|
Audio: Brian Bailey
Show |
|
 |
|
  The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays from
6:30-7:30 p.m. Brian's
guests this week were
ECU assistant head football coach
Donnie Kirkpatrick
(left), ECU QB Kurt
Benkert (right) and
Eastern Carolina
4A/3A Conference
high school coaches:
Replay
show... |
|
View Pirate Radio
1250's Programming
Lineup |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FOOTBALL: ECU MEDIA
DAY |
|
Pirates have
questions to answer |
GREENVILLE �
The pertinent
questions were asked at East
Carolina's football media day on
Saturday. The Pirate coaches
essentially said we'll have to
get back to you.
The quarterback situation in the absence of Shane Carden
and the potential impact of Minnesota/Rutgers transfer Philip Nelson as
well as the competition for placekicker are among the issues ECU is
dealing with as the 2015 season approaches. Nelson walked on with the
Pirates and his status for this season is to be determined.
...
Story & pictures from Al Myatt...
|
|
Pictured: ECU Coach
Ruffin McNeill
expressed his
excitement that the
program is into
preseason camp while
addressing reporters
on media day. (Photo
by Al Myatt) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FOOTBALL: AAC MEDIA
DAY |
|
Keeping pace with the Power 5 |
NEWPORT, RI �
For American
Athletic Conference commissioner
Mike Aresco, one element of full
cost tuition for
student-athletes is keeping pace
with the Power Five conferences
� the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big
12, The Pac-12 and the SEC.
Aresco led off the AAC football media day Tuesday at the
Hyatt Regency with wide-ranging remarks and touched on the provisions
for payments to athletes that will begin this academic year. ...
More
from Al Myatt... |
|
Pictured: ECU coach Ruffin
McNeill responds to a
question during the media
Q&A session at the AAC media
day on Tuesday in Newport,
RI. (Photo by W.A. Myatt) |
|
|
|
|
FOOTBALL: AAC MEDIA
DAY |
|
Monday Fun Day for AAC |
NEWPORT, RI �
The Big East kept
the name for its contingent of
basketball-geared athletic
programs but the American
Athletic Conference retained
some impressive traditions for
its football kickoff.
Those events over the last three years for the AAC
include a round of golf for athletic directors, coaches and media
members at Newport National Golf Club, a well-maintained challenge
complete with occasional sea breezes. ...
More
from Al Myatt... |
|
Pictured: East
Carolina athletic director
Jeff Compher enjoyed playing
golf at Newport National on
Monday as part of the AAC's
football kickoff. (Photo by
Al Myatt) |
|
|
|
|
|
FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
|
Asheboro's Jones brings
versatility |
 The majority of the recruiting
attention paid to the Asheboro
Comets this summer has focused on
defensive end Nick Coe, and rightly
so. The 6-foot-5, 260-pounder is an
exceptional jumbo athlete who is
being pursued by a number of major
college programs ...
More from Sammy Batten... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
By
Brian Bailey
�2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill says camp is flying by. I�m not
sure if the players agree, but the calendar continues to peel off the
dates as we get closer to the season opener.
The team donned the full pads for the first time on Monday. The squad
still wasn�t tackling to the ground, but the pads were popping to start
the week.
�Day five and it is flying by,� said Coach Ruff after Monday�s workout.
�It was our first day in full pads. I thought the first part the guys
were dragging a little bit. They have been going hard. The second half
picked up like it needed to.�
Putting on the full set of pads is another in the stepping stones of
fall camp. Hitting is a vital part of the game, and the players have to
get their bodies ready for the long season ahead.
�It�s good,� said Pirate senior running back Chris Hairston. �It causes
some soreness. It just feels good to get back out here in pads. Everyone
is moving around fast � it feels great.�
The ECU coach says the first day is really no big deal.
�We always pop,� McNeill added. �When we have shoulder pads on, then
it�s pop. I�ve had NFL scouts come in and they see us in just shoulder
pads and shells, and they don�t do it the way we do it here."
The Pirates will take another step towards the season opener with the
squad�s first two-a-day session.
�Looking forward to that one,� said McNeill. �I like the way our kids
are competing on both sides of the ball.�
Part of camp is simply surviving. The practices are long and hard. The
meetings are long and full of information.
As I like to quote from the movie �A League of their Own� starring Tom
Hanks, 'it�s the hard that makes it great.'
�I really like the brotherhood and the bond that is built in camp,� said
McNeill. �It�s really from last winter and conditioning and over the
summer.�
Leadership is branded into a squad in different ways. That�s what Coach
McNeill and his staff have their eye on this month.
�It�s a different group,� McNeill added. �We have new leaders. We don�t
want rah rah leaders. We lead as a staff. Guys are working hard and
going about their business. Everybody leads in different ways. We don�t
have a dominant leader just yet. It took Shane (Carden) a couple of
years. Dominique Davis emerged as a leader. Justin Hardy led in his own
way. I like where we are going."
Chris Hairston also likes where this ECU squad is going.
�We are improving every day,� said Hairston. �We are taking one practice
at a time. Everything and everyone is coachable and we are learning from
our mistakes.�
The Pirates will have their next key lesson in camp this Saturday with
the squad�s first fall scrimmage at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
BB
