North Carolina State University Athletics
Coach Amato's Spring Football Wrap Up
4/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 16, 2002
Listen to Tony Haynes' interview with Chuck Amato following Saturday's spring football game.
Read what head football coach Chuck Amato had to say about spring football practice, Saturday's Red/White Scrimmage and the relatively short offseason the Pack faces before beginning preparations for the 2002 season opener against New Mexico on Aug. 24.
Q: What is your overall assessment of spring workouts?
Coach Amato: "We've accomplish things as far as getting better fundamentally. We've got to solidify the offensive line-and we will. Marty Galbraith is a great coach and he'll get that taken care of. They'll work together all summer long and get that unity there. Defensively, we've just got to work on getting better with our tackling, which we can't do until we get back here for two-a-days. But you know what? Two-a-days are going to start in just three and a half months, the freshman report on July 29th and the upperclassmen on August 1."
Q: Since you returned to NC State, you've always said that this program won't get to where it needs to be until it can play great defense. You're going to be replacing two outstanding defensive players in linebacker Levar Fisher and Brian Williams, but in terms of the overall depth along with speed and strength, are you moving closer to where you want to be?
Coach Amato: "We're getting closer because we have some depth. Now I don't know if that means we have two first stringers at every position or two second stringers at every position, but either way it means we can play youngsters over and over again without leaving them out there for 90 snaps a game, so we can keep them fresh. As long as they're fresh, they'll be able to do what they have to do better."
Q: Your biggest concern going into preseason drills will be the offensive line. In Kooistra and Colmer, you have two tackles that you can count on. Shane Riggs and Sean Locklear, two former defensive linemen, are now listed as your starting guards. How much progress did they make during the spring?
Coach Amato: "They've come far enough along to let us know that if they'll learn everything-and there's a lot more to learn on the offensive line than there is on the defensive line-they'll be what we need. They're athletic and strong enough to do the job. They just need to work on technique, which they can do on their own during the offseason."
Q: You mentioned the three and a half month offseason. How will that affect the way you do things?
Coach Amato: "Our offseason conditioning program started on Monday. The one good thing about these young men is that they are willing to work and they want to excel. They want to make the fans feel proud of them the same way the fans felt proud of that basketball team we had this year."
