The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544864
48 ■ THE WOLFPACKER lapped with the football team's after- noon practice. Members of the coaching staff told him to leave, but Ramsay was determined to complete his customary four laps. Holtz accused him of being a spy for Maryland, the team NC State faced later that week. Ramsay said the only way he would leave the track was if Holtz had him arrested … so that's what the coach did. Ramsay ended up in handcuffs, and the whole incident blew up nationally, even after interim chancellor Jackson A. Rigney stepped in and pardoned the professor. The Wake County district attorney's office wasn't so understanding. The controversy kept going for another month, with Ramsay facing charges of "resisting, delaying and obstructing a public officer while the officer was attempting to discharge his duty." Those charges were eventually dis- missed by Wake County district attor- ney Burley Mitchell, an NC State gradu- ate. Ramsay was censured by the NC State faculty senate, and the professor was forced to write a letter of apology to the officer involved. After the season, Holtz resigned to accept the Jets' head coaching position. It turned out to be a disastrous one-year entry on the coach's résumé, followed by stints at four other Division I pro- grams. In all, the College Football Hall of Famer was 249-132-7 in his 33 years as a head coach. He returned to NC State on a hurri- cane-soaked night on Sept. 6, 1999, as head coach of the Gamecocks, losing to Mike O'Cain's final Wolfpack team, 10-0. It was the first loss in what would turn out to be an 0-11 season for South Carolina. In October 2023, Holtz returned to Raleigh to reunite with his former play- ers at the University Club on Hillsbor- ough Street, a poi- gnant farewell for those who helped establish a founda- tion of success un- der the coach. "I just want to say how special you were to me," Holtz told the collected group of players. "You can go into a lot of professions, make a lot of money and do many things. But when you're a coach, you have a chance to do some- thing significant. "And what you hope is that you help other people be successful in all that they do. That lasts a lifetime." ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. " You can go into a lot of professions, make a lot of money and do many things. But when you're a coach, you have a chance to do something significant. And what you hope is that you help other people be successful in all that they do. That lasts a lifetime." Holtz, speaking at a gathering of his former NC State players in 2023 Shown here with receiver Pat Kenney (center) and defensive back Tom Siegfried (right), Holtz concluded his first season at NC State by guiding the Pack to a 49-13 victory over West Virginia in the 1972 Peach Bowl. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS