The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1249704
30 ■ THE WOLFPACKER West Virginia I was the defensive coach against Doug Flutie for four years. That was real 'fun' [said sarcastically]. He's maybe 5-9, and he was ridiculous. "You were looking at a bigger, more com- plete version of Doug Flutie, in my opinion. [Wilson] was 5-11 and had huge hands. He was extremely smart, and he was extremely athletic. "He was just as good a baseball player as he was a football player. How could you lose recruiting a guy like that?" Jamison: "I remember Coach Dunlap bringing back a DVD of Russell. He didn't say anything, I would just watch everything he brought back. I remembered watching Russell's film, and I was like, 'This kid can throw and run around.' "… I asked Coach Dunlap about him and he said, 'He can play, can't he? He's going to come to camp, and we'll give him to Trestman to work out.' "We weren't going to offer him on film because we had questions about his size." An Assist From Baseball Wilson was officially on NC State's radar after Dunlap brought Wilson's film back to Raleigh and gave it to Jamison. Football, though, was not Wilson's only sport. He batted .467 as a junior in baseball at Collegiate. A summer baseball showcase event in Salem, Va., that Avent attended was about to impact Wilson's destiny. Avent: "It was a great tournament with a lot of talent. I remember one game where there was a great double-play combination. The second baseman was a pretty good player and a soccer player, because I tried to get our soccer coach [the late George Tarantini] to recruit him. "I see this shortstop, and I watch him. He makes every play. These infields were not good, and you got a lot of bad hops. I don't care how bad of hops that guy got, he caught the ball. "You could tell he was very, very skilled, and he had a cannon of an arm across the infield. He had a good body, played with a lot of energy, was high-twitch and very interesting, but also a little bit raw. "I generally don't sit with the other scouts or other coaches. I usually sit with the fans because sometimes you hear things you don't normally hear. I made a statement, 'Wow, that shortstop is really, really good.' "As I hoped would happen, this farmer … in overalls looked at me and said, 'Boy, you think he's a good baseball player? You ought to see him throw a football.' "I said, 'Really? He's that good?' He said, 'Best quarterback this state's ever had.' "I said, 'You've had some pretty good guys like the Vick brothers,' and started naming a few quarterbacks from the state of Virginia. He said, 'Better than all of them. Boy, you listen to me. That's the best quar- terback in this state by far, and maybe the best quarterback this state's ever had.' "… This farmer told me who Russell Wil- son was. I immediately called Chuck Amato. When I got back to Raleigh, I talked to Chuck and Marc, and I said I really want you to re- cruit this kid. I like this kid, but I don't know if I have the money to give him a scholarship in baseball. It didn't really matter, he wanted football. Russell was hell bent on playing both football and baseball in college." Wilson: "I played really well in that tour- nament, and NC State [baseball] offered and wanted me to come there." The Camp NC State's football coaches wanted to see Wilson work out before offering. Fortunately for them, Wilson was going to do a swing through Tobacco Road and perform at sev- eral colleges' football camps. Wilson: "I went to UNC and played well there. At the time, Frank Cignetti was the of- fensive coordinator and [John] Bunting was the head coach. Curt Cignetti, Frank's brother, was actually recruiting me at NC State. … "Monday was UNC, Tuesday was NC State. Wednesday was an off day. Thurs- day was Wake Forest and Friday was Duke." Jamison: "That summer we had several guys that ended up going to different Division I colleges coming to throw at camp. I think Robert Marve [signed with Miami] was that year. Stephen Garcia [South Carolina] was the same year. Those kids threw at camp for us and were obviously pretty good quarterbacks." Dunlap: "I remembered telling someone standing close to me, 'That's the Russell Wilson kid.' The guy looked over there and said, 'He's too little,' and walked away. "Then Russell starts throwing the rock. Next thing you know, every offensive coach is standing behind him watching. He was unbelievable." Wilson: "I remember being on those out- door fields and training and working out … and trying to be the guy in the front of the line and trying to get the extra work and all that. "After we had that first morning session, right when I went to lunch, Coach Trestman and Coach Amato grabbed me and said, 'Hey, can you stay behind a little bit?' "I did a little bit of extra throwing. They were recruiting me, but I guess I had done well earlier in the day, and they wanted to see me throw a little bit more. "They had another five-star guy there that they were looking at, too. … He was from Michigan [Steven Threet, who signed with Georgia Tech]. I did all the throws, did all the things. "I leave that day and they were really excited about the opportunity." Amato: "We watched him on film, and " We went down and watched him throw the ball, and I said, 'The kid is good! He's a 5-foot-10.5-inch Charlie Ward, with maybe a stronger arm, maybe a little more mobility. Then-NC State head football coach Chuck Amato, comparing Wilson to the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback he helped coach at Florida State PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN