Chuck Amato wants people to believe he has North Carolina State going on the fast track for the fast lane.

And after his second consecutive winning season and a 13-game schedule this season that is tailor-made for the first double-digit win total in school history, it’s hard to argue that the Wolfpack isn’t one of the nation’s up-and-coming programs.

However, Amato is wearing sharpened cleats as he climbs over some of his opponents, and if he ever falls backward, it won’t be a pretty sight. The brash Italian coach, who spent 18 years as an assistant to Bobby Bowden at Florida State, obviously wants his alma mater to be successful and is willing to do just about anything that is not expressly and clearly prohibited by the NCAA rule book to get there.

Despite losing home conference games to North Carolina, Clemson and Maryland last year, the Wolfpack had an outstanding season in 2001, defined by its 34-28 upset at Florida State. The win meant State was the first ACC squad to beat the Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium, the first league team to beat FSU twice and the first team in nearly three decades to beat the Seminoles on homecoming.

It was a statement for Amato that he isn’t just a Bowden pupil, but a peer, one that could outsmart his mentor with a great game plan and celebrate a victory in the shadow of the Seminoles’ famous sod cemetery.

Amato matched his debut with a 7-4 regular season, but the Wolfpack fell flat in the Tangerine Bowl, losing to Pittsburgh in the Orlando Bowl to finish 7-5. But just getting there was somewhat of a victory, because a strong lobby by Amato and Wolfpack athletics director Lee Fowler, including a surprise visit by those two to the bowl’s offices, earned the Pack a spot over Clemson.

After a season in which Amato bumped heads with two of his fellow coaches, North Carolina’s John Bunting and Clemson’s Tommy Bowden, it’s fairly clear that Amato, a former linebacker and champion wrestler, is not afraid to step on a few toes to get the Wolfpack in the ACC’s upper division.

This year’s national signing day was a perfect example of that. The Wolfpack had seemingly lost out on prep All-America cornerback A.J. Davis , from nearby Durham. Davis had made a commitment to North Carolina in late January, an announcement Amato ignored.

When the Wolfpack coaching staff turned on the lights in the office on signing day, Davis’ letter-of- intent was waiting on the fax machine, the first to arrive. It was a victory for Amato, because most of the great players from Davis’ school, Northern High, had been going to North Carolina ever since former Tar Heel coach Mack Brown hired Northern head coach Ken Browning as an assistant. Browning is still a member of Bunting’s staff.

The UNC staff was furious, especially when it heard about Amato’s gloating performance during his signing day press conference, which was choreographed with selections from Amato’s favorite compilation CD, Mob Hits.

Amato didn’t really understand what all the hubbub was about. Years of recruiting in Florida had taught him to never give up on a recruit, and he considered signing day switches a common occurrence. In fact, Davis wasn’t the only member of this year’s recruiting class to have a last-minute change of heart. Wide receiver Richard Washington , of Fort Myers, Fla., reneged on his commitment to Ohio State to sign with the Pack.

To those who didn’t like his tactics, Amato said simply: "That’s life in the fast lane."

Of course, the pace is sometimes a little too fast for Amato’s own coaches. He lost two defensive assistants in January, defensive coordinator Buddy Green, an N.C. State graduate who was serving his second stint as coordinator, and Cary Goddette, the defensive line coach.

Both clashed with the demanding Amato. Green took a similar position at Navy, while Goddette was simply fired after looking into a job with Navy.

Amato, who lost his offensive coordinator Norm Chow after only one season, surprised many by deciding not to name a new defensive coordinator. Instead, he hired a former Wolfpack teammate, Brian Williams, to coach the defensive backs and said the coordinator’s duties would be spread around the defensive staff.

That change might not be noticeable on the field this year, if the Wolfpack can find a way to replace the productivity of All-America linebacker Levar Fisher. The Pack’s defense is short on experience at that position, but it boasts what should be a fearsome defensive front and a deep secondary.

As a freshman, Philip Rivers (6-5, 236) made news on the field with a record-setting season that made him the top rookie quarterback in league history. Off the field, he got married to his high school sweetheart.

As a sophomore, Rivers had an even better follow-up for the Wolfpack, though his numbers are technically as good as his debut season. And in the off-season, Rivers became a father, which caused more than one person to point out the similarities between Rivers, the strapping 6-5 passer with the odd throwing motion, to Fresno State’s David Carr, who was the first player taken in last year’s NFL draft.

One concern that Amato has is Rivers’ backup, red-shirt freshman Jay Davis (6-1, 206), who has never taken a snap in a college game.

On the surface, the Wolfpack looks like it might be in a difficult situation, trying to replace four-year starter Ray Robinson at tailback. And, indeed, there is no one on the roster that has either Robinson’s experience or his hands for catching passes.

