It’s college football’s bowl season, but one post-season staple is missing from the festivities – East Carolina University. The Pirates had a disappointing season, which lead, in part, to the controversial firing of their last head coach. Now Pirate Nation’s entered a new era with a new coach and more could be on the line for the program than wins and losses. Chris Thomas has this.
Few things stay the same for East Carolina Football. Uniforms, conference affiliation, and even the team’s nickname has changed (from the “Teachers” to the current “Pirates” in 1934, two years after the team’s founding). Less than a week after the Pirates’ 2015 season came to an end –finishing 5-7 overall – another change was made. Head Coach Ruffin McNeill was sacked.
Allen Thomas, City of Greenville mayor ECU alum, said hearing about the firing was like hearing about a death in the family.
“I received a text message from a family member and I really had to stop the car and go back and read it again and say ‘did I really just read what I thought I read?’”
About a week after the firing, 37-year-old Scottie Montgomery was announced as the team’s 21st head coach. It came as a shock even to the closest followers of the Pirate day to day affairs, like Daily Reflector Sports Editor, Nathan Summers.
“[It was a] surprise to everybody… I think that name started surfacing for all of us either very late or during early part of the day on Saturday.”
McNeill’s firing was controversial and was a nationally trending topic on social networking websites as soon as it was announced. Summers said one word describes the mood about McNeill’s firing.
“Divided. Divided on every level. You don’t have to look very far…within the players on the team team. At least in terms of guys showing…support for Ruff, whether it’s within social media, guys still using Ruffin McNeill as their names on Twitter…having references to Ruffin on their bios on social media.”
McNeill arrived in Greenville in 2010 after the program’s 19th coach, Skip Holtz, left for the University of South Florida. Holtz’s departure was familiar to long time Pirate fans like Thomas, a Craven County native who has been attending games since the early 1980s.
“The target and the path in the coaching profession is getting into a BCS conference, and I think the biggest challenge for East Carolina is breaking through that glass ceiling.”
Coaches have come and gone from Greenville, pursuing gigs closer to national prominence, something ECU hasn’t, traditionally, enjoyed. Thomas said McNeill was different. He graduated from ECU in 1980 and is an Eastern North Carolina native. McNeill said his former position was dream job when he was hired in 2010 and he became a fixture in the Greenville community.
“Look, so many people just know him…they may not have even been to a football game and thousands have been to their first football game because of him. But, just the man and the person was someone that people just really loved and respected.”
McNeill coached the team through five seasons – some better than others. He led the team to its second, 10-win season in program history in 2013. They won a bowl game and flirted with a national ranking.
But, McNeill also had three losing seasons at the helm of the Pirates’ squad. In 2010, McNeill’s first season, the Pirates allowed the most points and yards in the nation.
“…like a lot of coaches there were some poor decision making in big games that cost him games and changed the way seasons went.”
Summers also mentioned a mixed 2014 campaign – the last for a record setting quarterback-wide receiver combination Shane Carden and Justin Hardy – where the team went 8-5 after getting off to a promising start and lost to the Florida Gators in the Birmingham Bowl, 28-20.
“I think them falling short…when we look back on this 10 seasons from now, that’s something most people, in terms of the negative with Ruff, will probably think about.”
Now, Montgomery is sitting in the captain’s chair. He’s the youngest to take the job in more than 40 years. Montgomery has spent time as an assistant coach in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers and in college with his alma mater, Duke University – a position he’ll hold through Dec. 26 when the Blue Devils play Indiana at Yankee Stadium in the Pin Stripe Bowl.
Montgomery still has a foot in the water in Durham, but in his Dec. 14 press conference, he made it clear that his work in Greenville has already begun, mentioning a team meeting he had with players before the press conference began.
Attempts were made to talk to Montgomery through ECU Athletics, but were unsuccessful due to his busy schedule, according to department spokesperson, Tom McClellan.
Summers said Montgomery is walking into a tough situation since ECU Athletic Director Jeff Compher made it clear the football program’s number one objective is winning conference championships.
“That’s the tough thing to really decide in all this. Compher really put out some bold reasoning for not only getting rid of Ruffin McNeill but also for what he wanted or expected from a head coach and he hired a guy who hasn’t been a head coach so…that alone creates a strange set of standards…do you give a young coach a lot of time to find his way and build his own team or do you go strictly by Compher’s stated standards of expecting to win championships all the time, right away?”
Montgomery said he understood he’s taking over a team with loyal support from its community. Much of ECU’s identity is intertwined its football team and has a sizeable impact on economic development in Pitt County. According to Andrew Schmidt, Greenville-Pitt County Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director, a “perfect storm” of factors for a football game – including an optimal kickoff time and an opponent of interest, like the University of North Carolina – can contribute about $5 million to the local economy. That includes everything from purchasing tickets to buying tailgating food to visiting fans booking hotel rooms for night before and after games. Without all those factors in place, though, Schmidt said the team still contributes millions to Pitt County.
“People love their football in Greenville and across Eastern North Carolina and ECU’s constantly had one of the highest attendances for a ‘non-BCS’ football school…so, even if it’s not a perfect storm, you’re looking at $3-4 million in the local economy.”
Though fans grumbled when McNeill was shown the door, Schmidt said the economic impact of the decision isn’t clear right now.
“I think it’s way too early to tell from an economic standpoint…usually with a new coach, there’s a certain amount of excitement, obviously, to see what kind of product he or she can bring to the court or to the football field or whatever sport it is, so… there’s no real way to look into the future and tell.”
A serious bid for the national championship has eluded East Carolina Football over the past 83 years. But Summers says there is no glass ceiling over the Pirates’ heads and there’s no reason to think it isn’t the realm of possibility.
“But, in terms of a glass ceiling…no there’s not because East Carolina can be one of those teams flirting with an unbeaten season just like Temple and Houston and Memphis.”
The Pirates start the season Sept. 3, playing Western Carolina University, and, Sept. 10 against North Carolina State University. Both games are at home. It’s our hope to speak with Montgomery before the first play of the 2016 season.