An NC State tradition turns 50: The story behind the ‘Wolf Fingers’ hand sign and its legacy ever since

By Noah Fleischman

It doesn’t matter where one might be in the world. Whether it’s inside an airport in Middle America or on a glacier in Iceland, if someone is donning NC State gear of any kind, it’s likely that they’ll be met with a simple gesture in return: ‘Wolf Fingers’. 

Not many schools around the country have a hand sign to identify with, but NC State is one of the few that has its own. It’s an easy thing to make, using all five fingers on a given hand to create what appears to be a silhouette of a wolf’s head with the index and pinky fingers as the ears and the other three together to create a mouth. 

The hand sign has become ingrained in the Wolfpack’s culture. Nearly every student that makes their way through Raleigh has used it at some point, likely a multitude of times a week, while others grow up creating the sign as young as just a few years old.

“It’s a wonderful thing because you can self-identify walking through an airport or any other public space, simply by making the hand sign,” former NC State Athletic Director Debbie Yow said. “That’s what makes it special.”

NC State’s most-commonly used tradition is set to turn 50 years old on Saturday. It debuted inside Carter-Finley Stadium ahead of the Wolfpack’s 1975 season opener, and fittingly, it will return to the same venue on its birthday as a sold-out crowd of 56,919 raucous fans will utilize it as NC State hosts Virginia (12 p.m., ESPN2). 

Although it’s been around for a while, the iconic hand sign was created almost by accident. But it has since become one of the most-recognizable traditions on the Wolfpack’s campus.

A summer idea turns into an NC State staple

John Mandrano saw Texas’ ‘Hook ‘em Horns’ nearly everywhere he went as camp counselor at cheerleading camps in the second-largest state in the country during the summer of 1975. It didn’t matter if it was the junior high or high school cheerleaders, all of the Texas-crazed children flashed the hand sign wherever they went — likely dreaming of joining the Longhorns’ spirit teams in Austin. 

Mandrano, who was a rising senior at NC State at the time, thought it was a neat innovation. The Wolfpack didn’t have an easy hand sign to display at games or other functions like it, so his mind started to churn as more and more children utilized it.

Soon enough it hit him while changing a movie reel one night at the camp. The projector light was still running, so some children were making hand puppets in the light. Of course, the ‘Hook em Horns’ signs appeared again, but so did ones that seemed to resemble a dog when the campers pretended to bark with their fingers. 

That was it. It had two ears and a snout, just like a wolf. This was the perfect opportunity for Mandrano to help create an easy, yet impactful hand sign for NC State. 

Mandrano workshopped the idea a little bit more and saw his suitemates create a similar version of it days later in the dorms, and even though he thought it could come across as weird at first, he pitched it to the rest of the Wolfpack’s cheerleaders upon his August return to campus. One hot summer day before the team’s practice in a grassy area behind Reynolds Coliseum, Mandrano showed the rest of the cheer team his ideas while they were all sitting in a circle.

To teach the team, he made it simple: take Texas’ iconic hand sign that resembled a Longhorn, and extend the middle and ring fingers to look like the nose of a wolf. After that short tutorial, the rest of the squad didn’t need any convincing after seeing what the end result looked like.

“We loved it,” then-NC State cheerleader Angie Crumpler (nee Smith) said. “We just thought it was a great idea.”

NC State’s marching band was practicing nearby, so the cheer team ventured over there to see what they thought of it. Sure enough, the campus musicians were also on board. This had the chance to take off. It was easy to teach and unique to the Wolfpack — something that the student body could embrace in a hurry.

By the time NC State football’s season opener rolled around, Mandrano was ready to introduce his creation to the Carter-Finley Stadium student section ahead of Lou Holtz’s fourth season at the helm of the Wolfpack. 

It was Sept. 6, 1975 when East Carolina rolled into Raleigh, and the students were revved up for the in-state rivalry game. But before kickoff, Mandrano, who was also the captain and mic man for the squad, came across on the speaker to teach the rowdy students what he invented. 

“I want everybody to stand up,” Mandrano told the students, who followed as if they were playing a game of ‘Simon Says.’ “I want everybody to put their arms high in the air.” They continued to follow the directions. “I want you folks to give me what’s called the ‘Hook em Horns.’” Done. “Now, I want you to push out your thumb and two fingers to make a snout on that.” Easy enough.

