DENNY O'BRIEN | McNeill facing toughest test yet [fb-010713]

With the dismissal of former defensive coordinator Brian Mitchell, you can’t overstate the importance of the immediate challenge East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill is facing.

McNeill is now tasked with identifying someone who can fix the Pirates’ long-suffering defense. It easily ranks as the most critical decision of McNeill’s coaching career.

Make the right call, and McNeill could potentially set the stage for a breakout year in 2013. The Pirates return almost everyone from an eight-win team, and repairing the defense is by far the program’s most pressing need.

Misfire, and ECU could remain mired in a defensive black hole, which would test the patience of fans. That was certainly the case for much of 2012 when the Pirates were bludgeoned by 500-yard outbursts with seeming regularity.

The tipping point was a 56-28 home loss to Navy, during which the mediocre Midshipmen sliced through the Pirates’ defense for 512 rushing yards. When you combine that with three years of defensive futility, McNeill ultimately had no choice but to make a change at the coordinator spot.

Regardless of whom McNeill taps with the pending hire, the Pirates would benefit greatly from someone adept at formulating a sound game plan and making adjustments on the fly. Both appeared absent the past three seasons when ECU faced quality opponents.

In fairness to Mitchell, the Pirates did face a total defensive rebuild following the 2009 season and had a glaring personnel shortage. There also was a shift in defensive philosophy prior to 2011 and a complete overhaul to the secondary in 2012.

With those factors in mind, some of the Pirates’ shortcomings are understandable.

But at the same time, ECU’s poorest defensive performances were marked by out-of-position players the overall inability to adjust within the flow of the game.

Identifying someone who can utilize the strengths of the Pirates’ defensive personnel and mask their weaknesses will be paramount to ECU’s defensive improvement. A track record of excelling at preparation and making effective in-game adjustments should be part of the new defensive coordinator's resume.

McNeill made the right call by not renewing Mitchell’s contract. Now the pressure is on for Ruff to hire a coordinator who can reverse ECU’s shortcomings.

Good call

You can hardly blame Boise State for using recent success to parlay the best possible deal for its future conference home.

But considering the Broncos stand to be the only ones to benefit from the deal they struck with the Mountain West, the Big East was shrewd to not meet their demands.

Given the number of concessions given to Boise State, which include the individual packaging of its home football games and a larger money share from major bowl appearances, the Broncos are getting the Notre Dame treatment. It doesn’t take a college football historian to know the Broncos are a far cry from the Irish.

Unlike Notre Dame, Boise State doesn’t have a diehard following outside of its own state. What’s more, much of the Broncos’ television success has been isolated to midweek appearances when there has been little competition.

Bottom line, the Mountain West paid way over the market value for Boise State. Passing on the Broncos is one of the best moves Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco has made.

Big East in 2013?

With Boise State returning to the Mountain West, there’s a void in the Big East’s 2013 schedule. Naturally you have to figure either Tulane or East Carolina, both of which are scheduled to join the league in 2014, will slide into the Broncos’ spot next season.

Given the makeup of both the Big East and Conference USA next fall, the Pirates would be better served waiting a year.

On one hand, an early move would deliver a home schedule that includes Louisville and Rutgers, both of which would enhance the Pirates’ season ticket package. But on the other, the difficulty of a Big East slate could keep the Pirates from bowling next year.

Should the Pirates remain in C-USA for one final season, nine, perhaps ten wins would be within reach. ECU would be the hands-down favorite to win the league’s East Division and would be well positioned to win its third C-USA title.

While the Big East will hardly rival the Southeastern Conference next year, you have to figure ECU would project to finish anywhere from fourth to eighth. Considering the difficulty of the Pirates’ non-conference slate, that might not be enough to reach the postseason.