The Wolfpack got a new leader in 2010, when Debbie Yow was named director of athletics at NC State. Yow, the younger sister of NC State coaching legend Kay Yow, came to NC State after serving as athletics director at the University of Maryland for 16 years. Yow is the first woman to lead the Wolfpack, and was also the first female athletics director in the ACC when she took her position at Maryland. A native of Gibsonville, N.C., Yow began her career as a basketball coach at the high school and collegiate levels before becoming a nationally recognized leader in the field of athletics administration.
In her first year as women’s basketball coach, Kellie Harper guided the Wolfpack to the ACC Tournament championship game and the NCAA Tournament. Bryan Bunn began his tenure as volleyball coach with 14 wins in his first season. The university welcomed Kelly Findley as the new men’s soccer coach, replacing long-time coach George Tarantini, who won more games than any soccer coach in NC State’s history.
The Wolfpack added to its successes on the field as the baseball team and men’s and women’s basketball teams all qualified for postseason play in the spring. Both the gymnastics and co-ed rifle teams won conference titles. In the fall, head coach Tom O’Brien and the football team not only qualified for postseason play, but won more football games than any Wolfpack team since 2002. The Wolfpack beat West Virginia 23-7 in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl in December and finished the season ranked 25th in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
Senior Taylor Seaman became the first gymnast in NC State history to win All-America honors. Distance runner Ryan Hill won NCAA All-America honors in track and field and in cross country, while true freshman Laura Hoer won four of the six cross country races she ran, including the ACC Championship and the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. She was also named an All-America at the NCAA Cross Country championship. Freshman golfer Albin Choi won two individual titles in the fall, leading the Wolfpack to a pair of team titles and two runner-up finishes in its four fall tournaments.