You might call L.J. Porter a football prodigy. While most players don't receive college scholarship offers until their junior or senior seasons in high school, Porter was awarded one as a middle school running back. And the offer didn't come from a lower division or middle-of-the-road program. It was extended by Southeastern Conference member and six-time national champion … [Read more...]

An up-close look by East Carolina's coaching staff last spring propelled Zyon Ratchford from just another prospect to a major target. The Pirates had corresponded with the 6-foot-3, 215-pound linebacker from Gaffney (SC) High School as well as his teammate, defensive lineman Kelton Smith. But their interest took a more serious turn after ECU's outside linebacker coach Rico … [Read more...]

East Carolina felt like "home'' to Michael Foster. For Foster, that meant a focus on football and family. Foster, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound edge defender from Indian Land High in Lancaster, SC, became the latest prospect to join East Carolina's football recruiting Class of 2026 last Sunday when he gave a verbal commitment to the Pirates. He chose ECU over other scholarship … [Read more...]

Jeremiah Roux was a mere eighth grader when he was invited to join the Mundy's Mill High varsity football team for its spring practice in 2021. Roux had only been playing competitive football about a year, but performed well enough on the middle school squad to earn an early audition with the Tigers as a quarterback-safety. The experience left Roux imagining a career even … [Read more...]

The firing of half the league's head coaches and hiring of their replacements caused a ripple effect in football recruiting for the American Athletic Conference during the 2026 cycle. Seven of the 14 AAC teams sacked head coaches before the end of the regular season, and an eighth, UAB's TRENT DILFER, was hanging on by a thread in October before being retained for 2025. The … [Read more...]