The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1266731
22 ■ THE WOLFPACKER The Short Journey Home There was never any doubt about where Purcell would have wanted to spend most of his working career. "I've been a State man all my life," Pur- cell noted. "My grandfather went to school here, my father went to school here, and I started school here in the fall of 1973. My freshman year, I was in the stands for the 1974 national championship team. We won the ACC football championship, the basket- ball championship and national title, and the baseball championship. I thought it was going to be that way forever." He also knew that he might have to go else- where to pursue his lifelong dream of working in athletics, either as a coach or administrator. He transferred to UNC Chapel Hill to get the degree in business administration he wanted, even though he never became a Carolina man. "I was always the guy at the State-Carolina games wearing a red T-shirt," he recalled. After graduation, Purcell spent some time in corporate sales for Whirlpool, traveling all over Eastern North Carolina, but he always wanted a job in athletics. On a whim, he asked for appointments to talk with NC State director of athletics Willis Casey, North Car- olina director of athletics Bill Cobey, Georgia director of athletics Vince Dooley and Geor- gia Tech director of athletics Homer Rice. They all told him the same thing: go to graduate school. At the time, Georgia had just started a graduate degree program in sports manage- ment, and Purcell was in its second cohort. While in school, he worked as a volunteer graduate assistant for the Bulldog football team, an office intern for the Atlanta Fal- cons and, with a week's vacation, for his un- cle Gus Purcell's football camp in Charlotte. Gus Purcell was the innovative and decorated head coach of Myers Park High School from 1952-71 and operated one of the country's first summer camps for high school quarterbacks. Atlanta Falcons director of pro personnel Bill Jobko was a good friend and former Ca- nadian Football League teammate of Monte Kiffin, and following the 1980 season Kiffin called to ask Jobko to give undrafted Wolf- pack placekicker Nathan Ritter a tryout. Jobko said, "Fine, but we have this kid down here who is a State guy through and through. Do you have an opening for him?" Kiffin had a job available for a part-time assistant coach, which paid the value of a football scholarship. At the time, that was $3,200 a year. It was Purcell's dream While serving as the executive director of the Wolfpack Club, Purcell oversaw numerous updates and additions to Carter-Finley Stadium, the construction of PNC Arena and the Close-King Indoor Practice Facility, and the $35-million renovation of Reynolds Coliseum. PHOTO COURTESY WOLFPACK CLUB PHOTO COURTESY WOLFPACK CLUB " We all owe a great deal of gratitude and thankfulness to Bobby Purcell. I hope no one ever forgets that. What he's meant to this athletics department has been immeasurable. Longtime NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent