SEC Network announces Bo Rein documentary

The SEC Network has a handful of documentaries ready for the fall, including one about former NC State football coach Bo Rein, who was killed in a plane crash in early 1980. Rein is the last man to lead the Wolfpack to an ACC championship, and after the 1979 season, he accepted an offer from LSU to become the Tigers' new head coach.

Rein was only 30 years old when he took over at NC State, and he'd been an assistant in Raleigh under Lou Holtz prior to getting the head gig in 1976. He went 27-18-1 in four seasons at NC State, leading the program to a couple of bowl wins and a pair of top-20 finishes in the polls.

The title of the doc is "The Bo You Don't Know," and it's scheduled to air on the SEC Network on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

"The Bo You Don't Know" - Directed by Brian Goodwin
When the name "Bo" is uttered in SEC circles, images of Bo Jackson's domination at Auburn quickly come to mind. But there is another Bo who is likely far less familiar to SEC followers. That would be Robert "Bo" Rein, whose pedigree could be traced to stints under Woody Hayes, Lou Holtz, and Frank Broyles. A former baseball and football standout at Ohio State, Rein was building a reputation as an innovator who inspired those around him. He became the youngest head coach in major college football when he took over at NC State at the age of 30. He brought the Wolfpack national rankings, bowl wins and an ACC title. At the end of the 1979 season, LSU hired Rein, hoping that his youthful energy could revitalize its program. But the unthinkable happened. Returning from a recruiting trip on January 10, 1980, the small plane in which he was flying crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 1,000 miles off course. That tragedy devastated his family and friends and left so many others wondering, "What might have been?"

It's going to have an LSU/SEC bent to it, of course, but it should be a fascinating look at a man who had a significant--albeit brief--impact on NC State football.