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. roandaddy 01/18/2007 at 8:58 AM #

    Perfect fit.. all he has to do is coach and not talk to the media. Scared to play FSU now!!

  2. BLUE SUCKS 01/18/2007 at 9:18 AM #

    Hooray for a good man!

  3. SuperStuff 01/18/2007 at 9:34 AM #

    I’m so glad to hear Chuck will continue coaching in football. He loved NCSU probably more than most of us and I wish him the best.

  4. wolfonthehill 01/18/2007 at 9:38 AM #

    Glad to hear it for his sake… but it’s very, very weird…

  5. BoKnowsNCS71 01/18/2007 at 9:52 AM #

    Hey — TOB just signed a great JC punter. And UNC lost a recruit….

  6. Trout 01/18/2007 at 10:09 AM #

    Anyone got any details on how this impacts our buyout of Chuck? If FSU pays him $150k, as I understood it, it takes $150k off the buyout that we owe Chuck.

  7. for2n8son 01/18/2007 at 10:16 AM #

    Congratulations Chuck! Thanks for everything you did for us. You will always be a member of the NC State Hall of Fame as both the leader of “the men in white shoes” and the coach that headed us down the road to football legitimacy.

  8. jamez13 01/18/2007 at 10:36 AM #

    As much ragging as I wanted to do on reading this news, thanks for a classy group of Wolfpackers for leading the way.

    Chuck really did take us to a higher level with the program, and he certainly left a visible, sustainable legacy to build from. And he gave us four great years of Philip Rivers and some memorable wins over what had been foregone losses at the hands of FSU.

    Best of luck, Chuck, at FWU. Maybe we’ll see you headcoaching that team in the not-to-distant future?

  9. jbwbubba 01/18/2007 at 11:06 AM #

    Good luck Chuck. Makes it tough for NCSU to recuit in Florida now. So we fire Chuck and Told Jimbo he was a “B list” candidate. This year’s game with FSU will be very interesting now.

  10. RAWFS 01/18/2007 at 11:35 AM #

    “Makes it tough for NCSU to recuit in Florida now.”

    We’re picking up recruits from other places, and it seems like our staff is going after their kind of players. So far I am pleased and not worried at all.

  11. c6by66 01/18/2007 at 11:44 AM #

    As a class of ’68 grad when Chuck the the white shoe gang were playing, I am tickled RED that he found happiness…the irritating War Chant would prevent me from working there…I guess you finally tune it out.

    Carter-Finley would NEVER look like it does today if it hadn’t been for CTC. Yeah, I know that the big boo$ster$ wrote the larger checks, but it was alumn and fans like us that bought all the seats and go to the games. CTC was the magic that pulled it together.

    Interesting…the RBC Center still has NOT been at capacity. Wonder if DOOK will finally pull them in. There were actually some KLEMSUM fans (fully decked out – head to toe in ORUNGE) in the Champion’s Club…where are these folks getting their tickets? Hope that eventually the RBC will fill up and start to rock like CF…

    Maybe Sid should watcht he CTC tapes on comments to the fans…can learn what to say -as well as what NOT to say.

    Any follow-up on the buyout and CTC’s new contract? I thought that if he accepted a position, then the salary of that position was DEDUCTED from his ongoing salary…just curious….maybe someone can ask David Glenn…since he’s a shark – I mean Attorney…

    Again…CHUCK…Thanks for the memories….won a lot of exciting games there…the losses are fuzzy now…let’s hope that TOB lives up to our expectations…I am getting TIRED of hearing about all the PRO coaches at UNX…the proof will be in the records over the next 5 years or so….especially the NCSU V. UNX record and the point scored…

    GO PACK….GO SID….Bring on the pesky Devils….

  12. Cardiff Giant 01/18/2007 at 12:15 PM #

    Good luck to Coach Amato.

