Some of that criticism may have been a little harsh and/or inaccurate, but you know the saying … perception is reality. It does feel like Adidas has been working hard to improve it’s image over the past few years with a bunch of new technology/product lines and increasing amounts of good quality merchandise for sale. We will see how the company continues to improve going forward, but they are definitely changing their ways. Hopefully this marriage will be a great deal for both parties.

In the sports apparel business there are 3 big dogs: Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. Debbie Yow got one of the big dogs to basically give us more money, more free stuff, and to make us a bigger brand. This deal will be good for the NC State Athletic Department budget and, more importantly, for ALL the student athletes that compete for our great university. Kudos Debbie! I had several sources along the way on many different sides of the negotiations so here are some of the behind the scenes tidbits I heard:

• Debbie’s preference all along was Nike, but she contacted them at the beginning of the process and they had no interest.

• We were very close to a deal with Adidas way back in September, but Adidas pulled back their offer after our embarrassing Thursday night loss at Cincy on national TV.

• Under Armour got heavily involved after that and the Under Armour people were very confident that they were gonna get the deal done.

• The offers still weren’t what Debbie was looking for so she decided to wait it out in hopes that the market would improve.

• Russell Athletic made a big push towards the end of the football season, but they just can’t provide all that we need so Debbie never took them serious.

• Adidas finally got back involved around the end of the football regular season and the two sides agreed in principle on the deal around the time of the bowl game.

• Since then they’ve been finalizing all the details. One of the main final details was the length of the deal. Adidas wanted to do a 6 year deal and Debbie wanted to do 3 years so they compromised at 4 years.

• Debbie would not budge on going any longer than 4 years because she’s still looking to maximize our revenue. She believes we will be a totally different athletic department in 4 years (e.g. bigger name, more marketable, etc., etc.) so we’ll be able to get an even better deal then.

While not much info has come out of Spring Practice, the one thing that has come out is a pretty big one. Expected starting RB Mustafa Greene has gotten himself into a myriad of trouble, on and off the field, that has caused TOB to hold him out of practice. You can read all about that here. Not good news at all from someone that we’re all expecting to have a big 2012 season. Hopefully this is a wakeup call for Moose.

I never got around to wrapping up my thoughts on the 2011 season. No extensive bowl wrap up, no Davey Awards, not even a look back on the season … probably for the best. Well to put a bow on the 2011 season here are the 2011 team awards and 2011 highlight video:

Governor’s Award (team MVP):  David Amerson
Carey Brewbaker Award (most valuable DL):  Markus Kuhn
Most Valuable Defensive Back:  David Amerson
Most Valuable Linebacker:  Audie Cole
Jim Ritcher Award (most valuable OL):  Camden Wentz
Special Teams Player of the Year:  Zach Gentry
Most Valuable Offensive Back:  Mike Glennon
Mike Hardy Award (winning attitude):  Dwayne Maddox
Bo Rein Award (unsung player):  Zach Allen
Bob Warren Award (integrity & sportsmanship):  Wayne Crawford
Al Michaels Award (team before self):  Taylor Gentry
Ken McNeill Iron Wolf Award (comback from injury):  J.R. Sweezy
Earle Edwards Award (highest GPA):  Mikel Overgaard
Gary Rowe Award (most receptions):  T.J. Graham
Captain’s Awards:  George Bryan and J.R. Sweezy
Offensive Scout team player of the year:  Daniel Imhoff
Defensive Scout team player of the year:  Juston Burris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88qTSR6wVVs

The two videos below embody the enthusiasm of the NC State basketball team’s run so far through March Madness. If you’re reading this blog I’m sure you’ve already seen them, but I can watch them a thousand times and not get tired of them so enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUV3JVUjjhU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0jcU1B8-cE

Note: Spring Football practice starts this Friday, March, 23 so check back more frequently in the coming weeks as I’ll be back to blogging on a more regular basis.

