The next era of NC State Athletics was officially announced Thursday morning in Reynolds Coliseum, as Chancellor Randy Woodson introduced Boo Corrigan as the university’s next director of athletics, set to replace the retiring Debbie Yow on May 1.

Corrigan said he had interest in the NC State job when it was first rumored a year ago that Yow would retire when her contract expired at the end of this year. He first met with Woodson about two weeks ago and things came together quickly.

“As we talk about who we are at NC State, there is a standard at NC State,” Corrigan said. “There are goals there to reach that standard and maintain that standard, because that’s who we are as an institution. And we will have a standard, and I look forward to making sure every day that we reach that standard.”

Corrigan has spent the last eight years as the AD at the U.S. Military Academy, and during his tenure has boosted Army Athletics across the board. Like Yow at NC State, Corrigan is leaving behind his athletic department in a much better state than it was when he started.

“Make no mistake about it, I’m running to something,” Corrigan said. “I’m running to NC State. I’m not running away from West Point. We were there for eight years, and literally it has been an adventure of a lifetime. To land there, be there and be a part of such a dynamic community. So we thought it was time and this was the place that we wanted to be.”

For Woodson and NC State, replacing Yow was no easy task. She has hired coaches who have built the Wolfpack’s programs into consistent competitors, upgraded NC State’s facilities, including the construction of the football team’s Close King Indoor Practice Facility and the renovation of Reynolds, and renewed the commitment to athletes’ success in the classroom.

NC State is currently 10th in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings and four sports currently playing (women’s basketball, wrestling and men’s and women’s swimming and diving) are ranked in the top 10.

Woodson needed to find someone capable of both maintaining the standard Yow has set and also continuing to make improvements to NC State’s athletic programs. Corrigan checked all the boxes.

“Among all the people that I talked with and all the people I considered, Boo’s name always came back to the top of the list, honestly,” Woodson said. “… I want an AD that understands this is about the students and about their success at all aspects of life, not just on the court or on the field, although that’s a big part of it. But in the classroom and as they develop as mature adults by the time they leave our campus. I saw that in Boo consistently throughout his career. I heard it in his voice when we talked.  Secondly, as I said when I introduced Boo, I was looking for someone that this wasn’t their first rodeo.

“That they know what Division I, Power Five athletics is about and all the issues that come along with it. Again, box checked. That is very clear, not only in his experience, but in what he’s passionate about. Third, it’s my job to sell this university, but I wanted people who were visiting with me about this job to be sold on this university and this job before that first conversation occurred. That was box was checked for me in Boo early on because he knows this conference, he knows this part of the country and he knows the great history of NC State athletics. So it just kept getting better and better until he’s sitting here.”

Corrigan is also no stranger to the ACC. His dad, Gene Corrigan, was the athletic director at Virginia before serving as commissioner of the ACC for 10 years. For Boo Corrigan, he got his start in the conference, working as an unpaid intern for his dad and also as a marketing director at Florida State. Before heading to Army, Corrigan served as a senior associate AD at Duke.

“It’s something in my life that’s always meant a great deal; to be involved in the ACC and what the ACC stands for,” Corrigan said. “It’s that commitment to academics, the commitment to doing things the right way that was equally as attractive to me with NC State and the ACC. It’s something that we just couldn’t turn down.”

When it comes to a new hire trying to endear his or herself to the NC State faithful, name dropping a legend is never a bad way to go. Corrigan had plenty to choose from, particularly standing in Reynolds Coliseum, and played the ultimate trump card to show his fit as the Wolfpack’s newest member.

“I could not be more proud to be here. I could not be more honored to be here,” Corrigan said. “My family and I look forward to coming to Raleigh. What did Jimmy V say? If you laugh, you think and you cry in one day, that’s a good day. I’m an emotional guy, I think I fit in. I could not be more excited to be here, and I’m looking forward to starting.”