  13. choppack1 01/18/2007 at 12:37 PM #

    “Interesting…the RBC Center still has NOT been at capacity. Wonder if DOOK will finally pull them in. ”

    You’re right, and that’s because it’s the polar opposite of Carter Finley – which was built exclusively for NC State and exclusively for football.

    We play in an arena designed primarily to support the hockey team that plays over 40 games a year there. I believe that the architects and the Canes have gone as far as they can to accomodate us, but it’s the price of playing in a multi-purpose arena.

  14. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 01/18/2007 at 1:20 PM #

    Congratulations to Coach Amato.

    “We play in an arena designed primarily to support the hockey team that plays over 40 games a year there.”

    The good news is that the ESA will be outdated for a pro team in about 20 years so it will be all NC State in a couple of decades.

  15. GAWolf 01/18/2007 at 1:28 PM #

    We have season tickets in the endzone of the roof. If it’s not a big game, I’m sorry, but I’d just assume watch it on television. I’ve also watched some games this year from better seats when they are offered.

    Our seats should have been issued with an oxygen mask and binoculars…. With that said, I’ll be there for Duke and I think every game from here on out.

  16. legacyman 01/18/2007 at 3:59 PM #

    GAWOLF,

    Did you ever attend any games in Reynolds and sit behind a huge girder in 90 degree heat? Be thankful for the RBC center.

    For the poster who thinks the RBC center was built solely for hockey, get some reality. The original design was specifically for NC State and was enhanced to provide luxury boxes for a pro team. With the three partners, a much more luxurious facility was made available to all interested people for basketball, ice hockey, ice capades, RB&B circus, rock concerts, country&western concerts, college graduations, political gatherings, restaurant goers, former athletes’ club, after game meetings with a coach, WPC meetings, etc. Hardly ice hockey,only, don’t you think?

  17. RedTerror29 01/18/2007 at 4:45 PM #

    ^with very convenient tailgating facilities for graduation.

  18. Wolf-n-Atl 01/19/2007 at 12:37 AM #

    It’s funny that people complained that we didn’t have a modern facility to compete with other schools and then when we built the RBC we hear that it is a pro facility. you don’t hear people in the sec complaining that their school built a pro stadium for football or at nc state for that matter. i think our bball fans have gotten lazy. if you have season tickets, go to the games… if you have them and you can’t go, find someone that will use them. it sickens me to see all the empty alumni seats especially in Sid’s first year.

  19. roandaddy 01/19/2007 at 8:32 AM #

    ^^Uhh.. no pro teams play in SEC football stadiums? Yes.. RBC is EXTREMELY nice and loud.. have no idea where people complain about that!!
    As for CTC.. I have to say, he coached with a lot of heart, didn’t give up, and coaching is a game of inches.. glad he found his inch at Free Shoes U.

  20. Packaholic1 01/19/2007 at 1:22 PM #

    Good luck Chuck! I know you’ll do great things again in TLH.

    The worst seat in Reynolds is better than any seat in the RBC.

  21. ldr of pk 75 01/19/2007 at 2:02 PM #

    Funny how the tone of the posts have changed in a short couple of months. It’s best no grudge be held, it’s not healthy. I do wish Chuck the best of luck, but other than facilities and recruiting, he didn’t do himself or the fanbase any favors with the coaching style (no discipline). And, it’s a different day down in Tallahassee too. UF rules the state and gangsta’ ball won’t work for Bowden anymore IMO, just like Miami. By the way, jbwbubba, the Fla State game certainly will be interesting. I hear by someone who spoke directly to Jimbo that two things went against him. This source says we only wanted someone with head coaching experience. Secondly, Jimbo says he was upfront about saying his dream job was LSU and would go there if ever offered. He said it was a good interview, though, treated just fine. He supposedly turned Alabama down as an assistant because that would have doomed his ever getting an LSU chance. Could, all be rumor, but there it is anyway. Again, best to Chuck, but on to the future with NCSU and TOB.

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