NC State Athletics Director Boo Corrigan looks ahead to Wolfpack future
Standpoint you will have whatever the number is 2021 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
Well I I think um 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 in right now
Believe it or not
I don't know is an acceptable answer
Yy you know I mean we've got to figure out
how we're gonna do it
We gotta be creative in in the way that we
approach this um from finding new revenue streams to uh
continuing to grow the pie
Fortunately for us we got a great relationship with the
Wolfpack Club um who have done a wonderful job um
with us but one thing we're not gonna do is
we're not just gonna all of a sudden every tickets
got a 50% premium on it
Right
I mean we wanna make sure that our fans are
here that our fans are part of it
Is it gonna be in part on donation is gonna
be part on tickets and uh other elements that we
have Sure but we gotta continue to be creative in
what we're doing and finding new revenue streams
will be will be
And how many um good question I would I would
guessimate based on the new uh roster limits that that
are there
Um We've got about 550 now I think our projections
are somewhere between 4 84 90
What would be uh the number of spots available And
again um I in conversation with our coaches there 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 AC C and if
you're competitive in the AC C 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 gonna
do How are we gonna do it I think based
on results we've managed it pretty well
Right
And we're gonna take the same approach of um we
we had a guy come in for our off site
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 wanna make sure that whatever we're doing is well
thought out
Then you take a step right And then you think
about the next step and then you take a step
as opposed to this we're go we're gonna run down
the hill
We have every decision we have every conclusion made
At this point we're gonna 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 gonna be out recruiting
young people to come to this great university
We wanna make sure that they're a part of everything
as we go through this with the donor fatigue
II I think it's really important um to to look
at it that way
Once again we kind of pride ourselves on being transparent
I know that gets overused um at times but you
know I I would 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 the $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
And and you think backwards to that year specifically all
season tickets had already been sold we gave our uh
season ticket holders three options
Would you turn in a donation would you move it
to next year or do you want a refund And
about 1% of the people ask 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 gonna continue to uh communicate with them to be
engaged with them as we continue to move forward
Are you ok with the house settlement or or are
there some parts of it that certainly Ok man fair
fair is fair is tough right Is is a tough
word right now
I I think the I as I look at it
the the biggest piece of it um is what protections
do we really have from further lawsuits right Are are
we gonna get into this Um and then uh in
another year have another set of lawsuits that are gonna
change it again
I I think the idea of looking at a horizon
of 10 years and where we're gonna be is probably
closer to three years at at this point right just
to make sure because it has been changing so much
Right In in the uh 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 because you don't know what direction it's coming
Right
But if you're if you're prepared for it and your
knees are bent you got a better shot of dealing
with it
Uh Yeah the phrase Wild Wild West fits right to
to what's going on right now
But it it to to us and our coaches it's
still about finding the right people that that fit into
our culture right They wanna be a part of NC
State they wanna be a part of the academics at
NC State
They wanna be a part of the program and what
uh you know coach Doran stands for or Pat Puzzo
or Kim Landri in gymnastics right I mean they wanna
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 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 um super proud of our coaches for the
way that they've handled that right
And making sure that fit always matters
We talk a lot about the culture and the culture
of the school
Randy Woodson the retirement
Yeah you trying to get me to cry Is it
What what are you doing Can you talk a little
bit about the why the culture that he has created
here as the chancellor attracted you to here and his
impact on what athletics has been able to do with
He's just been an amazing leader
I mean I I've had the opportunity to be around
a lot of great leaders and and not just specific
to 8.5 years at West Point
But um before that in the in the mentors I've
had in Kevin White at both Notre Dame and Duke
But um Chancer Woodson's kind of feels like one of
one you know and in his ability to to lead
uh his intellect is as high as anyone
He's got a ability to relate to what's going on
Um I know for me um he's been incredibly supportive
in allowing um allowing us to do our jobs but
at the same time it's not do whatever you want
It's uh 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 um
he he he's one that has allowed me to um
to think about what I wanna 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
the AC C all of those things
But he also doesn't seem like someone is uh uh
micromanaging
No he he definitely is not a micromanager
He he's uh much higher
I mean you know we win the AC C tournament
um last year in DC and I had to not
drag him down to the court right to celebrate
But it it was I'm like come on let's go
He's like no I don't need to go
I'm like yes you do
You you need to be there for this
You you you know so um he he takes great
pride in it um in in what we do and
how we do it and you know you you you
win five AC C championships in the last five years
We've won four more than any other school in the
AC C
We have three national championships and at the same time
have the highest graduation rate we've ever had
So in in looking at that and looking at what
we're doing if if I I would imagine if he
had a uh a goalless for us
We're doing ok on on on those goals right now
but we're excited about where it is
