NC State McMurray Family Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan met with the media Thursday afternoon to discuss the resignation of former Wolfpack men’s basketball coach Will Wade.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!
Opening statement...
Boo Corrigan: I think Philip Rivers said it right, and thinking about who we are and what we are, the Wolfpack ain't for soft people. We're gonna go find a coach that agrees and understands who we are and what we are. For the past seven years, we've built a culture in the athletic department based on trust and accountability. We have coaches who want to be at NC State. They want to be a part of who we are, what we are, and represent this great university.
We thought we had someone who came in last year to lead our men's basketball program. And over the course of the last year, we had developed a relationship that I believe was based on trust and accountability. There were several different conversations that had occurred over the past year involving our program, involving everything else in the landscape of college sports, including Tuesday evening for two hours to talk about the entire program, scheduling, the players and staff, and everything that goes into that.
There was no reason for me in my job not to believe the words that I was hearing coming back to me from Coach Wade. And I believe everyone here saw it, wrote about it, whatever it is—that "I want to be at NC State. That's where I want to be. I look forward to growing it." I was as surprised and shocked as anyone else when this occurred, based on the previous conversations that we had had. I believed he was telling me his true intentions. I'm disappointed for our athletic department. I'm disappointed for our fans. And I'm disappointed in our university that we're here today.
That being said, as soon as we received notice of his resignation, the search began. And we are committed to finding the next coach for our men's basketball program that wants to be at NC State. That understands who we are. That understands that we're a tough school. That understands that we're a great academic institution.
That understands that our fan base has very high expectations and can embrace that. I believe everyone felt this year, being in the Lenovo Center, what this can be. And we have five sellouts this year. And to hear the roof raised at different times during different games because of our fan base, because of our students, and their ability to connect—that's what our mission is, and that's what we're going to accomplish.
How much was the buyout?
Boo Corrigan: So, the buyout. Everything's in negotiation, right? As you're looking at everything that's going on. And as we were talking through this, I believe everyone knew before April 2nd that the buyout was gonna be $5 million. After April 2nd, the buyout was gonna move to $3 million. We settled at a $4 million buyout.
The reason we did that is to pick up the days in between today, which I think is the 26th, right? Today is the 26th, until the 2nd, as opposed to having to wait until the 2nd. So for us, being able to move forward was not just as important, but we understood the dollar amount versus the value of time, and we chose to settle at $4 million.
Do you have any reason to believe that LSU was in touch with Wade before the end of the season?
Boo Corrigan: I think that's a question you need to ask LSU, and you need to ask Coach Wade. I've got my own thoughts on where we are. I know that the number of times we had conversations about the job, including one time where it was, "Do we need to talk about this?" and the answer was no. I believe a number of people may have been at the ACC tournament where the answer was a definitive, "I'm going to be here." After we lost in the ACC tournament to Virginia, there was another confirmation. After the NCAA tournament, there was another confirmation. So I think that's a better question answered by LSU and answered by Coach Wade.
And when were you actually aware of the resignation?
Boo Corrigan: Yesterday morning. As I came into work. Again, you're aware of rumor and innuendo, but I don't know if you all know this or not, the internet has a lot of rumor and innuendo on it, right? It's what's going on. So again, as we looked at that, it became apparent that this could be a potential outcome. And at that point in time, we engaged in conversations.
Was there ever a meeting that you had scheduled with Coach Wade this week in which he chose not to show up?
Boo Corrigan: There was.
What was your reaction? Did you give any sort of communication that he was not going to show up to that meeting, or did he simply no-show, and you've not heard from him?
Boo Corrigan: Yes, he no-showed. As well as we did have other meetings—I don't want to say that there were no other phone calls and there were other face-to-face meetings—but there's also one that was missed.
With the transfer portal starting, how much does that speed things up? And how open are you to maybe assistant coaches or people that aren't just college head coaches, and how different is it compared to say last year's search?
Boo Corrigan: I don't know that it's a whole lot different than last year's search. If anything, with the transfer portal moving to the end of the Final Four, maybe there's a little bit less pressure from that standpoint. We want to find the right person for NC State and what that looks like.
We need to make sure that we have a person who's committed to this university, who wants to be at this university, and who shares our values of trust and accountability. They will lead this program. Where it goes—these things are kind of living organisms, right? You think it's gonna go down this path, and then it takes a left turn or a right turn as we go down it, but we're gonna find the right person.
Well, I may have missed this earlier, but at what point did you start coming up with a board or start coming up with an idea of who might be the next head coach?
Boo Corrigan: I don't have a top drawer in my desk to pull out where all the names are, but you always know what's going on and try to pay attention to what's going on. Did I think it was going to be us at this point? No, I did not. But do you have friends who are in my role at other schools that you want to be able to talk with and understand the landscape of what's going on? 100%.
You do, but like I said, as soon as we received notification of the resignation, we started. I also don't believe in doing something before you know the outcome. My perception at times is that people move before anything's done, and I don't like that idea. I like the idea of knowing exactly where you end, and then you start. Much like today is going to be the end of Coach Wade, and then we're gonna go find a coach, and then we're gonna celebrate the new coach as we move forward.
