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

Pirate Notebook No. 138
Wednesday, August 27, 2003

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

Former East Carolina coach Steve Logan spent more than a decade as the architect of a constantly evolving Pirates offense widely-touted for its mixture of power and aeronautical ingenuity.

During that time, high-profile quarterbacks and record-braking rushers were the poster boys for ECU football, as Logan's quick-strike mentality — which was to attack the opposition's jugular early with long-yardage plays — was adopted by a number of other Division I programs.

At the same time, while the offense was piling up yards and points at a Ferrari's pace, the defense — especially over the last three seasons — was yielding like a broken-down Yugo. The result has been a 10-14 record over the past two seasons, including a late-season collapse in 2001 which cost East Carolina a Conference USA championship and GMAC Bowl victory.

First-year Pirates coach John Thompson, whose background is almost exclusively in defense, knows that in order to achieve a quick turnaround, his team must improve exponentially on defense while continuing to be a force on offense.

"You just look at our numbers, we've got to get better (on defense)," Thompson said. "You're not going to win a whole lot of games with those kind of numbers.

"We've got to be better on offense, too. We can't turn the ball over. Some things that we went into spring practice with, they were real simple and I think we accomplished them. We wanted to be a physical team on both sides of the ball."

East Carolina was near the bottom of the barrel in almost every defensive category last season. The Pirates ranked 106th in total defense, proving to be equally susceptible to both passing and rushing teams.

Pirates opponents averaged 239 yards through the air and 207 on the ground in '02, with the low point occurring early in the season when West Virginia unleashed a 536-yard blitzkrieg on the ground against the ECU defense.

Surprisingly, one of the approaches Thompson has taken to address the defensive woes has involved the offense. By installing a vertical passing game and power rushing attack, the Pirates coach believes his defense will improve by being exposed daily to a versatile offense.

"We wanted to put two backs in the backfield and have that power presence on our team where we can hammer the ball in there," Thompson said. "That absolutely helps us on offense, but it may also help us on defense more.

"We want to be a team that can throw it down the field... be a vertical passing team. Well, you defend the vertical pass, also."

Another solution has been a return to the basics. East Carolina was a poor tackling team last season and often found itself out of position to make plays. That's why fundamentals received plenty of attention throughout spring and fall camps.

"I'm a real believer in the fundamentals of the game," defensive coordinator Jerry Odom said. "I'm a coach's son. I grew up in (football) my whole life. If you can't tackle, if you can't shed blocks, or you can't make plays on the ball, then you've got problems."

The new Pirates defense is geared toward putting players in a position to make plays. Odom ditched the old 3-4 look in favor of the 4-3, which he feels will better suit the personnel. No longer will the Pirates play zone exclusively, as man-to-man coverage also is in their repertoire.

Basically, expect East Carolina to throw everything but the kitchen sink at opposing offenses.

"You'll see a little bit of everything," Odom said. "Any kind of zone blitz or any kind of front you can think of. We'll do a lot of different things.

"Conference USA is pretty well known for throwing the football, even though it's a young conference. But at any level, you've got to stop the run. You've got to make a team one-dimensional. When you stop the run, you've got to be able to harass the passer, confuse the passer and put him in bad situations."

Thus far, the Pirates have embraced Odom's changes and are excited about the new-look defense.

"He's basing the defense around the talent that we have," senior safety Travis Heath said. "I think everybody is really comfortable with it. I know I personally am because I'm more in the background, whereas in the past I was more up like an outside linebacker."

"This year, we are playing as a team," he said. "We've thrown in a four-man front and we're blitzing a lot. I'm amazed at the way the D-line is moving around out there. They've taken a lot of pressure off the linebackers.

"It fits well. Coach took a lot of responsibility off of me. He has given me the chance to roam around and let me show that I can stick the tight ends and receivers. I couldn't ask to be in a better position than 'Mike' linebacker. I'm loving it."

For East Carolina, that certainly is a refreshing sign for a program seeking to polish a tarnished image on defense.

Perhaps the biggest misconception throughout the battle for the starting quarterback position was that Desmond Robinson and Paul Troth possessed opposite skill sets.

At 5'10", 200-pounds, most believed Robinson was a change-of-pace QB who was a greater threat with his legs, whereas Troth, a more prototypical type at 6'5", offered only his slingshot arm.

"Dez is not as fast as I thought he was going to be," Stockstill said. "They're very, very similar. Dez is a better athlete than what Paul is, but I think we can do the same thing with both kids in there at quarterback.

"I think Dez has a good pocket awareness and presence. He struggles sometimes because of his height when the pocket closes... he can't see as well as Paul can.

"I've been very impressed with both of them and I think we can win with both quarterbacks. It's not a situation where if Paul is in the game we're going to do that or if Dez is in the game we're going to do that."

That sentiment is shared by the players, who feel comfortable regardless of which field general is commanding the huddle.

"We have confidence in both of them," senior fullback Vonta Leach said. "Both of them have stepped up and shown that they can lead the team. No matter what we need, Paul can step in there or Dez can step in there. Whoever is in the game, it doesn't matter. We feel confident in both of them."

Midway through the 2002 season, Leach was informed by Pirates coaches that his role was changing. Instead of crushing opposing ball carriers from his outside linebacker position, he would be the one toting the pigskin.

"Last year, I came in and they told me I was going to be an outside linebacker like I practiced in the spring," Leach said. "Then we got into the season, and I never got a reason why I was switched to running back. I just came into practice one Sunday after the game, and they said 'Hey, you've got to switch to offense.

"I had a week to learn the plays and they threw me out there. Now, it's a whole lot different. I've been there, I know all the plays."

Leach was the offensive star for the Gold squad in the spring game, piling up 108 yards (14 carries) while trampling over his share of Purple defenders. The 253-pound bruiser was labeled the "surprise of the spring" by Thompson and also has drawn high praise from Pirates running backs coach Jerry McManus.

"Vonta has a chance to be an NFL fullback," McManus said. "I really believe he will stay with me (as a running back) and he will have a more significant role this year than he did last year.

"He didn't really carry the ball much last year, but I can see him being a very good inside runner, especially in short yardage and goal line (situations). He will be more involved in the offense this year."