N.C. State announces the death of former football coach Dick Sheridan
The N.C. State football family lost one of their legendary football coaches on Thursday afternoon. The school announced on their Twitter page that former Wolfpack head coach Dick Sheridan has died. He was 81 years old.
Check out the brief statement they put on their Twitter page below.
“N.C. State football and all of Wolfpack Nation mourn the loss of Hall of Fame Coach Dick Sheridan. You were a true diamond, Coach Sheridan,” the tweet said on Thursday afternoon.
For a video below on the team honoring his career. Check that out below.
Dick Sheridan coaching career and highlights
During seven seasons with the N.C. State Wolfpack, Sheridan compiled an overall record of 52-29-3. He led the Wolfpack to six bowl games. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020.
Sheridan coached for N.C. State from 1986-1992. The team finished ranked in at least one poll three times under him. He was such a respected figure that Georgia offered him their head coaching position in 1998 after Vince Dooley stepped down.
Sheridan ended up turning down the offer from the Bulldogs and during his time as the Wolfpack’s head coach–he went 6-1 vs. UNC during his time in Raleigh. That record included beating Mack Brown five times in a row during his first stint with the Tar Heels.
Sheridan stepped down from his post before the start of the 1993 season, citing health reasons. His .637 winning percentage is second all-time at NC State football in the ACC era, trailing only fellow College Football Hall of Famer’s Lou Holtz’s .719 percentage from 1972-75.
Sheridan’s .630 mark in ACC play is third after Holtz’s .739 and Holtz’s replacement Bo Rein’s .652 from 1976-79.
In addition to the winning, Sheridan was also known for introducing the popular diamond logo on football uniforms that continued under Sheridan’s replacement, Mike O’Cain.
Prior to coming to NC State, he coached at Furman for eight seasons and had a 69-23-2 record. Two times he helped guide the Paladins to the Final Four of Division I-AA (now called FBS) playoffs.
A native of Augusta, South Carolina–Sheridan graduated from South Carolina in 1964. He started his coaching career in the high school football coaching ranks of the state of South Carolina. He had an overall record of 37-8-1 as a high school head football coach. The former Wolfpack legend guided Orangeburg-Wilkinson Senior High School to a class AAA state crown in 1971.
On3’s Matt Carter also contributed to this article.