The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/790572
MARCH 2017 ■ 31 retired that summer, the longtime defensive coordinator and part-time golf coach was elevated to interim head coach. Sykes, a 1968 NC State graduate with a degree in recreation and parks administra- tion, was serving as a volunteer assistant to Michaels as well as an assistant golf pro at the nearby Raleigh Golf Association. He jumped at the chance to take over the team, even though he was by far the young- est head coach in the athletics department that included men's basketball coach Norm Sloan and baseball coach Sam Esposito. "I happened to be standing there when they needed somebody," Sykes said. "That was the big interview process I went through to become the head coach. "We all thought it would be a one-semes- ter thing, and it turned into a lifetime job." Since then, NC State has had nine foot- ball coaches and six men's basketball coaches. Put it this way: women's bas- ketball had a beloved, Hall of Fame head coach in Kay Yow, who spent a remarkable 36 years at NC State and has been followed by two coaches since her death in 2009. Wolfpack women's athletics had not yet started when Sykes was hired by athlet- ics director Willis Casey, who hired R.R. "Peanut" Doak the year after Sykes to start the women's basketball program. Sykes, a four-time ACC Coach of the Year selection, led his alma mater to the 1990 ACC championship and has had his program represented in more than 30 NCAA regional appearances. He pro- duced 2009 NCAA individual champion Matt Hill and dozens of professional golf- ers, including Tim Clark, Carl Pettersson and Marc Turnesa, who went from being roommates in an apartment on Brent Road to PGA tournament winners during their careers. He's coached six individual ACC cham- pions, two ACC Players of the Year, three ACC Rookies of the Year, 45 All-ACC se- lections and 32 All-Americans. All good courses, however, have an 18th hole. Sykes told current athletics director Deb- bie Yow and his sport administrator Chris Boyer a couple of years ago that he wanted the 2017 season to be his last, for several reasons. First, the Wolfpack is slated to host an NCAA Regional at Lonnie Poole Golf Course in 2018, and Sykes didn't want his team to face the performance pres- sure or spectacle of his retirement on its home course. Second, Sykes just turned 72, and he finally wanted to be able to go out and shoot his age. Mainly, though, it was out of profes- sional courtesy. "I wanted to give the department time to figure out what they wanted to do," Sykes said. "They may need the practice — they haven't done this in 46 years." Sykes most endearing quality is his self- deprecating humor and sometimes biting wit. He uses it as effectively as the late Jim Valvano or any other comedian coach you can name to disarm his opponents or calm his players. You want examples? Here are a few favorites of Chip Watson, Sykes' part- ner since the 1980s in the Wolfpack Golf School, one of his former assistant coaches and the general manager of the Lonnie Poole Golf Course: • After a rain delay at an event, coaches were trying to get information on when the course would open, when the range would re-open, the overall plan for restarting. The poor guy working in the golf shop had no clue. He was telling the coaches this and that but didn't really know, and he was getting really frustrated by all the ques- tions. Coach Sykes walked in and asked the guy the same questions all the other coaches had asked. The guy went off on Coach Sykes and was extremely rude. Coach Sykes turned to the group that had gathered and said, "Not everyone can be a horse's head." • The American Junior Golf Association had set up a new pace of play program that involved flags around the golf course in specific spots. A green flag meant your group was on time, a yellow flag meant that you were behind and you had to catch up, a red flag meant that your group was now on the clock and subject to penalties. The rules guys were very proud of the new system and were happily presenting it to the coaches. Coach Sykes spoke up and said, "Hey, when the group finishes on the 18th hole do they wave a checkered flag?" • Coach Sykes was asked by a parent how he handles qualifying for the team to see who makes the travel squad to an event. He said, "I use a point system." Then he pointed to a few people and said, "You, you, you and you." • At a tournament a few years ago, one of his players was having a bad day. He ran into Coach Sykes after about the 15th hole and coach asked him how he was playing. He said he was just playing awful, was 8 over par, but he had just birdied the 14th hole, which happened to be an easy par-5 that every player in the field had birdied. Sykes led the Wolfpack to the program's first-ever ACC championship in 1990 (the squad pictured above), and has guided his squads to 23 NCAA Regional and 12 NCAA Championships appearances. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS "The thing about Coach Sykes is that he is just a great motivator. He didn't try to mess with your swing or over- coach you. He just always had the right words to say, or the right joke to tell, to make you feel better about your game." ■ Former player Kelly Mitchum, a four-time All-American and two-time ACC champion at NC State