At this point, what's personally most vexing is what Coach's plan is for the offense in the future, which has shown virtually no improvement this season; what's needed is a complete overhaul, with a possible exception of the running backs roster; does that mean that the best we can hope for is maybe four wins in 2024?? Earlier in the week, Coach invoked Tulane's bad record from three seasons ago, trying to draw a parallel with ECU's situation today. Really?? How does that work?? Yes, TU went 2-10 in 2021, but they had Michael Pratt under center, the cornerstone position. God bless Alex Flinn and Mason Garcia, but neither have evidenced the remotest hint that either would be better than a very mediocre D1 quarterback on their very best day behind a competent OL, which unfortunately, and in fairness, they absolutely don't have today. Is Jeter the answer? How would Coach know, since he's given him no live action time? I can hear it now; "Oh, the NIL! We're so poor! It's our circumstances!" Etc., etc. If that's true (which I categorically reject), then ECU should admit to it, stop throwing $2.4M at a guy who in his 5th season showed up with an offense that is today ranked 127 out of 130 FBS teams, and step down to the FCS ranks.

The outtake from the effort displayed by the Pirates is tangible proof the team hasn’t quit. On the defensive side of the ball, too many key starters are out for the defense to really lock any offense down. It’s no secret that the D-line is undersized, and DC Harrell must rely on schemings to put pieces of the puzzle in the right place for the Pirates to be effective. Kudos to all the young guys who have accepted the “next man up” challenge. The defense almost pulled off the upset single-handedly. Yes, at the ultimate crunch time the Pirate D couldn’t get off the field. That doesn’t diminish Saturday’s effort. Unfortunately, the Pirate offense, for the second week in a row, could offer only one quarter of productivity. Oddly enough, but for a sailed pass over the head of JJ, the Pirates could have taken a 14-10 lead to the fourth quarter, even considering the under performing for 45 minutes. I saw the effort exhibited, no question. Alex Flinn said that the Green Wave defense made some adjustments - well, YEAH!!! Tulane came in ranked as high as #21, is the top-ranked non Power Five team a/o today. What would you expect? That sums up the 2023 Pirate offense in a nutshell. Nine games played, and not enough improvement to muster a drive to get close enough for a field goal attempt - on a day in which a couple of field goals could have been enough to seal the deal. Nine games, and we can’t figure out something to advance the ball during a 45 minute run. What a disappointing bookend to a more than decent, defensive effort. I wish I could say it was a surprise, but…

Players and coaches have pride, they will play to win. I can think of several examples of years past were the league officials always made questionable calls against our pirates and other teams when playing UCF, Tulsa and Cincinnati when they were ranked, seemingly protecting the prospects bigger financial bowel payouts.

I don’t want to get rid of Houston. He is about the best ECU can do, and I don’t believe he’s done anything to warrant dismissal. However, the offensive line coach’s job might be in jeopardy. To be fair, that would depend on what he walked into earlier this year. It’s possible both Mogridge and Houston knew at the beginning of fall camp that the o-line would be mediocre at best. Still, with the declining performance of the OL roster, I’m not expecting much improvement for the remainder of the season. It would be a pleasant surprise. The effort from the players is still there, so the coaches haven’t lost the team. That’s a GOOD thing. The talent evaluation process for the offense needs some retooling. Here’s hoping for better outcomes in November.

To fire this coach would be an absolute error. Good coach, great man. Don't be so short sighted. The challenges we have are real. He remember, inherited NOTHING but an a complete mess. We have a young team, 17-20 year old young men for the most part. Schools and programs all across the nation, some with crazy resources are also struggling. It's an ultra competitive environment out there, perhaps more so than ever before. Houston is a winner. He'll win here too. McNeil used to say 'you can't microwave it'. No need to rehearse what we lost last year to the pros, graduation, etc. That's been discussed. Holtz used to say, you lose big, you lose small, you win small, you win big. A process that takes time. Not a fun season for us, granted, I've been frustrated myself. I still believe in Houston. Let's not make foolish decisions here again please. McNeil had a tuff season about this same time in his time at ECU and the same silly stuff was said about him and then, we did the most ridiculous thing ever, let him go and we went straight to the bottom! Houston is learning on the fly somewhat in the 'new' college football environment and we need to be behind him IMO> McNeil also used to say, 'when you are winning, they want you to write a book, when it's not going well, nobody thinks you can read' - I expect to see us improve and finish well. This season of challenge will pay dividends going forward. Many examples could be illustrated for it, Tulane would be a good one to look at. Check out their history. A good coach, just like ours and now, they are the class of our conference. Deep breath, upward and onward!!

"I’m beginning to wonder if the offense can muster any momentum for next year." Bingo; that for me has become the biggest single question. While on balance, the offense was marginally better yesterday than it has been (certainly a low bar), it has not shown an improvement trend this season. Neither of the two Q's who've played look like the answer; Jeter should now be given a dress rehearsal assessment for next season. Given the roster fluidity that the portal has created, the question of redshirt eligibility burning has largely been overcome anyway. The university has invested a LOT of money into football; at this point, I think that the institution owes its stakeholders a conversation with Coach that he find a way to field a bowl eligible team next season (another low bar) as an ultimatum.

