The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1000643
158 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER T ol Avery went all around the world to get back to his hometown of Four Oaks, N.C. And he's having the time of his life, im- parting the wisdom he learned as a cel- ebrated athlete and military leader to the young minds sitting in the seats he once occupied. Avery, who made history as NC State's first African-American quarterback, has had multiple careers since his three years as the Wolfpack's starter under center for head coach Monte Kiffin from 1980-82. Coming out of a decade of a split-veer of- fensive scheme, Avery set passing records that ushered the Wolfpack into the era of pass-first offenses. One of his careers was in professional football, in brief stints with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. One was as a U.S. Army Sargent First Class, where he served in both Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield in Iraq while stationed as a tank commander and instructor in Friedburg and Gelnhausen, Germany. And his current one is as a school admin- istrator in his native Johnston County, not far away from where he grew up working in his father's tobacco fields. For five years, Avery was the assistant principal at South Johnston High School, where he was a well-decorated four-sport star — a versatile all-state quarterback, a ■ PACK PAST Avery was recruited to NC State by Bo Rein, who accepted the head coaching job at LSU after his freshman year and then was killed in a plane ac- cident. Avery then started at quarterback for three seasons under Rein's replacement, Monte Kiffin. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS BACK TO HIS ROOTS Former Wolfpack Quarterback Tol Avery Is A Middle School Principal In His Hometown Of Four Oaks, N.C.