With preseason football practice a little more than a month away, N.C. State football coach Tom O'Brien recently shared his thoughts on the offseason, Wolfpack fans, what he misses about Boston, his military background, why he often dodges questions about his personnel, his recruiting philosophy, academic standards, his strength and conditioning beliefs, and other matters.

Here are some excerpts from our lengthy, one-on-one interview:

DG: How is your offseason going so far?

O'Brien: It's been going well. I think we've made the transition well. Right now, the fellas are working hard in their summer conditioning program, trying to get themselves ready so they can withstand the rigors of preseason camp. As coaches, we had a little time to relax, but then it was on to our camp, and there's always recruiting and speaking engagements and things of that sort.

DG: You're almost seven months into your tenure at N.C. State, and you've been through a spring practice, visited the rubber-chicken circuit, and experienced just about everything except actual games as the leader of the Wolfpack. Has anything about the State job been different than what you anticipated when you took the job back in December?

O'Brien: No, I think it's been the same (as expected). And I wouldn't call it the rubber-chicken circuit. Maybe "rubber-barbecue" would be more appropriate. That's been great. I love barbecue. It's been a good trip so far, those 10 or 15 stops we've done throughout the state so far. They've been wonderful.

DG: Tell us about your recent travels with men's basketball coach Sidney Lowe and women's basketball coach Kay Yow, among others. How have those meet-and-greet events with Wolfpack fans compared to what you've experienced in the past, either way back as an assistant at Virginia or more recently during your 10 years at Boston College?

O'Brien: I think they're much more enthusiastic (at State). I don't know whether it's because of the great job Sidney did this year, and Kay Yow, or because of the new hire, with me coming in. But they've been fantastic. From what I understand, from members of the Wolfpack Club, the board here, the people that travel with me, we've set record crowds wherever we've gone. So it's been a wonderful experience. It's great to get out and meet all the Wolfpackers.

DG: Now that there's been a little bit of distance between your decision to leave Boston College and now your current job here in Raleigh, is there anything you miss about BC — people, places, part of your job, your house, your office? Anything you miss about Boston College?

O'Brien: Well, I miss my wife. I've gotta get her moved down here by the middle of July. So, once we can get back together, that's the biggest thing. I was talking to her (recently), and I think the high in Boston was in the mid-50s, and raining or something. So I don't miss that at all.

DG: Coach, one aspect of your background that jumps out is the military. It's been a big part of your life — graduate of the Naval Academy, commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marines, served a tour of duty in Japan, Marine Corps reserve. I know they are not perfect matches — military can be life and death, and football is just football — but do you see a lot of similarities otherwise between directing a military unit and running a college football program?

O'Brien: Well, I think any time you run an organization ... all the disciplinary things you learn, the organizational skills you learn, the motivational skills you learn, I think they all come into play. I've been very fortunate in my educational background, and the people I've been around and the people I've learned from. I've taken a little bit from everybody, I think, and applied it. And I think any time you run an organization, those things are of great value to you as an individual.

DG: One thing I noticed this spring, Coach, is that you don't like to go into much detail about your own personnel, and you often sort of step around a lot of questions about your personnel. Is that a military thing — nobody tells the other side about troop movements, of course — or just part of your football philosophy or media philosophy?

O'Brien: I think it gives a competitive advantage to anyone you play (if you talk too much about your own team). It's up to them to figure out my football team. It's not for me to tell them what my football team is. I mean, to tell them what someone's strengths and weaknesses are, that obviously will help them in their preparations to play us. Or, it may go back to World War Two, where "Loose Lips Sink Ships." You never know. (Laughs.)

DG: Is that part of your military background, the fact that you adopted that philosophy?

O'Brien: No, it's part of my football background. You know, I grew up around (long-time Virginia coach) George Welsh, and George Welsh didn't share too much about his football teams. I've been around (New England Patriots coach) Bill Belichick for a long time. Since I've been in New England, he's become a close friend. And he certainly doesn't share anything.

So I just think that's the way I've learned, and the way I've been taught. The people I've been around and admire, that's how they run their programs. So I've kind of emulated them a little bit.

