Dave Hart was contracted by Chancellor Cecil Staton in March to conduct an extensive review of East Carolina’s athletic department and formulate a plan to help revitalize the Pirates both financially and on the field of competition. He’s also doubled as an interim athletic director responsible for filling the three most important positions on ECU’s… [ Continue Reading ]

Figuratively speaking, East Carolina hit both the PowerBall and MegaMillions jackpots this week with the twin hirings of athletic director Jon Gilbert and football coach Mike Houston. Just three days later, the Pirates came into an actual financial windfall with the announcement of a $20 million cash infusion into the school’s athletic budget. Ten million… [ Continue Reading ]

It took awhile to happen, but once the dominoes finally began to fall, they all came down in a hurry. First came the emergency meeting of East Carolina’s Board of Trustees last Wednesday, followed in rapid succession by the announcement a day later that Scottie Montgomery had been fired, effective immediately, as the Pirates’ football… [ Continue Reading ]

East Carolina didn’t wait until after its final game of its season to part ways with football coach Scottie Montgomery. Chancellor Cecil Staton announced the move Thursday after consultation with special advisor Dave Hart and the university’s Board of Trustees. The dismissal is effective immediately. Defensive coordinator David Blackwell will lead the team in its… [ Continue Reading ]

I buy a PowerBall ticket every week, using the same numbers each time. It’s a system that has yet to pay off. Once, I actually got three numbers right and it felt as though I was finally getting close to collecting the big jackpot. But several months have gone by since then and it still… [ Continue Reading ]

Senior nights are designed to honor those players whose college careers are coming to an end and to thank them for their contributions to the program over the past four years. That’s only partially what happened at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday. Because while the night clearly belonged to Trevon Brown, Garrett McGhin, Nate Harvey and… [ Continue Reading ]

Bobby Petrino was fired as Louisville’s football coach on Sunday. While that bit of news doesn’t have a direct connection to East Carolina’s uncertain gridiron situation, it does open up a subject of particular interest to the Pirates as they decide on the direction they’ll go once their fourth straight losing season is officially in… [ Continue Reading ]