Getting Nasty Out There for A Coach

'06 Football Chuck Amato General123

We work hard for the analysis and commentary that you find on SFN to be accurate. But, whatever is blogged here will almost always be blogged with uncompromising emotion because we are fans. In case you didn’t notice, the name of the site is StateFANSnation.

In today’s N&O, Chip Alexander highlighted most of the key on-field/execution problems surrounding NC State football this year and penned a nice article that was dead on with many of the observations that you have read here — just without the ‘fan emotion’.

In ‘Slumping Wolfpack seeks solutions’ Alexander goes into detail about:

(1) A SLOW-STARTING OFFENSE
(2) THE RASH OF PENALTIES
(3) THE TURNOVER MARGIN
(4) SHAKY KICKING GAME

Alexander also references a video that has popped up on YouTube highlighting many of the Pack’s problems this year by using the team’s video introduction that is played on the Carter-Finley scoreboard before every game. (Which is odd since we have never been able to find the actual Carter-Finley scoreboard intro on YouTube!)

The video that Alexander is referencing is actually the second video embeded in this entry. We are calling your attention to another video that was done last year in the first video below to highlight the consistency of the broken-record of the problems within NC State football regardless of what year the calendar shows.

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'06 Football Chuck Amato General

123 Responses to Getting Nasty Out There for A Coach

  1. Wolfpack4ever 10/31/2006 at 3:28 PM #

    RAWFS Says: “And 4ever, if I sounded harsh, it was not my intent.”

    I wish I had read this first before I posted the above. What I thought was that you had intentionally misinterpreted my analogy. I should have known better.

    Chuck has enough going against him without conjuring up stuff. He may not be a competent HC but being incompetent in one area does not make him “not very bright.” Even the inablility to put his words together doesn’t make him a dullard. I think Chuck freezes up at inopportune times, like moments of crisis on the sideline, during press conferences and even during his TV show.

    My heart aches for Chuck, and I sometimes react to cruel and what I deem to be inaccurate and consequently unfair criticism. I’m not “in the world of bogging” so the repeatedly sticking needles in him gets to me a lot.

    RAWFS, I engage in critiquing the work he does myself and occasionally I make smart-assed remarks about him I wouldn’t make to his face. I really enjoy reading the intelligent assessments of the game and what goes wrong. Most are respectful in the spirit in which they are submitted.

    Maybe I should put on the “mute button” and just read.

  2. GoldenChain 10/31/2006 at 3:30 PM #

    I remember when Tom Reed started blaming the players, it marked the end of his era.

  3. RAWFS 10/31/2006 at 3:37 PM #

    ^^ Nahhh, 4ever, no harm is no foul.

    But since we’re on the subject, read this that I wrote about Amato today on my side o’ the world:

    “Of course, Chuck sees what’s happening. He is simply trying to protect his players, but you can be sure that this is not the case behind closed doors. Amato has a Master’s Degree, so he’s no fool, not by a long shot. And he’s been in football for a very long time, has a national title to show for it and thus is not going to miss a whole lot on game film. Just because he doesn’t dissect a player publicly, don’t think for a second he won’t mention it in his office in a chit-chat.

    Truth is, Chuck Amato is probably more frustrated than any Wolfpack fan. The difference is, only Amato can directly do something about it. What that is, remains to be seen.”

  4. drhammondo 10/31/2006 at 3:53 PM #

    After looking at the above information, and considering the game this past week. I do think that the balance of our play-calling is IMPROVING, not good, but improving.

    One thing I would like to know, if someone has this info., how many of those running plays are off-tackle or on the edge, and how many are between the guards/tackles (“up the gut”)?!?!

    My point is–it’s more than just having the right QUANTITIES of pass and run plays. We also need to find a balance on where each of these plays go! Hence the debate on throwing the deep ball–we need to threaten to go downfield, instead of throwing so many swing passes. We also need to get our RBs (Andre Brown especially) on the edge more, so that the defense is a little more spread out and we can open up the middle to make some big gains there!

    That is where Trestman’s playcalling is severely lacking, not his run/pass balance, but his run up-the-gut/swing-pass heavy playcalling.

    And he should definitely start using DE, et al. in a shotgun/no-huddle offense, especially if they feel strongly enough to state publicly that that is where they feel comfortable!

  5. Wolfpack4ever 10/31/2006 at 4:03 PM #

    The players and coaches start out with high hopes and goals. As the goals are not met, coaches and players try harder. Not surprisingly, the harder they try the worse it gets — just like life or certainly my golf game.
    Then we play a ranked team and we have nothing to lose. What the heck, we do well. After doing so well, we re-set our high hopes and goals.

    What I think matters not but I wouldn’t be surprised if the pressure these young men are putting themselves is not taking a toll. Which brings us back to coaching. CA does a great job with the team morale. Is this at a cost to playing with tension or trying too hard?

