An East Carolina coaching era officially ended last December 1 with a 58-3 loss at N.C. State. Mike Houston's first game as new coach of the Pirates on Saturday at noon is against the same opponent at the same site. The new staff has had ECU on a fast track to recovery from four straight losing seasons. "Preparations started last January," Houston said. "It's been a long … [Read more...]

August is a month of forging new routines — for kids returning to school, for parents, for teachers and for East Carolina football players. During this first official game week of the Mike Houston era, the staff has been focused on maintaining intensity and consistency as the season opener against N.C. State looms larger every day. With Houston setting the tone, game week is … [Read more...]

Game week is finally here for East Carolina. The long, hot summer unofficially ends with the Labor Day weekend and the first week of the college football season. Pirate fans will head west to Raleigh early Saturday for the season-opening matchup with North Carolina State. Last year the Wolfpack manhandled a broken Pirate football team in that ill-advised make-up game … [Read more...]

There is at least one thing about East Carolina’s most recent football game on which we can all agree. It should never have been played. The game was scheduled on the fly primarily to help N.C. State and the Pirates make up for revenue lost by earlier cancellations caused by Hurricane Florence. While both sides had good intentions when the deal was done, changes in … [Read more...]

First-year football coach Mike Houston and staff have made many adjustments aimed at turning around a program that has been through four straight losing seasons. Houston moved East Carolina's media day from the beginning of preseason camp to the end of the of the sessions as classes began this week. It was an astute change and made the interviews more meaningful in terms of … [Read more...]