Amato’s Staff Follow-up

Chuck Amato General NCS Football15

We have already tackled the topic of what happened to the former NC State football coaching staff in this great entry that you should read. (You know, the ones that were left after seven years of Chuck losing his absolute best coaches like Norm Chow, Marty Galbraith, Joe Pate, Buddy Green, Manny Diaz, Mike Canales, etc, etc)

Today’s Charlotte Observer follows-up on the topic by highlighting the current whereabouts of three members of the former staff – Todd Stroud, Dick Portee, and Curt Cignetti.

Todd Stroud was teaching a geometry class Wednesday at Cardinal Gibbons High when his cell phone rang. A Fayetteville State assistant coach, Dick Portee, later would be dropping by to chat with the Crusaders’ head football coach. Yes, how times have changed.

Six months ago, Stroud and Portee were well-paid assistant coaches at N.C. State. Their well-appointed offices were in the Murphy Center at Carter-Finley Stadium, just a few hundred yards away from Cardinal Gibbons.

“We had a great run at State, won some big games,” Stroud said. “But bottom line — we didn’t win enough.”

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Chuck Amato General NCS Football

15 Responses to Amato’s Staff Follow-up

  1. Clarksa 05/29/2007 at 9:59 AM #

    Stroud’s now headed to FSU as S&C coach:

    Link

  2. SuperStuff 05/29/2007 at 10:56 AM #

    Man if they would have only gotten a better offensive coordinator I feel like those guys would still be here. Trestman hammered in the nails on the coffin. I hope all those guys find decent jobs except for Trestman.

  3. redfred2 05/29/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    It doesn’t bother me one way or the other if Marc Trestman, Chuck Amato, ” “, or any and all of the coaches formerly involved with NC State athletics land the most ultimate dream jobs available. More power to them. They didn’t get it done in Raleigh for whatever the reasons may have been, they’re gone now, hopefully more cohesive groups haves now stepped in and taken their places, and that’s really all that matters to me. I still like to read the reports of where they are and what they’re up to now, but it really doesn’t make any difference for us.

  4. legacyman 05/29/2007 at 12:13 PM #

    It makes a difference to me what happens to Chuck. He gave us a lot of good momentum and got some fantastic facilities built. I will always be grateful to Chuck for what he accomplished…he is a State man, afterall.

    In the same vein, I always followed Norm Sloan when he left for Florida along with Monte. Again, they were State guys and Monte still is, only more visible now.

  5. choppack1 05/29/2007 at 12:41 PM #

    Stroud was one of the gems of the coaching staff…I’m surprised it took him this long to land a Division 1A gig – he may have been waiting for the right one.

    Watch out for FSU – they will be back at least short term – and maybe long term if they make the right move after Bowden steps down. I expect they’ll have more and better execution, depth, talent, heart and intensity w/ the additions of Amato and Jimbo to the staff.

  6. RedTerror29 05/29/2007 at 1:02 PM #

    I wish Amato all the luck. Like, say, the FSU head coaching job after Bowden is done.

  7. packpigskinfan23 05/29/2007 at 1:23 PM #

    I wish Amato a win against EVERY team in the country… EXCEPT NCSU.

  8. redfred2 05/29/2007 at 4:03 PM #

    I was in a hurry and typed that last post too quickly, but do I very much agree about Chuck Amato. He was great for NC State and hopefully he’ll be remembered and honored as such in the future.

  9. Sam92 05/29/2007 at 7:29 PM #

    Chuck Amato did an *honorable* job while our head coach, just not a *succesful* job, and he did raise the facilities, expectations and recognition of our program. He had to go, but deserves respect, and I hope he has all kinds of success at FSU, against everyone they play except us.

  10. Primewolf 05/29/2007 at 7:56 PM #

    I appreciate CTC for what he did. It is a shame he didn’t have the right leadership and managerial skills to keep a good staff together and let them work.

    I don’t know what was worse in the last few years of CTC’s regime: the losses on Saturday or reading what Chuck had to say about it on Sunday.

  11. choppack1 05/29/2007 at 8:05 PM #

    I wish Amato would have succeeded as our HC. Ironically, much like Sendek before him, he came very close to doing so.

    I think Amato’s reputation as someone being hard to work for and his own tendency to only go after certain coaches hurt him when it was time to make key personnel decisions. I don’t know if he was that hard to work for – I’ve never worked for the man. I can see where he’d rub coaches the wrong way – and yet be fun to play for.

    Ultimately, his trend was clearly heading the wrong direction. The more Amato’s stamp was on the program – the worse the results were getting. However, his kids usually played hard – and very rarely gave up (a great tribute to a coach) – unfortunately, NC State – like most college football teams – couldn’t/can’t afford to consistently lose the turnover battle and make mental mistakes. The last 3 years – that’s exactly what happened consistently.

  12. noah 05/29/2007 at 10:02 PM #

    More importantly, imo, than the mistakes on the field were the misses on the recruiting trail.

    The four-year total Oh-for on quality off. linemen is what I think will ultimately keep us out of a bowl game this year. I won’t hold Marcus Stone’s troubles against Amato. Both Stone and Davis and Burke were all highly-regarded QB recruits.

    But the complete and total absence of quality off. linemen until the next-to-last recruiting class was something that coaches just can’t survive. People complain about our off. coordinators…but honestly, if you can’t run block and you can’t pass block, it hardly matters what play you call. You might as well punt on first down and hope the defense pitches a shutout.

  13. packwolf90 05/29/2007 at 11:10 PM #

    I’ll miss seeing portee on the sidelines and at the caravan meetings.

  14. Sw0rdf1sh 05/30/2007 at 7:36 AM #

    Yeah….I miss Portee too. He is a great guy and gave us a bunch for a long time.

    He is one guy that gave us more than just football knowledge.

  15. brown pelican 05/30/2007 at 5:42 PM #

    stroud and portee were always ‘above and beyond’ in helping the local high school coach—holliday was in the same category—coach pate was in a class of his own—good teachers and good guys who built some good relationships during their tenure—wish them all the best—and—here’s hoping the new staff can make similar inroads

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