Clinton: The error you pointed out was brought to my attention by Brett. It has been corrected. Thank you for letting us know. — Danny Whitford, Editor

Apologies - I mis-typed the third sentence. It should read "Compher wasn’t backed into a corner. MacNeil was offered a weak extension that would have made recruits question his security and didn’t reflect the overall success and stability he’d brought to the program."

I have a lot of sympathy for Coach Montgomery. He seems like a nice guy, but one who's in over his head. Compher wasn't backed into a corner, He was offered a weak extension that would have made recruits question his security and didn't reflect the overall success and stability he'd brought to the program. It was pretty clear that Compher wasn't looking to keep Coach Ruff around. And when Ruff decided not to play that game, he was fired in a way that made ripples in coaching circles everywhere. You didn't have to get the inside scoop on that to figure that out - all the backing away by any name put out there as a target made it abundantly clear that most established coaches had no desire to play for an administration and staff that would handle things so poorly in pretty much every respect. That has resulted in a in inability to hire a coach with any head-coaching experience and thus a program that is not only failing to meet "competitive expectations" but has little short-to-medium term outlook to do so. What great recruit wants to walk into a dumpster fire nearly-last-in-the-nation defense with an uncertain staff that is even more uncertain at the Def. Coord. spot???? Lastly, the utter failure by Montgomery and Compher to at least take some responsibility for what has going on is the most disappointing. Step up and own it - the hearts of the Pirates are large and forgiving. Pointing blame elsewhere, well... In order to move East Carolina Football in the right direction, we need a new AD and a new coach. That isn't said with any animus for either of these men. It is just true.

I have never coached at any level, or played football. But having worked in personnel with one of the country's corporations, I know something about hiring and picking qualified personnel. With that said, I was completely dismayed why Scott Montgromery was hired. I was thinking that someone knows something that I don't. There are so many young coaches and coodinators that are out there that I believe ECU could have hired that could put together a good program. A good example is UCF. Sorry Mr. AD, but if i were writing your performance review, you would get a "unsatisfactory".

He had to because he was the best candidate at the time for the funding available. Remember, Compher originally extended Ruffin an extension which he did not accept. Then, Ruffin decided he would push his boss into a corner and it backfired on him. Anyone with a brain would have fired him at the time too. The AD, the Chancellor and ALL Trustees voted unanimously to fire Ruffin. This was not a plan! Jeff Compher was the NCAA Athletics Director of the year for the entire country a few years ago. Coach Mo has learned his offense can rock during practice when its playing against the worlds worst defense. I don't know how a coach fixes that. But I think Jeff Compher should get a mulligan here because of the situation he was in and ECU's continuing lack of athletic funding. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water!

The NCAA statistics for the game indicate ECU had 504 yds. Things are bad enough without writers getting their facts wrong!

Thank you, Brett, this article pretty well sums up what most of us are thinking. Not sure what Compher and company were thinking when they hired Coach Mo. He clearly lacked the resume to handle the job.

I did not get to see the game, but figured that this game was going to give some idea about the strength of our team and possibly what to expect later. I have seen Houston play a couple of times and doubted that we could win, but was hoping to see some potential improvement. Regardless, I am looking for a good game against Tulane and I believe we have a chance to win this Saturday. GGGOO...PPIRATES!!

you ever consider that Compher is the problem. Football or basketball.....every coach has done worse each year. Compher is a buffoon.

It looks like we are finding some of our better players now and they happen to be underclassmen. I look forward to seeing what Reid Herring can do.

The season is in the crapper and nothing can change that. I don't understand why Montgomery is playing a quarterback who will not be back next year. Carolina has a worse record, but they are playing freshmen and sophomores. Next year they are going be a very experienced and young football team. Don't understand the logic.

Really encouraged with Pirates last performance. I hope this is the beginning of improvement that can be translated this Saturday. I've seen Houston play on TV a couple of times and they really are a very good team. Praying ECU pulls an upset. GGGOOO...PIRATES!!

Bethany.... your article regarding wrestling at ECU, and all the forgotten success was enjoyed by many more people than you may know of. I had so many words of fun memories from people in our era. I thank you so much for your time and effort in writing the piece. As fate would have it, there was no control over the weather and game circumstances. Be safe and God Bless, Mike Radford [email protected]

Marquette and Louisville were both in the Big East in 2007 having left the conference in 2005.

As an alum, I have met with Compher several times. He is above arrogant, and only sees things his way. His track record echoes that. He needs to go before Mo. Learn from the past. It only gets worse from here.