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O-line coach accustomed to success
at ECU
From staff and ECU
reports
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Steve Shankweiler
(Photo: ECU SID) |
GREENVILLE — New East
Carolina coach Skip Holtz has taken step two in hiring a core of
seasoned veteran coaches around which to build a staff, turning to a
former South Carolina associate with deep ties to the Pirate football
program to fill a key position.
Steve Shankweiler, named
offensive line coach by Holtz on Wednesday, already lists 10 years of
service at ECU on his resume, and has a son, Kort, who is a rising
junior on the Pirate football team.
Shankweiler is the second
official hire for Holtz, joining defensive line coach Donnie Thompson,
who was named Tuesday as assistant head coach and
defensive line coach.
Longtime ECU running backs
coach Jerry McManus has also been retained by Holtz, at least for the
time being, to maintain the recruiting efforts the school had underway
under John Thompson, who stepped down as coach of the Pirates at the end
of the recent season.
Shankweiler's new
assignment will mark his third stint with the Pirates under four bosses.
He worked under previous ECU head coaches Art Baker (1987-88), Bill
Lewis (1989-91) and Steve Logan (1998-2002), with some of the Pirates'
most successful campaigns ever coming during his years under Lewis and
Logan.
Shankweiler and Thompson
served together at ECU for two years during Baker's tenure, with
Shankweiler staying on to serve under Lewis after Baker's departure.
Thompson left after that 1988 season to begin a 12-year stretch at North
Carolina.
Shankweiler and McManus
worked together on Logan's staff from 1998-2002.
Most recently, Shankweiler
served as offensive line coach at South Carolina in 2004 after spending
the previous season in the same capacity at Cincinnati.
After Shankweiler joined
the ECU staff for the second time in 1998, as offensive line coach, he
helped the Pirates earn back-to-back-to-back postseason berths, in the
1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl, the 2000 galleryfurniture.com Bowl and the
2001 GMAC Bowl.
Shankweiler coached a pair
of first-team All-Conference USA performers in center Sherwin Lacewell
(1999-2000) and tackle Brian Rimpf (2001-2002), who later went on to
earn a Senior Bowl invitation and was selected in the seventh round of
the 2004 National Football League Draft by the Baltimore Ravens.
Prior to a pair of high
school head coaching positions in the state of Georgia from 1995 to
1997, Shankweiler was Lewis's offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech for
three seasons beginning in 1992, where he guided the Yellow Jackets' to
their second-highest rated offense in school history.
Shankweiler first joined
the East Carolina program in 1987 as offensive line coach and offensive
coordinator, and played a key role in one of the most successful seasons
in Pirate history in 1991. After falling to Illinois 38-31 in that
season's opener, ECU ran off 11 consecutive wins and capped the campaign
with a 37-34 win against North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl and a
final No. 9 national ranking.
Shankweiler began his
collegiate coaching career at The Citadel in 1980, leading the Bulldogs
to a top Southern Conference ranking in total defense and passing
offense as defensive and offensive line coach before moving on to accept
the offensive coordinator's position at Western Kentucky in 1984.
A seven-time football and
track letterman at Davidson, Shankweiler earned All-Southern Conference
honors and served as captain of the Wildcats' track program in 1974.
He earned a bachelor's
degree in history from Davidson in 1974 and gained a master's degree in
physical education and education administration from Georgia State in
1980.
Shankweiler and wife Patti
are the parents of two daughters, Lori and Jennifer, and son Kort, a
fullback for the Pirates.
02/23/07 11:30 AM
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Bonesville.net. All
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Bonesville.net contributed to this report. An
ECU Athletics press release was used in
compiling this report.
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