With unrest brewing in Pirate Nation, it’s as good a time as ever to launch “Quick Kicks,” an occasional column that will make brief observations about topics ranging from the action on the field to the processes that take place behind closed doors.
• Never had East Carolina had so much at stake against a Division I-AA/FCS opponent as was the case when the Pirates were manhandled on their home turf by James Madison Saturday night. The loss ended ECU’s 25-game winning streak over teams from the NCAA’s lower division.
When the final outcome was known and the completeness of JMU’s domination sank in, fans and other observers instinctively began further refining their conclusions about the wisdom or lack thereof of the school’s decision to abruptly fire former Pirate player Ruffin McNeill as head coach after a 5-7 season in 2015.
• Scottie Montgomery, McNeill’s successor, had not previously faced the scrutiny ECU athletic director Jeff Compher has endured since Compher pulled the trigger on McNeill. Despite last season’s 3-9 collapse, Montgomery generally got the benefit of the doubt from Pirate Nation. His charisma and resume were too impressive to ignore. Optimism was abundant that a year of seasoning, schematic adjustments and much-touted personnel upgrades would begin to reinvigorate the program.
If the uproar on call-in shows, the rants on Internet message boards, the comments on social media and the input Bonesville has received from readers can be used as a measuring stick, that benevolence appears to have evaporated.
• For Montgomery and others in the chain of command, the shift in mood comes at a perilous time. All three of the Pirates’ remaining September opponents — West Virginia, Virginia Tech and South Florida — were ranked in the preseason Top 25. Unless Coach Mo & Company can pull a warren of rabbits out of the hat, the controversy will get progressively more heated.
Questions over the decision by Compher and the acquiescence of former chancellor Steve Ballard and ECU’s board of trustees in firing McNeill will become more harsh. Criticism of current chancellor Cecil Staton and the board of trustees for recently giving Compher a raise and extending his contract for five years after last year’s broad decline in the athletic department’s overall competitive performance will become louder.
• If the season goes south from here, the angst in Pirate Nation will be reflected by more empty seats in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and more challenges for ECU’s perennially-challenged athletic department budget. Football has long been the linchpin of the school’s pursuit of an upwardly mobile track in the world of college athletics and the driving force in generating revenues.
With ECU situated deep in the heart of ACC basketball country, iconic chancellor Leo Jenkins determined more than 50 years ago that football could be an effective P.R. tool in raising the school’s profile regionally and nationally. Few would argue with Jenkins’ foresight today. Football has almost continuously played that role well at ECU ever since, in essence serving as the most prominent outer-facing facet of a school perceived to be pursuing bold ambitions with swagger.
With the exception of the John Thompson coaching fiasco in 2002-03 — which, ironically, followed the contentious ouster of Steve Logan, the school’s all-time leader in coaching wins — the program preserved its credibility along with what was eventually branded as its “undaunted” identity in seasons ranging from superb to mediocre.
• With all of that in mind, a flagging football program is not a scenario that will go down lightly with most alumni, fans and donors. The pressure will be immense to fix the program’s problems sooner rather than later.
In the case of the John Thompson era, the problem was fixed relatively quickly after then-chancellor William Muse and then-athletic director Mike Hamrick departed in rapid succession, followed by Terry Holland’s appointment by Ballard as AD and Holland’s subsequent firing of Thompson and hiring of Skip Holtz.
Bonesville is not taking the editorial position that Staton, Compher and Montgomery should be sent packing. We’re merely making the point that the board of trustees finally saw the writing on the wall in 2003 and exerted itself. The current board of trustees should immediately assume a more active role in helping the leaders that report to them define a path forward that will right the ship.
• As Brian Bailey wrote in his Tuesday column on Bonesville, hope for a quick turnaround is not lost… but it is tenuous. Montgomery has his work cut out. His biggest challenge will be to channel what happened at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium last Saturday night into something positive.
As an old salt with various ties to the program since the ’60s — as a student, athletic department staffer, donor and journalist — I can cite an example when utter failure in a season opener was overcome with spectacular success. After a humiliating 57-8 defeat by a Lou Holtz-coached N.C. State team in 1973, then-coach Sonny Randle lit a fire under the Pirates and led them to a 13-0 shutout of a good Southern Miss team the following week and an eventual 9-2 record.
I’m not sure if we have the talent/leadership on this team to pull off a ’73 type recovery. I have the same feeling as I did during the JT era.
Im more put of that the DFS project was one time on budget. Once Compher secured his new contract he announces it will take twice as long and needs more money. That misrepresentation and mismanagement is more reason to get rid of Comper.
I met a starting offensive linemen a few months ago. Nice guy. But he darn sure looked nothing like Terry Long, Tom Scott, etc. of the past. Those guys were fast, muscular as heck, very little fat with the perception of mean. This kid was suppose to be a star on our offensive line. I told my buddy at the time he looked overweight and why was he sporting a “man bun”? In a testosterone laden sport like football where strength, speed, brains and a little streak of meanness are good things I can’t understand this with our coaching staff. I don’t want to be hard on this kid — because lets face, the entire team looked like a powder puff womens team. What I DO expect is the coaching staff PREPARE these guys for battle. This kid, and the team, in my opinion, was not prepared by the strength coach as well as the O line coach and on up the line. I hope they can light a fire under these players quickly or it will be a very long season!
