North Carolina State University Athletics
Freshmen Will Have to be Ready
8/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Tony Haynes
In a perfect world, new NC State football coach Chuck Amato wouldn't think twice: he'd take each and every one of the 15 scholarship freshmen reporting for preseason drills and redshirt them all. But the perfect world that exists at places like Florida State, Nebraska and Michigan doesn't yet exist at NC State.
In other words, more than just a few first year players will be expected to contribute this season.
"We only have 74 players on scholarship. I didn't know when I took this job that the NCAA had us on probation," Amato joked.
The Wolfpack is 11 under the 85-scholarship limit primarily because four recruits and a sophomore will not be with the team this season. Second-year player Marcus Ellerbe has been dismissed from the squad for unspecified reasons. The four freshmen-defensive back T. Alford, defensive linemen Dwayne Herndon and Steven Williams and wide receiver William Johnson--did not meet the NCAA's academic standards for eligibility.
The losses have created a personnel shortage that can't--and won't--be taken lightly.
"We need help in all areas for depth," Amato said. "I'm going to tell the freshmen not to think about redshirting. They could help us in some phase of the game. If we have to redshirt them, we'll redshirt them next year. There's no rule that says you have to redshirt a young man the first year."
Redshirting is a practice that is often based on need. The programs that are blessed with enough talented veterans and plentiful of depth don't need their freshmen to contribute right away.
"I think if you're redshirting 85% of your freshmen you're in good shape because you don't need them yet," Amato said.
There certainly won't be any redshirts for Philip Rivers this fall. The freshman from Athens, Alabama, who graduated from high school last December, is listed as NC State's starting quarterback heading into the preseason. Because they participated in spring practice, Rivers and defensive back/wide receiver James Walker won't be required to report until the upperclassmen come in on Aug. 8.
Another first year player that could have a major impact right away is placekicker Austin Herbert, who set the North Carolina career record for field goals at Cary Senior High.
"He comes in with a great reputation," Amato said. "He's got a strong leg and he works hard. We'll just have to see how much he can handle. Will he kick his leg out? The freshman kickers we had (at Florida State) only handled one phase. When (Sebastian) Janikowski was a freshmen, we told the kicker in front of him that you're going to kick the extra points and short field goals and he'll do the long field goals and kickoffs."
Herbert will be competing with senior Kent Passingham and sophomore Bobby Moore for the kicking duties during preseason camp.
Noting the Pack: Sophomore defensive end Drew Wimsatt will have surgery on August 7 to repair a ruptured disc in his lower back. He is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
