McMurray Family Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan recently spoke on the Wolfpack Weekly Radio Show, where he discussed NC State football, athletics, and much more!
We're in the Rollywood area here at Carter-Finley Stadium with a great turnout. It's great to see everybody as we're getting set for the season. Boo, there are certain landmark times of the year when I get all juiced up, right? And this is, like, to me, this is the Christmas time. Like, this is it. Here we are. It's New Year's. It's Christmas. Call it what you want to call it, but the excitement and optimism abound. I mean, the season hasn't kicked in yet, and I love this time. You're getting set for everything, but all the sports.
No. It's a very exciting time. Unlike Coach Doeren, I can have a beer. Yeah, no, I mean, it's a great time, right? So you drive back on campus this week, and there's too much traffic, and there are too many people, and all those things, and you're like, "Man, this is so great to be back.”
To see the students, to see our teams competing, to see women's soccer get two big wins right away, men's, I think, opens up tomorrow, and Red and White volleyball and everything else. But super excited about the football season and to be back here at Carter-Finley.
You look at, we got to sit together a little bit at the scrimmage on Saturday. We will not divulge what we saw, but we will say that you kind of get anxious when you see the players in the stadium. And just from a standpoint, we just talked about, Coach, with Coach Doeren about CJ Bailey. The benefit and the value of having a third-year starting quarterback at the Power Five level are almost unheard of, and we have that here now.
We definitely do, and it's a tribute to Coach Doeren and all of our coaches, right, to be able to get him to come back. But what I will say is that when he takes the field, it's pure joy. When you see him run out onto the field, he is just excited about it, excited to be a leader. He's learned how to be a better leader, right, which is a big part of this and the job Coach Roper's done with CJ, and you see the maturation, right? He's bigger. He's stronger, but holy cow, he's got even that much more of a presence. And you see him run from the sideline into the huddle, command of the huddle, command of the line of scrimmage, and just excited about where we are and where we're going.
Is that one of the things you watch for in terms of body language?
It's a bigger picture than that. No, I think it needs to be. And I'm sure everyone out here, when you run the ball, wishes they'd pass it. When you pass it, you wish they ran it. I'm not watching any of that, but what I am watching is how guys are and how they get up? When they're finished making a block, how do the running backs get up? How do the receivers get up? And to see that they have that joy, right? To go back, give me another one. I'm just getting heated up. Give me another one. Let's have another opportunity.
When the other team scores, what's the interaction on the sidelines, right? As they come off the field, is it up?
And I've said this to Coach Doeren since I've been here: He's unbelievably positive. When you're watching the game, if you see Coach Doeren clapping as they come up, whatever the situation is, that's what a leader does. You need people to stay up. You need people to feel optimistic about what's going on. You know what? Let's go do that. Let's go win the game.
You talk about leadership, and we talked to Coach Doeren about this. He actually brought up Mike Erwin and the role he has played at this university. You've had him speak at our staff meetings. You've had him speak to teams. He played football last year. He is deep-diving into football this year. What does he bring from a leadership standpoint that can help in an athletic program?
Well, I mean, I got to know Mike when we were at West Point, right, and had the opportunity. For those who don't know, he's a—got out of the Army because you retire after 20 years. That's one of those things that you learn at West Point. So he got out of the Army as a major, was with the unit, had multiple deployments, and really went after leadership as to who he is and what he does.
Spoiler alert, he'll be there tomorrow. Yes, at the meeting as well. But just a guy that brings, again, that positive energy, but wants to break down what leadership is, right? Just because you're a great player doesn't make you a leader. It'd be great if that's the case, right? But leadership is something that's learned, something that's studied.
He's challenged a number of our teams, from men's soccer to women's soccer and volleyball. I mean, it's one of those things, right, that the first year my company comes in, he's got two or three, and then the next year he's got five or eight, and now he's got even more of that. And I know I spent time with him, yeah, right, but he's sitting down with the football leadership, and they're reading a book together, right? So it's not just, hey, this is what leadership is, this is what it means to me, I kind of think this. It's, you know, let's study it, let's look at it, and what's the feedback?