  6. cornellpackfan 10/31/2006 at 4:06 PM #

    Of course that is where they feel comfortable, because D. Evans ran a hurry up, pass happy, shotgun scheme in HS. Every time they run a hurry up scheme he settles in and his efficiency increases. It is ignorant coaching not to be able to let go of what you have as “your offense” and tailor the offense to the players to a certain extent.

  7. Wolfpack4ever 10/31/2006 at 4:10 PM #

    partialqualifier Says: “Execution of offense is the job of the coaches. Play calling is very over-rated! I am not angry so much at Trestmans play calling…but at his general inability to score points because of lack of exectuion by his players. ”

    partialqualifier, Could be. Trestman came from the Pros where players were all the best of the best. Taken alone, play calling is not the problem, but putting in a large playbook at the expense of repetition of a smaller number of plays could be at the source of our offense’s troubles.

  8. partialqualifier 10/31/2006 at 4:12 PM #

    Not to be off target here…but has anybody seen the link at RAWFS regarding the Pittsburgh Post Gazette article today on Bill Cowher? If so please let me know what u think about it. I do not agree with the guy at all that Cowher could go to UNC, but in the article he is more or less laying it out that Cowher is done completely after this year. Now he uses lots of side references and speculation, but some of his sepculation comes right from Cowher’s mouth in his interview on Monday. Is this guy a total wack-job or is there anything to it?

    Just wondering.

  9. RAWFS 10/31/2006 at 4:14 PM #

    It’s impossible to overlook the disparity in points in the first quarter and the fourth quarter (3 points all year against D1 competition in the first quarter) without looking at the style of offense. Obviously, the offense is in hurry-up in the fourth but not in the first.

    Why not jump start yourself by coming out in the no-huddle? It can’t hurt to try what works.

  10. RAWFS 10/31/2006 at 4:15 PM #

    PQ – as the link says very clearly, it’s a fake post from a comedy board. That article is not at all real.

  11. partialqualifier 10/31/2006 at 4:16 PM #

    4ever….

    I agree totally. In fact when he was hired I told my brother that I didnt like “west coast” offense guys because in general their playbook is entirely too large for the college game. I wish Amato would have been able to point this out to Trestman in the beginning, but Trestman had quite the resume.

  12. partialqualifier 10/31/2006 at 4:18 PM #

    Thank you RAWFS. I saw it a little bit ago and didnt go back to double check it. I kinda feel like I got April Fools’ed! LOL!

  13. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 10/31/2006 at 4:18 PM #

    The end of the Tom Reed era became because he was a horrible head coach (3-8, 3-8, 3-8). He ranks up there with the worst head coaches in ACC history. Amato sans Rivers looks like he very well may have a worse record then Monte.

  14. Wolfpack4ever 10/31/2006 at 4:24 PM #

    RAWFS,

    Thanks. I get it. And thanks for writing with the fairness and honesty that even a losing coach deserves. And, well said, he is the only one who can do anything about the situation.

    Just as there has been a fine line between our winning and losing, there is likely a fine line between Chuck being a perfect fit for us here at NCSU and being a total bust like JB at the Hill.

  15. RAWFS 10/31/2006 at 4:39 PM #

    PQ — I sure did when I got a labelled link in email — I was getting sick until I saw the serving domain. I’ve done the same thing those guys did, but with Lance Armstrong. Anyway, whoever thought it up is pretty funny.

  16. Cardiac95 10/31/2006 at 5:19 PM #

    15-16 over the last 3 years with some of the best defenses ever to wear Red & White.

    That’s about all you need to quantify how the Offense is doing.

  17. vtpackfan 10/31/2006 at 7:36 PM #

    I read in USA today that App. State is ahead of us in Sagarin polls (I think we’re like 67th in the nation). Anyway, I was watching NFL pregame crap and Mike Ditka and Michael Irvin of all people we’re agreeing on the playcalling matter. The others (Jawrorski, Young ect.) were discussing Brian Billick of Ravens firing OC and long time friend Jim Fassel and taking over the playcalling. Basically Ditka said that playcalling was the most overated thing in pro football. Excecution is the name of the game, and ofcourse Irvin was all aboard since he probably had no real coachs at the “U” or Dallas. Its interesting that this was brought up on Sunday, a day after I was hoping to never find any interest at all in watching the Wolfpack play football again (atleast not against an unranked opponet). I guess my hope is that there is alot of blame to go around and that CTC can take charge from hear on out. I just don’t know though, something about this season seems eerily the same as Philips senior year all the way up to today. I know anyone can pick apart certain aspects of the game to prove otherwise, but I just get the feeling that Chuck can’t coach a 12 game season. His teams always do 180 degree turns a couple times each and every year, and I just don’t see the respectible programs out there in college football (and there are lots of them) playing at one level for two games, at a differst level for 3 , then back for 1 ect. Then again, It may be my fault for thinking we should be a respectible college football program. I mean, heck, we could be like Sonoma St. since they send guys to the pros too once in awhile.

