I will be the first to admit, when coach Tom O’Brien came out after the Pittsburgh game and said, “We’re just not a very good football team right now. There’s too many mistakes and I’ve done a bad job coaching,” I was not a believer.

We had just come off of a huge win against Pittsburgh, which was the prototypical game that State football in the past years would blow. We had the lead and then a monumental collapse occurred when Ted Larsen snapped the ball over Russell Wilson’s head. As I was witnessing the play from my seats in the northeast end zone, only about 20 yards away, I immediately thought the worst. I lost all hope for the game and knew a loss was imminent. But something happened that I did not expect; the defense held the Panthers offense on four straight plays inside the red zone and we were able to run the clock out for the win.

After watching this I thought that N.C. State football had turned the page from its old self. I saw a team pull out a win that past teams would have lost. I saw a team that was cocky, but when disaster struck, it did not run away, it stared it in the face and overcame it. I believed this type of attitude came directly from O’Brien.

I knew we had problems, especially with the tackling, special teams play and penalties, but that was something I believed could be fixed in practice by the coaches. But after watching the Wake game, I was obviously wrong.

I have had faith in O’Brien ever since he was first hired in 2007. After the 5-7 season in 2007 and 6-7 season last year, my faith never wavered. I knew it was just a matter of time until O’Brien got his players in and the undisciplined team that used to be N.C. State during the Chuck Amato era would be gone forever under an O’Brien-coached team.

This is not the case, however, for this Pack football team. The defense has struggled all year to defend the pass and make tackles. I know our secondary is young and inexperienced, but that excuse only can go so far. As they have now played five collegiate football games, they should begin to understand how to play and what their job is on the field, and if they have not figured it out yet, it is the coach’s fault for not teaching them well.

Our other problem, tackling, is inexcusable. The defensive players have been taught how to tackle ever since they played Pop Warner Football, but it seems as though the defense is unable to grasp this and the coaches are not capable of teaching it. The coaches need to go back to basic fundamentals with the defense, starting first and foremost with teaching them the correct way to tackle and how to wrap up a player and take them to the ground, instead of trying to go for the big highlight hit.

Another thing I have seen in the past two games that is inexcusable is the amount of penalties we have had, especially the amount of pre-snap penalties and penalties that occur after the whistle. I understand penalties are a part of the game; holdings and pass interference calls happen and I am fine with that. The problem I have is with false start penalties and personal foul penalties. Those types of penalties simply come from a lack of focus and discipline, and they need to be corrected.

Overall, I do believe that Tom O’Brien is the best coach for N.C. State and I believe that he will turn this team around and put it back into the national spotlight that has been missing since the days of Phillip Rivers. I even believe that this is still possible this year, but not until we shore up these areas of concern. O’Brien needs to start coaching the fundamentals of football and preach over and over again on mental toughness and discipline. He needs to stop being the “bad coach” he says he is and become the great coach we all know he can be.