Amato Says He Holds No Grudges Toward N.C. State

'08 Football Chuck Amato57

amato1.jpgFormer N.C. State football coach Chuck Amato said Friday he doesn’t hold any grudges toward the Wolfpack, but admits that his return to Raleigh on Thursday will be an emotional one.  In the article, Amato also said that he and legendary coach Bill Parcells had  a conversation about The Chest’s days on the Wolfpack sideline:

Amato said Parcells told him, “Chuck, don’t hold grudges. People in the football world know what you did at North Carolina State and how far you brought that program. You did things nobody else could get accomplished. You raised about $100 million for facilities, which are second to none in country, and you brought enthusiasm and excitement to that place.”

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'08 Football Chuck Amato

57 Responses to Amato Says He Holds No Grudges Toward N.C. State

  1. 66pack 10/12/2008 at 9:39 AM #

    Amato’s success at ncsu was due to MOC RECRUITS and i was not a moc supporter for i did not like his game prep.If it had not been for MOC’s recruits amato would not have had any success for is recruiting
    and coaching climaxed with losing seasons.

  2. RabidWolf 10/12/2008 at 12:35 PM #

    “….or sometimes the rattle of AL cans in his boat drown out his ringer.”

    I always thought LF was more of a Milwaukees Best or Lowenbrau kind of guy.

    That said….I give Chuck credit for the state of C-F-S, but lay the blame on him for the condition he left us in. TOB has had a real challenge on his hands with no REAL starter at QB, and a patchwork OL. IMHO, TOB had done a masterful job (injuries notwithstanding) with what he has had.

    All these abbreviations and acronyms remind me of a great line…..
    “Sir, if the VP is such a VIP, shouldn’t we keep the PC on the QT, because if it leaks to the VC he could end up MIA then we’d all be put out on KP.” –Robin Williams (Good Morning Vietnam)

  3. inhoc... 10/12/2008 at 1:04 PM #

    “Amato said he felt like he left the program in strong shape when he was fired after the 2006 season.”
    delusional……the man is not in touch with reality. some of you need to go back and read that article again. he sincerely believes that if he was still here we would be competing for a national championship. alot of people love State, alot of people are alums. he was our head coach and he sucked. he also happened to be an alum who loves State. again, he sucked and had a huge ego that embarassed our program in many ways…

  4. inhoc... 10/12/2008 at 1:09 PM #

    “We were on our way to having our best recruiting class ever,” Amato said. “You’re seeing them now. … That recruiting class would have probably been the best we had.”

    “Had we won that one, there’s no telling what would have happened the rest of the year. We were so close,” Amato said.

    Amato said he “knew what was wrong, and it was going to get fixed.”

    “Had we won that Wake Forest game, we might have been able to represent the division in the conference championship game,” he said. “You’re talking about a program that hadn’t won an ACC championship since 1979. And I was bringing visions of a national championship.”
    …..seriously? ok ok the man loves state and is an alum. but come on. lets be honest here. he should at least have a little integrity and humility and just admit that he was running the program into te ground. i dont wish anything bad on him nor will i ever boo him, but i will always think of him as a barrel chested idiot

  5. Wulfpack 10/12/2008 at 1:36 PM #

    Agreed. Sometimes you just got to learn a lesson and keep your big fat mouth shut. The fact he’s still running his mouth is totally absurd. He’s fortunate Bobby B. welcomed him back. Too bad he won’t be there for long when Bowden retires.

    Chuck Amato has got to be one of the most arrogant people I have ever seen.

  6. Packaholic1 10/12/2008 at 3:10 PM #

    Another example of the lack of gratitude our school (fans, WPC and administration)shows for its coaches. Lou Holtz, Norm Sloan and Jim Valvano were earlier victims of this phenomenon.

    This is all water over the bridge, but I don’t notice any improvement in our fans appreciation for the players or coaches at CF. We have a lot of fans who know nothing about football or coaching of any kind who run their mouth about what a lousy job Coach X is doing. It’s depressing.

  7. Dogbreath 10/12/2008 at 3:14 PM #

    The similarities, as far as hubris, delusion, and inane speak, between Amato and our current president are striking.

    The results are about the same.

  8. thekind 10/12/2008 at 3:17 PM #

    Chuck vs TOB

    This State Alum would take Chuck any day of the week!

