Farewell, Coach Amato
The news that we've been more or less expecting became reality today; Chuck Amato has been fired as the Wolfpack coach. I'm still not sure how I feel about this one... Obviously things needed to change. A 3-9 season is not acceptable, especially when the skill level of the athletes, as well as the quality of the facilities and money spent on the progam, suggest so much more potential. Dumb penalites, discipline breakdowns, and a lack of fundamentals (missed tackles, dropped passes) were the doom of the season, and really have played a part in the past 3 or 4 seasons. All of that suggests problems at the top of the program, and today Amato took the fall for it.
But the other side is what troubles for me--as an alumnus, and a former player, Chuck Amato LOVES NC State University and LOVES Wolfpack football. He has a genuine and fierce passion for the team and the school, and obviously cares greatly about his players and the program. As has been mentioned by several people, he was almost the polar opposite of Sendek in that regard. Whoever replaces Amato as coach, especially if that person has no previous connection to the school, is going to have a very hard time matching that passion and intensity. I think that was the reason I could never bring myself to dislike Chuck, even during the bad losses--he cared. And he made that obvious. He often wore his heart on his sleeve, and sometimes caught some flack for it, but his passion for the program was never questioned.
In the last line of his response to Lee Fowler's statement, Amato said, "I haven’t lost my passion, my will to succeed, or my joy." For his sake, I can only hope that's still true. Best of luck, Chuck Amato, and Thank You for all you've done for the university and the team.
But the other side is what troubles for me--as an alumnus, and a former player, Chuck Amato LOVES NC State University and LOVES Wolfpack football. He has a genuine and fierce passion for the team and the school, and obviously cares greatly about his players and the program. As has been mentioned by several people, he was almost the polar opposite of Sendek in that regard. Whoever replaces Amato as coach, especially if that person has no previous connection to the school, is going to have a very hard time matching that passion and intensity. I think that was the reason I could never bring myself to dislike Chuck, even during the bad losses--he cared. And he made that obvious. He often wore his heart on his sleeve, and sometimes caught some flack for it, but his passion for the program was never questioned.
In the last line of his response to Lee Fowler's statement, Amato said, "I haven’t lost my passion, my will to succeed, or my joy." For his sake, I can only hope that's still true. Best of luck, Chuck Amato, and Thank You for all you've done for the university and the team.