Unfortunate that the Pirate defense had one of its worst performances at the same time of the offense’s partial awakening. I don’t think the ultimate outcome would have changed, but it could have been interesting. I’m sure the injuries to key secondary personnel contributed to the busted plays. On the “O” side of the ball, Gerald Green was a welcome sight, going north and south, with some urgency. It looked as though more designed runs were called yesterday, than any other game this season. While certainly not gang busters, I believe it was the best run game of the year, when you consider the competition. QB Flinn had a few designed runs which, for the most part, he did well. Also, on several pass plays, he chose to escape and get what he could running the ball. You can argue some of those choices, but again, I see improvement. Obviously, the forth down sack deep in Pirate territory was really stupid. You have to pick a target and give one of your guys a chance to get a first down. With respect to the passing game, Flinn continues to be inaccurate on many passes. Surely, the o-line problems with protection contribute to the problem. However, the interception in the end zone was strictly on Flinn. If he leads Johnson to the front pylon, there’s no chance of the defender going through Johnson and making the interception. Maybe we don’t get the TD, but for sure we get to reload. Losing Calhoun to injury during practice didn’t help, as he has been a decent target this year. At this point, any sort of improvement is welcome. Some change in the play-calling is welcome. I try to take heart in the fact that only six of the listed 22 OL are upper-class men, with just one senior. For this year, it’s bad. Sadly, I don’t see any real improvement occurring. I’m beginning to wonder if the offense can muster any momentum for next year. One last point… remember when Coach said the injury to Javious Bond wasn’t “significant “? Does anyone know why we haven’t seen him? More questions than answers… the story of the 2023 season.

He has changed D coordinator once, perhaps a new OC is needed

It is very frustrating as a Pirate alum and fan to read this article. I want to believe Coach can get it done. He’s had success, and there’s no reason to believe he can’t do it at ECU. NIL doesn’t help the formula previously used by Houston and many other coaches in recruiting. You find good high school recruits and grow them up. With Coach’s record to date, I have no reason to believe he’s lost the ability to assemble a solid staff, and recruit young men who can be solid players. He’s used the transfer portal to some success, so I don’t believe the Staff can be excused of sticking their heads in the sand w/r/t NIL. My frustration with Coach’s comments is with what wasn’t addressed. The implication of his comment concerning the offensive line is that we’re going to see more of the same play calling with the RPO concept. It’s up to the players to execute better. I’m sorry, but last Saturday should have buried that concept. Sadly, I don’t believe it will. Being stoically married to a concept which by Coach’s own admission has failed indicates to me that Pirate Nation should expect to see the equivalent of five more offensive scrimmages practicing how to be good. Let me restate that I want to believe the Pirates have the right guy to get the job done. However, at some point, it is fair to criticize the Coach and the OC for their stubborn repetition.

What's Rice's and Charlotte's NIL situation? I rest my case; sometimes I wonder if Coach is paying folks to keep whining about the NIL, to deflect the heat from exactly where it belongs.

This podcast is what I'd call a true service to Pirate Nation, and a confirmation that us chickens are not crazy; what we think we're seeing is what we are seeing...unfortunately.

I know we have a great coach, he proved himself at JMU. The transfer portal is a killer to programs like EC. You can't blame the players, they have a good season and get a call from a larger school. The transfer portal is doing to college football what the NBA has done to college basketball, you don't know who the players are anymore. One and gone. My only complaint is the two QB system, I have never seen this work. My blood will always be purple, but this is tough year.

We lost an olinemen to Oregon and auburn, both are starting. Lost a dliinemen to TCU. Nah nil has nothing to do with our situation!

No doubt, the NIL $$ makes a difference among the very elite and elite recruits, and probably at the “very good” level, also, as the big programs try to gobble up the obvious talent. What’s happening this year is different from the standpoint of the coaching not accepting the level of competence shown, and rather than coaching a concept that can be somewhat successful now, they continue down the same path of outright failure. If the team’s effort in each game results in demonstrated improvement, mistakes can be understood, given all of the “new” pieces of this year’s puzzle. While the defense is far from perfect, an overall level of improvement is identifiable. Not so for the offense. Indeed, Saturday’s effort by the offense looked more like an early fall scrimmage not equal to the effort against Michigan. The O-line is lost. The heir-apparent QB can’t bring his “great” practices to the game (no doubt, the o-line problems contribute). The sub QB is more decisive, but accident prone. The Pirates DO NOT have anything resembling a running game. I think we have some good backs who could get us some yards, but not in the RPO. The Pirate O-line CAN’T BLOCK for it consistently. At this point, that’s not NIL. The definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing while always expecting a different outcome. I don’t blame the players at this point. I believe they’re trying as hard as they can. This is on the coaches. Put a simple, straightforward blocking scheme in place, and run North and South. Neither QB will ever settle down, nor will the passing game expand, if every defense can disregard the run.

Same coaches who had us bowl eligible for past 2 years. Can’t recruit or retain good players without nil$$$. New reality, pony up or shut up!!