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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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ECU lands Georgia
stalwart |
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 Locust
Grove (GA) TE/OLB
Aubry Payne has
signaled his intent
to sign with East
Carolina. He also
had offers from
Cincinnati, Georgia
State and
Presbyterian. After
playing significant
roles on offense and
defense last season,
Payne started the
2015 campaign with 4
receptions for 107
yards in the
Wildcats' first two
games. ...
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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DE Futrell stays close to home |
Rangy Greenville (NC) South Central
defensive end Kendal Futrell will
follow in the path of former
teammate Shawn Furlow and play his
college football at East Carolina.
Futrell was also being courted by
Clemson, N.C. State, North Carolina,
Old Dominion and Purdue. ...
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Towson tests Pirates in opener |
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GREENVILLE — East Carolina coach
Ruffin McNeill tells his players
not to apologize for wins. The
Pirates were challenged Saturday
night in a 28-20 win over Towson
at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium but
that might have been just what
ECU needed. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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Ruff & players post-game
audio |
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  ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke with reporters
Saturday night after the
Pirates defeated Towson
(recorded by W.A.
Myatt):
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By
Brett Friedlander
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
Ruffin McNeill has a habit of talking in catch phrases,
like motivational messages posted onto a locker room wall. Some people
might call them clichés. Those in and around the East Carolina football
program know them as Ruff-isms.
Among his favorites is the one in which he tells his
players not to “microwave” things.
That means making sure they put in the necessary work at
practice, in the weight room and on game days to achieve their goals,
rather than cutting corners in an effort to get the desired result as
quickly as possible. It’s a philosophy worth keeping in mind as the
Pirates head to Gainesville on Saturday to take on Florida at The Swamp.
Because win or lose, there’s way too much season left to
play to come to any knee jerk conclusions about the direction ECU is
headed.
Not that the temptation won’t be there.
This is the kind of game the Pirates have always
relished, an opportunity to play a name opponent in a setting that will
force people to stand up and take notice and if their effort is worthy –
as it usually is – take them seriously.
The matchup with the Gators is especially meaningful
since the same teams played one another at the Birmingham Bowl last
January in a game ECU
had its chances to win
before dropping an eight-point decision.
That, however, was a much different team than the one
that will take the field this time around.
It was a mature band of Pirates quarterbacked by a player
– Shane Carden – that will go down as one of his school’s all-time
greats and mentored by an offensive coordinator – Lincoln Riley –
brimming with confidence and polished at his craft. This group, as last
week’s
closer-than-expected win against Towson
revealed, is still very much a work in progress.
“We’re not perfect yet and there’s a lot of things that
we can work on and that we’re going to have to pick up on,” wide
receiver Isaiah Jones said after ECU’s 28-20 victory at Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium. “It’s going to definitely be a challenge next week and we’ll
get rolling heading into this next week.”
Story
continues after the following ad...
Chances are McNeill and his new offensive coordinator,
Dave Nichol, only showed as much of their playbook as they felt
necessary against the Tigers so as to leave something to keep Florida
guessing.
At the same time, they're not even sure yet as to what
kind of personality their transitional team will eventually take on.
Though Blake Kemp was an efficient 29 of 37 for 230 yards
and no interceptions last week, he still left questions about his
ability to throw downfield. So much so that there’s a good chance fellow
JUCO transfer James Summers will take some snaps as early as Saturday.
And while a veteran defense that figured to be good
enough to carry the team while its offensive teammates worked the kinks
out, it took a spectacular pass breakup in the red zone by Terrell
Richardson to prevent a potential disaster against an FCS opponent that
won only four games a year ago.
The good news, as McNeill pointed out earlier this week,
is that “the biggest improvement comes from Game 1 to Game 2.”
His players certainly left plenty of room for growth.
Whether they improve enough to beat an SEC opponent on
the road is anybody’s guess. And doing so is hardly a prerequisite for a
successful season.
If ECU can survive a killer first half that includes
other challenging tests against Navy, Virginia Tech and BYU, the
schedule lends itself to a strong finish and yet another step forward in
the development of the program.
That is, as long as the Pirates can resist the temptation
to “microwave” things on the way to achieving the desired result.
ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill addressed
members of the media on Monday in
his weekly press conference. (Audio
courtesy of Pirate Radio 1250; file
photo by Al Myatt:
The
Brian Bailey Show airs on Pirate
Radio 1250 on Mondays at 6:30 p.m.
Brian's guest this week was ECU
running backs & special teams coach
Kirk Doll (right):
