Since a 2-10 season in 2023, East Carolina coach Mike Houston has focused forward with changes designed to improve areas where the Pirates struggled last year, specifically on offense.
“It’s good to have a little bit of cool weather here the last couple of days,” Houston said at a news conference on Wednesday that addressed the state of the program. “The kids appreciated that yesterday morning with mat drills starting.
“… We wanted to have an opportunity once recruiting had closed up to get everybody together … and just kind of catch up on everything that is Pirate football. Obviously the last two months since the end of the season have been pretty active, and a lot of change.
“Sometimes change is needed and sometimes change is really good. And so, I think that there’s a lot of positive enthusiasm and positive energy around our building right now. I think that’s a credit to some of our new staff members and the way that they have come in and really meshed well with our returning staff members.
“I think I could say the same thing for the players. I just think that our returning players, we’ve talked a lot just about what a strong locker room we have, and that’s something I stand on. I mean, we are fortunate to have just really outstanding young men in this program, and they’ve done a great job welcoming in a lot of the new players. I think we had 21 mid-year new guys join our team, and our players have done a great job of bringing them in, making them feel like a part of the brotherhood.
“I think that our new players, whether they be freshmen or transfers, they’ve done a good job of adapting. Now, all the warm fuzzies and all that stuff, that’s gone and done. I mean, they’re getting after it pretty good right now. They had a really good workout in the weight room this morning with Big John (Williams, strength coach).
“We’ll be back out on the turf again tomorrow morning. And so, the month of February is a big month for us to not only get bigger, faster, stronger, but find out more about how guys compete, how much they’ve grown, but also, we’re doing more football this time of the year than we ever have in the past. I mean, I think it’s just very important going into the spring to give Coach (John David) Baker (new offensive coordinator) and his staff as much time to get our players prepared for spring practice as possible. And so, we’re dedicating a little bit more of our allotted time each week to offense and defense in preparation for the spring.
“I’m really excited about the spring. I mean, I think probably everybody is. I think Coach Baker, love his energy and love his confidence, and he’s already started talking trash to the defense and so that’s got them kind of energized.
“And so, I think it’s probably going to be a really competitive spring, but also a lot of positive energy out there and a lot of positive enthusiasm. So just really looking forward to it. And obviously a lot of work to be done before we get started there in mid-March, but I think you have a lot of motivated people. And so, I think where we sit today is I feel really good about where things are and excited about the things that are coming up in the near future.”
Importance of bonding
With new players and coaches to incorporate into the program, bonding as a team becomes an important objective.
“I told the players and the staff, I think that’s the number one goal for the spring is for all of us to really develop strong bonds with each other,” Houston said. “And the only way you do that is by spending time together and having a lot of discussions on a lot of things, but also a lot of discussions on things that don’t have anything to do with football.
“With the staff, I’ve spent a lot of time and will continue to spend a lot of time throughout the spring just talking about things I believe in, how we’re going to operate, expectations. I think those things are important and I think you’re always evolving those things. I mean, I think after every season we’ve adapted and changed, but I think even more so it’s important right now.
“I told the staff this morning, in our staff meeting, I really want to give everybody a fresh start going into the spring, with a lot of things. But I think it’s important for us all to be on the same page, and that’s the number one goal for the spring. … Whether you’re talking offense, defense, or special teams, that is the number one goal coming out of the spring, figuring out who goes where and making sure everybody’s on the same page and rolling in the same direction together.”
Incoming talent
Addressing skill position deficiencies was a priority in a busy recruiting effort.
“The thing that excites you the most is the quality of the talent,” Houston said of the newcomers to the program. “You talk about our high school players. I think that we signed an exceptionally talented group. Now, they’re all going to be true freshmen. And so, will they play this year, or will they not play this year? We’ll see. I know that there are several on the signing list that I think have a shot, and I think that’s always good.
“I think with our transfers, I think that we were very deliberate with addressing certain needs, and I feel very comfortable that we were able to do that. Now, we’ve got to get them all on the same page and that’s what we’ve got to work on this spring. But I think there’s a lot that our returning players are excited about because they have already seen what some of these new guys can do, and I think that excites them.”
