A lot has happened with the East Carolina football program in a short period of time, but the Pirates kept things together sufficiently to announce a promising signing class on Wednesday.

ECU went through an interim coaching period with defensive coordinator Blake Harrell that coincided with a 4-game winning streak that produced bowl eligibility.

The Pirates removed Harrell’s interim tag last week and the resulting certainty about the future of the program’s leadership provided some security for recruits who were tentative about committing until ECU’s future guidance was in place.

A class of 19 was welcomed officially on signing day.

Still to come is ECU’s bowl assignment and an open period in the transfer portal, situations that Harrell did not take questions on during his news conference on Wednesday.

“So fired up about the young men we added to our program today and the future of Pirate Nation and future Pirates,” Harrell said. “Signing day has obviously changed over the years. This year got moved up to the first Wednesday in December, which is kind of unusual.

“It had been like the third week of December, so you had a little bit more time to prepare for this, and guys had a little bit more time maybe to flip their commitments or finish their season. We’ve got some young men that are still playing this weekend in state championships and playing in playoffs, things like that.

“It’s just different from the recruiting calendar standpoint of what that’s been, but certainly fired up about these young men and certainly how our roster is going to develop over the next month in preparation for 2025.”

The class reportedly will have 12 members enrolling in January.

“Feel really good about this group,” Harrell said. “Most of this group has been committed to us since last summer, and we were able to hold onto them throughout the season and throughout the coaching change.

‘They are young men that all our staff was very familiar with, got to know very well, had relationships with, and we knew all along when we’re going through the process here with the coaching change that these guys, if we had a chance to stay here and stay as Pirates and stay in Greenville, that these young men would stay here as Pirates, too. It was an uneasy time for them, but for the most part, once everything got announced last week, they were all in and excited to be here. We’re definitely fired up to have them.”

Dual Quarterbacks

Since Holton Ahlers completed his eligibility in 2022, dual quarterbacks have been an ECU theme. Mason Garcia and Alex Flinn shared playing time during a 2-10 season in 2023.

Jake Garcia and Katin Houser have split starts for the Pirates (7-5) this season.

There are a pair of QBs in the group announced Wednesday, including Chaston Ditta of  Lake Travis High School in Austin, TX, and Cole Hodge of Christian Academy of Louisville (KY).

“Coach (John David) Baker (offensive coordinator), is super excited about him,” Baker said of Ditta. “He has been down and watch him play after our Tulsa game. Dual threat quarterback. Certainly thinks he fits our offense. Threw for 47 touchdowns this year and ran for another 16 in his career.

“Fired up about him. Chaston has been up a couple times to see us play and back in the summer as well. And then Coach Baker had been down to see him play and kind of the Texas connection there as well. So at Lake Travis High School, really good football school.”

Cole Hodge actually joined the program last year. His brother, Connor, is a current signee although both were listed in the group released Wednesday.

“Connor Hodge, the second of the Hodge brothers that we can officially talk about now is a nominee for Mr. Football in the state of Kentucky,” Harrell said. “He’ll be here in January with his brother, so excited to have those two guys. Him and his brother here as well. But Connor’s played a little bit of everything up there as an athlete, quarterback, receiver, but he’ll play receiver for us. They’re playing in the state championship this weekend.”

252 product

ECU used to get more players from the area of northeast North Carolina. East of Interstate 95 in the state was considered the Pirate football footprint.

Five southeastern states — South Carolina (3), Georgia (5), Florida (2), Alabama (1) and North Carolina (5) account for the bulk of the class.

The Pirates will be bringing in wide receiver Jonathan Williams from the coastal community of Havelock.

“Probably the biggest surprise of the day or the week, I should say, is a local 252 young man, Johnny Williams,” Harrell said “Johnny, during some of the process there, he committed to James Madison. He just wanted to make sure that he kind of built some relationships with another coaching staff just in case Coach (Dyrell) Roberts (ECU wide receivers coach), Coach Baker, and myself weren’t here. So, he had made that move and then when everything got announced last week, Coach Roberts kind of stuck in there with him, and I was able to flip him back. So that was a huge one.

“And Johnny, I told him on the phone the other night on FaceTime, I said, ‘I remember you out here as a sophomore at our seven on seven camps and doing some things out there, just the plays you were making.’ I’m still trying to recruit him to play corner, but I don’t know if Coach Baker and Coach Roberts are going to let that happen.

“He is certainly a playmaker as a receiver. I think he plays quarterback for those guys down there and does a little bit of everything. Super explosive player, dynamic with the ball in his hands, and you guys know all about him just being a local kid. …

“Coach Roberts, the relationship he had and with that mom and with the brother and with Johnny, and Coach Baker as well played a huge part. Obviously JMU had built that relationship and snuck in there and during the coaching change, and they had an in to go flip him the first time, and we were able to have that in of that relationship when things were solidified here to flip him back.

“He knew all about Dowdy-Ficklen. He knows how special this place is and what East Carolina means and growing up as a kid here in eastern North Carolina and having an opportunity to play in Dowdy was pretty special to him. That part made it easy, too.”

Havelock (12-1), the No. 1 seed in the East, hosts No. 12 Jacksonville (11-1) in the fourth round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs on Friday at 7 p.m.

Closing time

The sequence of events that culminated on Oct. 20 with the dismissal of Mike Houston as head coach was a factor that the Pirate staff had to overcome to keep the class of commitments intact.