Here’s another helmet schedule, by Drew Johnson (@d_johnson13) of Wolfpack Water Cooler, that’s even better than the official ACC version:

Another ho-hum recruiting class for the Pack that ranked 8th (Rivals), 9th (Scout), and 9th (ESPN) respectively in the ACC. Not too good if you plan on actually fulfilling the whole “Champions on the Football Field” part of the motto that we’ve been hearing from TOB since he arrived at State. I’ll go in-depth on my thoughts of the class later, but first here’s how TOB feels about it:

It’s a little different in that most of the recruits have already verbally committed, but there’s always some last minute surprises that make the day interesting. Even though most of the classes are already set, I’m sure that most coaching staffs in the country still sit anxiously around the fax machines waiting for the National Letter of Intents to come in making it official.

Recruiting has become it’s own sport within college football. John Brandon of Grantland.com put it best, “Only a good winemaker can make good wine, but nobody can make good wine out of bad grapes.” DFCF’s translation, you can’t win if you don’t have good players. TOB recently sat down and chatted with college football recruiting guru Tom Lemming about his recruiting philosophies. Here’s the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-_JGFiwPeY

TOB has never been a great recruiter, which listening to him talk is pretty understandable. He continues the “champions on the football field” mantra, but it’s hard to win championships when you’re finishing in the bottom half of your conference in the recruiting rankings year after year. I’ll discuss that in more detail and talk about the commits that I’m the most excited about tomorrow after TOB’s presser. In the meantime, here’s a good NC State Signing Day Snapshot by the guys over at ACC Sports Journal.

• State improved to 14-11-1 all-time in bowl games (has won 5 of past 6) and won bowl games in consecutive seasons for only the 4th time in school history.

• TOB now has a career 8-2 bowl record (2-1 at State).

• David Amerson added 2 more INTs to his already impressive season to set the ACC single-season INT record (13) surpassing UNC’s Dre Bly’s record set back in 1996. Amerson’s INT return for TD was the play of the game and the deciding score.

• Mike Glennon finished a pretty good season with 264 yards passing and 3 TDs earning himself Belk Bowl MVP honors.

• It was a Special Teams nightmare for the Pack … a botched punt (led to Louisville TD), allowed Louisville to convert a fake punt (led to Louisville TD), and allowed Louisville to recover an onside kick (State defense nullified). And we continue to have one assistant coach that’s dedicated solely to handling Special Teams … unbelievable! Hard to win a game after getting dominated like this on Special Teams, but we found a way to get it done.

• The key to the Pack’s season this year was the defense’s ability to force turnovers … 3 more in this game raised the season total to 39, good for 2nd best in the nation.

Hey Teddy ... it's the Boogeyman!!!

You complete me!

Interceptions: Easy as 1, 2, 3

Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake your booty

Guys, who pissed in the Gatorade cooler?

Also, ncsu01 does a great job of putting together highlight videos of NC State football games. Here’s his Belk Bowl highlight video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AkmTtlRbgk

Stadium:  Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC (capacity: 73,778 … surface: grass). Home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and the ACC Championship Game.

Pack’s Opponent:  Louisville Cardinals (7-5) … 2011 Big East c0-champs. The Cardinals have made 15 prior bowl appearances in their history amassing a record of 7-7-1. They had a 9 consecutive season bowl streak from 1998 to 2006. Biggest bowl victory was in the 2007 Orange Bowl over the ACC’s Wake Forest. Last year they won the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl over Southern Miss.

Louisville Retired Numbers: #16 Johnny Unitas

Notable Louisville football alums:  David Akers, Bruce Armstrong, Deion Branch, Ray Buchanan, Michael Bush, Mark Clayton, Elvis Dumervil, Tom Jackson, Joe Jacoby, Sam Madison, Roman Oben, Ted Washington, Lee Corso (coach 1969-1972), and Howard Schnellenberger (coach 1985-1994).

Other notable Louisville alums:  Bob Edwards, Sue Grafton, Static Major, Mitch McConnell, Pervis Ellison, and Wes Unseld.

