North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Linebacker Has Lofty Expectations
7/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Tony Haynes
Blessed with tremendous strength and quickness, Levar Fisher has many reasons to be confident in his own abilities. But the NC State linebacker has just as much confidence in the people around him. His coach isn't quite as optimistic. During a recent press conference, Chuck Amato said that the Wolfpack doesn't have a single player that would start for Florida State.
"Coach is just setting everybody up for a big surprise," said a chuckling Fisher. "He knows as well as I know that we're just as good as anybody else. We're going to shock everyone with how good we really are. We might even shock him."
Fisher and his teammates will carry their "shock the world" mentality into preseason practice, which begins with the first full squad workout on August 10. Earning respect won't be easy: the Pack was picked to finish seventh in the ACC's preseason media poll.
"That really did surprise me," said Fisher, who was one of NC State's most dynamic players during spring drills. "I think we're better than that. I guess when you lose to Wake Forest and you have a close game with Duke, I guess that's what you deserve."
In its 6-6 campaign last year, NC State was defeated by Wake Forest, 31-7 and struggled to defeat Duke in overtime, 31-24.
The off-season produced a coaching change. Out went Mike O'Cain and in came Florida State assistant and former Pack linebacker Chuck Amato, who hired a highly respected-and expensive-coaching staff.
"This coaching staff is on us every minute," Fisher said. "When you do something good, they'll tell you it's good but not good enough. These coaches are not going to let you get a big head. This coaching staff is a lot different."
Thanks to a rigorous off-season conditioning program orchestrated by new strength coach Todd Stroud, NC State, as a team, should be a lot leaner and, perhaps, quicker this season. And over the long haul, the Pack should be a fresher football team once November rolls around.
"The old program kind of wore us down because of all the running we did," Fisher said. "We'd be in shape for the first three games, but then that would be all we had in us. Coach Stroud didn't tone it down any, but it's a different strategy of running; our legs are under us and we're going to be able to play more than three games."
Conventional wisdom suggests that defense will carry NC State early. While nine starters return on the defensive side of the ball, only five regulars are back on offense. And the likely starter at quarterback, Philip Rivers, is an untested freshman.
"We don't look at Philip Rivers as a young quarterback because if you look at him and talk with him, he doesn't seem that way," said the 6'1, 229 pound Fisher. "We've got a lot of veterans on defense and we know how to play the game. "We're going to try to carry the load and lead the team."
Fisher and Clayton White anchor a linebacking corps that could be one of the ACC's best, especially if Edrick Smith makes a healthy return. Smith, a 6'0, 245 pound redshirt sophomore, missed spring drills after sustaining a season ending knee injury in the opener at Texas last August.
"Edrick's looking real good out there," Fisher said. "He's not complaining about the knee too much. Hopefully, we'll see the old Edrick."
The "old Edrick" tallied 104 tackles and was a runner up to teammate Ray Robinson for ACC Rookie of the Year honors in 1998.
Wolfpack fans are eager to find out if Smith can indeed become an effective linebacker again; they also want to see if the Chuck Amato era will produce more wins and bowl games. If Levar Fisher's prophecies come to fruition, Pack-Backers will get exactly what they're looking for.