I have often wondered why we seem to think adding twenty to thirty pounds of fat to a lineman would make that player a better athlete. Without naming any names, there is one lineman on offense who is obese and based on his lack of aggression should not be on scholarship at any college football program.
Remember Linval Joseph? He lost 40 pounds before his Jr. season and turned into a monster at nose guard. He’s still kicking butt and taking names today.
Linval Joseph is a monster and player. Did you know he commented to Florida and ECU was lucky to land him. Plus Joseph tackle Ross played in the league and CJ Wilson got drafted to Packers. The other DE got free agent deal with Brown.
It’s obvious that ECU will win only two or three games this year. They just don’t have the talent to compete. Coupled with a three win season last year the handwriting is on the wall
I understand your comment, John. What Coach Mo has left over from the previous regime just can’t compete in this new league or our schedule. But, Montgomery has been bringing in BETTER talent than McNeil. This better talent is a MINIMUM for our schedule and this league. What I saw Saturday was a more talented team than JMU that wasn’t prepared. Physically, our players were limping or carried off the field while JMU had none of that…….hmmmmmm, where are you, Jeff Conners? Also, there was no fire in the belly, no meanness. Just a bunch of talented, out of shape, scared to death kids that were totally unprepared. If the coaches can’t light a fire under these guys it will be a long season. If they can light a fire I think you will see a lot of injuries because they physically are not prepared.
Question
Please explain why people say that Coach Mo brought in better talent then Ruff. We still going to get 3 stars (if that) players. I bet ECU had more recruiting talent then JMU. We seen what happen last week, it’s about heart, pride and togetherness. Another thing is how many commits do ecu lands?
I understand firing Ruff…it was time.
And Mo is struggling still with a program that was in a nose dive.
What I don’t understand and still upsets me…why the Compher extention? I need some answers.
Question, Why do you feel firing Ruffin was a great move? 5-7 with the third string qb is pretty good. Plus ECU was a runner up for a bowl game at 5 wins. Remember the AD stated ECU will not play in any bowls. Selfish Act on the AD that doesn’t care. If those player had a chance to play one more game. Plus $ $$ to ECU as well
Mike, you don’t know the story. The AD was backed into a corner by Ruff. If you were the AD you would have cut him loose too. Think about it: The AD, 7 Trustees and the Chancellor UNANIMOUSLY voted in favor of cutting Ruff loose. I don’t want to get into it here but the man fired himself. And I loved Ruff!
You right. I might not understand but I don’t understand why everyone wanted him fired. So you fired Ruffin for OC with no head coach experience. Let be honest ECU, we don’t have enough money to land big name coaches with experience or keep them. If so we would have keep Skip Holtz.
When the AD cut Ruff loose he was holding a 3 year extension that Ruff wouldn’t sign all season long. I don’t want to go into it here but the answer to the “why coach Mo question” is on the day Ruff was cut loose the AD had no idea he was going to do it therefore had no prospects at the time for the job.
I have said it before. McNeill just was not a recruiter. He believed in plugging graduation holes with JUCO transfers. They did not have to develop within McNeill’s philosophy. Whatever that was. He won with Skip’s recruits, then the cupboard was bare because of his lack of recruiting ability. Heck, his defenses at Tech were pathetic. Scotty has a tough roadecision in front of him, but deserves a more than fair chance.
Now for the A-Hole AD whom let USC out of a commitment to play in Greenville and cost the program, ECU, Greenville Merchants including hotels and restaurants a lot of money. Why? Because the USC was a buddy of his. Why are we extending his contract. He is a really bad AD, and the only extension he deserves is one so we can move him out of G-Vegas
Ruffin loves his players and that the best recruit that you going to get. Coach Mo recruited all these kids from different states and gave up on the University & Coach Saturday. Ruffin player NEVER gave up.
Ah, I believe you will find that coach Mo’s recruits are a step up from Ruffs. Also, remember Lincoln Riley? When he left everything started going downhill. It’s a shame that in the beginning we didn’t hire Riley as Head and Ruff for defense. But, that’s something nobody could foresee at the time.
How can we say Coach Mo recruits are a step better then Ruff when Coach Moe won 3 games in two years. Mo getting the same 3 star players like Ruffin doing. We are not landing 4 to 5 star players. period. I rather have a 3 star player from eastern nc that know history of being a pirate then 3 star player from Virginia thats clueless.
So Ruffin nothing without Riley, please tell me what Coach Mo excuses. I know one thing that Ruffin kids fought for him and not give up like last Saturday.
