East Carolina will have an opportunity to make a statement at the opening of the 2021 football season after closing 2020 with a pair of wins at Temple (28-3) and over Southern Methodist (52-38) that seemed to indicate the Pirates were turning a corner. ECU plays Appalachian State in Charlotte on Thursday, Sept. 2, to start the season and will host South Carolina on Saturday, … [Read more...]
Football Recruiting ReportBanner recruits keep American on the rise
The continued rise in prominence of American Athletic Conference football in 2020 was reflected in the recruiting classes signed by the league's 11 schools in December and February. And in some cases, those classes surpassed ones signed by prominent programs in higher profile leagues. For example, Cincinnati, which won the AAC title and finished ranked eighth in the final … [Read more...]
ECU Recruiting Evaluation, Part 2Defensive report card: Pirates lure experience
Experience is one significant characteristic among the defensive signees in East Carolina's recruiting Class of 2021. Five of the seven players who signed a national letter of intent with the Pirates by February 3rd had a season or more of post-high school experience at either the prep school level, junior college ranks or are graduate transfers from other Football Bowl … [Read more...]
ECU Recruiting Evaluation, Part 1Offensive report card: Skill positions reinforced
Editor's note: The "TIGHT END/H-BACK" section of this article has been updated since the original publication date. The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on the 2020 college football season and recruiting for the Class of 2021. With summer camps and visits to campus all but erased due to virus outbreak, coaching staffs had to get creative in pursuit of talent. Zoom … [Read more...]
VIEW FROM THE EASTPirates turn page to 2021
The notion that the new year of 2021 might be better than its predecessor took a hit on Thursday with the announcement that East Carolina was pausing basketball activities due to positive COVID-19 tests within the program. With the postponement of games on Saturday with Temple and Jan. 20 at South Florida, the Pirates have had eight of 18 scheduled games called off or … [Read more...]