|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FOOTBALL |
|
Tide transfer punting
for Pirates |
Worth Gregory spent a year
in the storied football
program at Alabama before
bringing his punting ability
to East Carolina. When Trent
Tignor completed his
eligibility in 2013 with a
42.8-yard average for two
seasons, Gregory gave the
Pirates someone ready to
continue providing an edge ...
More from Al Myatt... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
|
15 Questions
for Devaris Brunson |
|
Devaris Brunson
(6-1,230) heads into
his sophomore year
with the Pirates
after a true
freshman campaign in
which he helped the
team in several
different roles. The
South Carolina
native played all
four years of high
school football on
the varsity level
for Lake City High
School. He was rated
a four-star prospect
by Scout.com ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
 |
|
Pictured: Devaris
Brunson basked in
the glow of victory
after East
Carolina's win over
Ohio in last
December's Beef 'O'
Brady's Bowl in
Tampa, FL. The blue
chip recruit
experienced action
on offense, defense
and special teams in
11 contests as a
true freshman. (W.A.
Myatt file photo) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
|
Mom knew best for Strozier |
|
 Justin
Strozier grew up around a
father with experience as a
college football player. But
it was actually a mother's
influence that started
Strozier on the road to
gridiron success in spite of
his own protests. ...
More from Sammy Batten... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By
Brian Bailey
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's
2014 football schedule
The East Carolina offense looks like it’s in mid-season form, or maybe
better.
Scrimmages always provide a catch-22 though. Perhaps the Pirate defense
has some catching up to do.
In a little over a week, that offense and defense will be fighting for
the same cause. For now, intra-squad competition is the only way to try
and duplicate game type situations.
After a weekend to digest the scrimmage tape Pirate head coach Ruffin
McNeill seemed to be pleased with his team so far this camp.
“On the field our execution wasn’t bad,” said McNeill. “But we have a
high expectation on all three sides of the ball (offense, defense and
special teams) and there are some things we still can tweak and get
better at. I thought the offense did a good job of moving the ball down
the field.
"Defensively, we did a great
job of getting to the ball and had some big stops in key situations.”
Monday’s practice was pretty much business as usual.
“After our first scrimmage we are still focusing on East Carolina,” said
McNeill. “Monday we exposed the team to red zone, third-and-long, and
third-and-medium situations. We are always working on special teams and
that group continues to do a good job with Coach (Kirk) Doll.”
The defensive secondary was a question mark coming into camp.
Quarterback Shane Carden torched that defensive group with a 12-12
effort and a couple of touchdowns.
ECU defensive coordinator Rick Smith perhaps said it best afterwards.
“You know we have a lot of young pups in there, but it doesn’t matter
because you have to play,” said Smith. “If we’re going to win games
they’ve got to grow up. I told the secondary yesterday that you are a
spare just like the spare tire on a car. You know you have four good
tires on a car before a trip. You’re on a trip and you have a blowout.
If they open the trunk up and the spare is flat then the trip is over.
“If you’re a second team guy and one of those guys goes down, I hope
that you’ll be like a spare tire. They just put you on, bolt you down
and the trip continues. But we had some flat spares today.”
The words of Rick Smith are classic, but it’s a great analogy and
something the players certainly can hang on to.
Three defensive players returned to practice on Monday. Maurice Falls,
K'Hadree Hooker and Montese Overton were all back after missing
Saturday’s scrimmage game.
The Pirates will take Tuesday off to break camp. East Carolina will
conduct the team’s final, two-a-day session at midweek this week. The
final scrimmage is also later this week, before the start of game week.
Meet the Pirates
The annual “Meet the Pirates” event featured a great crowd at
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
The last two guys to leave the stadium, still signing autographs late,
were head coach Ruffin McNeill and quarterback Shane Carden.
“I had no idea when I got here five years ago,” Carden said when he was
asked about the enthusiasm from the Pirate Nation. “It's just an awesome
time to see how much passion there is for Pirate football. From kids to
those that have watched us for fifty years. It's awesome.”
The Pirate Nation is chomping at the bit for some East Carolina
football.
The head Pirate looks forward to the rest of the world learning more
about Pirate Nation.
“The whole nation is going to see how we are in two weeks,” said
McNeill. "The best fan base and the best group of support that I've been
around in 34 years. They are second to none. They are the best around.
Any stadium, any place in the country, we’ve got it right here in
Greenville, the Pirate Nation.”
Next week Coach Ruff hosts his first press conference of the season.
Then we’ll know that we finally made it to game week.
Finally.
BB
The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest this week was
East Carolina
strength and
conditioning sage
Jeff Connors
(right):
East
Carolina football
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke briefly with
the press after
Thursday's practice
session. (Recorded
by Brian Bailey;
archive photo by W.A.
Myatt.) ...