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Notes, Quotes and Slants
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Pirate
Notebook Special
Friday, December 27, 2002
By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist |
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Q & A with George Koonce
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Former East Carolina and Green Bay
Packers star George Koonce recently served as a member of the
committee that was involved in the search and interviews process for
the new Pirates football coach. Koonce, who earned All-Pro honors and
a Super Bowl ring with the Packers, agreed this week to answer some
questions in a telephone interview with Bonesville's Denny O'Brien
about the process that led to ECU's hiring of Florida defensive
coordinator John Thompson. Following is a transcript of a portion of
that interview. |
©2002 Bonesville.net
Q: What kind of an honor was it for you to be a former Pirates player and
then to come back and be on the interview committee that hired John
Thompson?
A: It was an honor. Growing up in Eastern North Carolina and playing at East
Carolina, I've always had a love and passion for the program. When I got the
call from Chancellor Muse to be on the committee, I was elated. I came back
— I was out of town at the time — and got into the process of interviewing
the candidates. I think we got a really good coach.
Q: So, how did that process work? Did candidates appear before the committee
and give a short presentation and then field questions?
A: Exactly. The candidates came in and basically gave their presentations
and had materials to hand out. (The candidates) would give an introductory
speech and then it was open for questions after that. They were allowed to
elaborate on those questions for as long as they wanted. The interview
process could take anywhere from an 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours.
Q: What were some of the things that you guys were looking for during the
candidates' presentations?
A: I can't really speak for anybody else, I can only speak for myself. I was
looking for candidates that were highly organized. Experience was a big
thing I was looking for, too. I was also looking for emotion and enthusiasm.
A passion to be at East Carolina University was very important. We all know
East Carolina University is not like any other university in this state or
the Southeast. We know that East Carolina is a different and special place.
We were looking for a coach to come in and take this program by the horns
and run with it.
Q: What was it about Coach Thompson's presentation that really impressed
you?
A: He was very organized. I think he has a great plan in place. Now, he just
has to implement that, follow that plan, and first and foremost, get the
players to buy into it. If he gets the players to buy into it, I think he'll
do a great job at East Carolina.
Q: What were your impressions about him as a potential recruiter?
A: I don't know what kind of connections he has in North Carolina. The
positive right now is, hey, he can go out and win over a lot of high school
coaches with his energy and enthusiasm, and just outwork the other schools.
I'm pretty sure he has a game plan that is going to counteract the other
programs in this state.
Q: With him being at so many schools, it seems like he could have a lot of
connections in other states.
A: That's definitely a positive. He has connections in Mississippi, Florida,
Arkansas, and Louisiana. Also, we know that recruiting at East Carolina,
there's a 300 mile radius that we have to recruit.
Q: When Coach Logan left, obviously East Carolina lost a man of high
integrity. But with Coach Thompson, it seems that East Carolina got another
guy of high integrity. How important was that in the process.
A: It was high. All he has to do is come in and keep things the same. If you
look at players graduating, East Carolina has done a great job graduating
players. East Carolina has graduated, what, 70 percent of its players?
That's great. But as far as integrity and character with Coach Thompson,
yeah, he's definitely got that. We won't have to worry there.
Send an e-mail message to Denny O'Brien.
Click here to dig into Denny O'Brien's Bonesville
archives.
02/23/2007 01:45:36 AM
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