Cheers for Boo: NC State introduces new athletics director

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- First things first. How does a 52-year-old man still answer to the name Boo? By now, new NC State Athletics Director Boo Corrigan's answer is well-rehearsed:

"My father never cared for the name Eugene, so by the time they had their fifth boy in a row, my mom said we can probably stop having kids if you name one after you. So they named me Eugene Francis Corrigan Jr. and when I was a baby he started calling me Boo. Here I sit, 52 years later as a guy named Boo. I do think it's kind of funny that there's a guy named Bubba in Chapel Hill."

Smiles were plentiful Thursday in Reynolds Coliseum as the man who'll chart the next era of Wolfpack athletics was introduced.

"Could not be more proud to be here. Could not be more honored to be here," he said.

The first thing you'll notice with Corrigan is his total lack of pretense. Asked what advice his father had provided that had stuck with him most, he cited two sayings, the second being "Take your job serious, but not yourself."

Corrigan explained, "I think that's what I owe back is to be approachable, to be a part of what's going on instead of acting like I've got every answer."

Four-Star Gen. Raymond Odierno, once the 38th Chief of Staff of the entire Army (and currently a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, I might add) is a huge Boo fan.

"Incredibly humble, great humility," he said of Corrigan, "but don't let that fool you. He's incredibly talented; smart individual who'll really build on what's here."

With a former Virginia AD and ACC Commissioner for a father, and stops at Duke, Florida State, and Notre Dame, Corrigan is steeped in the ACC.

As he put it following the news conference, "I ran to NC State, not away from West Point."

Corrigan said when Debbie Yow announced her impending retirement, he and his wife immediately identified it as a potentially great opportunity. NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson was first to reach out to him.

Woodson told ABC11's Mark Armstrong that once he realized the interest was mutual, the decision was a no-brainer: "It was just closing the deal."

Corrigan isn't afraid of showing emotion, there were hints of it on Thursday. He started to get choked up talking about moving his family to Raleigh for this new adventure, but then deftly segued into a crowd-pleasing quote:

"What'd Jimmy V say? If you laugh and you think and you cry in one day that's a good day? I'm an emotional guy, I think I fit in with that."

His four guiding principles? Trust, accountability, passion, and empathy.

"This is what I get to do every day," he said. "This is not what I have to do. To be around young people, to be around coaches, to be around mentors and try to do whatever we can to make them succeed at the highest level. That's a pretty great job!"