  9. howlie 10/12/2008 at 3:42 PM #

    1) I’ll always remember tuning in to the radio broadcast when Chuck was announced as the new head coach. In introducting him, Maryanne Fox said at Texas they ALWAYS had their eye on the national championship, and nothing less was expected here with the hiring of Amato.

    I remember the room of reporters erupted in incredulous, stunned disbelief and laughter–a pretty ‘ballsy’ comment for Chancellor whose [new] school’s program had been in the slop pit for some time. The ‘expectations’ among the fanbase had been we were a program who each season would ALWAYS find ways to [embarrasingly] lose 3-4 easily winnable games; that we would knock off a ranked when it didn’t matter; and that our best hope was to hire a pregame ‘rubber band motivator’ for players to play well for one game a year. Anyways…

    Back to Chuck’s hiring–I always wondered if Maryanne Fox blindsided Chuck with ‘the grand vision’ to which Chuck was to aspire; or if Chuck threw out the vision of a shot at being one of the country’s top programs during his interviews with the selection committee.

    In any case… when Chuck stepped up to the mic immediately after Foxe’s intro, there was an AUDIBLE gulp as Amato took the mic, and he was voiceless for a moment. Whether it was HIS dream or another’s, Chuck dared to take it on and share it with the fans. The ‘dream proclaimed’ allowed the fanbase room to imagine it… and ‘the dream proclaimed’ began to fill seats to overflowing season-ticket holder capacity; to expand facilities; and for a basketball school to become a football school.

    Those were no small feats–and a ridiculously absurd thought since, perhaps, Earl Edwards.

    —-

    Shifting gears, the dream’s balloon seemed[from the outside] to burst with Chuck’s inability to retain staff. Even IF he could replace departing coaches with the same talent as those who had preceded them [& he couldn’t]; the changes, themselves, bled all the consistency from “program-building.”
    I’m curious [& ignorant] of whether or not the administration was willing ‘to work with’ Amato on future hires… you had the sense that the ‘purse’ began to severly tighten in successive years and the administration’s commitment to ‘the dream proclaimed’ turned 180 degrees. I don’t know IF that was the case, but the ‘prestige’ of the successive hires seemed to wane with each coaching change, and– though the FANS were encouraged to invest in ‘the dream’–the administration went AWOL on Bobbly Purcell & the fanbase. Our new ‘challenges’ in program building, the AD told us, was “us”–the fanbase. The very ones paying for the dream.

    Most sound, program-building ventures at other schools have been because of a consistent staff retained, and Chuck, himself, had been part of a consistent and loyal staff at FSU. Perhaps Chuck ‘presumed’ it would happen here, without fully knowing WHY the staff was consistent at FSU. At some point here, “program-building” turned into discernable panic and deception mixed daily with hollow braggadocio.
    In the end, ‘the dream proclaimed’ became the huckster’s delusion–with clown shoes and funny glasses to match the silly words.

    ——-

    Which is all to say, I’m grateful for whomever allowed ‘the dream’ to be come out of the box;
    for a fanbase willing to back it;
    and for a current staff who appear to be very, very, very committed to building a PROGRAM–but NEVER at the expense of early redemption of their investment.

    The tragedy is that long before Amato was cut loose, the dream seemed to have died on the vine all across the adminstration of the university–BOT, Chancellor; & A.D.

    ‘The Dream’ still lives among the fanbase, and the admnistration and faculty hates the fanbase for it.

  10. GeorgeDickels51 10/12/2008 at 4:28 PM #

    okay
    #1) Who the heck really believes the big tuna really ever really would have taken the time to “comfort” Chuck and stroke his ego like that. I mean REALLY. Doesnt seem like a tuna type move.
    #2) Does anyone else look around on sunday and realize just how much talent we had out there?

  11. Noah 10/12/2008 at 4:34 PM #

    You can argue the pros and cons of Chuck Amato all day long.

    I just want to know why AMATO would hold a grudge.

    That would be like Chris Washburn announcing that he doesn’t hold a grudge against NC State because we didn’t retire his number.

  12. howlie 10/12/2008 at 5:14 PM #

    “I just want to know why AMATO would hold a grudge.”

    I’ll give you an answer, though I don’t think you’re interested in hearing one. Just like Bunting, when an ‘old hero’ [former player who had success as a player] comes back to his alma mater and does everything in his power to bring success, he [no matter what his name is] gets frustrated that his alma mater wouldn’t understand his loyalty, devotion, and undying commitment… and fire him.