  18. Woof Wolf 10/31/2006 at 8:30 PM #

    This is what Sagarin’s computer thinks of us this week.

    15 Clemson
    18 Boston College
    22 Virginia Tech
    29 Georgia Tech
    37 Wake Forest
    38 Maryland
    46 Florida State
    59 Miami
    66 Appalachian State
    67 NC State
    69 East Carolina
    73 Virginia
    74 Southern Miss
    89 Akron
    126 North Carolina
    147 Duke

  19. Woof Wolf 10/31/2006 at 8:43 PM #

    Earlier Sam92 asked:

    “In the article he says that we have to win 3 out of 4 to be bowl eligible, i.e., finish 6-6 — but wouldn’t we have to win all 4 (7-5), because App. State doesn’t count towards bowl eligibility?”

    RAWFS said:

    “They dropped the 1aa rule when the schedule went to 12 games.”

    Last year in eleven games we qualified for a bowl game with 6 wins. One of them was over (non1A) Eastern Kentucky. I thought the rule change went the other way.

    i.e. Non 1A wins don’t count. Not that I think it’s going to matter for us this year, but does anyone know for sure

  20. Glen Sudhop54 10/31/2006 at 9:56 PM #

    RedFred

    Serve me up some crow, I’m ready to eat.
    I actually miss the ‘payday at the liquor store’ days now—at least that meant we actually scored.

    Also, I apologize for any criticism I ever heaped upon Noel Mazzone. At least Noel would get us to the 2 or 3 yd line before screwing up. It is a miracle anytime Trestman gets us past the 50.

    I’m almost ready to apologize to Mike Ocain. He doesnt look so bad after all.

    Sadly, we are 2 lucky plays away from being 1-7. Good thing we don’t have to play Appalachian State any more, there’s no doubt we’d lose. In fact, they’re probably wondering how in the world they lost to us in the first place.

    Yet if we beat a truly awful UNC team in a few weeks, a lot of wolfpackers would consider the season a success.

    For 30 years I’ve heard too many State fans say, “Well, as long as we beat Carolina I don’t care what else they do”

    BULLS___T

    Something tells me there is a chance we might not beat them or ECU. Maybe a strong chance.

  21. Mr O 10/31/2006 at 10:57 PM #

    RAWFS: That 1st down play where Evans ran for three yards was actually a pass play.

    So we had:

    1st – pass
    2nd – run
    3rd – pass
    1st – run
    2nd – run
    3rd – dropped pass that would have been a first down.

    How can you look at six plays of an entire game and try and claim there is a pattern?

  22. Mr O 10/31/2006 at 10:58 PM #

    Additionally, 35 pass plays to 22 run plays.

    That isn’t a conservative mix of plays.

  23. redfred2 11/01/2006 at 12:22 AM #

    Mr O,

    Again, great job!!! on the stats all day long!!!

    I missed some of the game because we had unexpected company twice, so let me see if you can answer these? How many of those 35 passes were ‘west coast’ swing type passes, thrown within 5 yds or behind the LOS? Also how many of the downfield passes came on that late scoring drive and the final drive that ended with the interception?

    After all you’ve come up with today, don’t let me down now.

  24. Wolfpack4ever 11/01/2006 at 12:36 AM #

    Mr O Says: “How can you look at six plays of an entire game and try and claim there is a pattern?”

    and then says “Additionally, 35 pass plays to 22 run plays. That isn’t a conservative mix of plays.”

    Mr O, I think we are all trying to make sense of a season that makes no sense. One guy says we are 2 plays from being 1-7 while another says we are a few plays from being 7-1.

    One thingfor sure, and that is that nothing is for sure this year. 😉

  25. class of 74 11/01/2006 at 7:07 AM #

    This season should finally prove Chuck is not what we were looking for seven seasons ago. Someone was saying the other day 20 to 25% of Chuck total wins have come at the hands of non Div I schools. He now has a losing ACC record and that’s inspite of the help of the Phillip Rivers years. His program’s trendline is spiraling downward in an ever toughening
    ACC. All of this while we have, by most accounts, some of the most talented players in school history. Nobody in the ACC gets less from their talent than CTC, nobody! That includes the guy that just got fired 25 miles down the road, who might beat CTC again this year and thereby own him while being shown the door. What would that say fellow Wolfpackers?

    If the team were to lose 3 of it’s four final games I would hope my friends in the WPC will do the right thing and demand that LF cut our losses now. With a record of 3-9 or 4-8 in his seventh season, CTC has not earned the right to continue his charade. And make no mistake about it, this has been a charade!

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