The objective for East Carolina’s coaching staff when it came to the defensive recruiting class of 2017 was crystal clear — sign as many players as possible to immediately bolster a unit ranked among the nation’s worst last season. The Pirates were near the bottom nationally in nearly every major statistical category in 2016. They were 100th out of 128 Football Bowl … [Read more...]
Recruiting Report Card — Part OneOffense: Pirates load up on future stars
The future of East Carolina's football offense was secured in a span of 72 hours last week. First, there was the major announcement January 30th that local product and highly rated junior quarterback Holton Ahlers will play for the Pirates in 2018. The Tim Tebow clone made a verbal commitment to ECU before a packed gymnasium at D.H. Conley High School, where he earned … [Read more...]
Football RecruitingAhlers aspires to fit the Tebow mold
Nate Conner grew up along the banks of the St. Johns River in the town of Orange Park, just outside of Jacksonville, FL. Across the river and almost due East from Orange Park is the seaside community of Ponte Vedra Beach, which is home to state football powerhouse Nease High School. Leading Nease at quarterback during Conner's time in Orange Park was future Heisman Trophy … [Read more...]
Football RecruitingECU reprimes Georgia Military pipeline
East Carolina tapped into the talent pool at Georgia Military College twice between 1999 and 2006 to generate excitement for its offense. The Pirates are now hoping another influx of GMC talent has a similar impact on their defense next fall. Two defenders from the junior college powerhouse are part of ECU's 2017 recruiting class that will officially become Pirates next … [Read more...]
Football RecruitingBlake Proehl a chip off the old block
Blake Proehl has already been to a Super Bowl, so making the transition from high school to major college football should be a breeze for one of the first players to join East Carolina's recruiting Class of 2017. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound wide receiver from Providence High School in Charlotte gave his verbal commitment to the Pirates last June 22 not long after attending … [Read more...]