Amato Out at NCSU

[doublee]

Well to nobody's surprise around here Chuck Amato was canned as NC State's head coach today:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2676855

State fans are already starting to delude themselves into the idea that Bill Cowher is going to ride in and save the day.

[da12ken]

Maybe a chance Norm Chow returns to the Wolfpack?

[doublee]

That name has been thrown around a bit as well but Chow is 61 years old and probably is not a great fit for the long term. My concern would be that by the time he got things rolling he would be retiring.

Plus, his only real head coaching experience was 30 years ago at the high school level.

The most prominent names being mentioned on Wolfpack fans' wish list are Cowher, Chow, Steve Logan, and even Jim Grobe.

A lot of the more reasonable fans seem resided to the idea that it is going to be Paul Johnson from Navy.

[buckeyefan78]

I wonder how much the new coach will get considering NC rolled out a truck load of dough for Davis a few weeks ago.

[Alex]

I wonder how much the new coach will get considering NC rolled out a truck load of dough for Davis a few weeks ago.

It all depends on who it is. If North Carolina ended up hiring Frank Cignetti, I doubt he would've gotten the same deal as Davis did. If it's Cowher or Grobe, they'll probably need a crow bar to open their wallet wide enough. If it's Logan, that's probably the cheaper way out but a good hire none the less. East Carolina should still feel foolish for firing him.

Johnson would be a good one too. If you can win consistently at a service academy, you can pretty much win anywhere.

[doublee]

I don't think Grobe is going anywhere truth be told. He has turned down several overtures from programs that are step up from Wake in the past and has always maintained that he is perfectly content to stay at Wake Forest. I want to say WVU tried to lure him away before settling on Rich Rodriguez a couple of years ago. Besides, he has his stable of running backs back next year. Other than NCSU possibly having a truckload of money to offer there is no real incentive for him to bolt to Raleigh when Wake is arguably a better program at this point in time.

Buckeye, the Wolfpack Club collected a bunch of cash last spring to try and lure Rick Barnes away from Texas and since they 'settled' on Sidney Lowe they probably have a good chunk of that left to add to the pot to hire a new football coach. Seeing as they were willing to pony up upwards of $2 mil for a basketball coach something tells me they would be willing to approach number for a football coach as well. But, unless they are getting somone like a Bill Cowher breaking the bank is probably a mistake. If they go for Paul Johnson though they can get him for far less.

As for Logan he hosts a local sportstalk show here and has gone on record several times since Bunting got axed that he would only go back into coaching for the right job. The speculation seems to be that he is perfectly happy with his radio show and coaching in NFL Europe while waiting for someone to offer him a NFL job as a QB Coach or Offensive Coordinator.

[doublee]

It sounds as though Cowher is going to officially withdraw his name from consideration at his weekly press conference tomorrow:

http://www.850thebuzz.com/blog/?p=2048

[Alex]

Here's a name to throw out there- Frank Solich. Not neccesarily for the N.C. State job but it seems like he'll be a hot candidate soon if he continues successfully rebuilding, but really building, the Ohio football program. The Bobcats are in the MAC title game and will be going bowling for the first time since the late '60's. Solich got booted out of Nebraska because of their fans' insane expectations more than actual failure. His worst season was 7-7 in '02, had only one other sub-10-win season (9-4 in '98 and counting the '03 Alamo Bowl win, he had already been dismissed at that point) and won 10 games or more four times.

[doublee]

The only thing that will keep Solich from ever getting another job in one of the major conferences is his age. According to his bio he graduated from Nebraska in '66 which has to put his age around 62/63 years old.

[Alex]

Wow, I had no idea he was that old. Thought he was around 55, at most.

[buckeyefan78]

Solich was found passed out and slumped over his steering wheel by cops in Athens earlier this year. He claims someone slipped him a date rape drug. Haven't heard anything about it recently.

Solich got issues.

[doublee]

It sounds like NC State is getting serious about landing Paul Johnson:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2687000