East Carolina Sunk Its Own Ship. Welcome to the Deadspin 2. Leading up to the college football season kickoff, we will give you previews of the 2. Now, No. 1. 2 East Carolina. The best part of last years ECU football program, easily, was its ballsy marching band exposing the cry babies in GreenvilleI make that observation both as someone who agrees with what they did and as someone who was forced to begrudgingly watch more than a quarter of ECU football last fall. Given how things have gone so far in 2. I wont feel any better about the one quarter I watch this season. The 2. 01. 6 season marked the first Pirates campaign of the post Ruffin Mc. Neill era it neither provided any semblance of promise or any more solid reasoning as to why ECU decided to part ways with Mc. Neill in December 2. At least for those with a stake in the North Carolina college football scene, Mc. Neills firing was a shock. Even more Account Options. Sign in Search settings. View and Download Toyota Corolla 2011 owners manual online. Corolla 2011 Automobile pdf manual download. It baffled the press, the fans, and the schools greatest players. Here you had a program that was fresh off a fairly successful run under Skip Holtzthe Pirates averaged 7. After a bumpy first couple years of sub. Mc. Neill led the Pirates to 2. But then, after a 5 7 finish in 2. PQn6TNLwAPE/VBH5jkQpqVI/AAAAAAAAGCY/Qjk_k8EI0z4/s1600/15.%2BASLSK-ASL%2BVC%2BExample%2B1200px.png' alt='Download Asl Starter Kit 3 Rules Pdf' title='Download Asl Starter Kit 3 Rules Pdf' />ECU postedMc. Neill was out. Just like that, the stable program that had seemingly found a sweet spot of eight win seasons was again searching for a coach, though it was hard to figure out just what the hell the Pirates administration wanted. At the time, the prevailing thought was that ECUbelieving it possessed the resources, recruiting foundation, and fanbase necessary to propel it to the top of the Group of Fivewould only dump Mc. Neill if it thought it could hook a big fish. Instead, the Pirates sought to play the Next Big Thing guessing game. The administration chose youth and possibility, snatching up the then 3. Scottie Montgomery, who left his post as Dukes offensive coordinator to take over the vacancy. Teamed quarterback guru head coach David Cutcliffe at Duke, Montgomery was the Blue Devils main play caller, becoming an integral part of the program getting its collective shit together and becoming a bowl team and ACC Coastal contender. A former Blue Devils receiver himself, Montgomery helped Jamison Crowder become the ACCs all time receptions leader and an NFL talent, and led the offense to its 4. Johnny Football and Texas A M. These were all great things Montgomery had a hand in accomplishing, and judging a coach on his first ever season as head coach is largely unfair. That being said, Im not sure he couldve had a worse welcoming seasonthe Pirates dropped to 3 9 by seasons end, the conclusion of an injury plagued campaign that left a gaping void in place of a defense and an offense that leaned all the way on its star receiver, so much so that the current iteration of the Pirates offense is actually thinking seriously about running the ball. Part of that desire to move away from a prolific passing attack comes from Montgomery being honest with himself about the available pieces he has to play with. Ever since Shane Carden graduated with his name stamped on the front of the ECU record book in 2. Pirates have turned to transfers and first year starters with no success. While were just one week into the season, this years crew doesnt appear to be turning things around. Although Gardner Minshew was named the starter during the preseason, he has since been usurped by transfer Thomas Sirk. After Minshew struggled against James Madison, he got yanked for Sirk, who filled in and went 2. Thats. a bad line, but it beats the 3. Minshew posted, so Sirk will now be the guy moving forward. Lining up behind him, Tennessee transfer Derrell Scott appears to be the teams starting running back considering he was able to lead the Pirates with 4. Hussein Howe, Devin Anderson, and Tyshon Dyeare presently reserves for a reason. Out wide, ECU lost the NCAAs all time receptions leader, Zay Jones, to the NFL this offseason, meaning it will need the remaining bunch to replace 1. The wideouts tasked with this are Jimmy Williams, Davon Grayson, and Deondre FarrierWilliams wont make up for the receptions, but hes an entertaining deep threat that, in an offense that will again be playing catchup, should hear his number called more often. The reason a home run hitter like Williams is so crucial to this offense is because, well, the defense is ass. Last season, seven of their 1. ECU finished last in Division I in both sacks and turnovers. This sparked Montgomery to issue a major overhaul, both in personnel and the basic defensive approach. In addition to a scheme change to a four man frontECU now runs out of a 4 2 5 baseMontgomery also went out and hired new defensive line and secondary coaches and snagged some big school transfers in hopes of fielding a unit that can at least keep it under 5. Nickelback Korrin Wiggins, a Clemson transfer, now starts at the same position for the Pirates corner Tim Irvin, an Auburn transfer, racked up eight tackles against James Madison and defensive lineman Gaelin Elmore, a Minnesota transfer, shores up one of the defensive end spots. Wiggins finished with five tackles while Elmore started but didnt post any tackles or sacks against the Dukes. While not a transfer, Tyree Owens, who joined the team after initially signing with West Virginia, is another defensive line starter worth keeping tabs on. The defenses only known entity is middle linebacker Jordan Matthews, who is back after leading the team with 7. A Guy To Know. Thomas Sirk isnt anything to write home about, but given this roster, he is something to blog about. Montgomery brought Sirk with him from Duke, where the sixth year transfer commanded the offense during the 2. I spent a season covering Sirk as a backup and another covering him as a starterhes fine. I cant say I ever expected him to be a teams Guy To Know or anything, but here we are. His mobility makes him useful, especially in an offense that boasts as many hulking veteran linemen as ECU does this year, and he has the arm to fit throws into tight windows over the middle from everywhere 2. Hes not a guy that you want to depend on airing it out for a victoryhe rocks a career completion percentage of 5. Again, hes just in Greenville for a season and his competition isnt all that stiff, but if he can regain his 2. Pirates might be alright. Can They Make The Playoff Absolutely not. The best ECU can hope for is for UConns season opening win against Holy Cross to end up being an aberration and for the Huskies to out race them to the bottom of the barrel. The Pirates hopes of winning the AAC East are nonexistent thanks to South Florida playing in the same division as them, and unless UCF, the back to back No. I think given its talent and schedule ECU should aim for progresssay, five or six winsbut be fully away that 4 8 might just be its ceiling for the time being. Atomic Email Hunter Serial Key. Is The Coach A DickScottie Montgomery is fairly fresh to the coaching game and has thus far avoided any of the dick ish behavior thats plagued the D2. His coaching methods, at least at the individual level, have certainly paid dividends for a plethora of otherwise average Duke receivers that still managed to find spots on NFL practice squads this preseason, as well as for Crowder, who now finds himself a starter for Washington. Im not stupid enough to believe any coach cant post a facade for a student reporter, but Montgomery seems to check out. Schedule. Sept. 2 James Madison Sept. West Virginia Sept. Virginia Tech Sept. South Florida Oct. Temple Oct. 1. 4 UCF Oct. BYU Oct. 2. 8 Houston Nov. UConn Nov. 1. 1 Tulane. Nov. 1. 8 Cincinnati Nov.