Sports
Chuck Amato, who led NC State to a landmark 2002 season, dies at 80
Chuck Amato, NC State’s head football coach from 2000 to 2006, has died at 80, according to loved ones. His Wolfpack teams went 11-3 in 2002 and beat Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Chuck Amato, the former NC State football coach who helped raise the Wolfpack’s national profile, has died at 80, according to loved ones. His death was reported Monday, Oct. 19, 2026.
Amato led NC State from 2000 through 2006. The high point of his tenure came in 2002, when the Wolfpack finished 11-3 behind quarterback Philip Rivers and capped the season with a Gator Bowl win over Notre Dame. The campaign stands among the most successful in the program’s history.
Amato became a popular figure with NC State fans during his time in Raleigh. In recent years, he had been battling recurring throat cancer; no further details about his death were provided.
His teams’ accomplishments and the 2002 season left a lasting mark on the Wolfpack program and its supporters across North Carolina.