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College Sports in the Carolinas

Don't miss Al Myatt's profile of ECU Chancellor Steven Ballard in the 2004 Bonesville Magazine.

View from the East Thursday, November 18, 2004 By Al Myatt

Formidable AD faces formidable repair job

©2004 Bonesville.net

As a former defensive coordinator, John Thompson coached his units to go on the field in a focused mode when the offense turned the ball over.

It's a phase of preparation called "sudden change."

Hopefully everyone affected by this week's "sudden change" in the Pirates football program is prepared to deal with it, especially the administrators who will select Thompson's successor.

There is negative value in denying Thompson and staff a legitimate span to get the program turned around unless ECU can significantly upgrade with its pending hire. The Pirates need a football coach of the same magnitude as athletic director Terry Holland.

That means avoiding the sort of flawed search process that put Thompson at the helm of the Pirate ship in December of 2002.

That search did not interview anyone with Division I-A coaching experience, a mistake that Holland seems determined not to repeat. That search was led by former chancellor Bill Muse, who would resign within a year when a series of mismanagement issues came to light.

Muse's biggest offense may have been signing off on the recommendation of ex-ECU athletic director Mike Hamrick to sack former coach Steve Logan.

ECU's subsequent performance has added significant luster to Logan's aura.

The previous search committee was hamstrung — no more effective than its ultimate choice has been in compiling a 3-18 career record going into Saturday's 2 p.m. home game with Memphis.

Hamrick was lined up in the corner of N.C. State assistant Doc Holliday.

Dan Kinlaw, a vocal Hamrick adversary on the ECU board of trustees, ran a roll block on Hamrick's guy and advocated former Pat Dye assistant Bobby Wallace, the coach at Temple.

Hamrick successfully ignored Kinlaw's candidate.

Former ECU and Green Bay Packer player George Koonce was pushing for Tennessee running backs coach Willie McCorvey. A contingent of early 1970s players campaigned for their former teammate, Kirk Doll, then an assistant at LSU.

Hamrick also liked Pitt defensive guru Paul Rhoads but he was deemed too young.

The search committee atmosphere must have been about as pleasant as the Burr-Bowles Senate campaign. But when Thompson strode in with a power point presentation on his laptop, Muse sat up and figured this must be the guy.

Thompson didn't just answer questions. He proposed a plan of action that included bringing in then-Georgia Tech assistant Ted Roof as defensive coordinator. Muse, who once hired Gerry Faust at Akron, listened intently and liked what he heard.

Muse eventually directed Hamrick to offer Thompson the job. Hamrick negotiated the details of the contract and brought Thompson aboard at the bargain basement price of a $300,000 package.

Thompson was supposed to fix a program that had slumped to 4-8 in 2002 under Logan after landing bowl berths in each of the three previous seasons. Logan was making roughly $500,000 at the time.

The Pirates have gotten what they paid for.

Thompson didn't assemble his dream staff. His initial offensive coordinator, Noah Brindise, ran a reverse and quickly returned to the Washington Redskins. Thompson settled for Rick Stockstill from Clemson, whose offense was simple and predictable, and whose questionable personnel evaluations produced the limited talents of Desmond Robinson as quarterback.

Out of state tuition costs have soared with the influx of players from Florida at a time the program's performance was generating financial deficits.

New chancellor Steve Ballard almost dumped ECU's mounting problems in the lap of lower rung Oklahoma assistant AD Rick Hart. Pirate fans can be thankful Holland emerged after Ballard reconfigured and restarted the AD search process.

Holland's experience, connections and respected judgment are about to be put to the test. He can sell a new coach on facilities and a promise of support but it might be a good idea to keep recent game tapes under lock and key.

One advantage to no national television appearances this season is that the Pirates' vast deficiencies haven't been displayed for all to see.

In Thompson's behalf, he was a victim of circumstance — a coach with a dream who couldn't work hard enough or fast enough to make it come true. Those responsible for bringing him to ECU are now living in other time zones.

Thompson's immediate concern has been for his staff and placing them in other jobs. Four of the assistant coaches' wives are expecting.

After graciously announcing at a news conference Wednesday that he will bow out after the N.C. State game in Charlotte on Nov. 27 with a contract settlement that he termed satisfactory, Thompson went to practice.

ECU quarterback James Pinkney was among those who said he felt the coach had been wronged.

Remarkably, ECU's practice Wednesday afternoon was termed productive by Brindise.

Thompson apparently set the schedule for the announcement of his departure at ECU's Murphy Center, an announcement that came an hour after ECU's basketball team opened its season with an 80-58 win over Pepperdine in Raleigh.

The decisive action of Ballard and Holland means that ECU's fans who were divided on Thompson's job status can unify in support of the program for the final two games.

Holland can make phone calls and narrow his short list. It may have former Georgia coach Jim Donnan at the top. Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, Roof and Navy's Paul Johnson may also be sounded out about their interest.

Holland apparently wants someone with head coaching experience. If he looks at an assistant, it might be someone like Southern Cal offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Perhaps Doll, now with the Denver Broncos, will re-enter the mix.

Given the likely character demands of the highly-principled Holland, those such as Rick Neuheisel and Terry Bowden — who have some blemishes on their resumes — need not waste postage in applying.

How big is Holland's task? ECU's very identity as an institution hangs in the balance.

Holland apparently has authorization to spend $750,000 annually. If that's a starting number, one might figure ECU could go even higher for an exceptional candidate — perhaps even the $1 million plateau. The Pirates need to think in terms of spending money to make money.

The Pirates need a healer of the fan base, a recruiter who can overcome the disadvantages of the Bowl Championship Series system and restore ECU's ties to its own region, a coach who can put together a quality staff, someone who can still the complaints on the Internet chat boards and, most importantly and very simply, someone who will win.

Winning will solve the problems facing the Pirates, but at this point ECU may need a miracle worker more than a football coach.

If one is out there, rest assured that Holland is the man to get him to Greenville.

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02/23/2007 12:46:51 AM
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