TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Chuck Amato was more than just a bit happy to come back to Florida State and work for his old boss after North Carolina State fired him last year.
And Bobby Bowden is just as pleased he won’t have to play his longtime assistant anymore. Amato’s North Carolina State teams took four of the past six meetings.
“He did a marvelous job against us,” Bowden said. “At least he’s back in familiar surroundings and if we could just win, I think he’d be happy.”
On Saturday, Amato will face the Wolfpack (1-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) from back on the Seminoles side of the field.
“You can imagine how it will be for him standing on the sideline looking at all those kids he has recruited,” Bowden said. “Chuck is an emotional guy anyway.”
Amato is back where he raised his family while he was one of Bowden’s assistants for 18 years. He got the head coaching job at his alma mater in 2000, but they sent him packing despite a 49-37 record and five bowl appearances.
In 2001, Amato cried after handing Florida State its first ACC home loss in 2001. So he knows it will be difficult coaching Saturday against the players he recruited.
“I love those kids,” Amato said. “I recruited them all.”
Amato intentionally stayed away from the Wolfpack players after his firing, reluctant to appear as if he were interfering or tampering.
“I never had an opportunity to say goodbye to this team when I left, which was a tremendous regret, because of the timing,” Amato said this week. “If there was one wish I could have it is that I could meet them somewhere on a Friday and hug everyone.”
Amato’s replacement in Raleigh is sure to understand. Former Boston College coach Tom O’Brien just faced his former school last month.
“It’s a similar situation,” O’Brien said. “Before the game it’s all about the game and business and then once the game is over and you want to go visit, that’s the perfect time to do it.”
Amato would like to be a head coach again and believes that returning to Tallahassee to help Bowden get the Seminoles (3-1, 0-1 ACC) back to national prominence would be a good first step.
And it didn’t take Amato long to accept when his longtime mentor called him about getting his old job back.
“It’s a special place and run by a special man,” said Amato, who says he feels right at home with Bowden — who even gave him his old office back.
“The same telephone number” too, Amato said. “The only thing they did was somebody stole the gold couch and the gold chair I had in there.”
Source: www.sportingnews.com
