When coach Chuck Amato singled out Akron, Boise State, Fresno State and Louisville for allowing nonqualifiers to play sports at his Monday press conference, he welcomed a plethora of heated criticism from local and national media. But heated criticism isn’t anything new for the seventh-year coach. Since N.C. State’s 14-0 win over South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, Amato has been called the worst coach in America. He’s had to fend off unsubstantiated rumors that an NFL coach may have an eye on his job. The media picked his team to finish fifth in the ACC Atlantic division. He’s blown up at reporters when asked if his job was on the line this season. And now, after a 20-17 loss to Akron at home, Amato has to prove his team can handle the pressure of a must-win nonconference game. Here’s a brief look at the last nine months of Amato’s life.
Dec. 31 – N.C. State beat South Florida 14-0 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., to finish the season with a 7-5 record. It was the fourth bowl win in Amato’s tenure.
Feb. 28 – The News & Observer reported that former N.C. State player and now Pittsburgh Steeler coach Bill Cowher bought a $2.5 million house in North Raleigh, sparking rumors he may retire from the NFL within the next year.
April 29 – Three players off the 2005 defensive line head to the professional ranks via the first round of the NFL draft. The Houston Texans selected defensive end Mario Williams No. 1, and fellow defensive linemen Manny Lawson and John McCargo go 22nd and 26th to the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills, respectively.
June 28 – Sports Illustrated.com’s Stewart Mandel wrote a column calling Amato the worst coach in America. He ranked Amato 119 out of 119 Divsion I-A coaches, saying the Wolfpack underachieved given the talent it had taken in the NFL draft.
July 24 – The media pick the Pack to finish fifth in the ACC’s Atlantic division. State was only eight votes ahead of Wake Forest, which finished last in the voting.
Aug. 13 – Former Pittsburgh Steeler running back Jerome Bettis, during his debut as an TV analyst, said he believed Cowher would retire as an NFL coach following the 2006 season. Wesley Owens, a sophomore in civil engineering, said he would welcome the coaching change.”That would be pretty sweet,” Owens said. “I would come to every game. I would even go to all the away games if we had Bill Cowher as a coach.”
Aug. 14 – Cowher, according to the Associated Press, said Bettis had no inside information and stated the two had not talked since March.
Aug. 22 – Amato responded to “hot seat” talk by denying his job was in jeopardy at all. Asked if he felt like he was on the “hot seat,” Amato said, “Why should I? No. Why should I?”Amato further defended himself by citing the improved facilities at State since he has been there. “That wasn’t there five, six years ago,” he said.
Sept. 1 – The News & Observer releases its second satirical cartoon on Amato. This time the title was “It’s hard out here for a coach,” which criticized both Amato’s struggles on the field and his personality. Owens said he supports the cartoon and hoped it might motivate Amato.”Anytime you make fun of [Amato], I don’t mind,” Owens said. “Because he needs a little fire put underneath him.”
Sept. 2 – State won its season opener against Appalachian State 23-10 at home.
Sept. 9 – During the last play of the game, Akron pulled ahead and defeated State 20-17 at Carter-Finley Stadium. Taylor Sigmon, a freshman in mechanical engineering, said a team like State’s shouldn’t lose to Akron.”I don’t think we should lose to a team like Akron,” Sigmon said. “Especially not a high-class Divsion I team like we are.”Robert Mason, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, expressed his dissatisfaction with the coach.”Right now, Chuck isn’t doing a very good job as far as us winning games,” Mason said. “I’d like to go to a football game where we actually win.”
Sept. 11 – In his normal Monday press conference, Amato commented on Akron and a few other schools’ policies of allowing academic nonqualifiers to play on its team. “They’re in a conference that allows nonqualifiers in school. Nonqualifiers,” he said Monday. “Y’all need to look that one up to write stories. The Boise States. The Fresno States. The Louisvilles before the new rules.”
Sept. 12 – After N.C. State’s 20-17 loss against Akron on Saturday afternoon, ESPN.com’s David Duffey had the Wolfpack on his “Bottom 10” list.Only behind Temple, Kent State, Syracuse and Duke, Duffey ranked State No. 5 on the list.And for the comment beside the team’s record, Duffey took a shot at Amato, regarding his comments in a news conference Monday afternoon.’Are you out of your Vulcan mind?’: Pointing out that the MAC allows nonqualifiers in his new conference was an undeserved low blow by Chuck Amato.
Sept. 13 – Fresno State coach Pat Hill tells the Durham Herald-Sun he wants to play a game against the Wolfpack in response to Amato’s comments about the football program at Fresno State.”Why don’t we play a game?” Fresno State’s coach said on Tuesday night. “Just tell him instead of talking — if they want to talk about us, then let’s play. Play us in Boise. See if they want to do that because if they have dates available, say we’re available to play. “Just to let ’em know so they won’t have any excuses, we won’t have any [nonqualifiers], we don’t have any junior-college transfers and our APR is very, very good. “So if they want to play against a school that doesn’t have all those advantages like they think we do, they oughta want to play.”
Sports Editor Tanner Kroeger contributed to this article.
