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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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15 Questions
for Davon Grayson |
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 Davon
Grayson (6-2, 196)
looks to rebound in
the 2014 East
Carolina football
campaign from a knee
injury that ended a
promising true
freshman season in
which he had 18
catches for 176
yards and four
touchdowns in six
games. The sophomore
outside wide
receiver is from the
talent-rich
Tidewater Virginia
area, by way of
Kings Fork High
School. ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
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Pictured: Devon
Grayson is back in
form after rehabbing
from an injury last
season that cut
short a spectacular
start in his
freshman campaign.
The Suffolk, VA,
product is listed as
East Carolina's
starter at the "Z"
position (outside
receiver) for
Saturday's opener
with N.C. Central .
(ECU Media Relations
photo) |
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FOOTBALL |
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'Intensity' changes for Ruff & Co. |
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The summer seems to
drag each year, unless you�re at the
beach enjoying the fun in the sun.
The East Carolina Pirates' version
of that fun in the sun comes in
August, in preparing for the
upcoming college football season.
...
More
from Brian Bailey... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
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Audio: The Brian
Bailey Show |
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  The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest this week was
ECU offensive
coordinator Lincoln
Riley (right):
Replay
show... |
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Audio: Coach Ruff
Presser |
  ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
addressed the media
at his inaugural
weekly press
conference of the
2014 season on
Monday (courtesy of
Pirate Radio 1250):
Select
clip... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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Offensive encore ready to
roll |
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About a year ago, East
Carolina offensive
coordinator Lincoln Riley �
in our annual pow-wow that
would be better titled,
"Please coach, open up and
tell me what you really got
there" � told me several
things that played out
almost prophetically.
...
More from Ron Cherubini... |
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Photo: Fifth-year East
Carolina offensive
coordinator Lincoln Riley,
pictured along the sideline
at Southern Miss in 2012,
spoke recently with
Bonesville's Ron Cherubini
about the talent on his unit
heading into the 2014
season. (Bonesville archive
photo by Al Myatt) |
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FOOTBALL |
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Captain Carden is leaving
his mark |
Shane Carden provides quite
a few advantages for East
Carolina. A fifth-year
senior, Carden has an
intricate understanding of
the Pirates offense. If
Lincoln Riley, ECU offensive
coordinator, doesn't feel
comfortable dialing up any
call in the playbook, he
never will. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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OLYMPIC SPORTS |
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Pirates relish being underestimated |
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 Preseason
coaches� polls are a rite of late
summer for fall sports, but that
doesn�t mean coaches, players or
fans have to put much stock in them.
If anything, East Carolina soccer
coach Rob Donnenwirth looks at his
team�s name, sitting at No. 8 out of
10 teams in their new American
Athletic Conference, and he is
delighted. ...
More from Bethany Bradsher... |
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By
Al Myatt
�2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's
2014 football schedule
Season openers have provided some special moments in the
career of East Carolina football coach Ruffin McNeill.
In his first start at strong safety for the Pirates at
N.C. State in 1977, he made a touchdown-saving tackle in the final
seconds of a 28-23 win.
"It was a back and forth game," McNeill said. "Johnny
Evans was the (N.C. State) quarterback. A lot of us got our first start.
Leander Green, Theodore Sutton. Mike Brewington. ... My roommate,
Charlie Carter. Willie Holley. Billy Ray Washington. It was an exciting
game."
In his first game as ECU head coach in 2010, a Hail Mary
pass from Dominique Davis to Justin Jones produced the winning score in
a 51-49 victory over visiting Tulsa.
"It was our first game here as a staff and we were able
to pull it out," McNeill said. "Those two games stand out to me."
Game week began Sunday leading up to the 2014
season-opening football game with North Carolina Central at 8 p.m.
Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
"The kids are excited," McNeill said Wednesday. "Like
everyone across the country, they've trained hard all summer. Fall camp
was very competitive. They've approached it well so far.
"We still have Thursday, Friday and Saturday to go to get
ready for the game. It's progressing according to plan right now."
ECU, coming off a 10-3 season that concluded with
a 37-20 bowl win over Ohio, has
been more focused on streamlining its own systems because getting a
handle on the Eagles under new coach Jerry Mack has been a speculative
proposition.
"It's similar to what it was last year with Old
Dominion," McNeill said. "Everybody has new wrinkles. (NCCU) has a new
staff and they come from different places. It's always a little
difficult to anticipate what they will do. Eventually, they'll settle
down into a pattern."
