Chuck Amato is a hard coach to evaluate. Since coming to North Carolina State in January 2000, he’s led his teams to five bowl games and won four of them. He has more wins in his first six years than any other Wolfpack coach. He’s delivered what is arguably the greatest single season in NC State history. He’s recruited better (on paper) than NC State football has ever recruited. And he’s been the driving force for the greatest building boom in the school’s history.

So why was Amato booed at his own stadium at one point last season?

The problem is that for all his success, Amato has come up short in a number of areas. He’s never finished better than fourth in the ACC. His best year was back in 2002, raising expectations that his recent teams haven’t been able to match. Assistant coaches have come and gone with bewildering rapidity, and so have a number of promising players. Worst of all, he’s lost two in a row to hated rival North Carolina, despite having what was believed to be better overall talent than the Tar Heels.

Taken together, the two sides of Amato’s tenure explain why there are so many questions about his program heading into his seventh year. NC State may be the most volatile team — and program — in the ACC. The talent is there to make the Pack a legitimate contender for the ACC championship — NC State has beaten the eventual ACC champion in each of the last two seasons — or it could land in the ACC basement. Amato has to prove he can sustain a high level of performance over the course of a full season — or at the very least against UNC.

LOWDOWN

Coach: Chuck Amato (7th season, 46-28)
2005 record: 7-5 (Beat South Florida in Meineke Car Care Bowl)
ACC finish: 3-5 (t-4th Atlantic)
2005 I-A offensive rankings:
Rushing: 83rd (124.4 ypg)
Passing: 92nd (190.2 ypg)
2005 I-A defensive rankings:
Rushing: 14th (107.2 ypg)
Passing: 26th (191.5 ypg)

DEPTH CHART

Offense (5)

WR  1  John Dunlap  Jr.  2  Darrell Blackman  Jr.
WR  13  Lamart Barrett  Sr.  88  Geron James  Fr.
LT  78  *James Newby  Sr.  54  Merci Falaise  Sr.
LG  69  Kalani Heppe  Jr.  60  Meares Green  So.
C  64  *Leroy Harris  Sr.  72  Luke Lathan  Jr.
RG  76  Curtis Crouch  So.  61  Julian Williams  Fr.
RT  79  Jon Holt  Sr.  68  Garrett Kline  Jr.
TE  83  *Anthony Hill  Jr.  89  Octavius Darby  So.
QB  9  *Marcus Stone  Jr.  19  Daniel Evans  So.
FB  37  John Kane  So.  4  Pat Bedics  Jr.
TB  24  *Andre Brown  So.  22  Toney Baker  So.

Defense (6)

DE  97  Willie Young  Fr.  41  Martrel Brown  Jr.
DT  92  *DeMario Pressley  Jr.  70  Teddy Larsen  Fr.
DT  72  *Tank Tyler  Sr.  93  John Bedics  So.
DE  55  John Amanchukwu  Sr.  98  Littleton Wright  Jr.
SLB  29  *LeRue Rumph  Jr.  20  Reggie Davis  Sr.
MLB  42  Pat Lowery  Sr.  95  James Martin  Jr.
WLB  5  Ernest Jones  Jr.  11  Guerlin Dervil  Jr.
CB  8  Jimmie Sutton  Jr.  24  Phillip Holloman  Jr.
CB  3  *A.J. Davis  Sr.  6  Levin Neal  So.
ROV  19  *Garland Heath  Sr.  7  DaJuan Morgan  So.
FS  25  *Miguel Scott  Jr.  14  J.C. Neal  So.

Special Teams

K  12  John Deraney  Sr.
P  12  John Deraney  Sr.
KR  2  Darrell Blackman  Jr.
PR  2  Darrell Blackman  Jr.

(#) Indicates number of returning starters
* Indicates returning starters

2006 SCHEDULE

Sept. 2  Appalachian State
Sept. 9  Akron
Sept. 16  at Southern Miss
Sept. 23  Boston College
Oct. 5  Florida State
Oct. 14  Wake Forest
Oct. 21  at Maryland
Oct. 28  at Virginia
Nov. 4  Georgia Tech
Nov. 11  at Clemson
Nov. 18  at North Carolina
Nov. 25  East Carolina

OFFENSE

Philip Rivers, who started every game in Chuck Amato’s first four seasons, was the best quarterback in school (and perhaps ACC) history. But since his departure, Amato has struggled to find even a capable replacement.

Midway through last season, he stopped trying to find another Rivers and changed the focus of his offense from the passing game to the running game. The Wolfpack coach unleashed freshman tailbacks Andre Brown and Toney Baker, a pair of powerful yet mobile runners. They combined for 1,213 rushing yards at almost five yards per carry and salvaged what had been shaping up as a dismal season.

They’ll be the focus of this season’s offense as sophomores. Quarterback Marcus Stone,  5–1 as a starter in 2005, will be asked only to avoid mistakes and provide just enough of a passing threat to prevent opponents from stacking the box to defend the run.

Stone has an inexperienced collection of receivers. The Pack is counting on John Dunlap, a big Floridian who finally appears healthy after suffering an ACL tear before last season, and converted tailback Darrell Blackman to blossom into quality wideouts.

Amato has the luxury of a solid offensive line, anchored by all-star candidate Leroy Harris at center and a budding young star at guard in 344-pounder Curtis Crouch.

DEFENSE

Probably no team in college football lost as much up front as NC State, where three defensive linemen moved on to the NFL.

Amato still has a fine pair of defensive tackles in veterans DeMario Pressley and Tank Tyler. His problem is replacing the best pair of defensive ends in school history — Mario Williams and Manny Lawson combined for 25 sacks and 43.5 tackles for a loss last season. Willie Young, a former MVP of the Florida-Louisiana All-Star game, shows a lot of promise at one starting spot, but he’s never played a down of college football.

Amato also has to rebuild his linebacking corps after the unexpected decision of All-ACC backer Stephen Tulloch to pass up his final year of eligibility. Converted safety LeRue Rumph is the only proven returnee, although career backup Pat Lowery has been solid when called on in the past. One solution may be the conversion of former tailback starter Reggie Davis to outside linebacker.

There are no such concerns in the secondary, where three starters and a host of experienced young backups make this the deepest, most talented position on the team. Garland Heath and Miguel Scott form one of the best safety tandems in the ACC.

SPECIALISTS

The kicking game is a strength. John Deraney is one of the best all-around kickers in college football — a senior who punts, kicks off, never misses an extra point and was a Groza semifinalist. Darrell Blackman is an All-ACC kick returner.

FINAL ANALYSIS

NC State is one of the most volatile teams — and programs — in the ACC. So what’s new? The Pack has beaten the eventual ACC champion in each of the last two seasons, while finishing in the second division of the league both years.

Amato’s seventh NC State team will feature a powerful running game and a suspect passing game. His defense is overpowering in the secondary and riddled with question marks up front. NC State has enough talent to return to a bowl game. But this team will have to develop a consistency that’s been lacking to avoid a last-place finish in the Atlantic Division.

This N.C. State team preview was pulled from our 2006 National College Football preview magazine.  To order this or the 2006 ACC Regional preview magazine - with expanded team page coverage and conference features - click here