We're gonna miss him greatly but we know we'll we'll
get a great leader because this is a great university
I didn't know him before I walked into the room
When when I when I met him the first time
I did um we we met at an undisclosed location
I don't know if I'm allowed to say exactly
Um but met with him I think we were supposed
to be together an hour
We were together closer to two
and I remember leaving the um that conversation and uh
calling my wife Kristen and saying I don't know if
we're gonna get this job but I'd love to work
for this guy
And um i it's been true every day that he's
been here or that I've been here
I was gonna say going back to the success of
the program right now a lot of that is due
to your patients due to keeping some of the coaches
that you've had
Kevin Keats and and Dave do
Now at this point how much do you feel like
seeing the the recent success is you know that patient's
paying off you you just try to do the right
thing every day
You you know what I'm saying If you believe uh
in the leaders that you have you know uh a
lot of times the question is from our standpoint is
what can we do to help you Right I mean
what what do you need us to do What can
we do Whether it's um around staff whether it's around
uh nutrition strength and condition what whatever it is
Um my goal is always to make sure that we're
asking questions of what it is
Um historically it it feels like looking back um 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 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
II I think it's uh it's great to see the
success when you look uh when you reflect back to
being on the college football playoff committee and the time
management of us of being the director do you look
back at that time finally or do you not realize
man how did I pull that off Uh the there's
never I I pulled that off
It was um it was an honor to be a
part of that committee just as it's an honor to
be the ad um at NC State uh 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 would just uh man that's that you're you're 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 and all those things
But no it was a real honor to to be
a part of that
And um you know it was a lot of uh
a lot of time um I used to jokingly say
to people you know what what what's the hardest part
of my I don't I don't know but I get
to watch a lot of good football games
Right
So I mean every week you're watching 10 or 12
football games and making sure that you're uh up to
speed on the other games that that that are going
on and and uh just spend a lot of time
but it's you know there's worse things in the world
to spend time on the college football
Right
It was a real honor
Go ahead
What what has the juggling act of trying to arrange
travel and and 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
um we've got really good people uh with all of
our programs that are spending a lot of time on
that
Right To make sure um that as we go about
that are 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 what are the connections what time are we
getting back How are we how we're handling that But
it's it's gonna take some time right
But before you really get comfortable with what's going on
and and how all that works and the TV uh
ended up being sort of the face of a very
controversial decision
Um one what advice might you give to playoff committee
members now who might be going through that in the
future And to 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 the the key to be in
the chair is that you're speaking for 13 people right
And and I don't think people will understand that all
the time
It's not like the chair has four votes and everyone
else has one
I mean it's it's 13 people coming to a conclusion
Um it it it it got a little dicey at
the end
Uh I will share that
Um but at the end of the day you know
my job as the chair was to represent the committee
uh the best that I could as we went through
um really the last two years uh with ESPN and
then from ESPN you go to a radio as you
all know
Right
That it's all around the country and then you have
another radiohead after that
And in that side of it I think Ward Manuel
is gonna do a great job
It really does 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
Yeah
I I think ultimately that that's gonna be the management
committee that comes to that conclusion as to whether or
not they should do that
I mean the the role of the committee itself is
to pick the teams
Right And and it's very um central on what your
job is right As a committee member you know I
I did see they change one of the criteria
Did they do something with conference championships II I thought
I saw something coming out of their last meetings
Is that what is that Yeah because yeah we we
had the criteria we had and you know everything around
it was set up that way
But you know it's um it was an honor to
be a part of that
It it really was and and looking back on it
it's something um that I will treasure having been a
part of uh are there other ways to do it
That's for other people to figure out with the expansion
of 12 and eventually probably 16 down the road you
see more fan bases getting more excited about the playoff
hunt and how different it would be compared to four
teams
Sure
II I do I mean you you look at 131
programs and only four were going now 12 were going
right
So I mean you just increase the percentage of possibility
o of being in that
Um I I think there's a lot of people um
that have a lot of optimism going into the year
including us right Including where we sit right now
Um had the opportunity to be one of the 12
or being one of the four
you you had to have a lot of dominoes fall
in the right direction
You've been thinking about the these lawsuits the Florida State
clubs and lawsuits for the future of the AC C
where NC State fits in these conference realignment dominoes
Are you having those conversations with people just in case
or or how much time you spend We spend a
lot of time being the best NC State we can
be is what we spend time thinking about right Um
And the success that we've had in the full stadium
and um licensing and you you name whatever criteria it
is and and what can we do uh for the
AC C to be as good as we can be
right And and increase our brand and increase um the
experience of our students and that that's where our focus
is
And the guy who was in front of the camera
taking the heat in December
What was that like for you personally We have to
listen to that and you know and that week or
so afterwards
for me it was ok
Right
I I'm not on social media
I don't spend any time on social media
Um candidly
It was it was hard for my family it was
hard for my wife and her three kids
Um uh they took the brunt of it to be
honest with you
Um yeah we were at one point in time after
the first week there were 2500 voicemails and emails um
to the office
Uh you know so that that was difficult on a
personal on a personal standpoint
That's about all I'm gonna say about it
But um you know it was an honor to be
on the committee and I'm the guy I'm the guy
speaking for 13 you know a as you go into
it
But you know that going in you you know it
wasn't a matter of um you know I don't feel
well today I'm not going out there
Right
I mean you're you're the guy on the hook and
that's what you do and you make sure that you're
prepared to answer the questions in the next 5 to
10 years
up
You know I mean that that's we we came here
to be great
We didn't come here to be good right I mean
you look at the university uh the job the Chancellor
Wilson has done in his tenure
Um You look at a passionate fan base you look
at a great city right A great recruiting area for
you
We gotta continue to capitalize on all the assets that
we have right being uh in the AC C being
at NC state and continue to focus on being the
best NC state we can be
And it uh it felt like to me uh when
we got here uh we spent a lot of time
comparing right
Well they got this or they got that and 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
What do you see the uh baseball renovations and the
future of changing from 11.7 star reserves What's what's the
question How do you see that changing everything Just the
renovations that are happening with the baseball I I don't
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 gonna stop the renovation we're not gonna
stop anything we're doing over there
Um as we go into that but you know we're
looking at everything right
And that 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 AC C is a great conference
We know that
So if you're competitive in the AC C you're gonna
be competitive nationally
Renovation
Um it's going right
I mean it's uh it it's been um let me
phrase this the right way there there's been uh opportunities
to do things faster and due to other conditions we
haven't been able to do them as fast as we
want as we go into it
But uh 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
uh construction going on with the hope of being um
in a better place during the season and at the
end of the season and be done by 26
Uh and then a couple more questions uh the uh
money has been such a discussion point of you know
with the power conferences and the AC C revenues against
other schools and other leagues
The AC C is launching the success initiative about getting
more money with your own success
I mean as someone that is looking at the numbers
and everything else how how much are you excited about
something like that The opportunity that the wind you're doing
may actually correlate to a financial bump on top of
you know everything else
You Yeah
Um I am excited about it and excited about it
from the standpoint of I think we got really good
cultures in our programs and 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 gonna go out and try to do if
we do this one thing it's gonna 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 in the foundation we have we'll get better
with you know by being better you get more incentives
And I think that's that that that's what our goal
is
Certainly every year is to get better
Does that change anything in terms of how you evaluate
program success or whatever Like a lot can go with
football a big row of basketball last year How does
that sort of factor into evaluations about what a program
can do its ceiling You know I think the coaches
we have can win right So if you believe and
this goes back to one of the 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
And 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
Uh given what they're talking about doing at PNC how
much influence will NC state have on on what happens
over there And then how comfortable are you with the
fact that this entire area may look completely different And
well II I think it's gonna be change and change
is always difficult right Because I think we've um you
know we've have the best parking in college football right
And and um people love to talk about uh other
places around the country that have these tailgating zones and
these great areas
And I I try to be quick to remind people
of that that's because they don't have any parking right
So um it will change it's not gonna change tomorrow
it will change over time
Um and as it does change um we're going to
be a part of it of what changes do occur
Um where are the revenue opportunities um for the athletic
department
Um But again be making sure that we're communicating with
everyone um both internally whether it's with Gail Force and
Brian Fork who's uh we've developed a really nice relationship
in a short period of time um or with the
intending authority and and make sure that NC State is
represented and everything that's going on
I was at the soccer match yesterday obviously that's a
new hire mark cover when you have to make those
decisions
What type of things do you look for What was
it about A guy like him that stood out and
other people that you you may have to hire Well
a a again you want someone that has um that
has a history of success
Um someone that does things the right way right And
and you know we did a lot of research uh
going into that search to make sure that uh we
knew who was out there um who would fit NC
state right And and again I think not that we're
different but every coach every place in the country doesn't
fit everywhere right And and making sure that we that
we did everything on Mark
But um uh incredibly uh humble guy that has incredible
confidence if you can balance those two things um He's
done a great job with that and and his ability
to come in um to a program in the transfer
age in the NIO age and build a program quickly
And you could see the excitement of the young of
the young men on the team last night and and
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