If you go back and look you will be surprised how many of Ruffs recruits were walk on, NO stars, 1 and 2 stars, with a rare 3 star. Mo recruits are fairly consistent 2 or 3 star with a rare 4 star. It looks like we can recruit, just can’t play!
First paragraph….Amen, brother! Second paragraph, we can’t get a game with SEC teams without the escape clause.
Mo seems like a good guy; he’s got a fire in him, and he obviously loves the game and loves being a coach. However, I’m starting to question if he has a grasp on what he will need to succeed at ECU. JMU was a stout team, and absolutely deserved to win with the way they played. I don’t think anyway should fool themselves into thinking that JMU wouldn’t challenge more than half the power 5 teams out there. However, the total manhandling the Pirates received was too much; it should have been a close game at the very least, but the Pirates looked disjointed and sputtering on both sides of the ball. I think the athletic talent is there at ECU, but I don’t think it’s being appropriately coached. There’s a lot more football to play this year, but it will be a rally for the record books if ECU gets a win before the Tulane game–and even that’s looking uncertain. Maybe Mo just isn’t a good fit for the program. I’m sure he could do well somewhere, but if the pirates go 2-10 this year, it’ll be obvious that the “somewhere” isn’t in Greenville.
Fire Coach Mo Now and don’t want for 2-10 Record. Its not fair to the players at all. Give them something to play for.
Great comment, James.
Mike, first, who are you going to turn the reigns over to? Who?
Second, something to play for? I expect them to play not only for their darn scholarships but for the love of ECU and the game. Otherwise, they can all take a hike.
Granted, the coaches OWN the fact that these kids were not prepared physically or mentally. I get that. But shouldn’t we get through the entire season before we evaluate the situation? Just like the team…….we appear to have little depth with the coaching staff right now.
Mr. Kidd
I played on the Thompson Team so I have the understanding of the pain these kids are going through. As Pirates we don’t make any excuses or look for gray areas. Its either Black or White. I bleed purple and gold but I’m telling you Coach Mo isn’t the answer. Steve Logan stated the game was Disturbing.
Point taken. Thank you for your sacrifice during that era!
I doubt that any of our linemen on either side of the ball could get any playing time on the JMU team, not many would have a chance to dress for games seeing how fat most of them are. Football starts up front. I loved Ruff but he didn’t earn his money, recruiting is the name of the game. Alabama wins because they have the best players, not because of the Coach. Ruff didn’t recruit,Mo will, it takes time, look back, John Thompson recruited some good players, Skip recruited some good players, Hardy walked on, as did 5 other starters, Zay was referred by his Dad. Mo goes after Juco’s and transfers because he has no other options, 18 year olds aren’t physically ready for d-1 ball. Until we can red shirt an entire class of linemen things will remain the same in Pirate land.
Great Post
I really hate the term TIME. Coach Mo has time, AD has time, university has time and etc. Those kids don’t have time. All those players have is 4 years if the coach renew their scholarship
True……I do feel bad for these guys. They were totally unprepared. Mentally but especially physically. Hopefully it will only cost them a year as opposed to injury due to weakness. You know, I wonder if they were playing like a bunch of pansies because they quickly learned on the field how out of shape they were and they were scared they would get hurt? Hmmmmm.
What the heck happened with our fabulous Jeff Connors strength and conditioning program? A blind man could see the difference on the field.
There is plenty of finger pointing going on. Some has merit while some may not. The only absolutes I know at this point are 1) It is going to be another long painful season & 2) Compher ended up with a raise and contract extension. #1 happens sometimes and with the right people and efforts we will recover. But how/why #2 happened blows my mind and leaves me disgusted. I’m still a Pirate at heart just had the wind taken out of my sails for a bit.
Hang in there, bro!
We’ve weathered this kind of storm before and came out stronger. Remember when we had the nations longest losing streak? Soon after we finished a season ranked #9 in the country. Two years of JT and shortly thereafter we had two conference titles.
We will get through this and we will be stronger!
Unfortunately our AD will be given more time than Mo,we know Compher sucks but Mo is on a short lease.
IF the season turns into a disaster I hope Coach Mo has the intestinal fortitude AND the authority by the AD to fire any assistant coaches and personnel all the way down to the waterboy. I don’t care how long they have been coaching. I don’t care what their previous accolades have been. I don’t care how long they have been connected to the university. This team was not prepared. If he does not–then Houston, we have a problem.
But I am hoping for a different team at WV. A win will do a lot to help me forget Saturday!
This is my first post ever. I just don’t post on sites but I must say what’s on my mind this am. With ECU facing WVA today its NOT going to be pretty. I have been a loyal fan for the past 12 years (did not go to ECU) (son and daughter-in-law are graduates) and have attended every home game those 12 years. Went to 9 Bowl Games in a row as well as a minimum of 2 away games each year. I will not express my feelings here about Players, Coaches, AD or Administration but what I will say is: You can’t keep coming to the well (Alumni and Fans) year after year for more $$$$$ for expansions and new facilities without expecting your supporters to get a RETURN ON THEIR INVESTMENT! Please get it together ECU