News, Analysis and Opinion from Bonesville's Denny O'Brien

Pirate Notebook No. 121
Wednesday, April 16, 2003

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

Spring has been a season of change for Brian Rimpf, and more is on the way.

In a matter of weeks, the six-foot-six, 318-pound All-Conference USA left tackle will go from student to college graduate, from boyfriend to newlywed husband.

He's managed to juggle all this while enduring an intense, physical, four-week spring practice, during which he has digested an entirely new offensive system with different terminology.

"It's a big ordeal," said Rimpf, who plans to begin pursuit of his MBA next fall. "Luckily my fiancée is taking care of a lot of (the wedding plans).

"She and her mom are doing a lot of the plans and keeping me out of it where I don't have to mess it up, so that's good. All I have to do is get the tuxes and show up on time."

Rimpf hasn't had that luxury on the football field.

First-year Pirates coach John Thompson held a very spirited spring camp, one in which each player was forced to earn his starting job, regardless of past performance. Rimpf says he and his teammates have embraced the new approach, and he believes the new mentality will transcend into fall camp.

"The new coaches came in and brought a lot of enthusiasm," he said. "I think it has filtered out to a lot of the players.

"We're really excited about playing and everybody has been a lot more competitive. It took a week or so for everybody to learn the new system, but I think now everybody is coming into their own and we're looking forward to having a good year."

One of the primary reasons for optimism is the return of all but one from the two-deep chart along the offensive front. Big and athletic, the Pirates' line has the size to match Thompson's desire for a power rushing attack and the quickness to give quarterbacks Paul Troth and Desmond Robinson time to execute the vertical passing game.

With first-year offensive coordinator Rick Stockstill's diverse system, which contains a mixture of shotgun and I-formation, much pressure will fall on the stout shoulders of Rimpf and his teammates up front.

"There's always a lot of responsibility being an offensive lineman," Rimpf said. "The coaches said that if we've got somebody as good as Vonta back there, we want to give him the ball and let him pound it up the field. We're more than happy to let that happen because run blocking is the best part about playing offensive line."

The Pirates' front has been honing its techniques under the guidance of one of the nation's best. Prior to his arrival in Greenville, new Pirates offensive line and assistant head coach J.B. Grimes spent 14 seasons as the architect of dominant offensive fronts at traditional powers Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and Arkansas.

From the very beginning, Rimpf was elated about the opportunity to learn from a coach of Grimes' pedigree.

"When he was coming in, I knew he had a lot of accolades with his name," Rimpf said. "He had been at a lot of big-time places and coached a lot of big-time players.

"I was excited to have a guy who had a lot of experience like that. It took me a good (bit of time) to learn what he was trying to do. It's a little bit different that what I had been doing. I think now I've caught onto it and hopefully it will make me a better player."

Improvement, even for a player with Rimpf's credentials, is paramount to the Pirates reaching their goals next fall. Since taking over in December, Thompson has set the bar high, with the C-USA title the milestone.

Twice during Rimpf's career, East Carolina has flirted with the league's top prize, only to fall short. Now he's ready to take care of unfinished business and knows that a shortsighted approach will be key to obtaining the Pirates' long-range goal.

"We've got to take each game one at a time, but our goal is to be conference champions," Rimpf said. "That hasn't happened around here in football, so we're looking forward to getting that done.

"The first thing coach Thompson said when he came in here was that the expectation was to win Conference USA -- to be conference champs and go to the Liberty Bowl in December."

By then, Rimpf will have completed his first semester of graduate school and celebrated his six-month anniversary.

He hopes to do so while wearing the conference crown.

Duckett likes 'D'

Damane Duckett was all smiles following Purple's 16-0 victory over Gold in Saturday's spring game. The Pirates' defensive tackle registered four tackles, including a second quarter sack of Troth, the Gold starter under center.

The six-foot-seven, 300-pound Duckett says he likes the direction of the new defense, especially the fact that he has plenty of company in the trenches.

"I love the four down linemen," Duckett said. "Last year they were killing me on the double teams. The more men, the better."

More beef doesn't necessarily mean less speed, though.

"With the style of defense right now, we're trying to play more of a speed game and run a lot more stunts," Duckett said. We want a lot more blitzing.

"This year we want a lot more blitzing from the linebackers and defensive linemen. We just want to switch it up and give them a whole lot of blitzes to look at."

Brown draws praise

Duckett should have plenty of help up front next season. Dontre' Brown, a redshirt freshmen out of Fayetteville, was one of the standouts for the Gold Saturday after making several visits to the Purple backfield.

Brown, who reported to fall camp last year at 240 pounds, has bulked up to a solid 296, providing the Pirates' with another strong force in the middle.

"I expect to see a lot of great things out of Dontre'," Duckett said. "Dontre has a lot of strength.

"Dontre's from Douglas Byrd. I played against those guys from Douglas Byrd and they produce some good athletes. Dontre' and Lorenza Pickett (from Byrd) are both great athletes."

Brown's play also drew praise from Thompson, who noted the big lineman's enthusiasm for the game.

"Dontre' had a good spring," Thompson said following the spring game. "He really grew up today. He made some big hits and he really even celebrated big with a big hit. Dontre's going to help us up front."

Fashion statement

Many of the 8,914 fans who attended Saturday's spring game were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pirates' new threads for next season.

For the most part, they did.

According to East Carolina Director of Media Relations Craig Wells, Thompson is planning only minor changes to the uniforms in an effort to maintain tradition.

The Pirates' headgear will remain the same and the jerseys will keep the familiar "East Carolina" on the front, along with players' names on the back. Wells added that the athletic department isn't ready to officially reveal any changes that have been made.

Triangle banquet approaching

Several Pirate Club chapters are gearing up for their annual spring banquet.

The Wake, Orange/Durham, Person/Caswell, and Quad County chapters are holding their annual spring fling Thursday, April 24th at 6:00 PM at the Sheraton Imperial in Research Triangle Park.

Scheduled to make appearances are: Thompson; Bill Herrion, head men's basketball coach; Sharon Baldwin-Tener, head women's basketball coach; and Mike Hamrick, Director of Athletics.

Tickets for the event are $25 per person, but none will be sold at the door. Fans interested in purchasing tickets can call Michael Darrow at (919) 786-4747 or John Bland at (919) 471-6406.