Saturday, September 09, 2006
Goodbye Chuck Amato
It happened again today. NC State lost to Akron.
To put this loss in perspective, the Zips now have two wins over I-A football teams in their entire history. The other victim was Temple, whose football program is so bad it was kicked out of the Big (L)East Conference.
Despite a lackluster effort by the Pack, this loss was completely avoidable.
State scored with a minute to go. Rather than realize it still had work to do, the team celebrated the score on the field and incurred a 15 yard penalty on the kick off. This 15 yard gift helped Akron score as time expired for a victory.
When dumbass penalties like that occur once in a while, you blame the players. When it happens repeatedly, you blame the coaches.
About a year ago, I wrote "Amato came to the Wolfpack from Florida State, whose great teams' hallmark was beating opponents while being undisciplined.....Amato has not adjusted the coaching style he learned as an assistant coach at FSU to the talent he has at State, so his teams continue to lose games they should win."
The odds of Amato returning as head coach at State next year just slipped under 50/50. If he is fired in November, we will look back at this game as a prime example of his shortcomings.
To put this loss in perspective, the Zips now have two wins over I-A football teams in their entire history. The other victim was Temple, whose football program is so bad it was kicked out of the Big (L)East Conference.
Despite a lackluster effort by the Pack, this loss was completely avoidable.
State scored with a minute to go. Rather than realize it still had work to do, the team celebrated the score on the field and incurred a 15 yard penalty on the kick off. This 15 yard gift helped Akron score as time expired for a victory.
When dumbass penalties like that occur once in a while, you blame the players. When it happens repeatedly, you blame the coaches.
About a year ago, I wrote "Amato came to the Wolfpack from Florida State, whose great teams' hallmark was beating opponents while being undisciplined.....Amato has not adjusted the coaching style he learned as an assistant coach at FSU to the talent he has at State, so his teams continue to lose games they should win."
The odds of Amato returning as head coach at State next year just slipped under 50/50. If he is fired in November, we will look back at this game as a prime example of his shortcomings.
