Whether or not Mike Gottfried is out at NC State depends on who you ask. Reports coming out of Raleigh (the first we saw was from Mark Armstrong of WTVD – ABC11) are that NC State Athletic Director, Debbie Yow, will pull the plug on the Gottfried era effective at the end of the season. The Wolfpack have called those reports “irresponsible”. Whatever. For now, the only thing that matters is that most observers feel like Gottfried is probably getting fired, and the entire fan base seems to want him fired. So, whether or not, NC State has officially begun a coaching search, the rest of us have.

There are a lot of names that will find their way into the conversation, but there’s one that is going to be the odds-on favorite until he says, “No.”

If you want to sound smart with your friends, commit these “Archie Miller Talking Points” to memory…

He played for the Pack for four years, graduating in 2002.

He comes from a great coaching pedigree. His older brother Sean, is the head coach at Arizona. Dad, John, is a Western Pennsylvania high school hall-of-fame coach, who racked up over 650 wins in his career.

Before getting his head coaching gig at the University of Dayton, Archie put together a nice resume as an assistant – Western Kentucky, NC State, Arizona State, Ohio State, and Arizona.

Archie Miller’s Dayton Flyers are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year. Before he arrived, Dayton had never made it more than twice in a row.

Only seven of the eighteen players on the UD roster are from the state of Ohio. Dayton has three commitments for next year. Two of them are 3-star prospects. None of them are from Ohio. Why does that matter? It shows, Miller can operate and compete for recruits outside the state.

Archie Miller has the same number of Elite 8 appearances in his career as Mark Gottfried… One.

Go forth and sound smart. You’re welcome.