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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
By Brian Bailey |
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Ol' ECU spirit alive
and well this spring
By
Brian Bailey
©2010 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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Ruffin McNeill |
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(ECU SID Photo) |
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“Let’s have a good time.
This is our house. This
is our yard. We live
here. We sleep here.
Make sure you conduct
yourself in the correct
manner in the ‘Fick’.
You play hard. You play
with class. You play
professionally. Let’s
start our championship
right now, today!”
Those were the words of
Ruffin McNeill to his
East Carolina football
team just before the
squad’s first scrimmage
of the spring season.
Coach McNeill seemed
relatively pleased just
after Saturday’s first
spring scrimmage.
McNeill ran his Pirates
through 100 plays,
getting in some great
work on both sides of
the football.
The more I hear and talk
with Coach McNeill, the
more I like him. McNeill
simply drips with
sincerity. He doesn’t
just provide lip
service. If he could
remember every Pirate
fan’s name, I think he
would.
His pride in his alma
mater is on display
every day at practice.
Recently he was upset
with his team’s effort
and administered a
tongue lashing about how
much pride he had, and
that every player needed
to come to practice
ready to give his best
effort at all times.
Saturday’s first
scrimmage was our first
look at a new offense
and defense for the
Pirates. I thought the
quarterbacks were
especially effective for
such an early game
situation type display.
"In my opinion, I think
we accomplished
everything today that I
planned," said McNeill
when he addressed the
media afterwards. "I
wanted to see how the
players and coaches
would react to officials
in a simulated game
situation. Then, I
observed sideline
organization as well as
the rotation of
different groups and I
really liked the way
that happened. I was
also pleased with the
way we executed both
offensively and
defensively.”
If there is a concern
it’s with the pace the
Pirates practiced and
played at this week.
McNeill wants that pace
to get quicker and
faster. Both sides of
the football will be
under the gun as the
spring continues.
Linebacker Steve Spence
made the first big play
on “D,” picking off a
pass early in the
scrimmage. Spence said
he jumped the route and
was fortunate to make a
big play.
Spence says he really
likes the new defense.
“Last year was a great
defense but we were more
conservative,” he
explained. “I don’t know
how many blitzes we ran
today (Saturday). We are
‘manning’ up all the
time. I’ve been in more
‘man’ coverages this
spring than I have in my
entire career. It’s a
good change.”
With all of the blitzing
and man-to-man coverages,
this is a defense that
will have to be in
shape. I don’t think
that’s going to be an
issue at all.
“We weren’t as in shape
at this time last year,”
Spence continued. “We’re
not even at full
capacity yet. Last week,
though, we ran and ran
and ran. Actually the
100 plays felt like a
breeze.”
The Pirates got some
great news after the
scrimmage when Havelock
star Danny Webster Jr.
announced his intentions
to be a Pirate. Webster
told Coach McNeill
shortly after the
workout. He’ll play a
slot receiver at East
Carolina in the same
mold as NFL star Wes
Welker did at Texas
Tech.
“I got my first offer
from South Carolina,”
said Webster. “That was
followed by offers from
East Carolina and North
Carolina and Georgia
Tech. I visited
everywhere except
Georgia Tech. After the
new coaching staff got
here (ECU), they
re-offered me. I just
fell in love with it
from the start. I knew
they were going to bring
that explosive Texas
Tech offense in and they
want me to play receiver
so I just fell in love
with the idea.”
McNeill stressed two
other things that he
wanted from his team.
“You have to make
routine plays and do
your own job,” said
McNeill. “You can win a
lot of games by making
all of the routine
plays.”
McNeill says he’s worked
a lifetime for this
opportunity.
He’s working hard to put
a product everyone can
be proud of when the
Pirates take the field
at the “Fick” in
September.
BB
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