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Notes, Quotes and Slants
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Pirate
Notebook No. 260
Friday, December 2, 2005
By Denny O'Brien |
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Winning won't be easy in '06
©2005 Bonesville.net
Winning breeds expectations. The unfair
reality of that statement could be the most fierce opponent facing major
college coaches today.
That East Carolina closed its 2005 football
campaign with two victories over quality opponents no doubt has accelerated
the pace with which fans expect Skip Holtz to build a consistent winner.
Because of the pieces already in place, it shouldn't take Picasso to a
create a picture out of ECU's once messy pigskin puzzle, so the thinking
goes.
Should it?
After all, the Pirates do return a talented
senior quarterback who will study the same playbook in spring drills for the
first time in his career. His quick mastery of the offense in 2005 and
maturity in the pocket gave ECU a chance to win almost every Saturday and
should do so again next fall.
There also is a host of skill on offense
and defense returning, along with a talented corps of defensive linemen. Add
to that a seasoned staff that excels in instruction and preparation and the
goals in 2006 should be pretty clear:
Anything less than contention for the
Conference USA title and a postseason bowl just won't cut it.
Right?
Wrong.
In a perfect scenario that certainly would
be the case. This year's 5-6 record would be the springboard to an
impressive Signing Day harvest, spirited spring practice, intense summer
camp, and memorable run through a tough 2006 gauntlet.
While the first three are solid bets, odds
of the latter are far from definite.
"Honestly, our aspirations and our
expectations going into this year were a lot higher than this," Holtz said
following ECU's victory over UAB. "I said that we were going to set the
goals this year that we were going to have four years from now. We were
going to give the seniors the opportunity to achieve those goals."
"Now," he added, "I said if you turn and
you shoot for the stars and you reach the moon, did you fail? No."
Sure didn't. Just like a 6-6 or 5-7 record
next season shouldn't be considered a failure, either.
In case you haven't noticed, the Pirates
are staring down the barrel of the most ambitious schedule they have faced
in recent memory. With non-conference dates set with Navy, N.C. State,
Virginia, and West Virginia, along with C-USA trips to Central Florida and
Southern Miss, ECU can expect to be the underdog in at least half of its
games.
And that doesn't include the remainder of
the conference schedule. East Carolina hasn't exactly advanced its program
to the point where Marshall, Memphis, and UAB are considered automatics.
Neither is the rest of the league for that
matter.
At this stage, the safest best for next
season is a team that is improved and again is competitive on a weekly
basis. There will be no lack of determination or spirit, and there likely
won't be many (if any) cases in which the scoreboard features lopsided
margins.
In one short year, Holtz has restored the
program to the point where it can compete with anyone on its schedule.
Judging solely by the Pirates' performance in Morgantown this season, that
should apply to next year as well.
That said, there are few matchups in which
East Carolina will hold a decided advantage in talent. Very few.
A .500 or better finish likely will require
at least one non-conference win, of which Navy appears to offer the best
shot. Even so, facing a wishbone offense on the road doesn't provide much
comfort.
The Pirates also will need to coast through
the season without wholesale injuries to key personnel. That they did this
season is largely why they posted five wins.
ECU also must greatly improve defensively
against the run, hold the turnover advantage, avoid periodic mental lapses,
and quickly piece together the offensive line — which admittedly is a
shorter checklist than the one Holtz inherited.
On paper, East Carolina will be an improved
team that should contend for a bowl next year despite the narrow margin for
error it faces. The problem is, that same outlook applies to almost every
opponent on its schedule.
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02/23/2007 02:00:39 AM |