By the time he was done with his four-step directions, there were hundreds of students with their hands in the air in a new shape, the one Mandrano crafted himself.

“And now we have the Wolfpack,” Mandrano told the NC State faithful. 

From that day — which featured a 26-3 win over ECU with 47,500 people in attendance — on, Mandrano’s hand sign became a part of NC State’s culture. It took off, in part, by the support from the students, but more importantly, a trio of the most-visible people on campus that year: football standouts Dave and Don Buckey, and women’s basketball coach Kay Yow, who was hired just months before in July 1975 after four years at Elon. 

Their backing, similar to what a social media influencer would have in today’s age, allowed the once idea to turn into an eventual tradition in Raleigh.

“Coach Yow was a person of stature that took up the Wolf Fingers and started using it,” said Mandrano, who was an accounting, business and economics triple major during his time at NC State. “And when you have that, a prominent coach, and the Buckey twins doing it, the band bought in and the cheerleaders got behind it, I think that gave it the legs to run.”

Ever since that season, the hand sign cemented itself in the campus culture. All over the Wolfpack’s grounds, from basketball games to graduation ceremonies to the biggest football contests, the hand sign is visible. Each time it’s flashed in public, especially in the Triangle or at any event an NC State team is participating in, it’s easy to tell who that person is rooting for.

“I would have never in my wildest dreams thought that it would become what it is to the Wolfpack Nation,” Mandrano said. “It’s just mind-blowing. It became a symbol of unity. I’m just amazed this all stuck. It’s a big deal with NC State’s identity.”

Its legacy over the past 50 years

Just outside of Reynolds Coliseum, not too far from where the tradition was born, sits Kay Yow’s bronze statue in NC State’s Coaches Corner. She’s flanked by three other NC State legends in coaching — Everett Case, Norm Sloan and Jim Valvano — but hers has a unique touch. 

Yow, an early proponent of the hand sign, is featured holding up her right hand in the Wolf Fingers. She’s forever etched in time using one of the university’s most-commonly used traditions, fitting since she was key in allowing the gesture to become commonplace in Raleigh. 

While Yow was one of the most-famous early adopters of the hand sign, it has since infiltrated all walks of life. Students stand next to her statue, mimicking the same pose, while others use the Wolf Fingers in everyday life. It has become second nature for most on campus.

“You could have knocked me over with a feather if anybody told me that 50 years later it would become the iconic symbol of NC State,” Crumpler said. “Graduates when they get their diploma are all making Wolf Fingers.”

Even those that visit NC State’s campus with no ties to the university find themselves using the hand sign, too. former President Barack Obama, who has visited the Wolfpack’s campus three times over the years, was quick to utilize the gesture during his campaign stops in Raleigh. 

While other Presidents have stopped by the Pack’s campus, including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Obama is believed to be the only one photographed embracing NC State’s tradition. 

Crumpler, who was there the day it was introduced to the cheer squad and eventually the world, couldn’t believe it when she saw him use the hand sign during his visits.

“That made me very happy that a President would do that,” Crumpler said of Obama. “If you have the American President, the leader of the free world, making it, I think you’ve arrived.”

If the hand sign needed any validation, it received it via one of the most powerful men in the world. It didn’t though. Yow and the rest of the Wolfpack’s coaches and players that helped popularize it around campus were all it needed to take off with a full head of steam.

But for Mandrano, the one who thought his idea would come across as dorky at first, there’s a unique feeling about attending NC State games. He’s held four football season tickets at the top of a section between the 35 and 40-yard lines behind the Wolfpack’s bench since 1986, and his creation is seen nearly everywhere he looks.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a toddler or football player on the sideline, usually their hand will resemble the wolf throughout the day. And when it’s time to take a picture at the game, it’s almost a guarantee that the hand sign will appear not far from the man that created it. 

Mandrano can’t believe it has stuck around five decades, but he feels as though he has helped make an impact at his alma mater. That, he said, warms his heart the most.

“I just get this smile on my face and this warm glow of, ‘Wow, look at this,’” Mandrano said, his grin seemingly radiating through the phone. “It’s a great feeling to be a part of what’s a legacy or symbol of my university forever.”