Over the last two years, Robinson caught 93 passes, mostly short flare patterns that he could turn up field and churn out steady yardage after he made the catch. It was this particular offense’s version of the option.

But Robinson had little or no success last year running between the tackles, which hurt the offensive diversity that made the Wolfpack a little more successful under coordinator Norm Chow in 2000 than it was in 2001 under his replacement, Marty Galbraith.

Galbraith, in essence, punted the Wolfpack’s running game to concentrate on keeping Rivers alive, and Robinson’s rushing numbers never took off. He finished the season with 733 yards, which was down from his junior season and way down from his freshman season, when he ran for 822 yards and won the ACC Rookie-of-the-Year Award.

Several veterans will get their chance to take Robinson’s place, starting with senior Cotra Jackson (5-11, 213), who gained only 105 rushing yards as Robinson’s backup last year. Injury-prone fifth-year senior Carlos Doggett (5-10, 232), who sat out in the spring because of academic concerns, will also get one final shot to contribute in the backfield.

Sophomore Josh Brown (5-10, 185), who sat out last season as a partial qualifier, was impressive in early spring practice before tiring at the end. Amato hopes an off-season training regimen will help turn him into the durable player that the Wolfpack’s offense needs in the backfield.

Of course, none of those guys may be on the field at all, if freshman tailback T.A. McLendon (6-2, 220) can translate his high school numbers into college productivity. McLendon, from tiny Albemarle, N.C., set the national record for touchdowns in a career and surpassed the state’s previous career rushing record by more than 1,200 yards.

The Wolfpack has virtually eliminated the fullback position in favor of an additional wide receiver. However, Jackson played there some over the last two years and sophomore Chance Moyer (6-2, 232) is listed as the starter there. Walk-on sophomore Jevon Moore (5-8, 178) is the backup.

Amato has loaded up in his three recruiting classes with talented wide receivers, and the result is a load of options for Rivers. The only regular receiver not returning is tight end Willie Wright, who caught 71 passes over the last two years and was the Wolfpack’s most sure-handed receiver.

Now, senior Bryan Peterson (5-11, 190) is the most veteran member of the receiving corps, although he didn’t exactly develop into the go-to guy many people expected. He did catch 48 passes last year, second only to Ray Robinson, but wasn’t the big-play guy the school that produced Torry Holt and Koren Robinson was used to enjoying.

But Peterson is one of the hardest-working players on the team, someone who makes the most of his abilities.

Several other players do have the potential to be game-breakers, notably junior Jerricho Cotchery (6-1, 200), who became one of Rivers’ favorite targets as the season went along. Cotchery caught 41 passes last season, including four touchdowns.

Sophomore Dovonte Edwards (6-0, 174), best known for his SportsCenter moment of running into the goal-post on a touchdown pass against North Carolina, also seems to have that potential. He notched the longest pass reception of the season, a 56-yarder in the Wolfpack’s stunning upset of Florida State.

Amato brought in several wide receiver recruits who could see immediate playing time. Washington (6-1, 175), the Fort Myers native, was a prep All-American who backed out of his commitment to Ohio State to sign with the Wolfpack. He was considered one of the top 10 receivers in the nation by most recruiting services.

LaMart Barrett (6-1, 190) and Brian Clark (6-3, 185) are two other prospects from Florida who might contribute to the receiving corps as freshmen.

The Wolfpack will have a difficult time replacing Wright’s offensive contribution. He was a converted wide receiver who was a step slow, but had great hands and could always be counted on in big-play situations.

But Amato does have options in seniors Joe Gray (6-4, 260) and Sean Berton (6-2, 255). Gray was primarily a blocker who joined Wright in double-tight end formations, starting two games last year. But he has only four career receptions with only 72 career receiving yards. He has, however, scored three touchdowns.

No question that the Wolfpack’s biggest concern on offense is finding five guys up front to keep Rivers safe. Galbraith brilliantly managed to do that with a makeshift lineup last season, as the Wolfpack’s offensive line allowed the second fewest sacks of any team in the ACC, amazing considering it was in the league’s upper half in pass attempts.

But the entire middle of that line has to be replaced, thanks to the graduation of guards Keegan Weir and William Brown and center Derek Green, who chose to go to graduate school and not use his final year of eligibility.

Galbraith believes he has an extremely capable starting five, including a potential all-star in tackle Chris Colmer (6-5, 305), who started every game as a sophomore last year and should be a major force as a junior. He sat out of spring practice after off-season back surgery, but should be healthy for the fall.

Senior Scott Kooistra (6-6, 304), another solid anchor at left tackle, finally played injury free last season and was a primary reason the slow-afoot Rivers stayed upright most of the year.

