Quote:
Originally Posted by gstelmack
FWIW, Norm Chow leaving was probably the biggest blow to NC State football as well. It is generally felt that Norm Chow + Phillip Rivers is what brought success to NC State, and it had very little to do with Chuck Amato (aside from getting Norm Chow as an assistant).
|
To be fair, the 11-3 Gator Bowl season came a couple of years after Chow left, but yes, a lot of fans really felt that Chow leaving was the first domino in what eventually wound up getting Amato fired. The offense never had the same creativity and excitement after he left, but more importantly, it was the first of a major revolving door problem regarding just about any coordinator or position coach on the team. When Amato was winning, the fans chalked it to the position coaches being unable to keep up with or just didn't like working with Chuck, but when things went south the last few years, the fans shifted the blame for the failed staff retentions to him, making the claim that he was "hard to work with" and so forth.