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Thompson taps
Spurrier braintrust, USM ties
Bonesville.net staff report
GREENVILLE — John Thompson knew
former Florida Gators coach Steve Spurrier's Fun ’N’ Gun offense gave him
the most difficulty in terms of preparation when he was defensive
coordinator at Southern Miss. With that recollection in mind, he has hired
an offensive coordinator who is well schooled in its intricacies.
It turns out that Thompson, whose preparation
and organization skills helped him land the job as East Carolina's head
coach, had talked to one of Spurrier's Washington Redskins assistants, Noah Brindise
— whose duties have centered on working with quarterbacks —
about being offensive coordinator for the Pirates even before Thompson
interviewed in Greenville.
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Noah Brindise |
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Fred Tate |
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That dialogue continued over
the last month with Brindise meeting with new ECU offensive line coach J.B.
Grimes as well. On
Tuesday, the hire was finalized.
Brindise, who walked on and lettered three
seasons at Florida (1995-97) as a quarterback, will also coach quarterbacks
for the Pirates. The offensive coordinator hire was viewed as crucial for
the Pirates considering Thompson's background is on defense.
“We are very excited about the knowledge that
Noah Brindise brings to our program,” Thompson said. “We are getting a
quality person that is experienced in one of the most difficult and
diversified offenses in the country. Although he has played and coached with
Steve Spurrier for over eight years, he will bring his own brand of offense
to ECU, which I think will be exciting for our players and fans.”
Thompson has also hired Fred Tate, who spent
the last season as defensive line coach at Middle Tennessee State, for the
same position with the Pirates. Tate played on the defensive front at
Southern Miss when Thompson was on the Golden Eagles staff.
Brindise helped develop Redskins rookie
quarterback Patrick Ramsey, who passed for 1,539 yards and became the team's
starter for the last three games in 2002. Brindise also worked with veterans
Danny Wuerffel and Shane Matthews.
Brindise began his coaching career as offensive
coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ursinus College, outside of
Philadelphia. Brindise twice made the SEC academic honor roll as a player at
Florida. Tate spent five
years in the United States Army Airborne following high school and earned
the Army commendation medal.
“Fred Tate is a great recruiter and tough coach
with many assets,” Thompson said. “His background with the Mississippi
junior colleges, recruiting at Southwest Texas and Middle Tennessee,
experience of playing at Southern Miss and being familiar with Conference
USA combine to make him a good fit for our staff.”
The ECU staff also includes defensive
coordinator Jerry Odom, running backs coach Jerry McManus, offensive line
coach and assistant head coach J.B. Grimes, tight ends coach Steve Janski,
defensive backs coach Matt Graves, offensive graduate assistants Larry
Shannon, defensive graduate assistant Shep Campbell and director of football
operations Mike Ritchie.
Still remaining to be hired are a wide receivers coach and an outside
linebackers coach. “It
may be a month before we make those hires,” Thompson said. “We have seven
coaches who can recruit on the road right now and that’s the NCAA limit.”
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