And I can share with everyone that the difference between year one and year two is the interaction with our students—those students keeping each other accountable to what's going on based on what they know, right? And everyone wants to win the game, but are you willing to care enough, or do you want to love enough? Are you willing to put yourself out there enough, right, to make the play, to be a great teammate, and to do everything you need to do?
Has he worked, maybe, with the national champion women's cross-country team?
Four out of five times. My goodness, goodness gracious. Maybe they were amazing. I think Laurie's teaching the class. We were talking the other day. I don't know what a dynasty is, but I think four out of five is. I think we're at that point.
Yeah, it's unbelievable. Learfield Directors Cup top 25, right? A lot of successes that have been going on here for years. Women's cross-country jumps out because that's an unbelievable stretch. The new basketball coach is here. Justin Gainey might be here, actually, possibly. That's exciting. We're excited to work with Justin. There's more than just football going on, is what I'm getting.
No, there definitely is, and really proud of all of our programs, right, and what they've done. So excited to have Justin back. And just who he is and how he handles himself, and he's a really cool guy. Yeah, right? I mean, he really is. But, man, you see him on the basketball court, and I remember talking to him after the second practice, and he sounded like I do. He was all raspy. He said, "I don't have my coaching voice yet." Don't worry. I think you'll get that. But excited about Justin, excited about our fall sports, right? But it's just a great time of year.
You can't—we've talked about it, and I get a lot of "Are you ready for football?" I'm like, I'm pacing myself. Now I'm ready for football. Yeah, a month ago, I was kind of ready to see if I could sleep. Yeah, and relax a little bit. But no, I'm super excited about where we are, what we're doing, and who our coaches are, right? And y'all know this, and it's a trait to say we got a really good athletic department. Yeah, and people really like each other, and people really care about each other, and they love this great university, right? And that's a powerful thing when everyone's on the same page.
I've noticed, too, that you're making your rounds across our great state and all across the country, talking with Wolfpack fans and Wolfpack donors. Why do you feel compelled to get out and get amongst our people, so to speak, and kind of let them get to know you, and you get to spread your message to them?
Well, you're spreading the gospel, right? Who we are and what we are, and doing that. But, you know, it's so much about revenue generation. I mean, that's what the name of the game is at this point, and it's not something to shy away from. It's not something to—I was talking to someone earlier today, you know, whether we like what it is or not. It's our reality, right?
So if it's our reality, let's be the best that we can be. And I'm not gonna ask anyone for money tonight, do any of those things. So everyone, enjoy your beer and hang out with us. But there are so many people who share a great passion for this university. I think they need to hear from me about the vision. I think they need to hear from me about where we are, who we are, where we fit in on everything that's going on right now, and I'm happy to do it. I enjoy being on the road.
When we look out here and we see Hollywood, this is something that you wanted to do. We've got Tuffies, Terrors. You wanted to create more experiences around Carter-Finley Stadium and the Lenovo Center. When you look out here now and see over 500, 600 people enjoying a night, we got the radio show. They're having beers, and we'll have some music in a minute. You gotta like that.
Yeah, I mean, the goal, right, of athletics is to bring people together. Which we're doing here, and you celebrate the university. Those are two great things. So we needed more space to do this, right?
The Hurricanes had an unbelievable run this year, right? The viewing party that was out here was very cool. So we have an opportunity to be a good partner, yeah, right, and we have an opportunity to have a relationship with Rod, right, in who Rod is and what he represents to not only the hockey team, but this community. And he's a huge fan. Yeah, I don't know. We need to make sure his backseat is always full of NC State, right? When he says, "Why didn’t you wear NC State gear?" Shoot, I gotta send you a bunch of those. Yeah, I'm gonna make sure wherever you turn around, there's another hat. There you go, for him to wear. So we'll keep him loaded.
Yeah, we can ask you for one favor. Sure. You kind of look at the field, assess morale, hop in a step, and see how the players are doing. Jeff Gravley's on the sideline this year with the headset. Need a scouting report after Game One in Charlottesville if you can't. You gotta keep I—
I can give you that. I worry about maybe some conditioning, sure, on the field and up the stairs and, yeah, in all these things. I—yeah, that's Coach Thunder's good. I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy my beer at this point.
