The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 ■ 37 for him. Then he would walk down the hall and everything turned into 'Animal House' again." Team Comes First Sheridan was no doubt an old-school coach with old-school values that generally aren't part of today's game. His players and staff couldn't curse, couldn't have facial hair, couldn't drink nor smoke, and were prohibited from doing anything to embarrass the pro- gram. The rules themselves were fairly sim- ple, but always strictly enforced. It's a style that might not translate for modern players and recruits, which is one of the reasons why Sheridan never coached in the three decades after step- ping down from NC State. "He made decisions that were best for the team and the program," said former quarterback Shane Montgomery, who spent more than 30 years coaching at various colleges. "No one individual was bigger than the team, and if you didn't follow teams rules then you would be disciplined. "The best example of that was when he suspended Naz Worthen for the 1987 season because of an on-campus inci- dent. He was one of our best players and it hurt us that season, but Naz trusted Coach Sheridan's decision and came back in 1988 to have a great season." Worthen was involved in an alterca- tion near Reynolds Coliseum in which he was trying to collect a small amount of money he had loaned to a friend. Worthen was arrested, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault on a female and enrolled in a pre-trial intervention. Sheridan defended his breakout star — and suspended him for the entirety of the 1987 season. "In my opinion, Naz is not guilty of assaulting any females. He is guilty of getting involved in a scuffle with a male," Sheridan said at the time. "Naz, from our standpoint, is guilty of becoming in- volved with a male in a fight. "What happened after that was Naz defending himself." The Wolfpack finished 4-7 that year, one of just two losing seasons in Sheri- dan's head coaching career, his only los- ing season at NC State and the only time he lost to North Carolina. Yet, to this day, even Worthen believes his coach did the right thing. "It taught me a valuable life lesson," said Worthen, who became a first-team All-ACC selection his senior season and a third-round NFL Draft pick of the Kan- sas City Chiefs in 1989. "He made me the person I am today." Sheridan was buried at a private fam- ily service in a cemetery overlooking his high school football field in North Au- gusta, S.C. On Aug. 15, however, former players, staffers, friends and family gath- ered at that field to remember the coach, with hundreds filling the grandstands. It was the perfect football coaches' kind of day, blazing hot sun interrupted by a rain shower that separated the hardy from the hopeful. "There's a two-a-day in heaven to- day," former Furman quarterback Bobby Lamb said. "And both of them will last three hours." Because it was in South Carolina, there were more Furman and Orangeburg High School alumni than those from State, but there was good representation all around. Former State players Pat Teague, Anthony Barbour and staffers O'Cain, Bobby Purcell, Ted Cain and Brette S i m m o n s we re a m o n g t h ose wh o shared their stories of Sheridan's in- spiration. Said Purcell, "He was always the smartest person in any room that he was in." ■ Sheridan Scholarship Fund Supports Football Players The Dick Sheridan Football Scholarship is an endowment fund at the Wolfpack Club established in 2001 by Coach Sheridan to benefit future scholarships for NC State football players. Additional gifts to this fund are always welcome and can be made online at wolfpackclub.com or by scanning the QR code here. Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Sheridan is the third-winningest coach in Wolfpack football history, trailing only Earle Edwards (77 wins from 1954-70) and current coach Dave Doeren (72 wins heading into his 11th season). PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS " He didn't always win with the best players, but he always got the players that he thought would be successful in his program. He always tried to do things the right way. " Mike O'Cain, Sheridan's successor as NC State head coach