Al Myatt: Potential NFL suitors eye QB guru Logan

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

View from the East
Monday, January 31, 2005

By Al Myatt

Steve Logan is likely moving away from Greenville and possibly onto an NFL coaching staff after another NFL Europe tour of duty.

The former East Carolina coach plans to sell the home he built in the Brook Valley section of Greenville and relocate in the Raleigh area, according to an informed source.

That will put Logan closer to son, Nate, who is playing baseball at Campbell and son, Vince, who has accepted a position with the Durham Bulls. Moving also will give Logan ready access to a major airport, which could be of value if he intensifies his television analyst work or expands his role in pro football.

Logan is returning to NFL Europe after helping the Berlin Thunder to the World Bowl title last season as their quarterbacks coach. Logan will likely be the Thunder's offensive coordinator this season. Logan, who will be paid an annual salary of $200,000 by ECU for the remainder of 2005, could also wind up as quarterbacks coach for New Orleans or Cleveland in the NFL, either of which projects as an excellent utilization of his abilities as an offensive tactician and developer of talent.

The New England Patriots apparently were very pleased with Logan's work with former LSU quarterback Rohan Davey in NFL Europe last season.

Don't be surprised if former Pirates kicker Kevin Miller, ECU's leading career scorer, winds up on the Thunder roster this year. Miller signed a contract with the Seattle Seahawks on Friday and will go to NFL Europe's kicker tryouts on March 1-3 in Tampa.

Miller was set to sign with Seattle last year and go to NFL Europe but a change in Seahawks special teams coaches delayed the opportunity. Miller worked for the Hinton Media Group and refined his golf game, qualifying for the U.S. Amateur, but maintained his dream of pursuing a pro kicking career.

The knock on Miller coming out of college was lack of depth on his kickoffs but working with former Dallas kicker Chris Boniol has boosted his distance through some technique adjustments.

"He helped me a lot," Miller said. "When I went to San Francisco in December of 2003, I had a pretty good tryout field goal-wise but my kickoffs were pretty bad. I had an idea of what I was doing wrong but I didn't know how to fix it and (Boniol) gave me some things to work on that helped a lot."

Miller will also attend a camp in Tampa conducted by former NFL kicker Louie Aguiar before reporting for the NFL Europe sessions.

Miller's size, build and personality compare favorably with New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri, who also got his pro start in NFL Europe.

"Now that I've got my foot in the door, my main objective is to make one of the six European teams, but it would be nice to be on Coach Logan's team," Miller said.

One of Logan's top former aides, Jerry McManus, also may be relocating to the Triangle. Logan hired McManus in 1996 and McManus proved to be a valuable asset as a recruiter and running backs coach. McManus, a former Wake Forest quarterback who also worked with that position at his alma mater, could wind up as receivers coach at North Carolina.

Was East Carolina assistant basketball coach George Stackhouse thinking outside the box when he suggested that the Pirates go to a box-and-one defense on Charlotte's Brendan Plavich on Saturday?

Actually, it was 49ers power forward Curtis Withers who was inside the box, the 2-2 zone that the Pirates deployed while sophomore guard Japhet McNeil attached himself to Plavich like a Siamese twin.

Given ECU coach Bill Herrion's work ethic and his emphasis on practice effort, it is indeed ironic that Herrion could not recall even using a box-and-one in practice after the Pirates rallied for a 54-51 home win over the 49ers by holding their Conference USA rivals scoreless the final 6:41.

"I have to congratulate East Carolina," said Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz, who had never lost to the Pirates in seven previous C-USA matchups. "They hung around. We had some leads but they just wouldn't go away. They out-executed us down the stretch.

"The change to the box-and-one was excellent. We normally don't have trouble with that. Today we did. We struggled when they made that change. Curt was scoring inside and our guys were doing a good job of getting it to him."

Any defense with the long arms of 6-foot-10 Moussa Badiane on the backline has a good chance to be effective because of his shot blocking ability. Badiane rejected Withers several times on Saturday, the last time with 42 seconds left as Withers was positioned to slam home a go-ahead dunk that would have restored the lead for the 49ers.

"I gave him time to recover," said a somber Withers after leading Charlotte with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Plavich had pushed Charlotte's lead to 42-34 with 11:47 left and it looked like the 49er train might be leaving the station. But Stackhouse, the former Kinston High coach, chimed in with a valuable idea at a subsequent break.

Plavich didn't score again and Badiane drew a charge with 5.8 seconds left to thwart a drive by Charlotte's Eddie Basden that preserved a 52-51 ECU lead.

"The charge was a little unexpected but certainly was a big play cutting off Basden's path to the basket," Lutz said.

"We really went to the box-and-one because we could not stop Withers." Herrion said. "It might have confused them a little bit but it changed the flow of the game. We really guarded Plavich and kept it out of his hands because we didn't want him hurting us with threes.

"Then we went to the box and it didn't get inside. I think that was the key. They missed shots and we did a great job of not giving them second shots. We outrebounded them 45-37."

Charlotte came into the game at ECU at No. 38 in the ratings power index among 332 Division I programs. The 49ers have road wins at Valparaiso, Davidson, Indiana, UAB and Marquette, and had won 11 of their last 12.

"They came in here today probably playing as well as anybody in the country," said Herrion. "When you look at their team and you look at their program, when you can go on the road at the major college level ... they're a great road team. They play with no fear and they play with so much confidence on the offensive end of the floor.

"I would love for our program some day to be like their program as far as the success. They've taken like a mid-major situation and they've built it into a high major program because they can go beat people."

After topping Saint Louis 60-53 on Wednesday night for the first league win, Herrion said there was a perceptible change in team attitude.

"Just the hop in their step the last couple of days of practice, the looks on their faces," said the ECU coach. "When you try to explain the scouting reports and game prep it's not like, 'Here we go again.' They're hanging on every word. That's the way it's supposed to be."

"If we play defense like we did today, we can beat any of the teams left on our schedule," said sophomore guard Mike Cook after the 49ers game.

Even though Charlotte leaves C-USA after this school year, Herrion would like to continue a series with the 49ers.

"I don't want to speak for the administration but I think they would love to keep playing them," Herrion said. "UNC Wilmington. Yeah, those are great games. When you start losing the marquee teams (Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, etc.), we're going to need some people on our schedule to draw fans and I think those in-state rivalries are important. Absolutely."

The Associated Press reported that Charlotte's Mitchell Baldwin had a chance to tie the score at the buzzer with a 3-point shot.

Baldwin actually stepped on the arc before shooting at the end of the game. The trail official on the play signaled a 2-point attempt.

BONESVILLE BYTES Windows Media Audio
• Al Myatt catches up with Coach Randy Mazey
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ECU baseball coach Randy Mazey announced Sunday night at "Meet the Pirates" at the Murphy Center that senior outfielder Brian Cavanaugh, the only remaining Pirate in the program to have played under former coach Keith LeClair, will wear the No. 23 jersey in honor of the ex-ECU skipper, who stepped down after the 2002 season due to his battle with Lou Gehrig's disease.

The number is awarded annually to a deserving player who best displays the hustle, determination and desire that made LeClair a great coach and player. Ben Sanderson wore the honorary number in 2003 while Jamie Paige wore No. 23 in 2004.

ECU has posted two basketball wins since the baseball team walked across the playing floor of Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum at halftime of the Saint Louis game.

"We brought them some love," said Mazey, who often attends Herrion's postgame news conferences with his new wife, Amanda Ross.