with from a financial standpoint.
Within 10 years, this entire area may look completely different than what they're talking about doing at PNC. How much influence will NC State have on what happens over there? And then how comfortable are you with the fact that this entire area may look completely different and whether that's good or bad?
Well, I think it's going to be change and change is always difficult, right? Because I think we've had the best parking in college football, right? And people love to talk about other places around the country that have these tailgating zones and these created areas. And I try to be quick to remind people that that's because they don't have any parking, right? So, it will change. It's not going to change tomorrow. It will change over time. And as it does change, we're going to be a part of it, of what changes do occur. Where are there revenue opportunities for the athletic department? But again, making sure that we're communicating with everyone, both internally, whether it's with Gail Forrest and Brian Fork. We've developed a really nice relationship in a short period of time. We're with the Centennial Authority and make sure that NC State is represented in everything that’s going on.
I was at the soccer match yesterday. Obviously, that's a new hire, Mark Hubbard. When you have to make those decisions, what type of things do you look for? And what was it about a guy like him that stood out and other people that you may have to hire?
Well, again, you want someone that has a history of success, someone that does things the right way, right? And, you know, we did a lot of research going into that search to make sure that we knew who was out there, who would fit NC State, right? And again, I think not that we're different, but every coach, every place in the country doesn't fit everywhere, right? And making sure that we did everything on mark, but incredibly a humble guy that has incredible confidence. If you can balance those two things, he's done a great job with that and his ability to come into a program in the transfer age, in the NIL age, and build a program quickly. And you can see the excitement of the young men on the team last night in kind of that never quitting, which really fits well with who we are and what we are. And I'm excited about Mark and where we’re gonna go.