DG: One part of your team you spoke of highly during spring practice was your tailbacks, with Toney Baker, Andre Brown and Jamelle Eugene. Is there another part of your team that gives you a similar comfort level, or are those other positions just going to be a bunch of guys fighting for playing time in August?

O'Brien: Well, even those three fellas (the tailbacks) are going to be fighting for playing time, but it's probably the deepest position we have on our football team. It's a good problem to have, because we've been known as a tailback offense, and they're going to get dinged up during the year. It's best to keep them fresh, and it's best to keep them healthy. So they're all going to contribute and find ways to help us win.

DG: Do you see any other position as close to what you have at tailback?

O'Brien: I don't think so right now. At tailback, you've got three guys you can play and win with, and that's pretty unusual.

DG: At both Virginia and Boston College, you were associated with teams with low attrition rates, and most college coaches I know believe that's a big factor in the college game. Everyone has some kids who transfer or get into trouble or fail out of school, but those two programs did a good job of keeping those numbers down. When you look back at that track record, do you think it has more to do with recruiting methods, or with what you did with the kids after they got to campus?

O'Brien: I think it's a combination of both. Number one, you have to recruit kids with character, because you win with character. So we try to find those individuals that are most like us — that are committed to graduation, that are committed to being solid citizens, that are committed to being champions. As we say, "Champions in the classroom, Champions in the community, Champions on the football field."

Then, I think, once they get here, it has to be reinforced by the coaching staff almost daily that there are certain standards that they are going to be held to. Our main job is to send them back when they leave here ... We all hope they can play in the NFL. But if they can't, they will go home with a degree, and they will be contributors to their communities.

DG: One thing that will be different at N.C. State, a large, public university, than at Boston College, a small, private school, are the academic restrictions. Some said you had one hand tied behind your back at BC because of its lofty standards. All public universities have more flexibility. How much will you change your recruiting approach in that regard?

O'Brien: I don't think it's going to change what we do. Our commitment is still to graduate kids, and you can't bring people to North Carolina State University that are not qualified to do the work here. We have to make sure, in conjunction with our admissions department and our academic advising people, that we bring student-athletes into North Carolina State that can graduate.

People talk about different standards. I think the major thing is, you look at a school like Boston College, and they had 22,000 applicants for 2,000 slots last year. That's a little different selection process. Now I don't think those numbers are that way here at North Carolina State. We're a much larger university. Given the size of the freshman class here, the proportionality would have to be off the charts (for the admission percentage to be the same). But (more stringent academic standards) are a fact of life at a lot of private schools that have great academic reputations.

DG: Every coach seems to have his own philosophy on the best way to run a strength and conditioning program for a college football team, and you brought your guy Todd Rice with you from Boston College. Some emphasize this, others emphasize that. How would you describe your philosophy?

O'Brien: We start with flexibility. That's flexibility in your hip joints, in your shoulders, in your groin area — flexibility all over your body. We have to become much more flexible so we become much more explosive. As you become more explosive and more flexible, you will become stronger. We're into especially diet, lean body mass, getting rid of body fat, all of those sorts of things.

Todd has done a great job. It shows up in games missed. We had very few games missed at Boston College for any type of muscle injury, or a muscle pull, whether it be a hamstring, shoulder, arm, whatever. You're going to end up with breaks here or there, or sprains here and there, but you're not going to miss it with muscle strains one way or the other. That has a lot to do with flexibility, and that has a lot to do with the lifting program that Todd employs.

DG: We've talked in the past about the major adjustments your players have had to make because of the differences in your offense and defense compared to what was run at N.C. State in the recent past. How about the strength and conditioning program? Has that been a minor adjustment or a major adjustment for your guys?

O'Brien: I think it's a big adjustment, just listening to them and what they've been asked to do in the past. They're better-suited to answer that question than I am, but every individual I've talked to says it's a major difference, especially the flexibility and stretching that we require them to do.

DG: I know you and your wife have a beach house in the Carolinas. Is there any chance for a trip to the beach between now and the start of preseason camp in August?

O'Brien: No, not this year. But that was to be expected. I'm just looking forward to closing on our house in Boston and moving my wife down here to Raleigh. Then, pretty soon here, it's back to work and let's get after it.