The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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SEPTEMBER 2016 ■ 29 50 1966 2016 Holtz lost just one home game at Carter Stadium in four years. Midway through his tenure, he started showing recruits plans for expansion and improvement, as did, in succession, head coaches Bo Rein, Monte Kiffin, Tom Reed, Dick Sheridan and Mike O'Cain. Shortly after the bonds were burned, a Charlotte architectural firm actually looked into the possibility of enclosing Carter Stadium with a removable roof and addi- tional seating that would increase capacity to roughly 60,000 spectators, at a cost of about $30 million. It was designed to be a multi-purpose facility with a Teflon-coated architectural fabric roof that could also host basketball tournaments. Chancellor Thomas called the project "a terrible financial bur- den," and the idea was never really pursued. The only substantial change during that time was adding Finley's name to the stadium. The Raleigh philanthropist and founder of the North Carolina Equipment Company, which provided equipment for building Carter Stadium, has also contrib- uted to several other projects at NC State and surrounding schools. Bryant petitioned Casey and Thomas to make the change. The board of trustees actually approved the name change as "Finley-Carter Sta- dium" in 1979, but the names were trans- posed when it was officially announced prior to the season-opening game against East Carolina on Sept. 8, 1979. CHANGE ON THE HORIZON Throughout the 1980s and '90s, the school tinkered with plans to upgrade the facilities, kicking off the Goal Line Drive fundraising campaign in 1993 to raise $45 million by selling seating rights within the stadium. But that was on the heels of an NCAA probation, and changes in athletics and uni- versity administration and on the football coaching staff, not to mention a higher prior- ity being placed on building the Entertain- ment and Sports Arena (now PNC Arena) next door. It helped that the Carolina Hur- ricanes moved to Raleigh and assumed all operational expenses and that the construc- tion costs were shared by the state and the city of Raleigh. Renovation plans languished until 1999, when the school was ready to proceed, de- spite the dismissal of O'Cain as head coach. "We were moving forward, no matter who the coach was," Purcell said. "It was time to get started." When Chuck Amato was hired to replace O'Cain at the beginning of 2000, he helped build the momentum for improving the sta- dium that Edwards, the coach who had re- Two ministers and a poet go to a football stadium to take their turns at center stage. That may sound like the start of an Andy Griffith routine, but it actually happened during Carter-Finley Stadium's brief history as a venue for speakers and commence- ment exercises, with appearances by preacher Billy Graham, TV personality Fred Rogers, poet MAYA ANGELOU and a parade of politicians and academicians. Early in Lou Holtz's second season as head coach, Graham arrived in Raleigh for eight consecutive nights of the Central Carolina Crusade. While Holtz took his team to Nebraska and Georgia, Graham preached the gospel to some 25,000 people per night from a stage in the middle of the field. The Pack lost both games on the road, it returned home in early October and, perhaps with a little divine intervention, the Wolfpack beat North Carolina 28-26, thanks to a fourth-and-goal touchdown from the 1-yard line by eventual ACC Player of the Year Willie Burden. State won seven of its final eight games, including all of its ACC contests, to win its only league title under Holtz. In 1987, to cap the school's year - long celebration of its centen- nial, commencement exercises were moved from Reynolds Co l i s e u m to Ca r te r- Fi n l e y. Chancellor Bruce Poulton gave the address to some 4,000 new graduates. Subsequent speakers for the outdoor exercises included Angelou in 1990, the first female commencement speaker in school history; North Carolinian Elizabeth Dole in 1994 when she was president of the American Red Cross; and Rogers, the beloved children's television host who was also an ordained Presbyterian minister. Former NC State football player J.D. Hayworth returned to Carter-Finley as a U.S. Congressman from Arizona in 1997, Gen. Hugh Shelton returned to his alma mater as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1998 and long-time Governor James B. Hunt gave one of his three commencement addresses there in 1993. In 1991, exactly 50 years after he was supposed to be the student speaker at commencement exercises held at Riddick Stadium, President Emeritus of the UNC System and 1941 NC State College graduate William Friday finally gave an address in a football stadium. (Finley's student address was forced inside to Thompson Gym because of rain.) The 1989 exercises had to move back into Reynolds because of rain, too, but the experiment of holding commencement at Carter-Finley lasted through 1999. They were eventually moved back inside with the opening of the Entertainment and Sports Arena (now PNC Arena) in 1999. Outdoor commencements didn't always go off without a hitch. There were a few incidents along the way, even more than the usual mid-speech pizza delivery. Dur - ing Angelou's 12-minute address, a small plane flew over the stadium that read "Fire Monteith," a protest against the chancellor who replaced Poulton in the wake of an NCAA investigation into Jim Valvano's basketball program. Mostly, however, it was a good send-off into the real world for the new graduates. — Tim Peeler NC State Commencement Speakers At Carter-Finley NC STATE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS AT CARTER-FINLEY STADIUM Spring 1987: Chancellor Bruce Poulton Spring 1988: Newscaster Edwin Newman Spring 1989: Governor James G. Martin (moved to Reynolds) Spring 1990: Poet Maya Angelou Spring 1991: President Emeritus of the UNC System William Friday Spring 1992: Chancellor Emeritus John T. Caldwell Spring 1993: Governor James B. Hunt Spring 1994: President of the American Red Cross Elizabeth Dole Spring 1995: President of The Ohio State University E. Gordon Gee Spring 1996: Television host Fred McFeely Rogers Spring 1997: U.S. Congressman from Arizona and former NC State football player J.D. Hayworth Spring 1998: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry Hugh Shelton Spring 1999: U.S. Senator John Edwards MAYA ANGELOU PHOTO COURTESY NCSU LIBRARIES