How Do You Value a Great Coach?

Tom O'Brien begins the six year as head coach of the WolfPack Friday night and in his six year there is more optimism in Pack land than any of his previous six.  If it is one thing the man has done is stick to the plan.  He had said all along that he wanted to red shirt every player as freshmen especially linemen so they would have five years to get stronger every year.  This year's seniors in Raleigh is the first  full recruiting class that TOB has recruited every player on the Pack.

Injuries can destroy any team and if the Pack stays healthy this just could be a real nice season in Raleigh.  Time will tell.  This whole season could ride on the results Friday night as the Pack should be favored in this game but historically the Pack starts every season slow and gets better during the season.  For the sake of the ACC and even this football season for the Pack They need a victory Friday night.

Gryphon fans will remember that first time B W Holt walked into Rocky Mount's locker room and took over the program just a week or so before August practice started.  He has the ability to see talent and get them into the right place and in his first year the Gryphons won their first five games before losing for the first time.

  It seems in the short practice time since he has arrived at RMA he has already turned the attitudes around enough that the Eagle players are listening to what he has to say and then doing what he ask them to do.  I don't know how many games they can win when conference starts but I bet they don't lose many that when the game is near the end  they don't still have a shot to win.

Raymond Cobb made North Edgecombe a perennial Eastern Final and State finals year after year. Two State Championships banners hang at NE.   He leaves NE and goes to his SWE and right away he turns the Cougars from an average team to a team than goes deep in the playoffs every year.  Only once in eight years injuries did him in and other wise SWE has been one of the teams you had to beat if you wanted to get out of the East either when they were 3-A or 2-A.

The wrong coach can run a program down just as quick as some of the great coaches can lift up a program.  Some cases the talent is just not there and they do a good job just to be average and a it is hard for Joe average fan so see when there is simply no talent on a team.  It doesn't matter how many wins and losses you get every coach likes to be able to look back and his players and think when he first came to me he was  skin and bones and couldn't remember one play from the next.  Look at him now colleges are calling him wanting him to play for them.

Yes every coach worth his salt cares more about what a player becomes more than how many wins that player helped get.  Sometimes they both work together and everybody wins.  It just seems the really good coaches get something out of players that others can't find  that player had that in him.

There are a lot of good coaches in this area.  There are not many that turn a program around by just being there.  We are mighty lucky that we have a couple that roam the sidelines in theses parts.  When ever they leave they will be hard to replace.