CHRONICLING EAST
CAROLINA & CONFERENCE USA
SPORTS
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View from the East
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Al Myatt |
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Ruff has a new tool in his bag
By
Al Myatt
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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Ruffin McNeill hit the
road Wednesday morning to do some recruiting and the East Carolina
football coach had a new dimension to attract potential players,
pending
membership for the Pirates in the Big East
Conference.
The incoming freshmen
class that ECU will sign in February can figure to play the bulk of
their careers in the Big East.
McNeill is not one of
those head coaches who has tired of recruiting in his rise through
the coaching ranks. He wishes there weren't so many restrictions on
head coaches being involved with prospects. It is an essential phase
of program development that he enjoys and one at which he continues
to excel.
"We have a little
something different to sell and present to the young men," McNeill
said Wednesday via cell phone as he dealt with traffic around
Raleigh on his way west. "It was a great announcement. It does give
you some more fodder as you go into the homes."
I remember former ECU
coach Steve Logan saying that Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer had
told him that the Hokies program turned the corner with admission to
the Big East because of all the living rooms it got Beamer and his
staff into for recruiting.
"I know it's going to
be a great benefit as far as exposure," said the current Pirates
coach. "Our program has done a good job of selling itself when the
kids come up, but I'm sure this will be a definite benefit for us."
The Big East of
Logan's days had a markedly different membership than the one the
Pirates agreed to become a part of this week. Much of that Big East
has migrated to the ACC and it appears that much of the Big East
that ECU will compete in is actually a rendezvous of former
Conference USA programs.
Who really knows where
conference affiliations will stand in 2014 when ECU is scheduled to
make its move from C-USA?
Still, ECU has landed
the white whale that it has pursued for years. As Chancellor Steve
Ballard said Tuesday, it's a validation of what athletic director
Terry Holland and many in the Pirate Nation have been working toward
for a long time.
"I've been trying to
get into the Big East since I was 10," Ballard joked.
It was nice to hear
Big East commissioner Mike Aresco and Judy Genshaft, the South
Florida president who is chairman of the Big East's board of
directors, welcome the Pirates aboard on Tuesday. Given their
glowing comments, one wonders why the invitation didn't come sooner.
Much sooner.
Maybe it was just a
coincidence that ECU gained membership within hours of Louisville's
departure to the ACC. Maybe it was just a trivial piece of history
that the Cardinals were the primary stumbling block to ECU's
admission to C-USA in 1997. Maybe not.
As in its previous
move from independent status to C-USA, ECU has initially been
accepted for football only.
Holland and executive
associate athletic director Nick Floyd have to find a home for 18
other sports at ECU that aren't included in the Big East's immediate
plans.
Secondary status in
the Big East apparently was considered more valuable than remaining
a full member in C-USA.
The current state of
league affiliation is certainly each man for himself. ECU's course
of action jettisons Charlotte and Old Dominion to an extent. Those
incoming C-USA members envisioned a regional rivalry with the
Pirates.
In contrast to
McNeill, basketball coach Jeff Lebo and baseball coach Billy Godwin
don't know what to tell recruits at the present time about the
competitive framework for their programs beyond 2013.
Is the grass really
greener in the Big East?
It seems the Big East
and C-USA as parts of "the group of five" will be on equal footing
when the college football playoff formula is revised. It's actually
not the grass that matters. It's the long green, the projected
revenues. Hopefully, the powers that be at ECU have done the math
and the decision is a good one.
Bowl prep not
forsaken
ECU will have its bowl
destination determined by the outcome of the C-USA championship game
on Saturday when Central Florida visits Tulsa. A Knights win means
the Pirates play in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl in St. Petersburg, FL,
on Friday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m. With a Tulsa win, the Pirates
return to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the New Orleans Bowl on
Saturday, Dec. 22, at noon.
The Pirate players
have four days of workouts with strength and conditioning coach Jeff
Connors this week.
"Class is a priority
and treatment with sports medicine," McNeill said. "We'll have two
days of skeleton throwing, catching and defending. The offensive
line will do drills on their own. (Offensive coordinator) Lincoln
(Riley) is there and some of the coaches are there. They'll be
supervising."
Actual practice for
the bowl game will begin next week.
Thoughts on league
showdown
Central Florida
handed ECU its only C-USA defeat
this season, 40-20, in Orlando on Thursday, Oct. 4, a game the
Pirates led 14-0 before a kickoff return for a score gave the
Knights momentum that they parlayed into a victory.
Tulsa topped UCF 23-21
at home on Nov. 17.
"I think it's going to
be a great game," McNeill said. "Central Florida may have some
incentive because Tulsa beat 'em. ... Tulsa's playing at home, which
maybe gives them a balance because they're in front of their crowd.
It'll be a tough ball game and we know we'll be playing in New
Orleans or Florida."
McNeill didn't express
a preference as to postseason destination.
"I learned a long time
ago when I first got into college coaching 27 years ago, all bowls
are good bowls," said the Pirates coach. "There are only 70 teams
now that are picked to go to bowl games. East Carolina is one of
those 70. I'm looking forward to playing either place. The Florida
bowl would be good for our fans but the New Orleans bowl would be
good as well because our fans travel so well.
"I'm excited about
either one. I'm looking forward to finding out which one so we can
start preparing and our fans can start preparing, too."
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11/29/2012 12:50 AM
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