If you go back to Ruffin's last year, we've had eight QB's since Shane Carden graduated in 2014. Add Blake Kemp, James Summers, and even though he never made a start for us, Kurt Benkert, who transferred to UVa, when Scottie decided to go with Nelson after his first spring practice. That's nine in the mix since Shane. You can't win if you don't have consistency at the QB position. I hope our next coach builds his team and offensive philosophy around Ahlers abilities. Go Pirates, Kirk Edgerton

Also, I wonder if we could sell "the house that Cecil built" after he pulls the ripcord on his golden parachute? We could use the profits to pay off some of debt he created. And perhaps next time, we could find someone to run the University who won't be embarrassed to live in that lovely house on 5th street.

ECU's administration provided the fuel for the dumpster-fire that Compher lit on the way to the bank to pick up his $1.2 mil check. Scottie can also buy a lot of marshmallows to roast with his $800K. I wonder where old Staton is at with his $500 million dollar campaign? Apparently not far enough not to pass on the balance of his incompetence to the students. I hope that the business school is utilizing this administrations exploits as a teaching tool of what not to do. It seems that my Alma Mater has strayed from its roots by hiring outsiders who know little of the schools history or the demographics of the population it serves. I think of Coach Jerry Moore, after being asked about the prospect of App St. moving up to D1a , who said something like, "Bigger is not better. 'Better' is better." In my opinion, our problems on the football field go way beyond athletics and after this humbling experience, I hope we can all get some perspective and focus back to our motto of service and get 'better'.

Here's the bottom line: You can't keep a guy who goes 3-9 for three consecutive years. He should have been out after last season. And it's not just the record, the team is bad. ECU is in a big boy conference and we have to compete. Look, Scottie is a good guy but the situation just couldn't continue. We used to lead the non power five school in attendance and now the place is empty

Fool's gold! Read all of the stats and multiple 50 plus scoring drives by opponents. Improved, but like he will even admit, it's just a start. There's still a long way to go, but I hope we handle these transitions better in the future.

...unless, of course, they end up naming Blackwell as permanent. ...don't know how well he recruits, but he has definitely improved the defense.

Maybe you've never seen the program at such a low point, but man, read this article, and it sounds like there are presently a MASSIVE number of unknowns and tons of fragility that could definitely lead to things getting worse. It's pretty clear that Blackwell sees the timing of the announcement as being horrendous. ...but at the same time, he implies that it was due to the potential of leaks, which of course leads to the question of why the administration couldn't have waited one more week to decide in the first place. ...but what blows me away the most is a quote I read to the effect that a new coach won't be hired until the AD is hired. I get that, but wow; maybe they should just mail in the 2019 season now, and be done with it. There's no question why this decision was made, but my definite opinion is that, given the serious athletic dept. infrastructural issues presently afoot, the Pirates should've left Mo in place one more year, and let his decent recruiting endeavors continue to yield dividends. Now, those are likely out the window along with Mo. They should have much more stability next year, and therefore much more freedom to do whatever they want to with the head coaching position, with less collateral damage.

He was way over his head and should never have been hired. Ive never seen the program at such a low point. It will take extreme sacrifice and hard work to get the program revived to any sort of competitive nature. If anyone is to blame it’s Jeff Compher. He’s laughing all the way to the bank and he to was a bad hire for ECU athletics as a whole.

He was way over his head and should never have been hired. Ive never seen the program at such a low point. It will take extreme sacrifice and hard work to get the program revived to any sort of competitive nature. If anyone is to blame it’s Jeff Compher. He’s laughing all the way to the bank and he to was a bad hire for ECU athletics as a whole.

Best of luck to Coach Mo. He is a good man and did his best but he was not ready to be a head coach at this level......our program has hit bottom now and all the fans can hope is we make a great hire and give him the support he needs to get this proud program moving forward again.

Jack: Brett Friedlander filed a story with updates on this afternoon's developments earlier this evening. Logistical issues on my end were the reason something wasn't posted earlier. We are also going to adopt a more active Twitter regimen (@bonesville) to facilitate the posting of more frequent blurbs on this and other topics as warranted. — Danny Whitford, Editor

Scottie Montgomery was fired earlier today and it's 3 pm and I don't see a word about it here. Do you folks update this site?

It's time for Coach Mo to peace out of Greenville with his 4-20 AAC record. Get the struttin' Scottie!

"Their quarterback position is as accurate as anyone we’ve gone against and their receivers are as talented as anybody we’ve gone against." If that's even REMOTELY true, the Pirates are in for another LONG afternoon, whose only biggest weakness other than the 2ndary is the OL. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln...

Well, We could have beaten NC A&T, South Florida and Tulane and we'd be bowl bound. Really the college football system as it is with "Power Five" and the "Playoff" makes getting a bowl that is meaningful almost impossible. Attendance figures in college football are down across the country as a result.