I don't want to look it up, but has he ever coached a good D (unlike archer)?

2/12/2010 7:25:09 PM

^Ga Tech.

So im trying to find lists of recruiting history for Tenuta - not finding any. Is that because he has been a DC instead of a position coach for so long?

2/12/2010 7:35:39 PM

he also coached UNC in 2001 the year that two of their players were 2 of the first 3 defensive players taken in the draft.

2/12/2010 7:50:10 PM

I saw a carolina board where they were saying he left because UNC was asking him to recruit and that he "hates recruiting". Of course that could be hater-fag hearsay.

2/12/2010 7:50:32 PM

GT was a better gig. Besides who wants to work for Bunting the Belly.

2/12/2010 8:11:10 PM

Everyone is saying he doesn't recruit and has an abrasive personality.

We can live with that.

2/12/2010 9:05:55 PM

was his defense at ND better than state this year? yes. but marginally so.

OH BOY GUYS WE'RE GETTING A COACH WHO LEAD THE EIGHTY SECOND BEST DEFENSIVE PASS EFFICIENCY IN THE NATION!!! they also only gave up 400+ yards SIX times!!! And they held a whopping THREE teams to less than 21 points!!

as far as being respected. he may have been at one point. but given the defensive openings this offseason and the fact he ended up here as a LB coach, i'd say that time has passed

and i knew him before this year...state DID play GT when he was their DC

[Edited on February 12, 2010 at 11:02 PM. Reason : .]

2/12/2010 10:38:12 PM

maybe he likes TOB. what he did at GT outweighs whathe did at ND

2/12/2010 11:03:08 PM

oh look goalielax is being a fucking cunt again.

2/12/2010 11:27:28 PM

tenuta wasnt the main guy for ND at DC during most of the weis years. they had some other dumbass ruining their players

of/c you could say the same thing about him coming here as an LB coach with archer at DC

2/12/2010 11:39:04 PM

Quote :

"OH BOY GUYS WE'RE GETTING A COACH WHO LEAD THE EIGHTY SECOND BEST DEFENSIVE PASS EFFICIENCY IN THE NATION!!! "

Sounds like an improvement on last year.

2/12/2010 11:41:24 PM

Fuck I'm drunk. At least we got someone that's been known for good defenses despite the ND situation the past two years.

2/13/2010 1:44:25 AM

It's completely unfair to judge Tenuta based on one down year. Look at his whole body of work and tell me that this isn't a great hire.

I think that if TOB had the ability to dig up Lombardi's corpse and bring him back to life and gave him a spot on our staff, some of you people would bitch that his last season as a head coach his team didn't make the playoffs.

WHO IN THE FUCK WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER HIRE???

2/13/2010 1:51:33 AM

Exactly! Oh fuck I'm really drunk!

2/13/2010 1:55:25 AM

This is a good hire...period. ND's DC as our LB coach?

WE HAD THE WORST D IN THE CONF LAST YEAR

2/13/2010 2:29:31 AM

Quote :

"THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2010 Q&A with new N.C. State LB coach Jon Tenuta N.C. State linebackers coach Jon Tenuta spoke Thursday about his new job with the Wolfpack. Tenuta, 52, earned notoriety as one of the nation’s top defensive assistants in 16 years as a coordinator at seven different schools, including North Carolina and Georgia Tech. He most recently coached at Notre Dame. Q: What interests you in N.C. State? A: First and foremost, [coach] Tom O’Brien. I’ve known Tom for 29 years and always would have liked the opportunity to work for him. Tom O’Brien and [Boston College coach] Frank Spaziani are good friends of mine and have been since I was a GA with them at Virginia back in the early ’80s. And obviously I’m an ACC guy. I’ve coached at a lot of ACC schools. So getting my chance to come back in the ACC is exciting. Q: What is your philosophy in terms of how you like to coach linebackers? A: I’m an aggressive guy, and everybody knows that. I just want to be aggressive and play within the scheme of what we do. I just met the players today for the first time, and obviously it’s a feeling-out process. But I like to be aggressive and get after the offenses. Q: There are people who will be excited about this hire because you have a reputation of being one of the best defensive minds in the business. Does it flatter you that you’re thought of that way? A: Obviously I’m flattered that you brought that up. I never thought of myself in that aspect. I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with Mike [Archer, the defensive coordinator] and everybody else, assistant coaches, and get going and put out a good product for next season. It’s an exciting aspect for me. I love defensive football. I’m passionate about the game and these young men that I’ll get to know, and they’ll get to know me, and I’ll move forward in that direction. Q: How much do you know about the talent that’s in place here? Have you had a chance to look at who’s coming back? A: Again, I just started learning guys’ names, and I had a chance to watch some film with Coach Archer and the defensive staff. And then I got a chance to meet some of the guys and watch them run and work out. It will take me a while to see what we have. But obviously they’re excited about it, so once we get going, I’ll get excited about it. Q: How does your philosophy fit into Mike’s scheme? A: Obviously Mike’s been around a long time and he’s an excellent coach. And I’ve been around a while. With Mike and Keith [Willis, the defensive line coach], you work together and put out the best product you can. So obviously if there are holes we’ve got to fix, we’ll fix those and move on and put out the best product we can put out. Q: Were there ever any thoughts that, you would only want to take a coordinator job? How did you decide not to do that? A: I think that you do what’s best for you and your family. And obviously my passion for the game of football, I just love to coach. Having the opportunity to come to N.C. State and work for Coach O’Brien and the other coaches, that’s a great opportunity for me. So that’s really the basis of why you coach. You coach because of your passion for the game and these young men and giving them the chance to be as good as they possibly can be. And that’s why I’m here. Q: Where is your family right now? A: They’re back in South Bend. Q: I presume they’re moving to Raleigh at some point? A: Yes. Q: Are you excited to get them some place warmer? A: That’s a big thing for my wife. And obviously my sons play baseball. They had some great years in Georgia where they play a lot because of the weather. And right now up there they have about 12 inches of snow. So we’re excited about coming back to the South. And the ACC. Q: Being away from the ACC, did you learn some things up there – sometimes they say when you get away from some place and you get back, you’ve learned some things. Did you learn things that will help you now getting back to it? A: I think anytime you change jobs or whatever, there’s always a learning curve. Something good. Something bad. Something different. So going back up to Notre Dame and more in the Big Ten, which I was accustomed to the Big Ten having been at Ohio State and playing similar teams, and all that did come back to me. But offensive philosophies and the spread offenses and things have spread like wildfire. So that’s the new trend and everybody’s doing it. A lot of things are similar, but players are different in different aspects at different schools. It all comes in complete circles. Q: One of the things they’ve done here is use the hybrid outside linebacker/safety. Are you seeing a lot more of that to deal with the spread? A: You just answered the question. You’re spreading the field, getting the vertical and horizontal separations you need to get. It’s still back to football, counting the number of guys in the box, seeing how they can attack you. Vertical separation in the passing game. West Coast or underneath passing game. Whatever fits them and their personnel. But the game is more spread out, so you have to have guys that can play in space and can run."

2/14/2010 7:00:02 PM

Quote :

"I just want to be aggressive and play within the scheme of what we do."

2/14/2010 10:00:11 PM

can't read into any of that. those types of responses are all coachspeak.

2/14/2010 10:08:54 PM

Quote :

"was his defense at ND better than state this year? yes. but marginally so."

Do you ever know what you are talking about? It was his first year there and they were the like #90 total defense the year before and his one season they jumped to like #42. If you can't see that improvement then you are a blind Navy faggot.

2/15/2010 2:05:31 AM

Yeah, ND held USC to only 34 points last year - while NC State held Duke to only 49 points last year. hmmmm.... no doubt an upgrade IF he can somehow help to tighten up Archer's game

2/15/2010 10:34:32 AM

My advice to Tenuta (since he reads this thread and all)

1. Move Audie Cole to DE. He's got great pass-rushing ability, but he's downright awful in space
2. Start Sterling Lucas at MLB over Dwayne Maddox. I don't know why Lucas has never been given a fair shot, but he seems to make plays whenever he's in. Maddox just seems to lack the instincts and fluidity to be anything more than a backup
3. Start Terrell Manning at SLB. Again, he's raw but he makes plays. Seems to be good at getting pressure on the QB too.

