“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”Paul Newman’s famous line from Cool Hand Luke could just as easily describe the feeling around the N.C. State wrestling program these days. However, unlike the character Luke, who was immediately shot to death after taunting a posse of policemen with those words, coach Carter Jordan and star wrestler Darrion Caldwell each dodged their own bullets with their reconciliation earlier this month.Today, the situation seems awful peachy. Caldwell is praising Jordan, and Jordan, in turn, is attributing Caldwell’s hiatus to youthful naivety. But in May, the situation looked much different.Caldwell was looking to transfer, and he had made these intentions public. He was frustrated at not being able to play football at State but believed opportunities would be available at other Division I schools. In an interview with Technician, Caldwell implied he was being unjustly held back.”I know there are places I can definitely play football, even at 1-AA schools,” he said. “I don’t think there is any reason I shouldn’t be playing football at N.C. State. I have not seen a legit reason.” Meanwhile, Jordan was doing some posturing of his own. He told the Asbury Park Press in April that he was not going to let Caldwell use his success with the Pack to gain a scholarship to a national wrestling power. He followed through on this statement by denying Caldwell the necessary transfer exception that would have allowed him to compete at another Division I school without sitting out a year.But while Caldwell and Jordan were each doing a lot of talking to the press, there was little communication between the two. After being denied his initial request for a transfer exception, Caldwell left Raleigh for his hometown of Rahway, N.J., and spoke only sparingly to Jordan on the phone.While a college coach’s relationship with any player should be close, Jordan’s relationship with Caldwell, the Wolfpack’s best wrestler in decades, should be seamless.Just in his junior year, Caldwell is threatening to rewrite the N.C. State record books. His 33 career pins already place him third in the Wolfpack history, and his fifth place finish at the NCAA Wrestling Championships make him the Wolfpack’s first All-American since 1996. Losing Caldwell would have been disastrous for Jordan, who is attempting to turn N.C. State into a wrestling power.Caldwell, too, should feel lucky for how the situation turned out. It is rare for players, even All-Americans, to be welcomed back to a program they badmouthed just months earlier. If he felt that he had been wronged by not being allowed to play for the football team, that is an issue that should have been brought up to the football and wrestling coaching staffs and dealt with internally.With time, the memory of this summer will fade, and the accomplishments Caldwell should undoubtedly achieve will be untarnished. The bottom line is both Jordan and Caldwell stepped forward to mend the rift between them. If Caldwell’s teammates can do the same, 2008-09 could be a great year for the wrestling program.