Jeff Gravley: Big Dreams Fall Short

Posted 12:25 p.m. Nov 27, 2006 — Updated 12:25 p.m. Nov 27, 2006

Chuck Amato will never get to experience his ultimate dream of leading his alma mater to an ACC and national championship in football. We should never fault a person for having big dreams and Amato’s were as large as his chest.

Amato brought confidence and hope to a football program that hasn't won an ACC football title since 1979. What Wolfpack fan wouldn't want to listen to an alum's dream of bringing the big prize back to Raleigh? Fans not only had their ears bent but their wallets open. Wolfpackers bought into Chuck Amato's plan by the millions. New facilities that were drawn up years before Amato’s arrival were finally turned from paper to brick and mortar. He brought in more of the elite athletes, went to and won bowl games (4-1) and was as entertaining as any coach this area has ever seen. Away from the field, there are heartwarming stories of how Amato recently visited a friends dying wife and wore loud colors just to make her laugh.

So how does a guy with these qualities lose his job? His overall record of 49-37 was one factor. His ACC record of 25-31 was a bigger factor and there was another reason. Several of the key boosters and University officials have told me that they were embarrassed to have Chuck Amato representing their university. It started with the sunglasses and red shoes.."What a clown" they said. Losing adds to that perception. Amato would constantly say that stats are for losers then proceed to spit out numbers to defend why things were turning sour. Prior to this year the gem was, "We were 2 wins away from averaging 8 wins a year." He was a math major but, huh??? After losing to Akron, Amato pointed out that the Zips accepted non-qualifiers, which sparked a few coaches from across the nation to challenge Amato’s statement. Another embarrassing mark for N.C. State University, according to some big donors. Then came the Monday press conference after losing to Southern Mississippi. Amato was loud, defensive and at times out of control. He insinuated that had HE was the reason the new facilities were built. I believe the names Murphy and Vaughn appear on 2 of the most recent upgrades and were the driving financial forces.

One of Chuck Amato's coaching buddies watched the public meltdowns and offered advice. Amato ignored the suggestions and said he wasn't going to change. That is a factor in his demise at N.C. State. When Chuck Amato needed allies, there weren't many there for him.

He treated the Murphy Football center as his castle, locking out members of the N.C. State athletic department. They didn't like that at all. At times, he scolded assistant coaches so loudly that you didn't need to be in the Murphy Center to hear it. One of his former assistants told me "Chuck's a tough guy to work for." Maybe that helps explain the turnover among Wolfpack assistant coaches.

The decision to fire a coach is a 3-pronged pitchfork representing the boosters, the athletic department and the University. Boosters sometimes treat coaches like stocks. If they don't produce, get rid of them. From the major boosters that I have spoken with, they grew tired of Chuck's show that didn't produce the rabbit out of a hat. I think AD Lee Fowler wanted to give Amato one more year and Chancellor James Oblinger rode the teeter-totter, eventually swayed by the court of the public's and the school's opinion.

I, personally, was hoping Chuck Amato would succeed at N.C. State. It made for a good story of the former Wolfpack linebacker and wrestler coming back to lead the troops. My first contact with Chuck Amato came in 1978 at the N.C. State football camp. Of all the coaches at camp, Amato was the one we as players were drawn to. He was the ringleader, the ultimate, football tough guy who related to us and made us laugh. I can see why his Wolfpack players love him so much. You don't hear a lot of players, current or past, say Chuck Amato wasn't a player's coach. He got the opportunity to call the shots at N.C. State for seven years but not all of them were the right ones.

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