New quarterbacks
Katin Houser from Michigan State and Jake Garcia from Miami/Missouri are expected to significantly upgrade the experience level in the quarterback room.
“We were very upfront with both Jake and Katin that we were going to try to bring in two,” Houston said. “I think that we were very fortunate that we didn’t just bring in two quarterbacks, we brought in two highly talented quarterbacks. And they both have experience. They’ve both been a starter. They both played at a high level. And they both have eligibility remaining. It’s not just a one-year kind of deal.
“I think they both need each other. I think Raheim (Jeter) needs those guys. I think that that room all of a sudden is highly competitive. And I think that it’s important for them to have positive relationships, but it’s important also for them to really push each other. And I think we’re already seeing that in the stuff that they’re doing on their own and in the workouts.”
Workouts
The Pirates are working on getting bigger, faster and stronger in sessions prior to spring ball.
“We started yesterday, so we’ve had one session,” Houston said. “The first day is never the prettiest thing in the world. I think that you watch yesterday… And we film everything, we watch as a staff and then we show it to the kids. Good, bad, and ugly. But I think that you have kids that are seasoned veterans and that have the mentality that kind of fits what that is, and they do really, really well with it.
“And then you’ve got some new guys and some freshmen out there that they’re like somebody hit them in the face with a frying pan. So, I anticipate tomorrow morning’s work-out to be really vastly improved. But the enthusiasm was there, and the effort was there. We just got to correct some of the how-you-compete stuff.”
Staff vacancy
Houston commented on the news that special teams coordinator and defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Tim Daoust had accepted a job as Pittsburgh’s new defensive line coach on Wednesday.
“You’ve always got to be prepared for things like this to happen,” Houston said. “Anytime you have success in certain areas, then you’ve got the potential for this to happen. You can never predict it. The one thing I will say, and I said it last year, I’ll say it to our staff this afternoon, the way Chris Foster (former running backs coach, now at Northwestern) and Tim Daoust, the way they handled everything on their end, consummate professionalism.
“And so, it helps you be prepared for this a little bit better. It doesn’t just come out of the blue. And so Blake (Harrell, defensive coordinator) and I have been talking for the last week or so. And so when Tim told me this morning that he was accepting the job, it doesn’t just blindside you. And I appreciate the job that he did. He’s a good friend in addition to being a quality coach, and wish him all the best of luck at Pitt.
“But thanks to that popping out five minutes later this morning, my phone’s blown up all morning. So, we’ll have a quality candidate. We’ve already had several people that I know that are quality coaches reach out to us. I’m meeting with the kids here in a little while just to talk to them. My number one priority is we get somebody that’s going to do an outstanding job with our players. Our players in this program are my number one priority. And I want men that are just like Tim, … I want men of character that are going to care about our players. They’re going to develop our players. They’re going to push our players, but they’re going to be more than just an on-the-field coach for them. And that’s the kind of individual we’re looking for.”
Game changing factors
Houston talked about the changes that compensation for Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) for players and immediate eligibility for transfers have brought to college athletics.
”We’ve created a mess,” said the Pirates coach. “It’s a pain in the rear, but you’ve got to navigate it and you’ve got to adapt. But it really has become just a consuming deal. And I think that you’ve got to do a great job of trying to manage a lot of different things. And the issues are you’re trying to manage things with a lot of unknowns.
“And that’s why I think you hear just overwhelmingly from all FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) head coaches is we all want some kind of guidelines and some kind of structure and some kind of, ‘Okay, this is what you can and can’t do, and this is how you can do it,’ because right now you just have a lot of gray area. And so, I think that you’ve got to try to do a great job of keeping your focus on what’s important. And the things that are important to me are the people in our program, whether it’s coaches, players, whomever, the people in our program are the priority.
And then you try to — with each player, and I tell our players, ‘I’m here to support you. I’m here to help you. I’m here to help you reach your dreams and goals, but we got to work together on it, and we got to communicate.’
“So, I think you’ve got to keep your focus on investing in the young men in our program and trying to help them mature and develop as players on the field and be men that represent our program and our community in the way that we all expect. So, I think that’s where we got to keep our focus.”
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