The Pirates will be prepared to make adjustments on the
fly.
"That's one reason we focus on East Carolina first and do
what we do," said the ECU coach. "In games like this, that's where it's
even more important. In a game with new coaches, it's even more
imperative that we focus on East Carolina."
The Pirates have been looking at South Alabama tape,
where Mack was wide receivers coach last year.
"You look at that but also all his coaches and where
they've been, too," McNeill said. "That's a part of it."
That eye patch the Pirate mascot wears might be
especially appropriate this week.
ECU may be blind as far as getting ready for specific
schemes from the Eagles, but McNeill has seen good things from his guys.
"It's what we began from day one," McNeill said. "There's
a commitment to the team. There's also a commitment to the focus and the
mission. It's very important that we keep that.
"I like the fact that they understand that process, being
committed to the team, embracing your role, doing everything you can to
make the team better.
"The vision is to approach each day. I know the game is
Saturday but what's more important is today. Today is even more
important than the game right now, not just the day but within the day,
having great reps during practice. Everything, from meetings to focus.
This team will be defined by commitment to the team, commitment to the
mission and the vision."
The Pirates plan to make the relatively late kickoff work
for them.
"We welcome it because of how we approach and prepare
with film," McNeill said. "We'll also give them a chance to sit back and
relax and maybe watch some games of the day. We have a plan for that as
well as early games.
"We're always tightening the screws. The hay is never in
the barn for us. We'll use that day, every minute and every second we
can to prepare."
McNeill expressed confidence that ECU can overcome
personnel losses on the offensive line, in the secondary and at running
back.
The Pirates will have a new adornment on their uniforms,
an "A" logo stitched on to the jerseys representing ECU's new membership
in the American Athletic Conference.
It's time for all of the offseason work and preseason
preparations to come together.
"All three sides of the football jelling will be key,"
McNeill said. "The fourth side, our sideline, being very enthusiastic
and supportive.
"Execution is always important on all three sides of the
ball. Substitutes need to do their job and we need to make routine
plays. It always comes down to blocking and tackling.
"In simple terms, we have to block well and we have to
tackle well � in all games � but especially in first games."
Billerman to quarterback
Eagles
Quinn Billerman is expected to start his first game at
quarterback for NCCU after transferring from New Mexico Military
Institure. He is the son of Kevin Billerman, a two-time team captain for
the Duke basketball program, who averaged 10.2 points per game during
his Blue Devils career from 1973 to 1975. Kevin Billerman coached
Florida Atlantic for four seasons from 1995 to 1999 and has since been
the varsity boys basketball coach at Ravenscroft High School in Raleigh,
where his son played on the prep level.
The younger Billerman passed for 2,962 yards and 34
touchdowns at NMMI last season, both school records. His best game
produced 494 passing yards and six scores against Scottsdale Community
College.
ECU transfer Blake Kemp quarterbacked host Mesa Community
College against Billerman's Broncos last season. Kemp completed 48 of 67
for 445 yards with five TDs and two interceptions in a 48-31 Mesa win on
Nov. 2.
Billerman was 17 for 44 for 185 yards with two TDs and an
interception.
NCCU has return threat
Adrian Wilkins will provide a threat for ECU coverage
teams to contain. Wilkins took three kickoffs back for touchdowns last
season as a sophomore and also returned a pair of punts for scores.
The Eagles averaged 26.5 yards per kickoff return in
2013, which led the Football Championship Subdivision.
Ruff has history with historically black colleges
McNeill was recruited by N.C. Central when he was in high
school at Lumberton.
"The first school to recruit me was Bill Hayes at North
Carolina Central," McNeill said.
The Pirates coach has more connections to historically
black colleges.
"My dad (Ruffin McNeill Sr.) is in the hall of fame at
Johnson C. Smith," he said. "My mom was one of the top students at
Barber-Scotia College, up in Concord. My parents attended great schools
and they trained us well.
"My first attention came from North Carolina Central.
After basketball practice, they were waiting on me and I met Coach
Hayes, Bill Hayes. He's a good ball coach. He was the first one to come
see me."
Movie under review
Part of the Pirates pregame routine is a movie on Friday
night.
"We're still looking at it but I might go see 'Lucy,' "
McNeill said. "That's supposed to be an exciting movie but we're still
pondering a little bit on it."
The main character in "Lucy" has exceptional power
through full use of her brain, according to the previews.
"That's the reason I like that one a little bit," McNeill
said. "It has some action. Anything with action, I'm always good. The
kids will enjoy it."
