Grog Blog: A Look at ECU Football
Okay, are you ready for some football ECU fans! Football starts again this Saturday with a fresh look. New coaching staff, new QB, new uniforms by Adidas... I think that is all that is new. I have been an ECU football fan since 1984 when I started going to football games as my brother enrolled that fall. What a bumpy, thrilling ride it has been! The 80′s, after 1983, were mostly forgettable as the gridiron Bucs found it difficult to get back to their winning ways in the 70s and early 80s. The Tarheels stopped playing us and then the Wolfpack followed suit. Things looked like they may never turn around until some exceptional coaches came to Greenville. Most didn’t stay too long, but it was enough to get the ship righted and from 1991 until 2001, ECU certainly had a lot going right. After several bowl appearances, a few bowl victories, winning seasons, a stadium expansion, a top ten finish, an invite to a conference, and renewed series with both the Tarheels and Wolfpack, the future looked bright for the Purple and Gold.
Some turnover in the administration, a complete let down in a bowl game, and a subpar season ended the streak. The longest tenured coach at ECU was shown the door and JT came in to pump life back into the program. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and ECU only won three games over the next two years. It was one of the bleakest times in Pirate football’s recent history.
Terry Holland was like a breath of fresh air as the new AD, and almost immediately, he made the tough decision to find a new coach. It may not seem to be tough, as his performance indicated, but I am sure Mr. Holland did not take lightly to fire someone, even if they were not showing improvement. For ECU, it was a case of “being in the right place at the right time” and Skip Holtz boarded the Galleon to take the wheel as captain (head coach). This decision turned out to be one of Mr. Holland’s best, as Coach Holtz built a great staff on both sides of the ball and was able to recruit some pretty good players. So in five years, Skip had a bowl victory over a ranked opponent, victories over NCSU, UNC, VT, WVU, BSU, and even beat one of our arch rivals, Southern Miss, a couple of times, not to mention two conference championships. So then Skip turned and left ECU for greener pastures of South Florida to coach the Bulls. That didn’t end too well for him, but I don’t have any hard feelings.
So Coach Holland found a ECU alum who was actually in need of a job named Ruffin McNeill. Ruff, as many called him, brought a sense of family to the program and brought in some young coaches from his previous experiences at other coaching gigs. His first game was a thriller and we saw the new direction the team would take under him... lots of offense and little defense. There were some highs and lows but it seemed like Ruffin might work out. We didn’t win the conference but TH helped to get ECU into the American Athletic Conference, the year after they lost an automatic BCS bid, so although it was a step up, it was not really what we were all hoping for with the move. So then a new AD and another disappointing year and now we have another new coach.
Coach Mo certainly has enthusiasm and has some good experience but the proof is in the pudding. We will see what happens this season and how the next chapter will play out. I hope he will work out and will find that he likes Greenville and will want to stay for several years, but all that remains to be seen. Whatever happens, I will be watching, like all the other loyal Pirate fans, and hoping another great season is just around the corner.
Go Pirates!!!