Amato Lands on his Feet in Tallahassee (Updated 1/18 @ 4:15pm)

Chuck Amato General46

Chuck Amato is back at FSU. (Link)

Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden announced Wednesday that Chuck Amato will return to the Seminole coaching staff as executive associate head coach and linebackers coach. Amato, who coached at Florida State from 1982-99, was released in December after seven seasons as head coach at his alma mater NC State and replaces Kevin Steele who resigned in January to become Alabama’s defensive coordinator.

“With Chuck Amato accepting the position we have completed our coaching staff and I could not be more pleased,” said Bowden. “Chuck’s return to Mickey Andrew’s staff with Odell Haggins and Jody Allen along with the new offensive coaches and John Lilly should give us as good a coaching staff as there is in the country. I feel like the blend of maturity and youth will work perfectly for us. Chuck will fill the last void we had in our staff and allow us not to miss a beat.”

Update: Thursday, January 18, 2007
Chuck’s move back to FSU has made waves ‘out there’ and is being discussed a bunch.

Fanblogs.com is accurately highlighting the improvement in FSU’s coaching staff (Link), but Sunday Morning Quarterback is really getting into it. (Link)

One common component of Florida State’s halcyon destroyers from 1982-99? Chuck Amato. One of the elements from that era missing in this decade’s stunning decline, which has included at least four losses in each of the last six seasons? Chuck Amato

Chuck Amato General

46 Responses to Amato Lands on his Feet in Tallahassee (Updated 1/18 @ 4:15pm)

  1. legacyman 01/17/2007 at 5:24 PM #

    Congrats to Coach Amato. This is FSU’s gain and our loss. I know he will meld back in to the FSU family and the change will be seamless. Good luck, Chuck. There are still a goodly number of State folks who did not want to see you go in the way it happened.

    I will always thank you for what you did to raise the level of our football program and to give us hope again. Coach TOB should also be proud of what you did and thank you for his new opportunity as I am sure he will. TOB has already commented on what great changes have been made in the facilites.

  2. Tired in Florida 01/17/2007 at 5:42 PM #

    I’m glad a good guy (and a classmate) who helped our program immensely landed on his feet in a place he knows and where he can be happy…….the scuttlebutt down here (on Warchant) is that this would have happened earlier but some legal problems in his NCSU contract had to be worked out…..sounds kinda strange since he was fired but I guess all the i’s have to be dotted and the t’s crossed……

  3. choppack1 01/17/2007 at 5:43 PM #

    Great move for FSU.

    I really wish the last 4 seasons had been different and we were able to keep him as our coach.

  4. beowolf 01/17/2007 at 5:47 PM #

    This is good for Amato; we’ve always known he loves Tallahassee and that Bowden is like a second father to him.

    It is ironic that this was where we feared he’d end up after Philip’s senior season when there were retirement rumors circling around Papa B.

    Best of luck, Coach. Thanks for helping build the program, and thanks for the fond memories.

  5. Sam92 01/17/2007 at 5:48 PM #

    good luck to chuck amato; it just didn’t work out up here but i’m glad he got the position there

  6. golf76 01/17/2007 at 5:59 PM #

    Congrats to a guy who loves the game and worked hard to make NCSU successful on the football field. Sometimes things just don’t work out, but in the end, this seems to have worked out great for a good coach. All the best to Chuck (except when FSU plays NCSU).

  7. Woof Wolf 01/17/2007 at 6:01 PM #

    Good luck, Chuck. Thanks for the good stuff.

  8. gopack968 01/17/2007 at 6:08 PM #

    Rats. Now we have to recruit against one of the best in FL.

  9. Jeff 01/17/2007 at 6:09 PM #

    I just wish that FSU wasn’t in our conference.

    Heck..our division!

  10. highstick 01/17/2007 at 6:10 PM #

    Best of luck to Chuck. I also wish things had worked out differently at State. There was no doubt that he really cared about our university!

  11. class of 74 01/17/2007 at 6:15 PM #

    This entire situation has turned out good for all parties. Chuck is doing exactly what he is best suited to do and at a great place too with his best friends. And we got what we needed as well.

    FSU has made some serious upgrades in their staff, at a time they were desperately needed. With UF’s recent success the talk is the Gators will no longer recruit in the state, they will select their talent. Quite a change from eight or ten years ago when UM, FSU and UF went head to head on nearly everyone of the best in Florida.

  12. packpigskinfan23 01/17/2007 at 6:18 PM #

    I was really hoping to hear Chucks name mentioned as the D line coach of the niners…

    i wish this man the best of luck and hope he still bleeds red. no matter what.

  13. Sw0rdf1sh 01/17/2007 at 6:19 PM #

    The man did a ton of great stuff of us. Glad to see him back at FSU, and also worried it might make it harder to beat them next year.

  14. gumbydammit 01/17/2007 at 7:04 PM #

    >insert sound of Gomer Pyle saying “Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!”

  15. Texpack 01/17/2007 at 7:07 PM #

    Good luck to Coach Amato for eleven weeks a year.

  16. BJD95 01/17/2007 at 7:09 PM #

    Definitely agree with 74 – are parties involved are better off. Hope he finishes his career on a positive note there.

  17. redfred2 01/17/2007 at 7:22 PM #

    Can’t say enough about what the man did for NCSU, not just football, but for the university and all of the fans in general!

    It says something when an old door swings wide and welcomes you back in. I sincerely hope Chuck Amato flourishes once again at FSU.

  18. branjawn 01/17/2007 at 7:50 PM #

    Can someone forward this blog thread to him somehow? I really would like for him to know how appreciated he was here and that we wouldn’t be where we are without him. Thanks Chuck! I hope you get this!

  19. ncsu81 01/17/2007 at 8:51 PM #

    What email address do you use if you want to send a message to SFN …………….I know I can post and “they” will read it, but there are times when you just want to offer some comments or links to the SFN staff

  20. BoKnowsNCS71 01/17/2007 at 9:53 PM #

    Jeez — He’ll come at us with a vengence.

  21. Astral Rain 01/17/2007 at 10:08 PM #

    Damn. Was hoping he’d land somewhere else. Let’s hope some low-major gives him another shot. I hope CTC does well down there, except for that one week he plays State.

  22. red-enough 01/17/2007 at 10:32 PM #

    Good luck Chuck. And thanks for all you did for the Pack.

    Salut

  23. coppertop 01/17/2007 at 10:57 PM #

    Chuck, I was sorry to see you go but understood why, Thanks for everything… Good luck in tallahassee

  24. jwrenn29 01/18/2007 at 8:06 AM #

    Good for him. It’s definitely a place he excelled and should do so again. I wish somehow he had come here as an assistant, perhaps the defensive coordinator, instead of the head coach.

  25. PapaJohn 01/18/2007 at 8:58 AM #

    Chuck:
    We cannot thank you enough for all you did for the program. Few have done more. The fairy tale ending would have been for you to take the program to the top. That’s what we all wanted. But it was not to be. Best of luck to you.

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