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Staff churning at ECU
By Denny O'Brien
©2003 Bonesville.net
Rumors that East Carolina
strength and conditioning coach Jim Whitten will be dismissed are
unfounded, talk that he would be reassigned was closer to the truth, and
speculation that the departures from football coach John Thompson's
staff were not over was validated.
According to interim
athletics director Nick Floyd, a new strength coach will be added to the
staff and assigned to football. Whitten will continue to oversee the
entire program.
"As our strength and
conditioning program continues to evolve following our move into the
Murphy Center last year, we will add an additional staff member in order
to better serve our 400-plus student-athletes," interim athletics
director Floyd said in a statement provided to Bonesville.net Thursday
by the ECU Media Relations Office.
 "This
is a move that will be beneficial to our entire athletics program," said
Floyd. "Jim Whitten will continue in his role as director of our
strength and conditioning program and we will add a position that will
be dedicated primarily to football."
The search for a new
strength coach for the football program comes at the same time that
Thompson is faced with filling a pair of sudden gaping holes in his
assistant coaching lineup in the wake of a 1-11 season.
Rick Stockstill, ECU's
offensive coordinator last season, has accepted a job on the staff of
South Carolina coach Lou Holtz as the Gamecocks' wide receivers coach.
Stockstill spent 14 years
with four Clemson head coaches in various capacities from 1989-2002
until joining Thompson's ECU staff. Stockstill replaces Charlie
Williams, who left South Carolina earlier this month for a spot at
Arizona.
Not long after his arrival
at ECU, Stockstill had stated one of his principal motivations for
accepting the job was his belief that a stint as an offensive
coordinator for the Pirates could act as a springboard toward a head
coaching job
Stockstill's departure comes simultaneously
with a major change in the Pirates' strength and conditioning program
and on the heels of the resignation last week of highly-regarded ECU
offensive line coach J.B. Grimes, who joined the staff of new
Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom.
02/23/2007 11:29 AM
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