Coaching football involves continual adjustments. New East Carolina football coach Ruffin McNeill had to adapt his coaching staff before preseason camp got started in response to the resignation of Mark Nelson, who was in charge of defensive ends and special teams.

Nelson went through spring practice at ECU but apparently committed secondary NCAA infractions with improper observation of summer workouts. McNeill adjusted by hiring Duane Price to coach defensive tackles. He moved former Pirates standout Marc Yellock from defensive tackles to defensive ends and added special teams duties to those of running backs coach Clay McGuire.

"We're certainly excited to welcome Duane to our Pirate family," McNeill said when Price boarded the Pirate ship. "He was a big part of our success a year ago and I know what he can offer this program. He's a master technician and motivator with an unmatched work ethic — someone I know our players will respond to in a very positive manner."

McNeill's ability to adjust certainly paid off for Texas Tech as he took over for dismissed coach Mike Leach following Leach's alleged mistreatment of receiver Adam James during the 2009 season. The Red Raiders outscored Michigan State 41-31 in the Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2 under McNeill's guidance. McNeill's sudden and successful ascension at Texas Tech enhanced his status at his alma mater as ECU athletic director Terry Holland was searching for a replacement for Skip Holtz following his departure to South Florida.

Price was right for Pirates

Price was a defensive graduate assistant on the staff of new Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville when he was contacted about the staff vacancy at ECU in July.

"I just went in and I talked to Coach Tuberville and our defensive coordinator and told 'em I had a great opportunity to go coach for Coach McNeill and Coach (Brian) Mitchell (ECU defensive coordinator)," Price said. "(Coach Tuberville) knew right then and there it was a great opportunity for me and was very supportive. He wished me the best. He was very classy about it."

Price, 31, who played baseball and football for the Red Raiders, brings experience in Conference USA to the Pirate staff, having been an assistant at Tulane in 2008. Price played two seasons in the Cincinnati Reds organization. ECU's defensive tackles are inexperienced with no returning starters. Jay Ross and Linval Joseph started every game in the Pirates' 9-5 Conference USA championship season in 2009. Joseph was in on 60 tackles and Ross helped make 47 stops. Joseph made 13 tackles for loss before opting out of his senior season and becoming a second round draft choice of the New York Giants.

"I had a good feeling of what we were going to do defensively when I came in," said Price, who worked with defensive tackles as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech in 2009. "There's a lot of carryover from what we did. There's a few tweaks here and there that the staff had made throughout the spring."

Price began his adjustment at ECU by watching tape of his personnel from spring practice. Helping his position players improve is his mission.

Coming out of spring, senior Josh Smith was the starter at defensive tackle in ECU's four-front scheme. Junior Diavalo Simpson was listed as Smith's back-up. Junior Antonio Allison was the frontrunner at nose tackle and redshirt freshman Jimmy Booth from Greenville Rose was No. 2 on the depth chart. Smith is the most experienced of the tackle group with 10 solo tackles last season and 16 assists. He had four sacks in 13 games. Allison played against West Virginia and North Carolina before sustaining a foot injury in the first half against the Tar Heels that sidelined him for the rest of the 2009 season. He was in on five tackles at West Virginia and made one solo stop at Chapel Hill.

Allison apparently has been dealing with some recurring problems with the foot but sophomore Michael Brooks is back in the tackle mix after missing spring to recover from knee surgery.

"They're here for a reason," Price said of the tackle group. "They were great players in high school. They have a high ceiling of opportunity. There's obviously room for improvement but they have to understand that each rep they take is an opportunity to get better."

Price wants his position players to focus on the teaching points emphasized in drill work and implement them in the scrimmage and game situations. The Pirates have a closed scrimmage Saturday before the Meet the Pirates fan fest at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium from 6 to 8 p.m. McNeill has focused more on team situations this week in preparation for the second preseason scrimmage.

"When they go into a team setting they can take that rep and make the most of it," Price said. "They can get better each rep, each practice, each day. That's what we're talking about in our meeting rooms and on the practice field."

Aggression will characterize the play of the defensive tackles and the unit in general.

"They attack," Price said. "They play the guards. They do a good job of creating havoc inside. At times, if they play it right, they'll be able to draw a double team and the (line)backers can stack the double team and come off and be free. Our goal is to attack, play that guard, create havoc and cut off some running lanes in the zone-type stuff in schemes people run. In power situations, you have to take the double team and just do a good job of clogging everything up front, run-wise.

"Pass-wise, we want to be a factor in the pass rush. We want to be able to have a one-on-one situation with our three technique and have some games we can do with our one technique and our play-side end to free those guys up and just make plays. We don't want (the defensive tackles) just to be run-stop type of guys. We want them to be aggressive and physical in the passing game as well."

When Price arrived from Lubbock, he made his home at the City Hotel and Bistro in Greenville.

"They've done a good job of taking care of me there," he said. "(Greenville) reminds me of the area where I grew up in Jacksonville, Texas. There's a lot of tall pine trees so I felt at home the very first day I got here."

Price's wife, Becca, and son, Chilton, 7, are still in Lubbock.