This might be a dumb question, but what was your initial reaction when you saw them?
Boo Corrigan: Disappointment. Right? Probably more than anything else, you spend a year getting to know someone, and you get to know their staff and the people around them. These jobs aren't easy. I love what I do for a living, but at times, I'm pouring into other people. It's more about other people's journey than it is yours.
I don't care about my journey. That'll be when Chris and I retire in ten years; we can sit back and look at that. But you spend a lot of time personally—your staff spends a lot of time—making sure that people have the resources that they need. Making sure that the answer to the best of your ability is yes. We don't say no just to say no. We don't play games with our coaches. We don't posture. If we can help, we're going to do everything we can to help. So, I would say disappointment.
Part of the reporting around it was NIL—where would you say that kind of stands?
Boo Corrigan: We're going to be competitive. We were competitive this year with our NIL. We've been competitive with our program in general. You look at who we play, where we go, how we travel—everything about our program is not missing, right? I believe Coach Wade was, when he got here, very much in line with, "We have everything we need." I feel like we have everything we need, and we're going to do everything we can to be as competitive as we can and compete for a national championship.
And then you mentioned you're looking for a coach that fits the NC State—what are some traits you're looking for in a coach, and does it have to be a sitting head coach at this point?
Boo Corrigan: No, I don't think it has to be a sitting head coach at this point. We want to find someone who knows how to coach, who is a great coach. He has the ability to connect with people, both internal and external, and with the players. You have to be a good recruiter in this day and age. You have to understand what's going on with NIL and the transfer portal.
You have to have a plan to put your team together. I think we saw this year—maybe if some of our players were four inches taller, it could have been a little bit better. No shade on our players this year, but the importance of a rim protector has really become something more definitive in college basketball, and we need to make sure that we have someone to come in here who knows how to build a roster and put the pieces together in the right way to have a very competitive team.
While so much focus is on what we were waiting to get confirmed that Coach Wade did, and now you're talking about, I want to quickly dive into the ACC state of it, and how, while there have been successive years of revenue increases, it's not necessarily keeping up with the SEC and Big 10. How do you think that factors into your ability to draw in the right head for a place like NC State?
Boo Corrigan: NC State is a great university. I think the ACC is a great league. We live in Raleigh, North Carolina. I think there are so many attractive aspects of who we are and what we are. It's incumbent upon us in the athletic department to find the dollars, to be able to rev share, to work with Learfield and corporations, to be able to find those dollars in the market.
But we've got an unbelievably strong base to work from. We spent a lot of time on comparisons—"thief of joy," right? And we believe in our athletic department that we need to do everything we can to make NC State the best NC State we can be, and then let other people compete with us. So, is it a factor? It could be, but again, that's a better question for Coach Wade.
Pack fans always pony up. How do you reassure them that everything's...
Boo Corrigan: How great was the Lenovo Center this year, right? I mean, how much fun was it to be in there with all the people and sharing the passion that we have for this great university? Yeah, I think you can look at some of the coaches that we've hired and the success that they've had. But you can look at the university itself and what a strong university we have, and finding someone that just connects—that fits in with who we are and believes in what we do at NC State.
He's a heck of a coach—I cleaned my language up—he's a heck of a coach. He can find people, build a team, build a roster, and surround themselves with the right people to be able to take us to a level beyond this year. I mean, it's great going to the NCAA tournament, but it's better going to the NCAA tournament and winning a couple of games. That certainly is what our expectation is.
Can you share anything in terms of what the conversations were with Coach Wade when you did meet? Was it him asking for certain further support or investment? And when you did learn of his resignation, did he directly tell you that he was resigning, or did you find out through an agent?
Boo Corrigan: Yeah, I mean, again, go back to Tuesday night. We talked about everything in the program and what we can do, who we're gonna play. The transfer portal is not open, so you can't talk about this person or that person. We talked about last year's team and who was going to be back, and asked him what he needed to be competitive. From there, as far as the resignation letter, it was an email that we received from his agent. In talking with his agent, he did not reach out to me personally from that standpoint.
What have you been able to say to the players with remaining eligibility, and is there anybody who—I don't know if the interim coach is the right word, but anybody that will be a conduit until the transfer portal begins?
Boo Corrigan: We have some people who are still in the building who have been in contact with the student-athletes. I have personally not spoken with the student-athletes; I've been a little tied up on other things. But we have senior staff members who have reached out to our student-athletes to let them know that we are available and want to help with whatever they need—from a workout standpoint, from a trainer standpoint in rehab, and those types of things.
But in this day and age, there's going to be a lot of movement with the team. We want to make sure the ones that are here, who are committed to NC State, know that commitment is from us as well, and whatever decision they make at that point is going to be up to them and whoever we hire.
Going on that, is there a specific team of people in place right now to help the transition from Wade to the next?
Boo Corrigan: Yes, there are—it's our training staff and our strength and conditioning staff. With all this happening today, I'm not sure if that strength and conditioning person is going to go with Coach Wade or the trainer. We did have meetings today with the head of strength and conditioning, the head of our athletic training, and nutrition to make sure that we have people in place to make sure that our students are taken care of.
