North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Gets In One Last Spring Fling
4/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 12, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-When you think about it, August 24th isn't that far off. The early season opener against New Mexico means NC State will be allowed to open preseason football practice by the end of July, which is only just three and a half months away. Needless to say, it will be a short summer following Saturday's Red/White Spring Football scrimmage at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Head coach Chuck Amato's number one priority during spring drills was to improve the overall fundamentals of each and every player. But he also wanted to get a close look at several key positions that will be occupied by players who will be trying to fill the void left by a number of productive veterans.
Of all the running backs that carried the football last season, departing senior Ray Robinson accounted for 84 percent (818 of 970) of the yards that were gained during a 7-4 regular season. The most logical candidate to pick up the slack this season will be Cotra Jackson, who had just 113 yards on 26 carries last fall.
"If we had to play tommorrow, he'd be our starting tailback," Amato said. "Cotra has really picked it up. He doesn't have the blazing speed, but he's fast enough. He just needs to continue to run north and south because he's a very, very strong and very physical runner that can break tackles. He's had himself a nice spring. I'm very pleased with him."
This spring was also particularly important for two former defensive linemen who are now working at the two guard positions on the offensive line. Senior Shane Riggs and junior Sean Locklear used to go after quarterbacks, now they'll be trying to protect one.
"Right now, there's only one starter from last year on our first team offensive line, and that's [Scott] Kooistra," Amato said. "We've got Riggs and Locklear who have moved from the defense to offense as your guards. And with [Chris] Colmer injured, we've actually got a walk-on (Brook Payne) at the other tackle. But I have a lot of faith in Marty Galbraith. He's a great coach and he'll get it done."
Colmer, a starter in all 12 games last season, missed spring practice after undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot.
Amato has already said on numerous occasions that it is impossible to replace a player like All-America linebacker Levar Fisher. While the Pack has one returning veteran in middle linebacker Dantonio Burnette, the outside linebacker spots, including the one formerly occupied by Fisher, will be manned by a talented-yet fairly untested-group of youngsters. Sophomore Corrie Dawson and junior Roger Pollard are listed as the starters coming out of spring camp.
"Somebody is going to have to play in those positions but they're not going to be as good as Levar," Amato said. "Levar has been such an outstanding player that we're going to miss dearly. He's led our team in tackles the last two years, hands down. What we do have at that position is six linebackers that you could probably shake 'em up and throw 'em in the hat and they're all pretty even. A couple of them will step forward when it's all over."
Another major hole to fill will be at the cornerback position formerly held by Brian Williams, who will likely be playing on Sunday's next season. While lacking experience, second-year players like Marcus Hudson, Greg Golden and Lamont Reid have plenty of speed and ability. Redshirt junior J.J. Washington and incoming freshman A.J. Davis should give the Pack a little more depth at the corner spots next fall.
Once the spring game is over, Amato will concentrate on finding a new defensive coordinator to replace Buddy Green, who took a similar position at Navy during the offseason.
Said Amato: "I've interviewed a few people and I'll interview a few more. Now that spring is over, we'll make a decision to see which way we're going to go."
Joe Pate, who coached linebackers the last few seasons, has been working with the defensive line during the spring, while Manny Diaz, who was promoted from graduate assistant to fulltime assistant coach, has spent time with the linebackers.
Amato said the most pleasant surprises of spring camp have been sophomore running back Josh Brown, sophomore linebacker Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay and sophomore rover Andre Maddox. "In fact, Andre is running with the first unit, he's a football player," said Amato.
Chuck Amato on what to expect during Saturday's Spring Scrimmage:: "It's going to be a controlled scrimmage. We'll just start the ball on the 25-yard line and the first offense will have 10 plays. If they are stopped, we'll bring it back and start all over again. If they don't ever get stopped, that 10-play drive could turn into a 16-play drive and a touchdown. We'll do the same thing with the second team and third team. Then we'll have areas of control. We'll have an overtime and then we'll go on the goal line, which we always end with. We'll start off by kicking field goals and extra points."
A radio broadcast of Saturday's scrimmage will begin at 1:00 p.m. on WPTF 680 am in Raleigh and via the Internet on Gopack.com.