2/15/2010 11:10:20 AM

^

4. Run over Mike Archer with your car and assume DC responsibilities.

2/15/2010 11:52:04 AM

^ I lol'd

2/15/2010 11:54:20 AM

Lack of speed is our biggest liability on defense, and Tenuta can't fix that.

2/15/2010 11:58:17 AM

5. Run over fowler

2/15/2010 12:31:47 PM

6. Read thewolfweb

2/15/2010 2:23:38 PM

http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/2/946577.html

Irving: 'I'm Ready to Hit Somebody'

Nate Irving didn’t just walk into the Media Relations Office on a recent snowy afternoon. He bounced. There was a huge smile on his face and a big “WOLFPACK FOOTBALL” logo on his sweatshirt.

He looked like … well, he looked like himself again. The way he looked before his life took a dramatic turn last summer.

It’s quite a different demeanor than the one he had the last time he met the media on August 13, 2009. It was only six months ago, but it seems like a lifetime to the Wolfpack’s hard-hitting linebacker. That was the day he announced that the injuries he had suffered from a devastating car accident in June would cause him to miss the entire football season.

He was thin and walked with a limp that day in the Murphy Center. His hands were still covered with cuts, scrapes and scratches that were just beginning to heal. His voice was quiet and his face was somber as he spoke to the gathered reporters. He managed to hold it together during the interview, but as he turned to walk away, he unsuccessfully tried to fight back tears.

“It’s been a long, long process,” says Irving of his rehab and his physical and emotional recovery. “Every time I think that the last time I played football was in 2008, I can’t believe it. That was two years ago! But I’ve had a chance to sit back and watch and realize a lot of things and learn to appreciate a lot of things, so I guess there has been a positive outcome.”

Irving suffered a broken rib, a punctured lung, an open fracture of his tibia and fibula and a separated shoulder in the accident that left his huge SUV looking more like a compact car. Although the leg injury has taken the most time to heal, it was the lung that was the most terrifying.

“It was so scary not to be able to breath,” he remembers. “And I just kept thinking that if I got hit in the chest, it could happen again.”

Irving has no memory of the accident itself and vaguely remembers the overhead lights when he was being wheeled into the emergency room from the ambulance. What he does remember is waking up to see his parents at his bedside – a spot they rarely left over the following weeks.

“My family was right by my side from the time they got that first phone call until the time I left to come back to school,” he says. “I got a lot of support from my coaches and teammates and from people I don’t even know. But my family, they were everything.”

Irving’s parents, Jerome and Frances, and his six younger brothers and sisters made sure that he never got too discouraged. “My youngest brother, Haking, sent me paintings and every time I talked to him he would ask, ‘Why were you in a car accident?’ After I got out of the hospital I was watching football with him and he would point to every player and say ‘That’s you! Right there!’ My older brothers, Altonio and Jerome, made jokes and talked trash to me to make sure I stayed upbeat. They kept me motivated.”

Irving started his rehabilitation even before he came back to school in August. “When I got home from the hospital, I immediately started working on my shoulder,” he says. “ I wasn’t supposed to, but I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit back and not try to get better. By the time I got back here to the Murphy Center, my shoulder had already healed.

“My leg rehab started when I got back here in August. When I first started, I wanted to be able to run on the ground and I wanted my first time running to be 100 percent. But it didn’t happen like that. The first time I ran, it hurt and I had to stop early because of the pain. But I tried not to get discouraged.”

As Irving recuperated physically, the pain from his injuries subsided. But the pain of watching his teammates struggle on the football field was almost as devastating. “It was hard enough not being able to play, but to see my teammates struggle was even tougher. I’m not sure how much I could have helped, but just knowing I should have been out there with those guys going through it with them was terrible.”

Most folks that follow Wolfpack football would agree that Irving would have indeed made a big impact on the team’s fortunes had he been able to play last season. In 2008, he was an honorable mention All-ACC performer but would have probably won higher honors had he not missed almost four complete games due to injuries. He led the team with four interceptions that season, a new record for an NC State linebacker.

“My lowest point was during the season, when my guys were losing and the vibe around the Murphy Center was so down,” Irving continues. “I was over there every day for hours going through my rehab, but I didn’t like the feeling that I wasn’t a part of what was going on, good or bad.”

