RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -North Carolina State didn't need to go far to find a new football coach. In fact, the school didn't even have to leave its own division in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
N.C. State is set to hire Boston College's Tom O'Brien and is working out final details of a contract, a university official said Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a contract has not been approved by the school's board of trustees, whose personnel committee has scheduled a teleconference for Friday.
Once a deal is complete and O'Brien changes addresses, it will add spice to a division rivalry that began when Boston College became the ACC's 12th member before the 2005 season. This year, N.C. State beat Boston College when first-time starter Daniel Evans threw the winning touchdown pass with 8.5 seconds left in a 17-15 victory.
O'Brien's move to Raleigh would mark only the second time in league history that a football coach left one ACC school to lead another in the next season, the league said. The other time came when Jim Tatum moved from Maryland to North Carolina in 1956.
The SEC went through such an unusual move when football coach Tommy Tuberville left Mississippi to take over at Auburn after the 1998 season.
``I think (the fans) were upset because whatever school you're a fan of, you think that's the greatest one in the world and cannot imagine anyone leaving to go to another school,'' Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone said. ``And so when they do, it's kind of like getting a divorce - and them taking the children.''
The Southeastern, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences don't have policies in place regarding the movement of coaches from one school in the conference to another, the leagues said Thursday. A spokesman from the Big East Conference said there have been no in-league football coaching moves in its history.
In the Big Ten, Purdue women's basketball coach Sharon Versyp moved from the same job at Indiana after one season. Conference spokesman Scott Chipman noted that there had been rumors that Steve Alford would leave Iowa to return to his alma mater at Indiana, but the switch never occurred.
But Boone said some schools, including Ole Miss, include contract provisions that make a coach's buyout higher if they leave for a conference competitor.
``The reason for that is the recruiting angle that can be leveraged against you,'' Boone said.
Whether N.C. State is dealing with such a provision is unknown. Wolfpack athletics director Lee Fowler did not returns calls to his office Thursday, while Neil Cornrich - O'Brien's attorney of more than a decade - declined to comment on the reports when reached at his office Thursday in Beachwood, Ohio.
Boston College officials did not return multiple calls seeking comment, although a spokesman issued a statement Thursday acknowledging the reports.
``As you are no doubt aware, reports surfaced out of North Carolina yesterday afternoon and evening that N.C. State had (or would) offer Tom O'Brien its vacant head football coaching position,'' spokesman Chris Cameron said in an e-mail.
``If and when N.C. State makes an announcement involving coach O'Brien, Boston College will respond accordingly. Meanwhile, Boston College has no comment on the situation.''
Several broadcasters and Web sites, citing unidentified sources, reported Wednesday night that N.C. State had hired O'Brien to replace the fired Chuck Amato. San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers - a four-year starter who left N.C. State as the school's career passing leader - told the North County (Calif.) Times on Wednesday that O'Brien was the choice.
O'Brien led the Eagles to a 9-3 record and an appearance in the Meineke Bowl against Navy later this month. He dismissed rumors linking him to other coaching openings in a statement this week and told the Boston Globe, when reached at home Wednesday night, that he had received no official offer.
``Any announcement has to come out of North Carolina,'' he said.
N.C. State fired Amato - a former Wolfpack linebacker - the day after his team closed the season with seven straight losses to finish 3-9. Amato was 49-37 and led the Wolfpack to five bowl games in seven seasons, but he went 25-31 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and never finished higher than fourth.
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Associated Press Writer Tom Foreman Jr., and AP Sports Writers Joedy McCreary and Jimmy Golen contributed to this report.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
