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'Bring 'em on' strategy looking shrewd

By Brett Friedlander
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

East Carolina has long subscribed to the philosophy of playing anybody, anyplace, anytime on the football field.

It’s an approach that was accelerated back in 2005 when then-athletic director Terry Holland, in an effort to help the program recover from the disastrous John Thompson era, decided to become more ambitious than ever in his nonconference scheduling.

The idea was simple. Nobody, with the exception of those in the stands at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, pays any attention to blowout wins against no-name FCS opponents. The only way to be the best is to beat the best. And you can’t beat the best unless you play them.

But while games against the likes of South Carolina, Virginia Tech and West Virginia allowed ECU to increase its regional exposure and ultimately prepared it to win back-to-back Conference USA championships in 2008-09, the challenging schedule wasn’t universally popular among its loyal legion of fans.

The contention was that the disadvantages of spending the first third of the season playing – and usually losing to – teams from what are now known as the Power Five conferences far outweighed the potential benefits. That argument has been all but silenced now that coach Ruffin McNeill and his players have begun knocking off the so-called big boys on a regular basis.

The Pirates are 6-2 in nonconference games over the past two seasons, including a pair of lopsided victories against in-state rival North Carolina and another at N.C. State. The two losses, to Virginia Tech last season and South Carolina this Sept. 6, have come by a combined total of 15 points.

The ante is only going to be raised over the next few years with upcoming dates against Florida and BYU. Anything less would be, as McNeill likes to say, microwaving the process and shortchanging those who have poured their heart and soul into growing the program.

“The people that are committed to what we want here at East Carolina will be ready to meet any expectation that is before us,” McNeill said earlier in the season. “The expectation we have in our rooms far exceeds the expectations outside. The expectations we have will be met based on how well we stay focused on the team concept and how well we stay dedicated to the vision.”

That vision is rapidly turning into a reality with the Pirates perched at No. 18 in the latest AP media poll. It’s a lofty status that probably wouldn’t have been possible against a lesser nonconference schedule.

The next logical step is building on that early season success and going on to win the American Athletic Conference title in ECU’s first year as a league member.

There’s still plenty of work to be done before that goal can be accomplished. But if McNeill and his veteran Pirates can pull it off – and continue to be the highest-rated team from a non-Power Five conference – the reward will be a guaranteed berth in either the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange or Peach bowls.

There, the opponent would be a team ranked among the top 12 in the nation. Perhaps even one from the mighty SEC. But that won’t be anything new for the Pirates. Thanks to their aggressive regular season scheduling philosophy, they’re already well-acquainted with the concept of playing and often beating the best.

It’s a challenge that has long defined their identity as a program, but never more so than these past few years under former coach Skip Holtz and current leader McNeill.

“That’s just kind of our mentality at ECU, that we’ve got a chip on our shoulder,” senior quarterback Shane Carden said. “We don’t care who we’re going to play, we’ll go out there and play them hard.”

Contact Brett Friedlander

PAGE UPDATED 10/22/14 04:17 PM.

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