Ten years from now, expect East Carolina to have improved footing with its athletics programs. From facilities to perception, rest assured the Pirates will have a more polished national appeal in the 2010's.

Such a notion didn't exist in 2003.

At best, ECU was perceived as a football school in a hoops-crazed state, but was losing ground rapidly to in-state rivals. The Pirates were trying to recover from a civil war and the aftermath was underscored by a series of divisive internal skirmishes.

Enter Terry Holland as the new AD and architect for the reconstruction effort in what easily could be remembered as the hiring coup of the year in college athletics.

In terms of clout and credibility, the Pirates couldn't have scored better. As for a track record for overcoming challenges at various levels of Division I, few boast the r�sum� of Coach Holland � and he's already flexing his administrative muscle for ECU.

Just two weeks into his tenure, Holland already grasps what his predecessor, Mike Hamrick, never quite recognized � that East Carolina's greatest strength is the unique brand of passionate determination its various constituencies share about the historically overachieving university pursuing nothing less than the loftiest of challenges.

"Everyone I've met bleeds purple and gold," Holland said in an interview with Patrick Johnson and yours truly on Talk 1070's tailgate show prior to the Tulane game.

"And that doesn't mean just athletically," added Holland. "We're talking, they feel that way about their university and they feel that way about their sports teams.

"We've got a bunch of 110 percenters, and when you're a coach, that's what you're always asking for. Give me 110 percent, because I know that everybody else is going to be giving 100. I think that is our greatest asset. Our single greatest asset is a wonderful fan base that has a very special connection with their university and their sports teams."

Holland embraces the blue collar effort on which East Carolina has always relied in both academia and sport. He does so while wrapping it with the white collar image his new school deserves.

Style and grit both have a place under Holland's regime and are far from an uncomfortable contrast. This is the welcome marriage of beer and wine, of barbecue and cheese. East Carolina now is the land of Brooks Brothers blazers, as well as faded jeans.

Holland's demeanor itself is a blanket of sorts under which the Pirates can take secure shelter. He combines a relaxed and cordial bearing with a decisive presence that commands respect.

Even more impressive is Holland's ability to accurately simplify ECU's obstacles given the brevity of his tenure.

"We have been greatly disadvantaged by things over which we had no control," Holland said. "Now, that doesn't mean there aren't going to be things in the future that we can't control as well, but hopefully we can anticipate those things and be prepared to do the best we can over those circumstances."

No doubt, one sign of an effective leader is the ability to recognize a weakness and address it before it becomes overly exposed. In Holland's case, East Carolina's perceived impediments have already been well-documented.

Of the two most heavily publicized � small television market and geographic location � Holland calls the former a fallacy and the latter a legitimate concern.

His remedy? Pursue relationships with opponents that not only will strategically align the Pirates for the future, but also ignite immediate interest at home.

"What we've got to find is a schedule that's exciting for our fans and for recruits," Holland said. "And we're going to find it.

"We're going to do everything we can to create that. Not only is East Carolina University behind us but this whole community is, as well as the whole region. And I think they want to see great athletics, and they want to see us play a wonderful schedule and we're going to find a way to do that."

Odds are, East Carolina will achieve those objectives � because its new AD doesn't fail.

At Davidson, Holland guided his alma mater back from the relative obscurity into which it had slipped to membership in the Southern Conference. At Virginia, he elevated the Cavaliers' football program to elite status and raised the money to purchase the Wahoos a new basketball home.

Now he faces the task of positioning East Carolina for an improvement in conference affiliation. In the process, he has designs on strengthening in-state rivalries, including the potential of luring North Carolina and N.C. State to Greenville � for basketball.

At the very least, Holland's visions are encouraging and inspiring. Given his background, the boldness of his stated intentions should not cause them to be shrugged off as idle rhetoric.

Under Holland, it's a sound bet that ECU will matter again outside of its Down East cocoon.