    Coaches in that position believe those unique situations are ‘the trump card’ over producing actual results. In their OWN minds, they have “come home” and dream they SHOULD “finish their football career” at their home school. Coaches in THAT unique situation believe–truly believe–their school could find no one on the face of the earth more devoted to that position. The shock of being fired by “family” is beyond their belief. Thus, they hold a grudge–which is ‘natural.’

    Again, Amato was blinded to the actual challenges occuring under his watch. I have no doubt that he realized:
    1) just how close he was to some amazing turning points for the program to have a different outcome for him & the program, and
    2) REALLY BELIEVED he could have gotten the program back on track with another year or two.
    Note: I said, I’m sure >HE< believed it could happen. And didn’t get the chance. Which could make one have a “grudge.” But it would be unwarranted… and one that, in time, he should “overcome.”

    Bottom line, I don’t give a damn about what Amato feels on THIS PARTICULAR WEEK, I only care that we beat the *$#* out of his present team.

  13. newt 10/12/2008 at 5:51 PM #

    I can remember oranges raining onto the field at Carter Finley well before most folks knew who Chuck Amato was. He didn’t bring the excitement to NC State football. At times it was not matched by the administration, but fan excitement for football at NC State has always been there. My donations, which are significant and enduring, did not change because of Chuck. I did like the passion he had for NC State, but he didn’t create passion.

  14. highstick 10/12/2008 at 6:59 PM #

    I can only speak for myself, and I was a sophmore, when Chuck was a freshman and Rosie(his brother was a senior). I appreciate his love of State, but saw the “ego” which could be a positive when we won turn into problems when we lost. Guess that’s human nature for most athletes anyway.

    I wish him the best and hold no ill will towards him. It’s all directed towards the management and folks who control the destiny of the whole Wolfpack program. If it was only a football issue, or only a basketball issue, you might just “point fingers at the coach”, but because we sunk to the depths of the pit, then the fingers need to be pointed where they belong and it’s at the top!

  15. rtpack24 10/12/2008 at 7:07 PM #

    This is kinda of sad. Poor Chuck. I doubt Bill Parcells has a clue about any finacials of any college program much less ours. Chuck did alot of good things for our football program.

  16. RAWFS 10/12/2008 at 7:12 PM #

    I wonder if this will be the last year that we will have to have this discussion.

    He came back to his alma mater and didn’t win enough. He can protest all he wants, but the truth is really that simple. If Chuck had gone 8-3 his last two years, his last two years wouldn’t have been his last two years.

  17. redfred2 10/12/2008 at 8:36 PM #

    highstick, nice job.

    I started to touch on that point earlier, about the dead weight that Amato had to drag around here and there, and to whatever fund raising events they had scheduled for him to appear, while at the same time trying to maintain his responsibilites as the HC. That part is done, possibly at Chuck Amato’s expense, possibly not, but either way he was a major factor in it at the time. Hopefully now, they are finally getting the message “at the top”, that it’s time for them to start doing their own leg work. They can offer these coaches something constructive from time to time, if they even have anything constructive to offer. If not, then go chair another committee somewhere out in Utah, get out of the way, and let the coaches do their jobs. Which would be promoting WINNING attitudes by producing WINNING sports programs, at NC State University.

  18. Ismael 10/13/2008 at 2:04 AM #

    howlie, that’s like a PhD disseration over at UNC-CH. good job. Dr. Howlie.

  19. SEAT.5.F.2 10/13/2008 at 7:26 AM #

    Chuck Amato the person is a Wolfpacker to the core, nobody doubts his love for the institition of NC State.

    Every coach fired is not remembered fondly the following years, alma mater or not. The exception is by the media who twists past events to make a “topic” out of nothing (see Herb Sendek and anyone on 850/620 am just baiting people).

    The underlying element that was the cause of everything good and bad is the CTC and every HC in any sport at any level leads by example. In Amato’s case it was based on pushing the limits of self narcissium (how you see yourself in the world around you). There is healthy confidence and then to the extreme is destructive narcissium.

    The verdict on whether Chuck had run out of luck on this tactic should have come after TOB’s first game when a coach of major college football over a qtr century, including a succesful HC of 10 years, stated that his players “think they are alot better then they actually were.” That laid it all out plain and simple.