Center shouldn’t be a problem because sophomore Jed Paulsen (6-1, 290) played in nine games as a freshman and should provide a solid foundation for years to come.

The guards, however, are tricky. Neither of the two projected starters, junior Sean Locklear (6-4, 284) or senior Shane Riggs (6-3, 272), were on the offensive side of the ball going into last season. They both moved over, with some resistance, in preseason practice.

Riggs, in fact, moved from defensive tackle to offensive tackle to offensive guard, in a year’s time. But both are growing into the position and Amato and Galbraith were pleased with how they played in the spring, though they each had to miss critical time because of class conflicts.

The main thing Amato has to do is keep junior place-kicker Austin Herbert (6-0, 204) from going down the stairs. That’s how Herbert twisted his ankle last season, just a few days before the Wolfpack played rival North Carolina, a 17-9 loss in which Herbert’s absence played a key role.

Herbert returned to handle the punting for the rest of the year, but couldn’t win the place-kicking duties away from walk-on Adam Kiker (6-0, 180), who missed his first extra-point attempt, but was practically perfect the rest of the season.

No one is saying the Wolfpack’s chosen nickname for its defensive linemen -- "Death Row" -- is politically correct. But for the first time in many, many years, it may actually be appropriate.

With four experienced players at the ends, all of them capable of starting and creating havoc, the Wolfpack should have an even better pass rush than the one that finished third in the ACC with 28 sacks last year.

The two players listed as starters going into spring were George Anderson (6-1, 240), who started all 12 games last year, and Drew Wimsatt (6-4, 244), a transfer from Northwestern in 1999 who sat out most of the 2000 season after two back surgeries.

Anderson led the Wolfpack with 11 tackles for loss last year, although he was often overshadowed by the play of departed senior Corey Smith and the linebacking tandem of Fisher and Dantonio Burnette . But he is a consistent player who had six sacks last year, second on the team.

Wimsatt played behind Smith last year, and contributed 22 tackles and two sacks.

But perhaps the two most dangerous rushers on the team are a pair of players who arrived last year from Los Angeles Valley College, a junior college in California. Both Terrance Chapman (6-3, 248) and Shawn Price (6-2, 235) were highly regarded coming out of high school, and wound up at N.C. State because Amato kept tabs on them from his days as one of Florida State’s top recruiters.

They were expected to be splashy and fearsome, with their combination of speed and muscle. They were, to a point. Both needed longer to adjust to the college game, especially the rigorous schedules kept by Division I-A players. And both had to overcome ankle sprains that cost Chapman one game and Price two.

In the defensive line interior, seniors Terrance Martin (6-3, 290) and Jerrick Hall (6-2, 285) are solid anchors who have some legitimate backups in junior Ricky Fowler (6-2, 288) and red-shirt freshman Brian Cross.

Martin made an immediate impact after arriving from junior college last fall. He made 30 tackles (four for losses) even though he missed time because of an emergency appendectomy.

Amato returned to the junior college ranks to improve his team’s depth up front, signing two players that will be worked into the rotation. Defensive end Sheldon Lewin (6-3, 270) was a first-team junior college All-America at Nassau County (N.Y.) Community College. Tackle Alan Holloway (6-2, 275) came from the same school.

Burnette (5-10, 233), a senior and the Wolfpack’s man in the middle, won’t have the familiar faces surrounding him this year.

But "Thunder Dan," as his teammates like to call the hard-hitting middle linebacker, is ready to step out of the shadows and lead an inexperienced corps that will be without Fisher and departed senior Brian Jamison, who combined for 225 tackles last season.

Burnette’s backup will be sophomore Corrie Dawson (6-3, 236), who had a team-high six tackles during the spring game and is developing a reputation as another big-hitter.

The outside positions will be manned by a handful of talented players from Amato’s first recruiting classes who got some, but not a lot, of experience last year.

Filling in at Fisher’s weak-side spot are sophomores Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay (6-1, 224) and Pat Thomas (6-1, 224), a pair of talented players who were able to absorb some of Fisher’s motor-mouth intensity.

Thomas was limited in the spring with a shoulder injury, but the coaches believe he has all-star potential after spending last season behind Fisher. Thomas filled in after Fisher broke his arm in the Tangerine Bowl and had six tackles.

Aughtry-Lindsay played behind Burnette at middle linebacker last year but moved to an outside position in the spring. He’s a versatile player that Fisher calls "a beast."

Junior Roger Pollard (6-0, 216), who was the primary substitute last year, will handle the strong-side position. He actually started three games last year, primarily because of Burnette’s injuries, and finished the season with 48 tackles and three tackles for loss, more than any other Wolfpack defensive reserve.