"Our son is a first grader and we felt at this juncture that they needed to stay back and allow her to continue her year as a teacher there — at least through the fall," Price said. "We decided to let them remain there because my son's teacher is my wife's best friend from high school. That's kind of our situation with them right now so I'm looking forward to getting them out here, hopefully, in January, but they're definitely coming down for three or four ball games this year. They'll be here for the Tulsa game. ... We'll make the fall work. My wife is great. She traveled with me and dealt with it in the minor leagues.

"We've stayed in motels in Montana that didn't have plumbing but had a five-gallon bucket underneath it. She's put up with a lot of things with me so I think she's got one more in her for sure."

ECU opens the McNeill era against Tulsa at home on Sunday, Sept. 5, at 2 p.m. (ESPN2). Tickets for the game are $40 for adults and $25 for youth 12 and under.

Not everything in Price's current existence relates to football. His quick, cross country relocation put him in search of an orthodontist. He got braces in Lubbock about two weeks before ECU initiated its preseason workouts.

"We went through all that process with the molds and everything and then I find out that I'm going to take a job at East Carolina," Price said. "My orthodontist is in Lubbock but I have been referred to an orthodontist here in Greenville. I'm going to touch base with them when I get a free moment and see if we can't get all that stuff transferred here."

McGuire tweaking special teams

Clay McGuire is a relative oldtimer compared to Price in terms of his time on the ECU staff. McGuire, another former Red Raiders player and coach, came to Greenville as running backs coach in early February. His responsibilities as special teams coach were announced just before the Pirates convened for preseason camp.

"We had the whole spring to evaluate guys," McGuire said. "We kind of have an idea of who can play and who can not."

McGuire also has perused the true freshmen in terms of their potential special team contributions. McNeill's policy is that all players are available for special teams service with the exception of quarterbacks, whose only responsibilities might be possibly holding on placekicks. With the high tempo that is planned on offense, McGuire will seek to avoid using players who will be in for 80 or more snaps on that unit. The Pirates also will do some things differently than from what Nelson had designed.

"We're not changing a whole lot from what Coach Nelson did but we're going to change a little bit to what we did more when we all worked together at Texas Tech," McGuire said. "The neat thing about special teams is that they are a combination of offense and defense. You've got to block. You've got to catch. You've got to run and then you've got to be able to tackle. It's exciting. It's fun to coach. We've got some really talented kids here.

"You kind of play like Coach Ruff said. If you're going to be an aggressive, attacking style of defense and a wide-open offense, you need to be the same mentality, special teams-wise."

Senior Dwayne Harris, who averaged 27.0 yards on 37 kickoff returns with three touchdowns, gives ECU special teams a special threat.

"Obviously, we've got Dwayne Harris coming back," said McGuire, who was special teams coordinator at Texas Tech in 2008. "He's an exceptional return man. We'll kind of build around his talents in that area."

Placekicking is an element of the game that can mean the difference between winning and losing as was illustrated numerous times in Ben Hartman's career. Ben Ryan is the heir apparent to Hartman, having already seen some game action when Hartman was injured. Ryan has made 19 of 20 extra point attempts at ECU and one of five field goals.

"In my opinion, Ben had a great spring," McGuire said. "He really did stand out to me. I was really excited about him, not even being the special teams coach but I was excited about him coming out of the spring kicking like that. Every year I handled it, there was always somebody coming in new. We were losing a senior and didn't really have somebody who had done it. Ben had an excellent spring, I thought. I'm excited to see what he does getting ready for the season."

At first, McGuire thought Ryan (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) was out of place in the special teams meetings. The junior booter is built more like a linebacker than the typical soccer stylist.

"I finally realized he is a kicker," McGuire said. "He followed in Matt Dodge's footsteps. He didn't really look like a kicker either. I'm excited about that. You've got a big guy like that who works hard in the weight room, he's going to work the same on the field, too."

The 6-2, 220-pound Dodge averaged 45.8 yards per punt in 2009 before becoming a seventh round draft pick by the New York Giants. Redshirt freshman Matt Millisor, who is Ryan's placekicking back-up, or senior Nathan Przestzelski will likely punt for the Pirates this year. True freshman Trent Tignor and Australian Phillip McNaughton, who tips the scales at 260 pounds, also could figure in the punting plans.

"We've got some guys who can punt it around," McGuire said. "We're going to utilize the best one. That's an important play because we've got to control field position, obviously. Last year, Matt Dodge did a great job. He was an exceptional punter. We look to have somebody to fill his shoes."

McGuire will work from the press box during games. He will communicate closely with Coach Donnie Kirkpatrick, who will make special teams calls on the sideline. Special teams are often magnified because they involve scoring situations or changes of possession that affect field position.

"On offense, you get three snaps a series to do something good or on defense, you're trying to stop them in three snaps," McGuire said. "Special teams, you've got that one (play). All your practice time rolls into one play. You're always wanting that payoff but there's a chance that something bad could happen. You've got to have confidence in the kids and you've got to instill that mentality of what we're trying to do on a team. If the kids believe in your philosophy and take to the ball, you're pretty confident that they'll be able to come through on their end on the field."

McGuire feels the speed and tackling ability in the program will contribute to good play by the coverage teams.

"On a kickoff team, you've got to find the right 11 guys," McGuire said. "That team's all about attitude and wanting to be on it. It might not be the 11 fastest guys, but the right 11 guys will make a great kickoff team."