'Intensity' changes for Ruff & Co.

By Brian Bailey
©2014 Bonesville.net
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The summer seems to drag each year, unless you’re at the beach enjoying the fun in the sun.

The East Carolina Pirates' version of that fun in the sun comes in August, in preparing for the upcoming college football season.

Game week is now upon us. The Pirates kicked things off with their traditional Sunday night practice before taking Monday off as an academic day.

“Now we dive into game week, and last night, you could feel the intensity change,” said fifth year head coach Ruffin McNeill at his first press conference of the regular season. [Replay the audio of Ruff's presser...] “I think we’ve done a good job these last two days of letting the guys get their legs back under them. Also, we got a needed actual game-situation practice on Saturday morning.

"It was a very intense period of practice, but it was needed from all three sides of the ball to sideline discipline, which will change for us in the American Conference.”

That closed walk-through may sound like an easy Saturday morning for the Pirates. Coach McNeill says it was anything but that.

“For our players who have not been a part of that, it was a rude awakening for them,” explained McNeill. “The sideline discipline of where you sit on the bench, meet for special teams, where Jake Moore, our athletic trainer, is and our equipment staff.”

Now all focus centers on North Carolina Central. That’s not an easy task, with the likes of South Carolina, Virginia Tech and North Carolina on the September schedule.

I’ll never forget what Coach Ruff said after beating North Carolina in Chapel Hill last season. When asked if the win over the Tar Heels was his biggest as head coach, he thought back to last season’s opener against Old Dominion.

“That ODU game was pretty big,” McNeill said with a smile on his face. “Try to lose that baby and see what happens.”

Much is the same situation this year, with first year coach Jerry Mack at the helm of the Eagles.

“As for North Carolina Central, I’ve known Jerry Mack for a long time,” McNeill said. “I guess I’m one of the older coaches around now, but Jerry was a really good player and has moved his way up the ladder. His last position was offensive coordinator at South Alabama, so his team, offensively, will mirror ours a little bit as far as spreading the field with some running game involvement.”

This is the time of year to set goals, and the Pirates have lofty ones. Though they haven’t said anything publicly, to a man this is a team that thinks it can play with any team on its schedule.

“We can’t wait to get started,” said senior quarterback Shane Carden. “The guys have worked really hard in the off-season and we all can’t wait to get it going this Saturday night.”

Linebacker Zeke Bigger agreed.

“We have put in the work and now it’s time to get it going. I can’t wait to run through that tunnel and get this thing going.”

Bigger perhaps said what all of us are thinking. I can’t wait to see that team run through the tunnel, either, and get this season going.

The rollercoaster ride that is a football season is here.

Hang on and enjoy the ride.

BB

E-mail Brian Bailey.