If you are looking for a preview of today’s game then we ask you to click here
What we have in this entry is a link to a FANTASTIC commentary about NC State Football and Lee Fowler from CUTigers.com.
(Wouldn’t it be cool if some in the NC State online media community would choose to express some editorial commentary and/or original thought on these issues? Oh wait. If these other sites could express these thoughts then there would be less reason for our existence!)
This entry is fantastic. We can’t thank Brett Jensen and CUTigers more for this DEAD ON commentary of just how poorly things are managed within Lee Fowler’s office at NC State. It is like Jensen has tapped into the brain of most of our writing staff!!!
It is fantastically interesting and refreshing to see the perception of things in Raleigh from someone not directly associated with the emotions of being an NC State fan. We particularly love Jensen’s comments about Fowler (and NC State) sticking our head in the sand in light of the fact that we have used the reference in a previous entry.
You will see that CUTigers mentioned some of Fowler’s recent comments regarding CTC from this week. SFN referred to those comments in this fantastic recent entry (but our readership did not directly discuss the comments like we thought that they would).
Commentary: Wolfpack on the Edge
By Brett Jensen
CUTigers.com
Posted Nov 10, 2006With the 2006 football season drawing to a close and with the hiring of Butch Davis at North Carolina presumably a done deal, the future employment of Chuck Amato as N.C. State’s coach will surely become a hot topic with media and fans throughout the ACC.
Before a single game had been played, Amato entered the season on nearly every publication’s proverbial “hot seat.‿ Many named him, Miami’s Larry Coker and UNC’s John Bunting as three coaches in the ACC that could be out of a job come January.
Well, Bunting has “resigned‿ and Coker is counting down the days until his ultimate firing. That leaves Amato, whose job security is the only one still unknown.
The numbers, among many things, certainly warrant his firing.
The Wolfpack enter Saturday’s noon game at Clemson with a 3-6 record overall and a 2-4 record in the ACC.
The team’s bad loses are to Akron, ranked 88th in the Sagarin ratings, Virginia (79th) and Southern Miss (65th). It also struggled to beat I-AA Appalachian State (62). The Mountaineers are just one thousandth of a point behind N.C. State in the Sagarin ratings.
And had it not been for some questionable coaching on Boston College’s part and a Hail Mary pass in the final seconds against the Eagles, the Wolfpack would already be unable to become bowl eligible.
If it’s accomplished, it will be the second straight season the Wolfpack have won just six regular season games. They will also get to play in another substandard bowl.
According to Amato, that would be the finishing touches of a “successful season.‿ “You don’t go to a bowl unless you’ve had a successful season, period,‿ he said. “It’s a reward for everybody: the university, the fans, the players.‿
But maybe, just maybe, Amato shouldn’t be blamed for the current status of the program. After all, Chuck is Chuck. With him, what you see is what you get, which is, at best, an average coach who, a lot of times, appears to have lost touch with reality.
Maybe the blame for the state of N.C. State football should fall squarely on the shoulders of athletics director Lee Fowler, who said in a report this week that Amato, who has three more years left on his contract, would be evaluated at the end of the year and that an extension on Amato’s contract will be considered by the school’s board of trustees in April.
Fowler also said that he had not spoken with chancellor James Oblinger about Amato’s future or job performance.
That is a problem. If the administration has its head in the sand, why should they expect better of their employees. Monkey see, monkey do.
It is Fowler that has shown over the last few years that he has the intestinal fortitude and backbone of a jellyfish.
When former basketball coach Herb Sendek was going through the same thing during the last four or so years at the school, Fowler just stood in the corner, afraid to pull the trigger or make a powerful stand.
Sendek’s situation is almost a mirror image to Amato’s. Sendek, like Amato, had half the alumni supporting him, while the other half wanted him gone. Also, Amato, like Sendek, can’t beat rival North Carolina.
Had Sendek not done Fowler and the university a favor by opting to leave for Arizona State, he’d still be there, just like Amato is.
The big difference with Amato is the odds of him letting Fowler off the hook and resigning are very slim. He’s not going anywhere. And, quite frankly, who can blame him? Why not stay at a place that dishes out a fat paycheck and has bosses that couldn’t care much less about results? It’s a dream come true.
