Football Recruiting
Report
Thursday, June 20, 2013
By Sammy Batten |
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Pirates lure New Bern's Purdie
State champions' linebacker
to transition to safety
By
Sammy Batten
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Cody Purdie has been
traveling from his home in New Bern to Greenville for years. First, it
was to watch the East Carolina Pirates play football, and more recently
Purdie has been a regular visitor to receive therapy for a minor injury.
So, when the East Carolina
football coaching staff decided to offer a scholarship about three months
ago, Purdie already had a certain comfort level with the environment in
Greenville.
"I was going over for therapy
about three times a week at one point, and every time I'd stop by East
Carolina,'' Purdie said. "Every time the coaches and the players would treat
me as if I were at home. They were all excited to see me. The more I went
over there, the more I realized that's the place I wanted to be.''
Purdie, a linebacker for the
state 4-A champion New Bern Bears, finally decided to accept the offer on
June 10 to become the third member of ECU's recruiting Class of 2014.
"It was a little surprise for
them (ECU coaches),'' Purdie said. "I stopped by and saw (offensive
coordinator) Coach (Lincoln) Riley and told him. Then I told (head coach)
Coach (Ruffin) McNeill. They were excited about it as well.''
The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder has
been recruited to play safety for the Pirates, but it's been at linebacker
where Purdie has distinguished himself in two varsity seasons at New Bern. A
starter since his sophomore season, Purdie established himself as a college
prospect as a junior in 2012 when starring for New Bern squad that went 15-0
and edged Porter Ridge, 39-38, for the state 4-A crown.
Used at both linebacker and as
a short-yardage back on offense, Purdie collected a team-best 143 tackles,
10 quarterback sacks and 20 tackles for loss to earn a spot on the New Bern
Sun Journal's All-Area team. He also contributed eight rushing touchdowns
and 177 yards rushing on just 28 carries.
Purdie produced one of his
biggest plays of the season when it counted most. With New Bern struggling
in the third period of the state championship game against Porter Ridge,
Purdie's effort produced what New Bern coach Bobby Curlings called "a
momentum changing'' play.
"We sent him on a blitz from
his linebacker spot and he disrupted the quarterback,'' Curlings said. "He
caused the quarterback to rush his throw and he actually threw it backwards
for what turned out to be a fumble. We picked up the fumble and the momentum
slid back our way.''
The performance came as no
surprise to Curlings, who has watched Purdie develop from a kid hanging
around the Bears' practices to a college prospect.
"We've know about him a long
time,'' Curlings said. "He had an older brother (Corey), who graduated about
three years ago. His older brother was a senior when he (Cody) was a
freshman. Corey was a linebacker for a us, too.
"But we've known Cody since he
was little. He'd be out here at our practices chasing footballs around. So
we knew he'd be a good one because of the athleticism we saw at a young
age.''
Purdie began his football
career in the third grade playing for a local Pop Warner squad. During the
first Pop Warner practice, players competed for positions by competing in
head-to-head sprints.
"When I ran the first time
they saw I was fast and put me at running back,'' he said. "I played that
all the way through middle school. I started playing defense for the first
time when I reached the high school.''
College recruiters began to
notice Purdie during the summer after his freshman year at New Bern. He
spent the football season playing on the junior varsity, but after attending
an underclassmen combine he received an invitation to a top prospect camp in
Atlanta, GA. He later was chosen for an elite prospect camp in Florida, but
was unable to attend because it conflicted with New Bern's preseason
practice schedule.
Smaller college programs were
initially interested in Purdie. But as he developed through his sophomore
and junior years on the New Bern varsity, bigger schools like Charlotte,
North Carolina and N.C. State established contact. Along the way, the
Pirates snatched up Purdie's teammate, offensive lineman
Christian Matau, who signed with ECU
in February.
"He (Purdie) liked East
Carolina. It was right here by his house and he was tickled to death to the
get the offer,'' Curlings said.
New Bern has produced a number
of major college prospects in recent years, including Matau and N.C. State
signee Bra'lon Cherry in February. But Curlings said Purdie is one of the
few players during his time with the Bears who plays both ways.
"I guess over the years we've
had several come through like him,'' Curlings said. "But he is unique. I've
been here since 1997 and it's rare we have people play both ways. He's been
doing that consistently since his sophomore year. It's hard to compare him
to our other standouts because he's so valuable in all three phases of the
game.''
Purdie will make the
transition to safety at ECU, but he's confident that won't pose a problem.
"It's not going to be a big
transition,'' he said. "Almost all the schools I've talked to wanted me as a
safety, so I've been working on it already. I'm working on my open field
play and I'm getting a feel for it. The best part is I still get to do what
I love, and that's hit people.''
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
06/20/13 03:05 PM.
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