Blake Harrell didn’t comment directly on the news of the day — reports that he will be hired as East Carolina’s football coach after guiding the Pirates to a 4-0 record on an interim basis since Oct. 20.

Harrell met with media on Monday, but his focus is going 1-0 on Friday as ECU hosts Navy at noon.

The university’s board of trustees is expected to meet Wednesday and a formal announcement is anticipated after his official hiring is approved.

“There’s a process to this thing and we’ve got to let the process play out,” Harrell said. “You know me, my focus is going to be all about those players, and it always will be. That’s now, that’s the last five weeks and that’s always moving forward whenever that is.

“Our focus, it has to be on Navy and it has to be 1-0. We talk about winning the day and right now it’s about winning the day.”

Harrell got a plug in for the collective that compensates ECU athletes.

“It would be a good time to bring up Team Boneyard though for the future and take care of those guys,” said the defensive coordinator/head coach. “Team Boneyard will help us take care of what we can do in the future because winning seven games, that’s great. Go win eight games, that’s even better. And hopefully finishing third place in this conference. That’s a big step for this program.”

The Pirates are 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the American Athletic Conference.

Special comeback

ECU topped host North Texas, 40-28, on Saturday after trailing 21-0 late in the first half.

“It’s always good to go on the road and get a win,” Harrell said. “And to be down, 21-0, and see our guys not flinching. That ball game was awesome. It speaks to them and the type of men they are in that locker room.

“I knew that score right before the half was big, and we made some mistakes in the first half. We shot ourself in the foot so to speak. I knew we could overcome those in the second half. We just stuck together.

“At halftime, we looked those guys in the eye and told them exactly what we’re getting ready to go out and do,” Harrell said. “They never flinched. And then, come out of the half, Zakye (Barker) punched the ball out, Chad (Stephens) recovered it, and then Rahjai (Harris) broke the run to get the momentum going.

“That’s how the whole thing got started. And we pulled them all together at the fourth quarter and said, ‘Hey, it’s about us, it’s not about them.’ And that’s been the message for the last five weeks. And that’ll continue to be the message this week against Navy, a very good football team. And obviously, me and Brian (Newberry, Navy coach), we’re very good friends and several people on that staff, I know really well and respect the heck out of them.”

Navy, open date

The Midshipmen have had an open date since a 35-0 home loss to Tulane on Nov. 16. The Pirates are dealing with a compacted week, hardly an equitable competitive situation.

“I wish the conference would do a little better job scheduling and not give them a bye week before us, but it is what it is,” Harrell said. “We can’t focus on that. We’ve got to control what we can control. That’s getting ready for Navy.

“I told our players, ‘it’s a race against time in Dowdy-Ficklen and let’s send these seniors out the right way.’ Those seniors have been through so much. Some of them have been here since 2020, 2019. And it’s really emotional for those guys going to play that last game in Dowdy-Ficklen and with this momentum. I’m fired up to be back in there with Pirate Nation. Can’t wait for Friday.”

Goal for future

The Pirates have the potential to win nine games this year but have never beaten Navy in Greenville.

“The conference championship game is our goal,” Harrell said. “Go play in that thing. And to do that, we need everybody. We talk about that all the time. You need the trainers, equipment, video, everybody in the building.

“That said, I can’t say thank you enough to the Dr. (Philip) Rogers (chancellor) and Jon Gilbert (athletic director), what they’ve been doing for our program, but also our fans and the support they give us and that T^eam Boneyard and helping us retain players and bring new talent in. It will be huge moving forward.”

Good decision

Rogers and Gilbert should be credited for not overthinking the pending hire. Harrell has impacted the program with his personality and leadership after a 2-10 season in 2023 and a 3-4 start in 2024.

Successful coaching continuity should be valued.

There is precedent for hiring from within. Steve Logan was on staff in 1991 when Bill Lewis was coach and ECU went 11-1 with a 37-34 triumph in the Peach Bowl over N.C. State.

When Lewis left for Georgia Tech, then-AD Dave Hart promoted Logan, who, has the most wins (69) in program history.

Alumnus Ruffin McNeill has the second most wins in the Football Bowl Subdivision era (42). He was hired by Terry Holland after a bowl win as interim coach at Texas Tech.

McNeill’s coach at ECU, Pat Dye, had 48 wins for the Pirates but only three of his six seasons were on the major college level. Clarence Stasavich compiled 50 wins when the Pirates competed on the small college level.

Staff continuity

Harrell’s staff has been working with a degree of uncertainty about their status if an outside hire was made.

“Their main focus will just be Navy,” Harrell said. “It needs to be the focus and we can’t let anything else distract that. And, we can’t let anything else get in that way because if we do, Navy has the advantage.

“They’ve already got an advantage because they got a bye week and extra time to prepare, We’ve got to make sure we’re full steam ahead preparing for those guys.

“They’ve got a really good quarterback. I don’t know which one we’re going to see quite yet. It’s another week of that. It’s a little bit of different offense. We did have Army earlier in the year, so some recall from that. Defensively, there is some carryover of what they do to what we do, so there is some familiarity.”

Popular choice with players

Pirate players campaigned for Harrell’s hire on social media platforms.

“The funny thing is I don’t even have time to get on social media,” Harrell said. “I told somebody you’re wearing the defensive coordinator hat, your head coach hat, you’ve got some other hats you’re trying to wear and take care of business in those areas.

“I got to my phone the other night, I had about a hundred or so text messages, I tried to respond to everybody just to say thank you and let them know that I appreciate their thoughts and their messages, whether that’s on social media or my text, but I really don’t have time to scroll.

“Somebody told me that something was going on in there. I think my mom or something, she must have time to scroll but not me.

“It just says about that locker room and who they are, the type of people they are, and how close they are for each other. And I love every one of those kids in there, and I think that’s where it starts and that’s where any program starts and needs to be is the care for each other.

“We talk about our mission, the last five weeks has been TEE off on our opponent — together with the effort and energy. If we’ll do those three things, we’ll have a great opportunity to win on Friday this week.”

Not half bad

Barker had to sit out the first half at North Texas after his ejection at Tulsa, but he quickly made an impact, literally.

“Our seniors are so special and the ways that Kye Barker and Katin Houser are leading,” Harrell said. “Both those guys are special people on both sides of the ball as younger guys, and Zakye was definitely a spark plug in the second half there.

“I told somebody the story the other day. My first game calling plays defensively, defensive coordinator. It was actually Mercer, we let them get up 21-0. And we had two kids that had to sit out the first half. They come back in the second half and we shut them out in the second half.

“A little bit like the other night. And they said, ‘Hey, what was your half-time adjustments?’ I said, ‘Well those two kids were fresh and everybody else was tired and they could go.’

“Zakye as soon as he got in there, third play was in there, he forced a fumble. He does a great job running the show, and I’m super proud of the person he is.”

Cliff notes

Baseball coach Cliff Godwin has experienced his share of success at ECU. Godwin has been there to help Harrell.

“I remember Cliff Godwin a couple of weeks ago, and Coach Godwin’s been awesome and just thank him for his mentorship and his leadership, what he’s meant to me and this university as well.

“But he said, ‘Success leaves clues,’ and he was talking about a couple of young men he had. Kye Barker’s no different. Katin is no different. Those guys, success leaves clues. Those guys are always in the building. Those guys are always working, and it pays off on the field.”