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Notes, Quotes and Slants
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Pirate
Notebook No. 252
Friday, September 2, 2005
By Denny O'Brien |
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W's & L's not the paramount
gauge in 2005
�2005 Bonesville.net
The final score of East Carolina's opener
against Duke won't be the most important detail of Skip Holtz's debut.
Though success in college sports typically
is dictated by the scoreboard, that can't be the barometer by which the
Pirates are measured.
Taking that approach would require sweeping
under the rug the circumstances under which the first-year Pirates coach
inherited the program. Simply put, there is far more at stake during Holtz's
inaugural season than the final tabulation of wins and losses.
If it sounds as if Holtz should be measured
differently than former coach John Thompson, he should. The climate in which
the two were hired could not have been more different, and any suggestion
otherwise would completely miss the point.
Thompson was hired by a chancellor and
athletics director whose own standing within the constituency was on shaky
ground over a series of questionable decisions that ultimately harmed ECU.
Consequently, J.T. found himself in a situation where winning was the only
salve that could have healed the wounds.
Thompson complicated matters with his
inability to win with a program that � all things considered � was in good
working condition and contained a solid nucleus of veterans who eventually
found homes on NFL rosters.
With the program having faltered in
unprecedented fashion on Thompson's watch and with doubt abundant that a
turnaround was imminent, athletics director Terry Holland had no choice but
to make a quick change.
Holtz faces a different scenario. With
Holland being the AD who selected him, the level of confidence in the
Pirates coach is and should be significantly higher than before.
Few administrators possess more clout than
Holland, who has deservedly earned the trust of ECU's deep-pocketed donors.
As such, Holtz deserves plenty of runway to reroute the Pirates back to
their once-familiar winning path.
And that doesn't happen overnight.
Almost every aspect of the program must be
restructured, from recruiting to teaching and game preparation. Holtz
already has demonstrated a sound recruiting vision by renewing East
Carolina's focus on targeting in-state talent.
That's step one. The next step is to show
marked improvement in the basic fundamentals and restore a burning passion
and winning attitude within the team.
Especially on defense.
"If everybody does their job, we are going
to have success," Holtz said. "We need to try and build a confidence, a
swagger, a kind of arrogance about ourselves, so to speak, defensively.
"There is electricity in the air on the
defensive side of the ball. A large part of that is due to the excitement
and enthusiasm of this coaching staff."
If that indeed is the approach with which
the Pirates consistently play each Saturday, it would be unfair to demand
much more this year. The overall chip on the shoulder the program once
carried must be rediscovered, and from that everything else should follow.
That level of desire displayed on the field
typically signals the degree of confidence the players have in the coaching
staff, and the commitment to improve and go the extra mile usually is the
result. On the contrary, lapses in attitude would be a clear warning that
any buy-in within the program is quickly eroding.
That essentially was the most devastating
blow during Thompson's brief tenure � and reversing that should be viewed as
the top priority on East Carolina's football agenda.
None of this is to suggest that Holtz is
not expected to produce results. In the end, he ultimately will be judged by
the number that resides in the win column.
Nor is it an attempt to devalue the
importance of winning in the short term. Given the frustration everyone
involved with East Carolina has experienced over the past two years, any
victory the Pirates produce will steer the morale closer to a more desired
level.
But at this stage it is just too soon to
demand the results to which the program had grown accustomed during much of
its recent history.
Whether or not Holtz wins two games or ten
isn't the most pressing issue this fall. Issuing a verdict solely on that
criteria would compromise the rebuilding effort.
More than anything, this season should be
about the how and not the what.
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02/23/2007 02:00:24 AM |
