NC State chancellor Randy Woodson was convinced rather quickly that Boo Corrigan was the man he wanted to hire to replace Debbie Yow as the Wolfpack’s director of athletics.
With the help of the Parker Executive Search Firm, Woodson noted that his initial conversations in the search “were canvassing the universe.” From there the pool was narrowed down to about 30 diverse candidates. Eventually, seven finalists were interviewed by Woodson.
Corrigan swiftly rose to the top after Woodson’s first face-to-face conversation with him, which happened earlier in January in Atlanta. Woodson saw the perfect candidate to replace Yow.
“He brings the same skills in terms of focus on the budget, focus on management, focus on hiring outstanding people and empowering them to do their job,” Woodson said. “In addition, again because of his background in marketing and probably because he is the son of [former ACC commissioner] Gene Corrigan, he is phenomenal at relationship building, externally and internally.
“I think what you are going to have in Boo is the ability to continue to move our athletics program to an even higher level, not only because of outstanding management but also because of the way he represents the program externally.”
When Woodson learned that Corrigan was sincerely intrigued by the Wolfpack job, there was nothing more needed to convince Woodson that he had found his new AD.
“Once I knew his level of interest, it was just a matter of making sure we could get this done,” Woodson said.
To that end, Woodson enlisted some help — retired four-star general Raymond T. Odierno.
Odierno was the Army Chief of Staff from September 2011 to August 2015. Long before then, he played football at Army. After graduating from Army with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1976, he received a master’s in nuclear effects engineering at NC State.
Odierno currently sits on the Board of Visitors at NC State. With Corrigan’s permission, Woodson reached out to Odierno to see if he would help bring his top candidate to NC State. Odierno was wholly on board.
“I think it’s a perfect fit,” Odierno said. “At West Point, leadership development is the most important thing. I think with NC State, the culture and development of young leaders is important to this university as well, and the chancellor has made that very clear.
“I think it’s a very good fit. I think for Boo he’s stepped up in a Power Five conference that’s competitive in every single sport, and it’s something that he can add to and continue to build.”
Woodson appreciates that Corrigan is “real.” During his introduction press conference at Reynolds Coliseum Thursday, Corrigan came across unpretentious. Odierno cautioned that observers should not be tricked by his outward demeanor, and Woodson agrees.
“He’s hired great coaches; he’s fired coaches,” Woodson noted. “He knows how to manage athletics.
“He’s a real person. He gets along with people exceptionally well, but don’t let that fool you, as the general said. He holds people accountable for the jobs that they do, and in athletics that is critical.”
Woodson knew that the ongoing FBI investigation in college basketball that has involved NC State over its recruitment of Dennis Smith Jr. would be a question that any perspective AD, Corrigan included, would want to briefed on before taking the job.
“We have been totally transparent, and we have been cooperative with all of the investigators,” Woodson said. “This is going to get done at some point. Everybody that I talked to, as you would expect, all asked questions about it. I told them everything I know, and there was no discomfort with it.”
The search to replace Yow unfolded quietly until news broke Wednesday morning that Corrigan was going to be the hire. That was how Woodson wanted it, and he was not surprised that he was able to operate away from the public eyes.
He’s also thrilled with the result of the process.
“I had a lot of conversations with really, really impactful athletic directors and got to this point,” he concluded.
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