Head-to-Head Results: Louisville leads the all-time series with a 3-0 record. The most recent matchup was a 29-10 Louisville win in Raleigh back in 2007.

Head Coach: Charlie Strong (2nd season, 14-11 at Louisville … 14-11 career). A long time, very successful defensive coordinator that finally got his first shot at being a head coach at Louisville, named 2010 Big East Coach of the Year.

Players to Watch:

QB Teddy Bridgewater (#5, Fr.) the Rivals.com #2 rated QB last year that has lived up to expectations so far in his first year at Louisville. Was named the Big East Rookie of the Year and has been named to several Freshman All-American teams. Took over as the starter on Oct. 1, compiling a 5-4 record as starter and was one of the keys to the vast improvement of the Cardinals offense in the second half of the season.

WR Eli Rodgers (#82, Fr.) a high school teammates of QB Teddy Bridgewater so has made a smooth transition into the Cardinals offense. Is the second leading receiver and will have to step up in the Belk Bowl because leading receiver Michaelee Harris will miss the game due to injury.

LB Dexter Heyman (#46, Sr.) is a stat-sheet stuffer for the Cardinals defense. He leads the team with 83 total tackles (52 solo), 15.5 TFL, and 3 INTs. He also has 4 sacks and a forced fumble.

DB Hakeem Smith (#29, So.) is a playmaker in the Cardinals secondary. Is 2nd on the team with 81 total tackles (57 solo) and leads the team with 3 forced fumbles. He also has 4 TFL, 1 INT, and 1 fumble recovery.

Offensive Summary: The Cardinals offense is full of young guys that have gotten better and better as the season has progressed. They were held to 17 or fewer points in 4 of their first 6 games, but conversely have scored 27 or more points in 4 of their last 6 games. Louisville is 50/50 run pass so I expect us to throw a variety of coverages and blitzes at them to put pressure on the young guys and force them to do what we want.

Defensive Summary: The key to the Cardinals success this season has been their suffocating defense. The unit ranks no lower than 25th nationally in run defense, scoring defense, sacks and total D. They are somewhat susceptible to the pass so combine that with TOB’s recent comments that, “bullets are cheap, keep firing,” and I fully expect us to throw the ball a lot in this game.

Keys to the Game:

1. Motivation … With most bowl games it simply comes down to which team wants to be there more. We spent a lot of energy and emotion just qualifying for this bowl game so hopefully there’s still some of both in the tank to help us win this bowl game.

2. Shake off the rust … When we take the field at Bank of America Stadium it will have been 31 days since our last game. There’s going to be some rust, but hopefully we can shake it off quickly.

3. Turnovers … The key to our season has been our ball hawking defense. The 36 turnovers we forced this year was 2nd best in the country and our +14 turnover margin was 5th best. We’re 7-0 when forcing 3 or more turnovers and 0-5 when forcing 2 or less.

Prediction: All indications are that this will be a very physical, low-scoring contest that will come down to which team can limit their mistakes and best take advantage of their opportunities. Louisville is a young up-and-comer with something to prove in this game so I’m more than a little worried about this one.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Murph,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a smurf.
The stockings were hung by the lockers with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The players were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of ACC Championships danced in their heads.
And Mrs. DFCF in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.

When out in Carter-Finley there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to the balcony to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the banners and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new flat sod field,
Gave the lustre of hope for the future to yield.
When, what to my wondering eyes should await,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight former Wolfpack greats.

“Now Philip! now, Roman! now, Torry and Ted!
On, Bill! On, Dick! On, Dennis and Jim!
To the top of the stadium! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each big hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the stairs St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed in NC State red, from his head to his toes,
And his clothes were all cluttered with ads and logos.
A bundle of footballs he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a winner, just opening his pack.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old dear,
Especially since the Pack beat the Heels 5th straight time this year.
A wink of his eye and a flash of the wolf sign,
Soon gave me to know that everything would be fine.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And striking the most famous Heisman pose,
And giving a nod, up the elevator he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
“Merry Christmas to all Wolfpackers, and to all a good night!”