Chuck Amato, NC State's 11-win coach and longtime Florida State assistant, dies at 80

Chuck Amato died Monday at his home in Raleigh. He was 80. He was the only NC State graduate ever to coach the Wolfpack, and he spent close to two decades helping build Florida State's defense under Bobby Bowden. ESPN reported that the school said he died under hospice care. Before that, according to CBS17 (WNCN), he had fought throat cancer that cost him his voice.

His ties to NC State go back to the mid-1960s. He played linebacker for the Wolfpack from 1965 to 1967, was on the team that shared the 1965 ACC title, and won two ACC wrestling championships. He coached at the school through the 1970s, including a stint under Lou Holtz. In 1982 he joined Florida State as a defensive assistant. Working alongside coordinator Mickey Andrews, he was part of two national championship staffs and coached players such as Peter Boulware, Andre Wadsworth and Sam Cowart.

NC State hired him as head coach in 2000. Two years later, with Philip Rivers at quarterback, the Wolfpack went 11-3, still the best record in program history. Amato went 49-37 over seven seasons with five bowl appearances. WRAL noted that his 49 wins rank fourth in school history. NC State fired him after the 2006 season. He went back to Florida State and stayed until Bowden retired in 2009, then finished his career at Akron.

Tributes came in from across the conference. Duke coach Manny Diaz got his first coaching job on Amato's staff in Tallahassee, and at his weekly press conference he said he "wouldn't be standing here today if it wasn't for Chuck Amato," according to ESPN. Bill Cowher, who played linebacker for Amato in Raleigh and went on to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers, posted a tribute on social media. Amato is survived by his wife, Peggy, and two daughters.

What comes next for both programs

NC State will play its first game since his death on Friday night at Stanford. The Wolfpack are 3-3 and have won and lost in streaks. They beat Louisville 31-28 and App State 41-31 before Wake Forest handled them 38-14 in their most recent game. Their losses at Virginia (34-8) and at Vanderbilt (35-31) show how uneven they have been away from Raleigh.

The board still makes NC State the favorite at Stanford. Novig, one of 12 venues on the game page, has the Wolfpack at -257 on the moneyline and Stanford at +251. The spread varies by a point. Novig lists NC State at -7.5 with a +113 price, while the best price anywhere is theScore Bet's -6.5 at -115. The total is close across venues: Novig sits at 55.5 with -104 on both sides, and Pinnacle has the best over at 55 for -114. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline runs from 4.0% to 5.9%.

Florida State has a bye before it hosts Clemson on Oct. 31. The Seminoles are 3-4 after back-to-back road losses, 44-20 at Louisville and 43-35 at No. 3 Miami. They need to win three of their remaining games to become bowl eligible, the kind of postseason run Amato helped make routine in Tallahassee.