  20. Wufpacker 10/13/2008 at 7:58 AM #

    Like Noah, what struck me was why on earth would Chuck Amato hold a grudge against NCSU. I think in general howlie is probably pretty close on his assessment as to why, but you still have to look at that headline and think how absurd it sounds (of course, when sportswriters are looking for an angle nothing is “TOO” absurd, I suppose…but thats a topic for another discussion entirely).

    The fact that Amato is apparently delusional enough to believe that he left the program in strong shape says it all. If he truly believes that, then we couldn’t have replaced him as head coach fast enough. It seems his talent is certainly not as the head guy. Great defensive coach, but not head coach material. Didn’t have the mindset to deal with the staff or the administration. Had he been able to hire and keep good OC and had some semblance of continuity with the staff in general he probably would have been very successful.

    That being said, like many others I am grateful for the things he did for the football program. He certainly got momentum going and succeeded in getting long needed improvements, and actually got the football facilities to the point where they surpassed the “average”, no small feat at NCSU.

    He also made NCSU football relevant, for at least a short while, even if it was temporary and largely done with “smoke and mirrors”. On saturday mornings when College Gameday came on it seemed like the college football world in general was aware of us and who we were. That felt kinda good to be honest.

    Like someone else said, I’m not sure I believe that Parcells would go out of his way to stroke Chuck’s bruised ego, but if in fact he did, I did notice the glaring omission of having said anything positive about Chuck’s ability to actually coach the team.

    In any case, Chuck shouldn’t hold a grudge and he shouldn’t be so quick to jump at sportswriters’ bait questions, but then again handling the media never was one of his strong points.

  21. Classof89 10/13/2008 at 8:30 AM #

    We should have known something was up when Buddy Green left to take the same position at Navy in about year 2 or 3…

  22. Scooter 10/13/2008 at 8:43 AM #

    If the fact that State’s best finish under Amato with the best quarterback in league history was 4th doesn’t say it all about his coaching ability, I don’t know what will.

    On the other hand, his efforts combined with those of Bobby Purcell and others ignited a firestorm of investment in the program. This hasn’t turned into wins yet, but investment is a long-term strategy.

    I think if we exam Chuck Amato’s tenure, his successes were mainly off the field — he increased our expectations and helped to expand the fan-base.

    While he won’t go down in history as a great coach, we have to give the devil his due and recognize that he did bring some excitement to the program outside of the core fan-base.

  23. SEAT.5.F.2 10/13/2008 at 9:07 AM #

    The millions of dollars infused into the program and the improvements to CF have been the only things two men have hung onto as “their” doing. I would like to see Fowler and Amato talk in the same place at the same time about which one is is more blisterd from patting themselves on the back.

    Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal writes an article about the amazing efforts and ingenuity one man, Bobby Purcell, has brought forth to realize these lofty goals. Not to mention Caulton Tudor of the N & O writes about how the Wolfpack fans are loyal and generous to a fault.

    Fowler and Amato do not have adoration of this loyal following and neither men if you added them up could equal the smarts & that peseverenc Purcell and the WPC have set forth.

    They both know it and they have shown from time to time that they are in denial about it.

  24. RAWFS 10/13/2008 at 9:09 AM #

    Every coach fired is not remembered fondly the following years, alma mater or not. The exception is by the media who twists past events to make a “topic” out of nothing (see Herb Sendek and anyone on 850/620 am just baiting people).

    In fairness to the Buzz/Bull guys, they are hardly alone in that regard. The national columnists and some of the color guys on TV love to talk about it too.

    I will say that drastically reducing my sports-radio consumption has been really good for my blood pressure and general outlook on life, and I humbly suggest to each of y’all that you consider doing the same. Hardly any hard news is broken by the sports yackers anyway, and their respective analysis are just their opinions. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to hear the opinions of others, whether or not they agree with you, but at the same time, you don’t have to allow others to whip you down either.

  25. Daily Update 10/13/2008 at 9:41 AM #

    Choppack: That is funny you mention the decision to punt in the 4th quarter against Ohio St. I remember specifically saying to the people I was with,”If Chuck is quitting, then I am quitting too. Let’s get out of here!”

    Fortunately the fumble happened right away or else I would have left the stadium.

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