East Carolina coach Blake Harrell said the process has been initiated to add three players from the Class of 2022 who may get another year of eligibility when legal issues are resolved. Veterans Sam Dankah, Marlon Gunn Jr. and J.D. Lampley could return after helping ECU go 9-4 in 2025. Dankah has flourished at outside linebacker. Gunn was the second leading rusher for the … [Read more...]
BLACKBEARD'S ALLEY VIDEOESPN college football analyst Rene Ingoglia
Watch this episode of "Blackbeard's Alley" hosted by Bubba Rosenbaum and featuring ESPN college football analyst Rene Ingoglia. They discuss the outlook for East Carolina and the American Conference in the upcoming 2026 season and touch on other topics of interest. The Pirates kick off the season Sept. 5 at Alabama in a noon clash that will be televised by … [Read more...]
FOOTBALL NEWSAction heats up in full contact scrimmage
The pads popped a little louder Saturday morning inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. East Carolina closed the second week of fall camp with its first intra-squad scrimmage, a two-and-a-half-hour session that mixed individual work, special teams and nearly 120 snaps of offense-versus-defense football. It was Practice No. 10, and for the first time this preseason the Pirates got … [Read more...]
VIEW FROM THE EASTPirates waiting to see if veterans could play again
The intriguing possibility that outside linebacker Samuel Dankah, running back Marlon Gunn Jr. and defensive lineman J.D. Lampley could play another season for East Carolina was expounded on Monday by Coach Blake Harrell. The Pirates are monitoring the situation that involves court rulings and the NCAA's response. A judge in Colorado found that players from the Class of 2022 … [Read more...]
CLASS OF 2027 RECRUITING FEATUREVersatile defensive lineman plots course to ECU
Forsyth County in North Carolina doesn't offer tackle football at the middle school level, so when Chosen Hyman showed up for preseason practice at East Forsyth High in 2023, he was a bit of a mystery. "We didn't know anything about him, really,'' East Forsyth head coach Todd Willert said. "So, it was kind of crazy. He was really raw as a freshman. But we could see something … [Read more...]