Did not realize that you were leaving, you will be missed. Keep on swimming.

Feeling very optimistic. Can’t wait for fall 2019!

I agree with your comments John. The Pirate Nation must step up and dramatically increase membership in the Pirate Club (5x to 10x current member levels) . I have some thoughts about how to increase PC visibility to the average fan who probably does not understand the impact the PC has with a winning athletic program. I won't go into details here but will express my thoughts with PC leadership because membership is critical. High expectations for wining are not matching up with our weak revenues and this has been the case at ECU for quite some time.

Bring back Shane Carden in some capacity...he can galvanize the Pirate Nation

I just want to say thank you to Dave Hart for the hard work he has done to help turn around the athletic program. You do what is in the best interest for ECU. You will forever be a pirate.

Wow ! What an exciting week for the future of ECU football. The job is not finished. Everyone who claims to care about Pirate football needs to be a contributor to the Pirate Club at some level regardless of how far away you live from Greenville. Watching games on TV and not being a member of the Pirate Club does nothing to support the program. I have been a season ticket holder and Pirate Club member for 49 straight years. Go Pirates !

You must have never listened to any of Mos interviews. The line was very young as a result of the previous admin leaving the cabinets bare. Scotty brought in Jucos his first year trying to feel gaps but he knew he to many and it would hurt the program.

Houston is such a fresh breath!! Just watched his press conference and so wonderful to actually hear a football guy again. It's not about what you do so mush as how you do it!! Love that, exactly. Effort, discipline, accountability, determination, old school concepts that never expire! He'll win some NC kids again in recruiting I'm certain. And yes, I agree with the last comments, O line and D line. Houston said the O line sets the identity of the team! What a great statement. This man gets it! So happy to see him in G'vegas!!! Go Pirates!! let's fill up the stadium next fall and have some fun again.

From the beginning, Montgomery should have seen the O line and D line was very weak. That never seemed to be addressed. We're should start there and get the proper foundation for winning first. We need to address our budget as well. Seems almost everyone in the AAC had a larger budget than we do. As for talent, David Garrard said this past summer that our receiving corps was as good as he's seen at ECU. He also said our QBs would have to run for their lives to last a season. We're not gonna out recruit ACC schools in our state until we win, and the best talent usually goes out of state. Be patient and let's rack up some wins and create depth in the trenches with talent there first and the rest will fall in line. We also need to concentrate on the AAC and win there before worrying about the rest of the schedule (fans especially).

This years class only has one player in the top 50 in NC (Freshwater). So I am really skeptical of the talent level he has recruited......sure ECU has always been a program that recruited lesser known players and developed them into stars, that's been our bread and butter for years. But its getting harder and harder to win in the AAC with mostly 2 star recruits with a sprinkling of 3 star guys. As a life long Pirate fan. We have to do a better job of keeping some the best talent in eastern NC home. One guy in the top 50 is not getting that done.

Are we really sure he is inheriting a lot of talent? A lot of the players expressing remorse at Montgomery being fired, mention he was their only chance at playing at D1. The results this year were not only due to bad coaching. I do like that he has a recruiting base that is close to ECU already. I do expect a fairly quick turnaround.

If the articles are true we now have a “Real Deal” Coach in Houston. Also we have an AD that Dave Hart has a deep relationship with and I’m sure approved of the Houston hire in his talks with Hart. Things in one day have gone from murky to much clearer. Which is very exciting. I know there is much work to do but I think this is the type of hire and day that we could look back on as a game changer. Ahlers is our future and will now get the attention and development he deserves. I truly believe we have better players than we think. Also think the recruits we have will recognize this as a great hire for the University and for them. It’s a good day to be a Pirate after a three year funk. GO PIRATES!!!!!!

Do keep in mind that Dave Doeren has not started a quarterback that he recruited as a freshman during his entire tenure at NCSU. All have transferred in as upperclassmen, including the quarterback that is currently projected as starter for next year. NCSU has also had several OC's to go with the different quarterbacks, as is with the current OC-quarterback package that both came from the same school, and results have been mixed. We may be able to question if NCSU can actually "develop" a quarterback, but there is no question that the programs are currently moving in opposite directions. Supportive AD, no AD. Coach that made it through the struggle, coach fired during the struggle. Fans at cold rainy game, few fans on a warm sunny day! We can change direction by starting with getting rid of this wasteful rebranding effort to be called ECU. We are already known as ECU, but be proud, and supportive of East Carolina University!

Ahlers would have been great at NCSU. It would have been a perfect opportunity for him to be developed properly around players of his ilk with solid coaching. He would definitely have had a redshirt year and would likely start next year. I am glad he chose ECU for selfish reasons, but under our current circumstances, If I were his father, I would have encouraged a different choice. When I saw him on the sidelines yesterday, I could not help but wonder if anything like that flashed through his mind.

ECU is fortunate that Holton Ahlers is a homeboy; otherwise, he too would probably be a fight risk, and who could blame him? Hopefully Verity stays, and hopefully they get another year of eligibility for Harvey. Speaking of Ahlers' future, whoever's the next guy sure as hell first and foremost better be thinking about that OL; mercy, what a travesty, though I know injuries had a lot to do with it. ...and the secondary, too, speaking of dumpster fires. ...but after all, and above all, I have to hand it to Garrett McGhin's classy statement about the university after three miserable seasons a reminder that adversity doesn't build character; it defines it.