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

Pirate Notebook No. 141
Monday, September 8, 2003

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

Just two games into his first campaign as a college head coach, John Thompson already faces one of the more difficult tasks in the profession.

In addition to making progress on the field, the first-year Pirates coach must keep his team emotionally healthy, while also maintaining high levels of enthusiasm within a fan base he worked so hard to re-energize over the spring and summer.

That never is easy when a program accustomed to winning begins the season in a 78-point hole.

"That's our job as coaches," Thompson said. "We've got to be realistic about where we are, what we're doing. That doesn't mean we accept anything at all.

"We're going to keep going, keep fighting. I'm just disappointed for the people who care so much about this. It's not what they deserve right now. We're going to get through it all."

How the Pirates emerge mentally from a two-week stretch on the road against top-25 foes — No. 2 Miami and No. 21 Wake Forest — will be key to salvaging the season.

East Carolina won't be expected to win either contest, but if the Pirates are unable to compete — especially at Wake Forest — it will be psychologically difficult to rebound from an 0-4 start.

"The confidence is OK," senior fullback Vonta Leach said. "The boys are disappointed not to say the least, but we've got to bounce back. We've got Miami next week, so we've got to put this game behind us."

That's not to say that it can't be done. It also is far too early to label the season a washout.

North Carolina, for example, began the John Bunting era in 2001 with demoralizing losses to Oklahoma, Maryland, and Texas, but bounced back for an 8-5 finish and Peach Bowl victory.

But it shouldn't go unmentioned that East Carolina doesn't have near the amount of talent as Bunting's first outfit, meaning Thompson will have to rely more on two intangibles that historically have produced plenty of mileage for the Pirates program — heartbeat and emotion.

"Right now, that's probably one of the toughest things I've ever been through," Thompson said of the home opener. "But that's all right, we've got a lot more left to us; a lot more left to us and to this team.

"This place is special. There's no question about that and I'll continue to say it. The Pirate family and the Pirate Nation is going to get better from us. We're going to build this thing and we're going to develop this thing. We've got a lot of work to do."

Being a head coach is one part Xs and Os, two parts salesman, three parts psychiatrist. With a solid track record as the architect of tough-as-nails defenses and a personality as infectious as the common cold, Thompson obviously is proven in two-thirds of the equation.

Whether or not he can serve as an emotional crutch during times of tremendous adversity remains to be seen.

"We're going to get this thing right, whatever it takes," Thompson said. "I'm proud of this football team. I was proud of the way we competed in the fourth quarter. "I'm proud of our guys. I really am, in what they did and how they tried."

The test now for East Carolina is to regroup from two of the program's most humbling defeats in recent memory.

Facing a talented Miami club fresh off a marquee victory certainly doesn't present the ideal scenario.

Say what you want about the East Carolina defense, but at least it is consistent. Against both Cincinnati and West Virginia, the Pirates yielded 361 yards on the ground, while giving up more than six yards per carry.

Though Bearcats and Mountaineers rushers took advantage of truck-sized holes, they got plenty of yardage following initial contact from Pirates defenders.

"We obviously have to tackle better," Thompson said. "That's where we are right now, but we're going to get better. We're going to get this thing built up to where it should be."

Defensive tackle Damane Duckett, who finished Saturday with just two tackles, says the Pirates' inept tackling has been a major disappointment.

"It was very frustrating," Duckett said. "But when you're out on the field, you can't think about it. You give up a big play, you just get back, get hard-nosed and keep on going after it.

"You don't want to think about that big play you just missed or messed up on. You want to think about the next play and keep going hard."

Another major concern has to be the lack of pressure East Carolina has applied to opposing quarterbacks. Not only have the Pirates not recorded a sack this season, rarely have they made the QB hurry his throw.

"I think the reason we're not getting any sacks is because we're having a lot of missed tackles," Duckett said. "We should have a lot of sacks in the backfield.

"Right now, I think that's one big thing we need to work on. We just changed the defense up this week due to injuries, but right now, we're going to look to the future and try to get more pressure on the defense with our blitzes."

Not all the news was sour Saturday night. According to a source with the Parkersburg, WV, News and Sentinel who attended Saturday's game, there could be light at the end of the tunnel.

Ostensibly, the Big East will decide by November 1 whether or not to remain as one league, or have the football-playing and basketball-only schools part ways.

It is believed that the Big East is now leaning toward a split, which means that more than two football schools could receive invitations when the league is ready to expand. While Louisville and Cincinnati seem to be locks, the question remains which schools are best positioned to claim any additional spots.

The News and Sentinel says ECU has been the most commonly discussed and that it is believed that Big East presidents are not interested in a Florida presence.

One of the bigger attractions for home games in previous years has been the pre-game intro and scoreboard presentation. This year's effort could use some help.

The walk through memory lane that pays tribute to momentous moment's from ECU's past is a nice touch, but blaring a selection from rap artist Eminem hardly captures the mood. At a time that should be dedicated to preparing the crowd for the team's entrance, a tune with which most fans can identify would seem more appropriate.

Nothing against the rap genre — or to Pirates fans, for that matter — but the two just don't seem to mix. Most of the fannies in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium belong to 30, 40, and 50-somethings, many of whom grew up during the pre-Run DMC era.

Last season, the awe-inspiring Top Gun anthem preceded Purple Haze and provided a backdrop conducive to producing goose bumps.