Debbie Yow rescued NC State, but the future may depend on what Boo Corrigan does next
Almost nine years ago, when Randy Woodson went off the search committee’s list to pick Debbie Yow as N.C. State’s next athletic director, the chancellor missed out on a chance to find the next great, young AD to lead the Wolfpack for a generation.
In Yow, he landed an AD who rescued a sinking ship, stabilized and revitalized the department and launched an era of unprecedented across-the-board non-revenue success, with a more than a glimmer of hope here and there in football and men’s basketball. Mission accomplished.
In Boo Corrigan, announced Wednesday as Yow’s successor ahead of her retirement this summer, Woodson got what he missed in 2010.
Corrigan, 52, checks nearly every box. The son of former ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan and a former Duke athletic-department staffer, his roots both in the conference and in the Triangle are strong. He has a record of success at West Point despite one of the most difficult competitive environments in the country, even in football. And in a cut-throat industry where everyone’s looking for their next step up, he’s the rare figure respected across the profession as an innovator and administrator.
The fact that Woodson was able to lure him to N.C. State this quietly, without any drama or hubbub, ensuring a smooth transfer of power at Weisiger-Brown, only makes the hire more impressive – although not unequivocally so.
While the sneaky Notre Dame takeover of the Triangle is a concern – Corrigan, UNC’s Bubba Cunningham, and Duke’s Kevin White all have strong ties to South Bend – there is again a missed opportunity here for Woodson and N.C. State.
With the departure of Yow and UNC chancellor Carol Folt, all five athletic director and chancellor jobs in the Triangle are currently held by white men. (The sixth, Folt’s successor, has yet to be named.)
That power structure doesn’t reflect the diversity of the Triangle, let alone college athletics.
As well as Yow has done to put N.C. State’s entire athletics program on solid footing, there are distinct challenges ahead for Corrigan. The facilities arms race continues apace, and N.C. State still has work to do to catch up with some of its peers, despite a donor base that’s stretched increasingly thin. The east side of Carter-Finley Stadium has called out for help for years – decades – and the university will inevitably be pulled into negotiations over the Carolina Hurricanes’ lease at PNC Arena, which expires in 2024.
Under the current agreement, N.C. State has scheduling priority, which results in the university blocking key Saturday dates when the NHL schedule is made over the summer and concert tours are booked – Saturday nights the building ends up sitting dark when the ACC schedule is finalized in the fall. That dispute flared into open hostilities between Yow and then-Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford a few years ago before being quelled, but it’s going to be an issue for new Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon.
And as the arena prepares for an internal renovation that could cost as much as $300 million, the area around it hasn’t changed materially since it opened 20 years ago. It remains an island surrounded by parking lots, without any bars, restaurants or hotels in sight – in part because N.C. State considers those football parking spots a critical asset and revenue stream and has fiercely protected every square foot from encroachment by the arena. For PNC to function properly for all stakeholders – university, hockey team and citizens alike – a little on-site development would be a healthy thing. But it’s only going to happen if the university plays along. Perhaps Corrigan will be able to find a compromise that works for the university when his predecessors have not.
Otherwise, he inherits a department in pretty good shape, with historic levels of ACC and national success in almost all sports and reason for optimism in football and basketball. The questions now are about the future, and not just of the university and arena but of the ACC and college athletics in general. There’s a lot in Corrigan’s record to suggest he has the kind of vision to get N.C. State ahead of the curve as it navigates challenges we may not even foresee today. In the case of this hire, it may take longer than nine years to find out.
This story was originally published January 30, 2019 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Debbie Yow rescued NC State, but the future may depend on what Boo Corrigan does next."
