View from the East
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Al Myatt |
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Ruff has a
new tool in his bag
By
Al Myatt
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Ruffin McNeill hit the
road Wednesday morning to do some recruiting and the East Carolina
football coach had a new dimension to attract potential players, pending
membership for the Pirates in the Big East
Conference.
The incoming freshmen
class that ECU will sign in February can figure to play the bulk of
their careers in the Big East.
McNeill is not one of
those head coaches who has tired of recruiting in his rise through the
coaching ranks. He wishes there weren't so many restrictions on head
coaches being involved with prospects. It is an essential phase of
program development that he enjoys and one at which he continues to
excel.
"We have a little
something different to sell and present to the young men," McNeill said
Wednesday via cell phone as he dealt with traffic around Raleigh on his
way west. "It was a great announcement. It does give you some more
fodder as you go into the homes."
I remember former ECU
coach Steve Logan saying that Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer had told
him that the Hokies program turned the corner with admission to the Big
East because of all the living rooms it got Beamer and his staff into
for recruiting.
"I know it's going to be a
great benefit as far as exposure," said the current Pirates coach. "Our
program has done a good job of selling itself when the kids come up, but
I'm sure this will be a definite benefit for us."
The Big East of Logan's
days had a markedly different membership than the one the Pirates agreed
to become a part of this week. Much of that Big East has migrated to the
ACC and it appears that much of the Big East that ECU will compete in is
actually a rendezvous of former Conference USA programs.
Who really knows where
conference affiliations will stand in 2014 when ECU is scheduled to make
its move from C-USA?
Still, ECU has landed the
white whale that it has pursued for years. As Chancellor Steve Ballard
said Tuesday, it's a validation of what athletic director Terry Holland
and many in the Pirate Nation have been working toward for a long time.
"I've been trying to get
into the Big East since I was 10," Ballard joked.
It was nice to hear Big
East commissioner Mike Aresco and Judy Genshaft, the South Florida
president who is chairman of the Big East's board of directors, welcome
the Pirates aboard on Tuesday. Given their glowing comments, one wonders
why the invitation didn't come sooner. Much sooner.
Maybe it was just a
coincidence that ECU gained membership within hours of Louisville's
departure to the ACC. Maybe it was just a trivial piece of history that
the Cardinals were the primary stumbling block to ECU's admission to
C-USA in 1997. Maybe not.
As in its previous move
from independent status to C-USA, ECU has initially been accepted for
football only.
Holland and executive
associate athletic director Nick Floyd have to find a home for 18 other
sports at ECU that aren't included in the Big East's immediate plans.
Secondary status in the
Big East apparently was considered more valuable than remaining a full
member in C-USA.
The current state of
league affiliation is certainly each man for himself. ECU's course of
action jettisons Charlotte and Old Dominion to an extent. Those incoming
C-USA members envisioned a regional rivalry with the Pirates.
In contrast to McNeill,
basketball coach Jeff Lebo and baseball coach Billy Godwin don't know
what to tell recruits at the present time about the competitive
framework for their programs beyond 2013.
Is the grass really
greener in the Big East?
It seems the Big East and
C-USA as parts of "the group of five" will be on equal footing when the
college football playoff formula is revised. It's actually not the grass
that matters. It's the long green, the projected revenues. Hopefully,
the powers that be at ECU have done the math and the decision is a good
one.
Bowl prep not forsaken
ECU will have its bowl
destination determined by the outcome of the C-USA championship game on
Saturday when Central Florida visits Tulsa. A Knights win means the
Pirates play in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl in St. Petersburg, FL, on
Friday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m. With a Tulsa win, the Pirates return to
the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday, Dec.
22, at noon.
The Pirate players have
four days of workouts with strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors
this week.
"Class is a priority and
treatment with sports medicine," McNeill said. "We'll have two days of
skeleton throwing, catching and defending. The offensive line will do
drills on their own. (Offensive coordinator) Lincoln (Riley) is there
and some of the coaches are there. They'll be supervising."
Actual practice for the
bowl game will begin next week.
Thoughts on league
showdown
Central Florida
handed ECU its only C-USA defeat
this season, 40-20, in Orlando on Thursday, Oct. 4, a game the Pirates
led 14-0 before a kickoff return for a score gave the Knights momentum
that they parlayed into a victory.
Tulsa topped UCF 23-21 at
home on Nov. 17.
"I think it's going to be
a great game," McNeill said. "Central Florida may have some incentive
because Tulsa beat 'em. ... Tulsa's playing at home, which maybe gives
them a balance because they're in front of their crowd. It'll be a tough
ball game and we know we'll be playing in New Orleans or Florida."
McNeill didn't express a
preference as to postseason destination.
"I learned a long time ago
when I first got into college coaching 27 years ago, all bowls are good
bowls," said the Pirates coach. "There are only 70 teams now that are
picked to go to bowl games. East Carolina is one of those 70. I'm
looking forward to playing either place. The Florida bowl would be good
for our fans but the New Orleans bowl would be good as well because our
fans travel so well.
"I'm excited about either
one. I'm looking forward to finding out which one so we can start
preparing and our fans can start preparing, too."
E-mail Al Myatt
PAGE UPDATED
11/29/12 02:22 AM.
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