You said that you got the resignation email from his agent. To be clear, he has not reached out since then at all?
Boo Corrigan: I've not spoken to Will since yesterday at noon—probably about one o'clock by the time the meeting ended.
Obviously, this is fresh, and when you're going through the process of looking for the next person, how much of a priority is it gonna be to find someone who looks at this as an end-game destination instead of a jumping point?
Boo Corrigan: It's a priority. I believe we're that school. I believe we're a school where someone can stay for ten years and have an unbelievably great run here. So that's 100% what we're looking for. We don't want to be a stepping stone on the way to another job. And again, we thought we had that. In every conversation and every release, we believed that we had that. So we're gonna go out and find someone again.
And my final question, sir. Again, no fault of your own, but there are a lot of people, particularly the ones in NIL, who subsidize the success of athletics, who feel disappointed, maybe even feel like they were lied to. How do you speak to them regarding what you're going to do in the future and say, "Hey, stick around, stick with us, we're gonna do this"?
Boo Corrigan: Well, I think those people also saw what happened this year and the excitement in the building and the pride that people have in being on Big Monday and being on ESPN. All of those things are a part of it. That hasn't changed, Rob. I would commiserate with them in terms of feeling lied to and let them know that it's not something that I knew anything about. I'm as surprised as they are, but I reassure them that we're going to find a coach that wants to be at NC State for a long time.
Will there be a search firm for this, or how are you planning on conducting the search?
Boo Corrigan: We have not decided on whether or not we're going to use the search firm at this point. Right now, we're not going to use one. You know, we went through this a year ago. We have a pretty good idea of what's going on and what the market is—where salaries are and all of those things. So I don't believe that we're going to use a search firm this time.
Do you feel like it was a misstep at all in the contract negotiations last year to have a $5 million buyout as opposed to a larger buyout by the end of April?
Boo Corrigan: Well, I mean, you can look at it in a couple of different ways. Today, do I wish it were a bigger buyout? Absolutely. But if you look at the 2.5% that we were paying Coach Wade as opposed to what some other people were paying—which was significantly more for coaches with less experience—there's going to be give and take in every negotiation.
A really good negotiation is when both sides leave a little bit upset. Not everyone gets exactly what they want. Jimmy Sexton was really good to work with; he's been a pro, and I do appreciate the relationship that was developed with Jimmy.
You kind of touched on it, but how much did you learn during last year's coaching search that you can use with this one, being another major hire?
Boo Corrigan: I think a lot. It's a little bit of muscle memory. That does not mean we want to do more of this, but the more that you do something, the more comfortable you are. I made a lot of really good contacts with people last year that are carrying over already to this year.
I can assure you that between yesterday at 9 or 10 a.m. and today, my phone has been in receive mode more than it's been in outgoing mode. There are plenty of people I know who are very interested in this job, and a lot of work was done last year that will carry over.
In this fast-moving world of college sports, high-profile players who leave for another program get a lot of criticism. How would you compare this situation?
Boo Corrigan: Legitimate question. In my role, I do not spend a lot of time directly with the student-athletes talking about contracts; my job is to be supportive of our coaches and make sure they have the resources they need. That being said, this is the day and age that we're in—of people who want to move and people who are looking for a "bigger, better deal" at all times.
For years, coaches were allowed to do that, and students weren't; now, students and coaches both are. We love being at NC State, and we plan on being at NC State for a long time, but that's our decision. I'm just disappointed by how it went down. It's really disappointing because you pour into people. Most of the student deals are one-year deals, and the ability to go from school to school year over year, contractually, is a whole lot easier than it is with a coach in this situation.
Most ADs would not have done what you're doing right now. Why was it so important for you to come in here and talk with us today?
Boo Corrigan: I appreciate you saying that. One, I think it's important that we close this era. What happened this past year and the excitement around the program are not something that the next coach needs to deal with; they get to build on what occurred. They get to build on 2,000 new season tickets that we sold last year and be a part of that. Their job is to move us forward, not backwards.
My job is to deal with what we have today and then, in relatively short order, be able to announce a new head coach at NC State and allow them the opportunity to move forward as opposed to answering questions about Coach Wade. That's what my job is—to be here and answer questions about what happened.
Instead of an email, would you rather that he told you this face-to-face?
Boo Corrigan: I'm a handshake guy. I'd rather shake someone's hand and say, "Are we good? Are you staying? Are we good on the numbers?" The paperwork needs to be done, all of that stuff needs to be done. So yeah, sure, I would have—it would have meant more to me. But I'm kind of a dinosaur in some respects for what's going on today.
They viewed that maybe as the most efficient way to do it. But again, we were not going to come forward with a press conference until we knew exactly what the situation was. That to me was the most important thing.
Do you regret hiring him in the first place?
Boo Corrigan: No. I think, going back to this past year, a lot of people are excited about NC State basketball. He did a good job when he was here. It's fun to go to games again and see all the people in the arena. It's fun to beat teams from around here and be a part of that. I guess, again, I'm disappointed that it ended the way that it did, more than I am wishing it never happened.
