Why would App State switch? Their operating costs would go through the roof in the AAC compared to the Sun Belt. App State gets decent exposure as is, because they have a winning tradition. The Mountaineers, for more than a few years, have outperformed the Pirates in football. The AAC would definitely benefit from having App State, but I don’t see it happening.

Appalachian or Costal should replace SMU.

NCAA has ruined yet another beautiful thing! As pirates we keep fighting and overcoming but the NIL isn’t winnable. Trying to raise $ for indoor facility, nil what next? App st will make us 0-3 then come home to Gardner Webb with 18,000 fans . Can’t recruit and keep kids under these conditions. No telling what conference will will land in, but folk aren’t coming to see the alphabet schools from Texas. It’s hard being a Pirate, but I love ‘em !!!

JJ says Agree-- under NIL and transfer portal systems current rules non-power five teams (ECU) should use the Coach Prime model. Otherwise you are using your recruiting budget as a NFL minor league or developing players for the Power Five programs. Sad to say this will hurt High School athletes, but now it is all about the money in my opinion.

Speaking of recruiting, just last week, this site featured a recent ECU commit, a young man named Sam Riddy, whom I of course hope excels at ECU, on the field and in the classroom, but the profile includes the statement that follows: Riddy chose ECU over offers from Benedict, Bryant, Charleston Southern, Colgate, Navy, Newberry, N.C. Central and The Citadel. Except for Navy, this featured young man is considered by recruiters to be at the FCS level. Let's hope that that's not where ECU recruiting finds itself these days.

I’ll fill you in as I missed the first half and watched the second. Garcia is not a good QB. When he doesn’t panic and run he locks on to a receiver, waits too long and doesn’t throw with much accuracy. I doubt he will improve any at this stage of his career. Flinn has good pocket awareness and accuracy. He should have been the starter after how much better he looked at Michigan. Throwing him out there with a 3 TD deficit where they know we can’t run was unfair. He still had as many passing yards (about 60) as Garcia had. The receivers as a group are some of the worst I’ve seen since Houston took over. Do we even have a tight end? So many dropped passes in both these games. The defense was doing great, but got worn out in the 4th. Hard to imagine next week at App State will be any better. As Deion Sanders is proving college coaching is mostly about recruiting, I’m not so sure that Houston is succeeding at this most important part of the job.

I cannot recall seeing any other game change so radically, so instantaneously. Starting the latter part of the 1st half, ECU had all the momentum, really thanks to the defense, until the Marshall 4th quarter trick play. The defense was absolutely lights out lockdown; it felt like any offensive series, the Pirates would finally seize the game and put it away. Then came the trick play, and ECU simply vanished, on both sides of the ball. The offense is a major concern, absolutely no traditional running game at all, dropped passes, and errant passes.

Being unable to see the last half of the game, I’m going to limit my comments to the first half. Great job by the Pirates pulling even at the half. It could have been, probably should have been, at least a touchdown worse. Marshall had some dropped passes which could have done a lot of damage. Bottom line, we have a ton of young players playing, which means a huge learning curve. Neither QB has shown he is “the one”. Garcia is a bit of a disappointment, having been in the system so long, and being tabbed as the heir-apparent two years ago. He seems completely lost at times. Once again, we have a secondary which can’t take care of its’ business at crunch time. Having the right scheme called, and calling out the very play that stabs you, tells me that maybe someone else should get a chance at playing. Let’s find out now who can stick to his responsibilities. This could be a long year. No chemistry on offense, and the secondary either can’t play the schemes, or doesn’t yet have the discipline for it.

This is a good, and sobering, reflection. That comeback victory vs. Marshall a couple of years ago may not be their best win in the post-McNeill era, but it's certainly a contender.

Of course the upcoming Marshall game is a far better measuring stick for the program. It's interesting that the Pirates are 3 point dogs at home, a good thing; it tends to make that game mean that much more.

Thanks, Sammy Another good report, keep them coming.

The game went about as expected. Michigan is a very good team, and given the Harbaugh situation, the Blue brought a chip on the shoulder with them. Not good for ECU. The Review booth officials were clearly biased, but that didn’t turn the game. The Pirates were ground down by a better team. Of concern is the apparent lack of ability to play “lock down” coverage. Coach indicated there were some breakdowns, not unexpected in a 1st game, but overall, our coverage was loose by design. I believe this is partially due to a lack of a consistent pass rush. Against future competition, this might improve. I hope so. Run defense wasn’t half bad, but needs to improve quickly. If the Pirates have to play seven or eight in the box by necessity, several of the QBs we face will torch the secondary. QB play… I’m undecided. Saw some upside in both Garcia and Flinn. I give the edge to Flinn only because he showed more decisiveness when getting his chance. He also made some mistakes. Mason seemed to loosen up in the second half, which is good. The Pirates seem to have two QBs with some upside. O-line and receivers… some good, some not so good. I’m reserving judgement for now due to the obvious overmatch in overall talent. So, the team played hard for 60 minutes. No reason to be embarrassed. You got beat by a talented, well-coached team. You pretty much held your own against the Michigan subs, which DOES mean something. We’ll see what the Pirates are made of next week at home, against Marshall. The Pirates, players and coaches, should be on a mission. We’ll see.

I love Sammy's write-ups !!

"Old Pirate" loving football and watching my team grow. Played in SC high school All Star game and wish I had "walked on" at ECU. Playing vicariously through you guys now at age 82 Keep up the great attitude and work ethic that I see in you all.

"Gilbert said he would need more data to decide if he would favor adding Pac-12 teams to the AAC." The AD need not waste any time thinking about that. The moment the AAC panicked upon the departure of three of its more prominent schools, making itself Conference USA II overnight, any prospect that a PAC 12 pedigree school might join it went out the window.