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Audio: Coach Ruff
Presser |
  East
Carolina 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.
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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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FOOTBALL |
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Tide transfer punting for
Pirates |
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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
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More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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15 Questions for
Devaris Brunson |
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 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... |
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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) |
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By
Brian Bailey
�2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's
2014 football schedule
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.
Game week is now upon us. The Pirates kicked things off with their
traditional Sunday night practice before taking Monday off as an
academic day.
�Now we dive into game week, and last night, you could feel the
intensity change,� said fifth year head coach Ruffin McNeill at his
first press conference of the regular season. [Replay
the audio of Ruff's presser...] �I think we�ve
done a good job these last two days of letting the guys get their legs
back under them. Also, we got a needed actual game-situation practice on
Saturday morning.
"It was a very intense
period of practice, but it was needed from all three sides of the ball
to sideline discipline, which will change for us in the American
Conference.�
That closed walk-through may sound like an easy Saturday morning for the
Pirates. Coach McNeill says it was anything but that.
�For our players who have not been a part of that, it was a rude
awakening for them,� explained McNeill. �The sideline discipline of
where you sit on the bench, meet for special teams, where Jake Moore,
our athletic trainer, is and our equipment staff.�
Now all focus centers on North Carolina Central. That�s not an easy
task, with the likes of South Carolina, Virginia Tech and North Carolina
on the September schedule.
I�ll never forget what Coach Ruff said after beating North Carolina in
Chapel Hill last season. When asked if the win over the Tar Heels was
his biggest as head coach, he thought back to last season�s opener
against Old Dominion.
�That ODU game was pretty big,� McNeill said with a smile on his face.
�Try to lose that baby and see what happens.�
Much is the same situation this year, with first year coach Jerry Mack
at the helm of the Eagles.
�As for North Carolina Central, I�ve known Jerry Mack for a long time,�
McNeill said. �I guess I�m one of the older coaches around now, but
Jerry was a really good player and has moved his way up the ladder. His
last position was offensive coordinator at South Alabama, so his team,
offensively, will mirror ours a little bit as far as spreading the field
with some running game involvement.�
This is the time of year to set goals, and the Pirates have lofty ones.
Though they haven�t said anything publicly, to a man this is a team that
thinks it can play with any team on its schedule.
�We can�t wait to get started,� said senior quarterback Shane Carden.
�The guys have worked really hard in the off-season and we all can�t
wait to get it going this Saturday night.�
Linebacker Zeke Bigger agreed.
�We have put in the work and now it�s time to get it going. I can�t wait
to run through that tunnel and get this thing going.�
Bigger perhaps said what all of us are thinking. I can�t wait to see
that team run through the tunnel, either, and get this season going.
The rollercoaster ride that is a football season is here.
Hang on and enjoy the ride.
BB
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 (left):
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.) ...