North Carolina State University Athletics
Rain Ruins Amato's Spring Debut
3/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Chuck Amato and his new NC State coaching staff were quite eager to hit the field for the Pack's first Spring football practice on Monday. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.
A spring rain that swept through Raleigh prevented the players from taking the field for the first of 15 workouts. The opening practice has now been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 22.
The spring period will cover a total of 29 days and will include a total of three scrimmages. The final scrimmage will be the annual red-white game, which will take place on April 15 at 1:00 p.m.
In the coming weeks, the Pack's returning players can expect to be fed a steady diet of basic football fundamentals.
"Fundamentals and techniques don't change; schemes change," Amato said. "You can put eleven people in a lot different places on both sides of the ball but if you don't block and tackle, none of the schemes are worth a hoot."
Amato inherits a team that returns a total of 36 lettermen. Only four starters return on offense. The defense loses only two starters, but those two players happened to play one of the most difficult and important positions on the field: Cornerback. Replacing steady veterans Lloyd Harrison and Tony Scott will present quite a challenge for new defensive coordinator Buddy Green.
"We've got to find the important piece of that puzzle this spring because we don't have any corners who have much playing experience," Green said. "That position is going to be wide open and that is going to be a big factor-especially in our scheme of things on defense."
Junior Anthony Cason, sophomores Keith Curtin, Rod Johnson, and Julius Patterson, redshirt freshman J.J. Washington and true freshman James Walker are all listed as corners on the spring roster. Patterson moves back to defense after spending time at wide receiver last season.
"We've got to find corners who can play man coverage," said Green, who was an assistant under Dick Sheridan at NC State before taking over as head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1994. "It's important for us to challenge those guys this spring. We've got to make sure we come out of the spring knowing that we have guys who can play one on one."
The biggest question mark facing new offensive coordinator Norm Chow will be at the quarterback position. Jamie Barnette, a fixture for three years, is now gone. Sophomore Jatavis Sanders and redshirt freshman Toki McCray are expected to be pushed this spring by Alabama State High School Player of the Year Phillip Rivers, who was allowed to enroll in second semester classes after graduating in December.
Sanders is the only quarterback on the roster with any college experience, but he is hardly what you would call a seasoned veteran. Sanders saw action in just five games last season, completing 9-of-17 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown.