“This group is a solid group overall and individually,” Harrell said. “It’s hard. I kind of thought the way that timeline fell out for this and just for high school seniors in general, you’re moved up to the first Wednesday in December.

“Well they don’t find out who the head coach of East Carolina is going to be until last Wednesday, so there’s not enough time to come back for a second visit, so they were up in the air about a lot of things.

“Some of them were making backup plans and ‘Hey, what if this happens? What if that happens?’ Which you can certainly understand. They weren’t ready to go and play for somebody they didn’t know and didn’t have a relationship.

“So they were kind of, hey, make sure I have a relationship here with this coach, relationship there with this coach. But at the end of the day they decided they wanted to be Pirates and play in Dowdy-Ficklen, and I think it says a lot about them as young men. So fired up about that and glad they stuck with us and glad they’re going to be Pirates.”

Common characteristics

Harrell was asked what the recruiting class has in common,

“One is their commitment level that they had to East Carolina and how they stuck with it and stuck with us and willing to kind of push through and see it all the way through,” Harrell said. “So that was the first. And from a physical standpoint, I think it’s the athleticism and just the speed that you’re adding, the size you’re adding, and the length you’re adding in this class.”

Early enrollment advantages

More  than half the class will be enrolling in January.

“People ask me all the time, ‘What’s the biggest difference between a kid coming in January and a kid coming in the summer?'” Harrell said. “If a kid’s coming in summer, he’s getting here mid-June and then he’s about a couple of weeks of weight program. He gets to July 4th, a couple more weeks, and then he is in fall camp, and he’s drinking through a fire hose to be honest.

“When you come in January, you get a whole month of training, two months of training in the weight room, and then you’re going through our installs, maybe install through walkthroughs, install through spring practice, so you’re getting so far ahead in the weight room, so far ahead with your installs and in the classroom as well.

“I mean you’re getting a whole semester of education and college classes that you’re not having to worry about, ‘Hey, it’s game time, getting ready for a game plan.’ You’re just worried about class, you’re worried about the weight room, you’re worried about, excuse me, the spring ball and not, hey, I got to get ready for N.C. State or BYU or Memphis or Tulane or whoever it may be at that time. So fired up those guys are coming in early. I think that’s huge.”

More smiles

Harrell talked about reaction from recruits when he was promoted.

“I saw a lot more smiles,” he said. “I know that. Just through the Zoom calls and just talking to these young men. They were relieved, and I think we’ll continue to grow relationships, and we continue to grow relationships with guys who aren’t rostered currently.

“That never stops and getting these guys here and continue to mentor them and be here for them, I think it was a comfort level for the parents as well, just knowing like, ‘Hey, Coach Harrell, Coach Baker, Coach Roberts, Coach (Roy) Tesh (defensive tackles), whoever it may be, is still going to be there and be in place and be able to take care of their sons.”

Changing responsibilities

Harrell will put a new defensive  coordinator in place and adjust his focus as head of the program.

“I told somebody the other day, especially when you step away from the defense, I said I’m going to get bored, but the one thing I got to be, it’s got to be my baby now is recruiting.

“Whether it’s the portal, whether it’s high school recruits, whether it’s parents, I said between that and just going out and talking to donors and that part of it too, those have got to be where it’s totally different than being the defense coordinator.

“When you’re the defense coordinator, you’re worried about scheming people up, X and O, and getting guys in the right spot, and all those types of things. I’ll still be worried about that stuff and still kind of probably stick my head in there too much, but this has got to be my baby, and this has got to be where we make our money so to speak because the minute you get lazy in recruiting is the minute you’re going to see your roster decline and fall apart or not have the great talent. And we got to make sure we get ourselves a chance to win.

“I told somebody I’ve been busier this week than I was two weeks ago getting ready for North Texas, and it’s really because of these young men that signed today. Anybody that has announced they’re going in the portal and our current roster and all that roster management, I call it.

“And that’s got to be what we’re preparing for 2025.”

One more game

Bowl projections have a number of possibilities for the Pirates in the postseason.

“We’ve still got one more game,” Harrell said. “Our job’s not done yet. It’s one more time and go out and play in 2024 in a bowl game.

“This week’s kind of been nice just to focus on the 2025 roster and all that. I told our seniors like, ‘Hey, understand we’re going to shift some thoughts here to 2025 and our roster and recruiting and those type of things, but don’t think we’re not concerned about you guys and we’re going to finish this thing off the right way.'”

Signing calendar

Harrell was asked his thoughts on having signing day in early December.

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “The thing about college football right now, we don’t sit on anything, and hey, let’s ride this out for a couple of years and see how it’s going to be. The portal window is continuously open and closing, changing.

“High school recruiting is a different signing date. You had two signing dates, or we’re going to go back to one signing date, we’re going to go back to the summer. It’s like we never sit on anything and just let it play out for a couple of years and really figure out the pros and cons.

“We’re ready to make a change based off going through it one time. So who knows? I’m sure by next year it’ll change again, and we’ll be back to the summer. We’ll go to a summer signing date, and I don’t know if that’s good or not.

“Somebody said a couple years ago, ‘Let’s let it play out for a couple years and only make changes every four years, three years, five years.’ Have it set. So I’m not sure that’ll happen. Not sure anybody’s going to listen to me obviously. First time head coach and new head coach, but … at the AFCA (American Football Coaches Associattion), I might raise my hand, just ask why a few times.”

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