The Wolfpack’s secondary suffered the least attrition from last year and has some of the best talent, thanks to Amato’s concentration on finding speedy, skilled players in his first couple of recruiting classes and the last-minute addition of Davis from Durham, N.C.

Losing cornerback Brian Williams, an underrated cover guy even if he was a converted safety, will hurt, now that Williams has completed his eligibility and is now playing in the NFL.

But the Wolfpack secondary has great leadership in senior free safety Terrence Holt (6-2, 203), a three-year starter who won first-team All-ACC honors last year for his work on defense and special teams. Holt, the younger brother of former NCSU All-America wide receiver Torry Holt (now with the St. Louis Rams), was the team’s third-leading tackler last year with 106 stops, behind linebackers Fisher and Burnette.

In his career, Holt has also blocked two punts and seven field goals, including four blocked field goals last year.

He has two experienced backups in junior Victor Stephens (6-0, 185) and senior Rod Johnson (5-9, 185).

The rest of the secondary is loaded with young talent fighting to win starting jobs. It’s exactly the kind of depth and competition Amato was used to when he was at Florida State for 18 years as an assistant coach.

At strong safety, senior Julius Patterson (5-11, 191) started all 12 games and was expected to be a solid starter going into this season, after finishing fourth on the team with 79 tackles last year.

But sophomore Andre Maddox (6-0, 191), who came on strong at the end of last year, had a terrific spring and is listed as the starter going into pre-fall practice.

Similar things happened at cornerback, where the Wolfpack broke in several freshmen last year by sticking them directly into the fire. Now, going into their sophomore seasons, the combination of Lamont Reid (6-0, 185), Marcus Hudson (6-1, 193) and Greg Golden (5-10, 191) will rotate with junior J.J. Washington (5-8, 180) in the secondary to provide pressure coverage. And freshman Davis, who played wide receiver and cornerback in high school, will find his way on to the field somewhere, whether it’s on defense or returning punts and kicks. He had six career interceptions in high school.

Junior Austin Herbert (6-0, 204) hurt himself just before the Wolfpack’s game against North Carolina, but still handled all 53 of his team’s punts last year. And he got increasingly better at it as the year went along, finishing with 10 punts of longer than 50 yards.

No team in the country has been more dangerous at blocking kicks than the Wolfpack. Punt-blocking specialist Brian Williams is gone, but Holt returns for his senior year, hoping to add to his seven blocked field goals.

Four of those came last season, when the Wolfpack strong safety tied a national record set back in 1982 for field goals blocked in a season. In all, the Wolfpack blocked nine field goals, punts and extra points last year.

Amato created a storm of attention when he convinced Davis (6-0, 177) to sign with the Wolfpack, after Davis had previously committed to arch-rival North Carolina.

It was a monumental victory for the Wolfpack, because Davis became one of the rare in-state recruiting gems who didn’t sign with the Tar Heels or leave for an out-of-state power house such as Penn State, Tennessee or Florida State.

Amato admitted that Davis’ commitment didn’t mean anything to him, and that he wasn’t all that concerned about the hullabaloo that was created and the ill-will that was felt by his colleagues in Chapel Hill.

That should make the recruiting battles between Amato and UNC coach Bunting, a long-time NFL linebacker with a competitive streak a mile wide, even more intense in coming years.

But overall, Amato’s third recruiting class wasn’t as talented as his second, a breakthrough class of top-notch athletes from Florida and North Carolina who made big plays throughout last year.

The coach, who was Bobby Bowden’s top Florida recruiting ace during his 18 years at Florida State, did sign 10 more players from the Sunshine State, but only landed six from North Carolina.

Davis, McLendon, Washington, the two junior college defensive linemen and linebacker Dukes are all capable of stepping on the field immediately and contributing significantly, assuming they all make it to school. Davis hadn’t qualified academically heading into the summer, and Dukes was waiting to see where he was picked in the major league baseball draft.

In a league that will be largely mediocre after Florida State this year, there is no reason why the Wolfpack can’t challenge for one of the top two or three spots in the ACC. Lord knows its schedule is easy enough to win 10 games for the first time in school history.

That’s doesn’t mean the Wolfpack will be a great team, but Amato is clearly building a program that hopes to be a consistent challenger to FSU, his employer for 18 years.

Amato has already proven that he can beat the Seminoles, and has done his best in three years to beat his former team in recruiting in the state of Florida, particularly in the player-rich mines of South Florida. Amato has signed at least 10 players from the Sunshine State in each of his three recruiting classes.

Not all of them are the superstars that FSU, Miami and Florida are fighting for, but even the state’s lower echelon players are more talented and football savvy than some of the ones in North Carolina, which has five Division I-A schools vying for a much smaller pool of players.

Amato proved in recruiting this year that he can be relentless. The Wolfpack hopes to prove the same thing on the field in 2002.