Monday, July 31, 2006

How do you define success?

Says the Augusta Free Press:

From the Sometimes People Do Really Stupid Things Department - the word out of Raleigh is that North Carolina State appears to be moving to approve a rollover in football coach Chuck Amato's contract that would extend the school's commitment to Amato to five years.

And this is based on ... what, exactly?

It's certainly not success on the gridiron - Amato's teams have compiled a 53-33 record in his seven seasons as head coach.

What, are we Nebraska all of the sudden?

Unless I accidentally slept through a season, Chuck Amato's teams are 46-28, which, by the way, is a .622 winning percentage. Of the NCSU football coaches who've coached in 35+ games, only three have a better career winning percentage (Green, Holtz, Sheridan).

NCSU All-Time W%: .509 (.501 pre-Amato)
Amato Career W%: .622

Amato looks pretty successful by NC State football standards.

The article continues:

That might not sound bad on the surface - but it's basically somewhere between 8-4 and 7-5 on an annual basis.

And given the talent that Amato has had at his disposal - from record-setting quarterback Philip Rivers to the three defensive linemen who went in the first round of this year's NFL draft, including the top pick, Mario Williams - Pack fans should be getting a lot more than 8-4 or 7-5.

Instead, it looks like they'll be getting a lot more of 8-4 and 7-5 - at least for the next five years.

Oh, cruel fates! Spare us this terrible purgatory you call .667 football!

If I could take 8-4 for each of the next five years, I would.