Back with the Pack

Picking out a career highlight from his days as a linebacker for NC State would seem to be an easy question for Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay ’06. It has to be when he scored two touchdowns during a 2003 game against UConn, including one when he returned an interception 56 yards to win the game in the final seconds.

But Aughtry-Lindsay is a team-first sort of guy, so he favors the 2002 season when the Wolfpack defeated Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl to finish with an 11-3 record. Or the 2004 season, when Aughtry-Lindsay was part of the top-ranked defense in the country.

So it’s no surprise that Aughtry-Lindsay moved into coaching once his playing days were over. After working as an assistant coach at schools such as Elon, Campbell and N.C. Central, Aughtry-Lindsday rejoined the Wolfpack coaching staff in 2020 (having worked as a graduate assistant for the team from 2008–10). He is in charge of the nickel backs in the defensive secondary.

“I was always kind of a coach, even when I was a player,” he says. “I was always the guy that would lead, and want to understand the game plan in more depth. I always thought like a coach.”

Aughtry-Lindsay, 40, loves being back at his alma mater and wearing the red and white again. “To be able to come back here and give back is a dream,” he says. “I want to give this university everything that I can give, because it gave me a lot.”

In addition to his duties on the field and in recruiting, Aughtry-Lindsay teaches a leadership class for freshmen players. It’s a reflection of his belief that coaching is about more than helping players learn the proper technique. “I want them to be a better person and a better football player,” he says. “I love seeing them develop in all aspects of their life.”