A leader has to believe in himself in order to lead the individuals around him. Only the entire journey will determine if the leader's belief in himself was founded or not. To be a leader, you have to believe in yourself, and believe in the people around you. Too many people today believe in themselves, but not the people around them, and suffer a miserable life because of it. They are generally employed as critics or give away money and call themselves "fans" when in reality they are obstructionists when the strings attached to the gifts are suddenly unveiled. Go Pirates!

I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a good coach. Defense gave up 600 yds game 1 and 600 yds in their last game ...Maybe current leader should take responsibility and not try to blame missed breakfasts at the university dining facility.

What is included in the mention of "science over tradition?" Is Coach Montgomery saying the ECU players are not eating the right foods or have been skipping breakfast? Are they not getting enough strength conditioning? Is this being considered as a reason for a losing season?

This article's focus on ECU avoiding a shutout after a 253-game scoring streak tells it all in terms of how desperate folks are to finds a silver lining. It's hard to argue with Coach's assessment that team speed is sorely lacking, but if you're looking for the biggest single physical problem, the line play is an awfully strong contender. The Pirates' 2018 opener is vs. an FCS opponent that's 11-0 today? Can you say "deja vu"?

"The athletic department faces some budget challenges and there is a contention that Montgomery is safe because ECU couldn’t afford to buy out his contract." When a revenue sport can't fund non-revenue sports maybe ECU should reconsider everything that got it in that position, which happens all the time in the business world but seldom happens in the world of college athletics.

ECU was not just beaten by Memphis, we were totally embarrassed. Reminds me of the days when we first started playing Florida State and they beat us 63 - 0 and 63-6. That was about 1981 &1982. Our football program has worked so hard for so long that it REALLY hurts to see our team sink to this level. At this rate I do not see any hope for 2018 Is this year the bottom or will it be next year?.

Must not have watched the Memphis game fire mo and compher now

No signs of improvement, and zero indication of any ability to coach up the talent. If you think speed will solve the defensive incompetence, look forward to more $6 tickets on StubHub! Further, quit the pause-play offensive play calling. If your team thrives when playing fast, why are you taking them out of any hopes of maintaining any rhythm and challenging the opposing defense by giving that defense time to rest and get set over and over? Seems the game plan reflected little confidence in the team, and was to give up from the start. As I've said before, stop over-thinking this thing! It's time to show some willingness to evolve, and mature as a coaching staff. You have to be better leaders, and bring in better teachers.

That team today looked no better than it did in week 1. Defenders willingly being blocked like they probably do in practice. I saw nothing to indicate next year won’t be the same with this coach.

But maybe John Thompson would have turned everything around if he had just been given that third year, just like Scotty is going to do...

We didn't even get beaten this bad with Johnny Thompson...

ECU has definitely turned a corner. For the worse.

I tend to agree with Floyd, though I do believe we have turned the corner in Football, Lebo has brought in some of the best basketball players we've ever had and with a top 25 recruiting class, Coach Godwin has the baseball program ready to roll. It's not time to make the Captain or Officers "walk the plank". No mutiny needed on the Pirate ship, land is in sight. Go Pirates!

It's the editor's fault! Thank you for the heads up. — Danny Whitford, Editor

Memphis is potent offensively, but they give up a ton of points, so the key here for ECU will be to mix in a healthy dose of running into what has become a pretty decent Pirates offense. That will allow for more clock control, for more keeping the ball away from the Memphis offense. The Pirates defense will be pressured big time; hopefully they can make some stops. A couple of takeaways could go a long way, too. The Pirates should be loose for this one; there's no downside for them, whereas Memphis is playing for a better bowl.