North Carolina State University Athletics
Behind The Scenes With Tony Haynes: Just Win Baby
10/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
Oct. 8, 2001
By Tony Haynes
While covering the NFL expansion meetings for the North Carolina News Network several years ago, I distinctly remember watching many of the league's well to do owners make their way through hoards of reporters in the lobby of the Airport Hilton in Chicago. Most of the owners looked like they had emerged from a high-class cookie cutter factory. Arriving in stretch limousines and wearing fancy Brooks Brothers suits, these powerful men appeared to soak up the attention and adulation that was being heaped upon them.
But there was one maverick who definitely marched to the beat of another drummer. Al Davis of the Raiders did not arrive in a limo, nor was he wearing a pinstriped suit. In this most formal of business settings, Davis appeared in a black and silver warm up suit. On his face were a couple of band-aids, which had been stuck in place following a bad shaving day.
Davis really didn't care how he looked or what other people thought, which is exactly the way he runs his football team. "Just win baby," he likes to say. "Just win," no matter how it looks or what it takes, "just win."
Moments after his team had pulled out a teeth-grinding 17-14 victory at Wake Forest last Saturday night, NC State football coach Chuck Amato was sounding a lot like Al Davis.
"I don't care about how many screen passes we throw, how many draws we run, how many times we run guys vertically down the field or how many times we blitz, the most important thing is that our goal was to be 3-1 after this game, and we are," Amato said.
A win is a win, whether it looks like a beach in Maui or a freezing flat in Siberia.
In the lockerroom following Saturday night's contest, Amato, his staff and players were absolutely delighted with the outcome. Their only goal was to win the game. Period.
Should we be surprised that NC State always finds itself in a struggle each and every week? Absolutely not. Even going back to last spring during the Wolfpack Club Caravan, Amato worked hard to subdue inflated expectations among the Pack's loyal supporters.
He knew then and he knows now that NC State is nowhere close to being a dominant football team. This squad, like last year's, will have to scratch and claw for all its worth to be in a position to win games every Saturday.
The week one victory over Indiana was an aberration. From here on out, it's going to be some serious nail bitin' going on when the fourth quarter rolls around.
Here's the good news: this core group of players has already been there many times before. These guys know how to win when the chips are down. Over the last 16 games, this bunch has come from behind to win eight times already.
Some teams get in the habit of losing close games because they expect something to go wrong in the fourth quarter. NC State, on the other hand, expects to make winning plays when the outcome is in doubt. No wonder many of these guys were in shock when they were unable to come back against North Carolina on Sept. 29.
No, the game against Wake Forest wasn't picture perfect, but the outcome was a major improvement over what had happened in 1997 and '99, when Pack teams didn't find a way to get it done in Winston-Salem.
It's better to win ugly than to lose pretty.
"Just win baby."