Irving adds that watching from the sidelines made him appreciate the gift of being able to play football. “I realize that I can’t live without it,” he says. “I appreciate the game and the ability to play it more than ever. I love it. I love being out there and having to depend on 10 other guys for success and having 10 other guys depend on me. We all have to come together to be successful in order to win.”

As his rehab progressed, Irving began coming out to practice more and more often, standing with the coaching staff and exhorting his teammates. The whole team seemed to take energy from the fact that he was back and obviously in good spirits. “I did that for me and for my guys,” he says. “I wanted to be around the guys I would be playing with once I came back. I also wanted to learn more about other positions so I would know how to play around them. But I also wanted to give them my support, give them advice if I saw something, just be a part of what they were going through.”

As spring practice draws near, Irving’s leg is completely healed. “It’s better than new because new bone has grown over the breaks.” The pain from the lung and the shoulder are just distant memories. His body still bears a patchwork of scars from the accident, on his hands, his chest and his legs but he’s gotten so accustomed to them that he’s forgotten they’re there. And he has no qualms or hesitancies about getting back on the field. “I know my doctors and trainers wouldn’t put me out there unless I was ready, so I have no worries. And I think I will be a lot tougher than I was before. People have different thresholds of pain and after what I’ve been through, as long as I can still run and hit, a sore ankle or shoulder isn’t going to stop me.”

The emotional scars, however, are still raw. “That’s been the hardest part of the process,” Irving says. “Being able to process why this happened to me and what I can take from it and learn from it to prevent it from happening again. I’ve matured a lot in my decision-making, but that’s an ongoing process – I’ve still got a long way to go. I have really examined the decisions I made off the field – how I approached my academic work, how I didn’t take some things seriously – and I’ve tried to make more mature choices. I’ve also learned to appreciate things and not take them for granted.”

Right now, Irving just has one thing in mind: the start of spring practice on March 9. “I’m ready to hit somebody,” he says with a smile. “I can’t put into words how it’s going to feel the first time I can put on pads and tackle somebody. The first thing I hit? Well, I really feel sorry for it.”

2/15/2010 2:29:22 PM

7. Put the car in reverse and back-up. Rule #2#7, Double Tap.



[Edited on February 15, 2010 at 2:33 PM. Reason : image fail]

2/15/2010 2:33:17 PM

Damn, that's probably the best thing I've ever read from Annabelle. Good to know our SID can do something write.

(badly intended pun)

2/15/2010 2:58:40 PM

No last year we had the worst defense in all of Division I, II, and III football..our defense was fucking atrocious last year!!!


Its only up from here we cant get any god-damn lower!!! Give Tenuta Archer's job O'brien!!!!

2/15/2010 6:07:40 PM

^it wont happen if it hasnt happened already... at least until we lose 6 games giving up 35+ points.

ya gotta think keeping archer retains whatever systematic consistency there was (abeit very little) in that zone scheme. It seems like a very conservative TOB play to do that part. But adding an ego like Tenuta -and a more aggressive element to our Defensive schemes -puts Archer on a the hot seat before the season even starts.

is it possible for our D to play Archer-zones mixed in with heavy LB pressure blitz schemes? If so, that might be the nicely unpredictable mix we've been missing...

[Edited on February 15, 2010 at 8:36 PM. Reason : ^]

2/15/2010 8:35:21 PM

I enjoyed reading the piece on Nate Irving, I hope he has one of those blue chip, All American type seasons!!

2/15/2010 9:06:18 PM

is this the thread where we talk about next year?

if so, i want to know how everyone feels about all the pieces mentioning that our d will be improved next year w/ the addition of irving w/out mentioning that we lost our entire d-line which included our best and, arguably, our 2nd best def players?

2/17/2010 12:09:59 AM

passing game will be better assuming Wilson is back, running game probably worse.

defense will be better just because it can't be worse

we have a similar season to last year unless the defense is a LOT better. we have a tougher schedule so less wins isn't out of the question

2/17/2010 12:12:56 AM

After last year, i refuse to speculate on how many wins we'll have, or have any expectations for our football team. I will say our two biggest problems -- defense and kicking game -- should be improved. Even a little bit of improvement there could go a long way.

