Chuck Amato, the former NC State head coach whose 2002 team won 11 games behind quarterback Philip Rivers, died Monday at age 80, according to Footballscoop and USA Today. The Chuck Amato NC State coaching legacy spans five decades, from his playing days as a Wolfpack linebacker to his final retirement from the sideline in 2017.
Amato, born in 1946 in Easton, Pennsylvania, began his coaching career in 1969 as a high school assistant at Easton Area High School. He later built an 18-year run as an assistant at Florida State under Bobby Bowden before taking over as NC State’s head coach in 2000.
The Main Development
Amato spent 1982 to 1999 at Florida State, working as assistant head coach while overseeing the defensive line and later the linebackers. Florida State won two national championships during his tenure, including the 1999 title that capped the first wire-to-wire No. 1 season in college football history. Amato left for NC State’s head job immediately after that championship run.
Amato went 49-37 across seven seasons leading the Wolfpack from 2000 to 2006. NC State dismissed him after the 2006 season. He returned to Tallahassee for the final three years of Bobby Bowden’s tenure at Florida State, then stepped away before coming back in 2012 as Terry Bowden’s defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Akron. He retired for good after the 2017 season.
Chuck Amato’s NC State Coaching Legacy
The defining chapter of the Chuck Amato NC State coaching legacy came in 2002. That team finished 11-3, Amato’s best at NC State, closing the regular season with a win over Florida State and following it with a Gator Bowl victory over Notre Dame. The Wolfpack finished No. 12 in the AP poll, according to Footballscoop, while USA Today reported the team closed the season at No. 11 in the US LBM Coaches Poll.
That season still stands as NC State’s last 10-win campaign, its last AP top-15 finish and its last New Year’s Day bowl win, according to Footballscoop. Rivers quarterbacked that squad, and Curt Cignetti served as Amato’s quarterbacks coach. Amato also brought staff members including Manny Diaz from Tallahassee to Raleigh.
Background And Playing Career
Before he coached, Amato played linebacker at NC State in the late 1960s and was part of the program’s 1965 ACC title team. He was also a two-time ACC individual wrestling champion in the heavyweight division. He earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics education and a master’s in education, then stayed on as an NC State assistant through the 1970s.
Amato was a first ballot member of what Footballscoop called the unofficial Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame. He was known affectionately as “Chuck the Chest” for his physique and carried an unmistakable raspy voice throughout his coaching career.
Health And Final Years
Amato was initially diagnosed with throat cancer in 2009. He shared publicly in 2010 that he had overcome the disease, but the cancer came out of remission in recent years, according to Footballscoop.
What They Said
Footballscoop described Amato’s coaching style by noting his “mix of intensity and discipline, along with a swagger and passion for the game, made him unique.”
Manny Diaz, who worked under Amato and later spoke with the News & Observer, credited Amato for shaping his own coaching education. “I got to see how a program was built from day one, and got to see how hard it is to get a program through low-level atmosphere, up and into orbit,” Diaz said. “Chuck was highly intelligent but extraordinarily tough. I learned so much from him.”
No further details on funeral arrangements or memorial plans had been reported as of Monday.
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