NC State football countdown to kickoff: 72
The NC State football season opener for 2022 is at East Carolina on Sept. 3 — or 72 days away from Thursday. The Wolfpacker continues its countdown for the season with a note about the number 72.
72: Significant moments involving the number 72 in NC State football history
• In 1972, a new coach took over at NC State football: Lou Holtz.
The move came after a well-told story involving Holtz, then at William & Mary, and then-NC State director of athletics Willis Casey agreeing to meet in a gas station parking lot in South Hills, Va., following the 1970 season and legendary NC State football coach Earle Edwards’ retirement.
Each waited impatiently for an hour before realizing that the other person in the parking lot was who they were supposed to be meeting. Casey told Holtz he didn’t look like a football coach. Holtz quipped in reply the Casey didn’t have the appearance of an athletics director.
Holtz originally turned down Casey, but Casey countered by suggesting they wait a year before finalizing any decisions. A week after the 1971 season, Holtz accepted the position, replacing the NC State interim coach Al Michaels.
Holtz led NC State football to one of its best four-year stretches in program history. The Wolfpack went 33-12-3 from 1972-75, including 16-5-2 in the ACC. NC State finished the year ranked in the top 20 in three out of four campaigns, including No. 9 in the coaches’ poll in 1974.
That 1972 squad started the run. Taking over a team that went 3-8 the year prior, Holtz led the Pack to an 8-3-1 record, including a 4-1-1 mark in the ACC, and a final Associated Press poll ranking of No. 17.
After starting the season 1-2-1, NC State won seven of its final eight games. The lone loss was to No. 10 Penn State on the road. The Wolfpack would defeat No. 18 West Virginia in the Peach Bowl, crushing the Bobby Bowden-led Mountaineers, 49-13.
After the 1975 campaign, Holtz left NC State for a one-year stint in the NFL as the head coach of the New York Jets.
• There is one current player on the roster who wears jersey No. 72. Third-year redshirt freshman Sean Hill is a contender to be on the two-deep at guard this fall.
Hill was a rapid-riser in the evaluation period for the 2020 class. The product of Snellville (Ga.) Brookwood High was offered by Boston College, Central Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, Miami, Purdue, Rutgers and West Virginia all gave Hill a scholarship before he committed to NC State.
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