In December of 2009, Chuck Amato was diagnosed with cancer but, thankfully, fought and won that battle with the insidious disease.
Now, the former North Carolina State head coach wants to tackle a new and vastly different challenge -- building a football program from the ground up.
After what will be a 65-year hiatus, the Charlotte 49ers will take the football field in 2013, playing at first at the Div. 1-AA (FCS) level. Amato is one of more than 100 applicants for a head coaching position that will pay slightly less than $200,000 a year.
Amato has yet to formally interview for the job, but has spoken to the school’s athletic director informally about the position.
“I’d love to be the guy there, it would be a real neat thing to do,” Amato told the Raleigh News & Observer. “The opportunity to do something from scratch, to put everything in place.That would be a different mountain to climb.”
As the Wolfpack’s head coach from 2000-06, Amato compiled a 49-37 mark. After “parting ways” with NCSU, Amato returned to Florida State for three years and was not retained by Jimbo Fisher after Bobby Bowden “retired”.
The 49ers hope to have their first head coach in place by April 1 of this year.