2/17/2010 12:26:44 AM

^^Young was a disappointment after the first few games, so I'm really not worried about losing him. Lemon was playing near his level by the end of the year (not saying much). Losing Cash hurts. Not much else to say about that.

The reason they should be better is that the secondary that was mainly freshman last year will be sophomores (Smith, Wilson, Wolff, Bishop). Hopefully that helps? Then there's the Nate Irving factor, the Tenuta factor, and the fact Terrell Manning could turn into a beast this year.

Really though, who knows. They could very well be horrible again.

2/17/2010 12:32:56 AM

yea dont forget about those transfers we obtained.

2/17/2010 12:58:54 AM

^^Manning's career reminds me of Irvings quite a bit.

Redshirt year, started getting some major minutes at end of redshirt freshman year and making plays.......hopefully his redshirt sophomore year is as good as Nate's was....minus the injuries

2/17/2010 1:29:08 AM

Quote :

"Young was a disappointment after the first few games"

wait, what?

is this a thing? people thing young didnt play up to par??

i thought young had an absolutely phenomenal season. am i missing something. it seems like most of the game i watched he was in the backfield on almost every play. if it wasnt for the fact that qb's only needed a few seconds to get the ball out w/ our shitty secondary, he would have had monstrous numbers. as it was he still had pretty great stats 4th on the team in tackles, led the team in TFL's, sacks, forced 2 fumbles and even got an int.

i cant imagine what he would have gotten w/ even a tiny bit of support behind him.

2/17/2010 7:19:09 PM

i would just really like to have a healthy team this year and not having 1/2 the starters and 2 deep injured for most of the season

2/17/2010 7:21:36 PM

Quote :

"Losing Cash hurts. "

yea. that will suck.

But the rest of the defense was so bad last year, our monster D-line was rendered largely useless. Even taking a step back on DLine, if the rest of the D can pick it up somehow - the whole unit will perform better than last year despite the loss.

2/17/2010 9:12:48 PM

Quote :

"is this a thing? people thing young didnt play up to par??"

It wasn't so much that he was a disappointment. He was definitely our best pass-rusher. But he didn't live up to the expectations most had for him after he completely dominated in his first few games. His draft stock took a major hit because of it.

2/18/2010 12:29:05 PM

Quote :

"is this the thread where we talk about next year?"

haha, we talk about 'next year' in every gd thread

2/18/2010 1:07:43 PM

I love early season recruiting. We're listed for the #1 QB and DE in the country.

2/19/2010 7:43:45 PM

we MIGHT have a chance at Clowney but that QB looks like a OSU/UM guy.

2/19/2010 7:47:32 PM

So we had our junior day recently. Anyone got a list of the prospects that were there?

2/23/2010 12:50:03 AM

^^While I'm glad we're listed with those 2 guys, I think our odds of pulling either off are slim to none. Clowney seems like a Clemson/SEC type of guy. And yeah I'd be shocked if we were able to pick-up a QB out of Ohio with that much "star power". But by all means, I hope we try our best with both of them.

We seem to keep missing on the "big fish" at DE, I would love to see us land one or two big names.
With our recent success in the NFL along the DL, you'd think we could play that up some but it hasn't really worked out except for some Juco pick-ups.

I'd love to pick up Stephone Anthony(5-star, #3 OLB). Hopefully the promise of working with Tenuta will help here, but at least we got him to junior day,so it's promising. Just stinks that most of the big name defensive talent in the state goes out of state, more specifically to the SEC.

[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 8:03 AM. Reason : .]

2/23/2010 7:47:35 AM

when's the last time we pulled an elite guy out of south carolina? J.C. Neal (if that counts)?

EDIT: Whoops, forgot about Asa Watson. He was a big get.

clemson and the cocks do an outstanding job of keeping great talent in-state.

[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 11:20 AM. Reason : oops]

2/23/2010 11:16:51 AM

Greene?

We didnt have to fight the two SC schools because they both put all their chips in on the Marcus Lattimore sweepstakes but he's still a good get

2/23/2010 1:15:54 PM

Sterling Lucas and Denzelle Good were also pretty big gets

2/23/2010 3:12:31 PM