Tom O'Brien fired as N.C. State football coach

Head football coach Tom O'Brien will not be back at N.C. State. He leaves with a 40-35 record, going 7-5 in 2012, including an upset win over Florida State. Offensive coordinator Dana Bible will take over for bowl season.

As for the Wolfpack fan reaction, do not expect to hear many of them expressing shock or remorse about his exit, but this move is certainly not the safe one, to say the least:

Toss out TOB's debut year when he dealt with the rubble left behind from Amato's tenure, and he won 35 games in five years; seven per.

— Patrick Stevens (@D1scourse) November 25, 2012

As for replacements, dial those James Franklin rumors back up. The Vanderbilt coach, who's taking Vandy to back-to-back bowls for the first time ever, has ties to N.C. State's athletic director and had at one point reportedly been approached about the job already.

O'Brien drew frequent criticism for his conservative preferences -- if the program is looking to go in a different direction, it must think bold. Know any really bold coaches besides Franklin?

There's also this:

From what I've gathered, NC State wants a bulldog recruiter for its next coach. Felt it fell short in that area.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerCBS) November 25, 2012

The ACC's bowl picture just got even weirder. N.C. State looked to be the conference's third-best choice and a potential Russell Athletic bid, but now that they'll enter bowl season with an interim coach, Virginia Tech or Duke could wind up with a ridiculously favorable bowl trip.

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