As NC State Director of Athletics Debbie Yow approaches the end of her tenure, her legacy is secure. She’s a surefire NC State Hall-of-Famer who will never be forgotten for getting NC State Athletics out of the depths of despair and elevating the entire department to heights never seen across the board.
However, one thing is missing: an ACC title from a revenue sport. Obviously, this won’t happen while she is in office, but if either of the coaches she hired can deliver a title, she will go down in NC State history as one of the greatest ADs ever.
Yow is somewhat of a controversial figure among opposing fans, whether that’s because she likes to tweet her opinion or because she has turned the Wolfpack athletic department from one of the worst in the ACC to one of the best in the entire country. What is clear is that opposing fans wouldn’t voice their displeasure with Yow if she wasn’t doing great work.
However, there’s no doubt how Wolfpack fans feel about Yow. She is likely the most beloved figure in NC State Athletics of the 21st century. Her sister, former women’s basketball coach Kay Yow, would also have an argument but the majority of her time in Raleigh was in the 20th century. Regardless, that wouldn’t change the unanimous feeling of Pack fans towards the younger Yow.
Making a list of Yow’s top three hires would be ridiculously difficult. Women’s Basketball Head Coach Wes Moore, Swimming and Diving Coach Braden Holloway and Wrestling Head Coach Pat Popolizio would be the most popular picks of that list.
Arguments could also be made for Dave Doeren who has the football team as arguably the second best team in the ACC the last two seasons. Men’s Soccer Head Coach George Kiefer took the Pack to the NCAA tournament in his first two seasons after the program hadn’t reached the tournament since 2009. Tim Santoro of women’s soccer has taken his team to the Sweet 16 in two of the last three years. Volleyball’s Linda Hampton-Keith and men’s basketball’s Kevin Keatts have shown promising signs in their first two years in Raleigh. The list goes on.
An ACC title in football or men’s basketball would be a cherry on top to Yow’s tenure, but the reality is that it’s so much harder to win big in those sports. Every ACC team is investing as much money as they can in at least one of those two sports and nobody needs to be reminded how tough the competition at the top of the ACC is in these sports.
If Doeren never wins an ACC title because Dabo Swinney is running a dynasty at Clemson, that’s not a referendum on Yow’s legacy (or Doeren’s ability as a coach). The same goes for Keatts who might be in the toughest neighborhood in any league of any sport at any level.
Yow’s legacy goes beyond the coaches she’s hired and their accomplishments. Her two biggest accomplishments include the beautiful renovation of Reynolds Coliseum and the beginning of the NC State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
Chancellor Randy Woodson deserves a ton of credit for turning around the athletic department and replacing Lee Fowler with Yow, who had been at Maryland.
There’s no doubt that incoming AD Boo Corrigan has big shoes to fill, but if he can be half as successful as Yow, it will be a successful hire.
All that’s missing from Yow’s glowing resume is an ACC title in a revenue sport, and Wolfpack fans have been waiting a long time. However, nobody, not the coaches, the players, the fans, are more deserving of an ACC title in a revenue sport than Yow.
