North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Preseason Impressing Amato
8/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 14, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - Never wanting to allow his players to become satisfied, NC State football coach Chuck Amato rarely dishes out an inordinate amount of praise to his teams during the preseason. The last thing he wants is for his players to pick up the paper and read how the head coach thinks everyone has arrived. To do so would be to defeat the purpose of pushing, prodding and motivating on a daily basis. Still, during media day at the RBC Center on Sunday, Amato was unusually upbeat when he offered a synopsis of the Wolfpack through 10 practices of preseason camp. That is not to suggest, however, that he believes his squad is where it needs to be with three weeks left before the season opener against Virginia Tech.
"The effort has been unparalleled up to 10 practices than what I can remember over the last five years," Amato said. "That's truly a compliment because the effort has always been there; it's not like I'm goofing on the other teams because I'm not. Offensively we're getting everybody to go to the football and go to the whistle. Everybody goes to the whistle on both sides of the football. The other thing is I've been so impressed with the leadership our seniors have shown. It's their team and they have to play the best football of their careers for us to have a good football team. They've got to show great leadership and they've been doing an outstanding job of that."
The downer of last season's 5-6 record certainly weighs into the equation. Neither Amato nor his team want to end a season in November, while several other ACC teams qualify for bowl games. The fall of 2004 was an unexpected turn for a program that had qualified for postseason games after each of Amato's first four years on the job.
But the sixth year coach stopped short of saying that this season was more crucial than any other year.
"Every year is important," Amato said.
Nineteen practices and three more weeks remain before the defending ACC champs come to Raleigh for a season opener that will certainly rank as one of the most anticipated first games in the history of Carter-Finley Stadium.
"Twenty one days from today we open up," said Amato. "We had our 10th practice last night (a scrimmage) and we have 19 more practice opportunities before our first game. That's over three weeks. It's not like we have 19 practice opportunities over a week and a half. It's not like a bunch of those are two-a-days. It helps us because it's stretched out and we do have a lot of time. We have 21 days before we have to play a first game, thank goodness."
Positions Up For Grabs: The battles for starting spots could go on at several positions before the opener. A plethora of running back talent has created a nice problem for the offensive staff. All of the opening day starters on the offensive line have not yet been identified yet, something Amato would like to get nailed down as soon as possible so that the five number ones can start working together to develop the type of cohesion that is vital on the offensive line.
The battle at both safety positions could also last deep into the preseason.
"I think that's something that could go for awhile," Amato said. "Those two youngsters (DaJuan Morgan and Miguel Scott) are very, very athletic but neither one of them has started a game. Then we've got Garland Heath and J.J. Jones who have been around and have played in games. That competition is good. It just proves that when you've got competition, guys don't get hurt. They don't take themselves out because every rep that they miss, someone is going to take their position from them. That running back position is the same way. Everybody in this league is trying to get that quality depth that creates that competition that doesn't allow anyone to miss a day because that other guy is breathing right down your neck. Those four safeties really work hard."
Heath and Morgan are competing for the rover spot that had been held down the last three years by Andre Maddox. Jones and Scott have a similar battle going at free safety.
Sleep Deprivation: Like the rest of his teammates, cornerback Marcus Hudson is counting down the days before the September fourth meeting with Virginia Tech. Hudson knows that falling to sleep the night before will be virtually impossible.
"It's like reminiscing back to when I played little league," Hudson said. "The night before I had my socks on, all my wrist bands on; I went to sleep in my thigh pads and knee pads because I was so anxious to play. It's pretty much the same way before each game. You can't wait to get out there in front of the fans. Being that it's Virginia Tech, I might not sleep it all. It's a great game and a great opportunity to play on national TV on Sunday. I'm definitely excited about the game."
Deraney Doing it All: Barring a major surprise in preseason camp, it appears that redshirt junior John Deraney will again be handling all of NC State's kicking chores this season.
"John's been through it and he can handle it," Amato said. "He's got an awfully strong leg. Naturally, it would be awfully nice if he didn't have to [do it all], but he can handle it. You know who our first opponent is and what is their thing? It's kicking. I hope I don't have to put somebody out there with inexperience against a team that just exploits every kicking sore spot you might have and turn it into a big play for them."
Deraney in fact booted a career-best 53-yard field goal that helped the Wolfpack turn back the Hokies last year in Blacksburg, 17-16. Along with being one of three players to make all of his extra points in 2004 (29-29), he averaged 41.9 yards per punt, the fourth best average in school history.
