GREENVILLE — It wasn't the perfect scenario for East Carolina's 19 departing seniors. Far from it.

Heading into the final game of their careers, there was no conference title, bowl bid, or winning record at stake. There wasn't even a packed house to bid them farewell, despite the tolerable late-autumn conditions.

But that was the rule for the Class of 2006.

Having endured two coaching changes during their careers, ECU's seniors experienced a slice of every emotion college football has to offer. There was the agony of ending one program's 23-game losing skid (Duke in 2002), the thrill of defeating a Top 25 opponent (Texas Christian in 2002), and the frustration of adopting new schemes on a seemingly annual basis.

That East Carolina's seniors exited with a 31-23 victory over UAB was perhaps the perfect ending to their imperfect careers. They closed out the season by eliminating two teams from bowl contention and laid a clear path for the underclassmen as they continue on the program's resurgent journey.

"It's a great win for these seniors," East Carolina coach Skip Holtz said. "To be in that locker room, and see some of the eyes filled with joy and tears and knowing all of the hard work, dedication, effort and attitude that they put into building this thing — that's what it's all about.

"I couldn't be happier for those players. For the guys who have put it in and who aren't going to put on an East Carolina uniform again, they're going to walk out of here with a smile on their face and their head held high for the progress that we've made right now as a program."

It's not the ending many would have expected this time last year. After winning only thrice during the John Thompson era, East Carolina seemed mired in an incurable epidemic of losing.

Then a new coach arrived and served a new batch of potion to a program in desperate need of resuscitation. Had the seniors not drank the Holtz Kool-Aid, it's a good bet that the underclassmen would have passed on it as well.

"The seniors did an unbelievable job this year," receiver Kevin Roach said. "They kept us together during the coaching change and did a great job of leading us. We tried to follow them. They lead by example and motivating us.

"It just felt great to send them out winners."

Especially after UAB quarterback Darryl Hackney guaranteed a victory in Greenville on Senior Day. Though the Pirates didn't need added motivation, they all admitted that statement increased the fire in their belly.

That much showed each time senior linebacker Chris Moore laid his helmet into a Blazer's gut. It showed again when Moore's heir apparent — Pierre Bell — picked off two passes, the last of which sealed the victory and a proper farewell for the seniors.

And it definitely showed during East Carolina's victory processional towards the North Stands for the singing of the school fight song. Each step during that proud and final march was almost symbolic of the strides the ECU program made this fall.

"I feel that at this program, we are the building blocks," Moore said. "We've got great coaches and the players who are coming back. I think they are going to be better than us.

"We laid the foundation, that's all we did. We laid the foundation."

Judging by the way the Pirates competed throughout the season, the foundation indeed appears more stable than it has in quite some time. And for the players returning, the future definitely looks bright.

With stability at the captain's wheel, there is no reason to believe the Pirates won't improve on this season's 5-6 record and begin to climb the ladder in Conference USA. The non-conference slate will be tough moving forward and C-USA competition has proven more difficult than anticipated, but ECU has plenty in place to maintain Saturday's optimism moving forward.

For one, the Pirates will have a senior quarterback under center who won't be asked to digest a new playbook. He will have essentially all of his skill personnel returning and the support of a mostly veteran defense that no doubt will be improved.

But more than anything, East Carolina will have a chance to succeed next year because it now has reclaimed a grasp on how to win. The familiar chip that disappeared from the Pirates' shoulders has been restored as well.

Both are a credit to the sacrifice of ECU's selfless seniors.