The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/846301
162 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER he good guys wore white — shoes, that is. NC State's 1967 football team was carried to the school's first-ever bowl win on the backs of one of the best defenses in Atlantic Coast Conference history, a squad that made a name for itself 50 years ago this fall thanks to a brash senior named Chuck Amato. The Pennsylvania-born linebacker/wres- tler convinced his teammates to throw their game shoes out of a window at Reynolds Coliseum the day before the 1967 season- opener against North Carolina and, without permission from head coach Earle Edwards or defensive coordinator Al Michaels, painted them with white shoe polish Amato bought from the Man-Mur Barber Shop on Hillsbor- ough Street. The White Shoes Defense was born. "We knew we were going to be a good defense," Amato says. "We had nine starters back, and one of them [tackle Dennis Byrd] was an All-American. We just wanted to do something special." They considered shaving their heads or going Mohawk, but even in 1967 those op- tions were cliché. And white shoes in the rigid world of college football, back when everybody's uniform scheme was similar to Penn State's current combinations, was pretty radical. As it turned out, the Wolfpack could beat teams wearing their own shoes or ones they borrowed from their hosts. When the 3-0 Wolfpack traveled to Hous- ton to play the No. 2 Cougars at the world- famous Astrodome, they were required to In 1967, One Of The Best Defenses In School History Led The Wolfpack To A 9-2 Record, The School's First Bowl Win And Its Highest National Ranking THE WHITE SHOES DEFENSE ■ PACK PAST