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Pirates on tour
Three years of success on the football field have meant some great moments off the field for East Carolina’s football players.
From falling into hypnosis two years ago in Birmingham, Ala., to dancing at luaus in Honolulu, the Pirates have had their share of fun during their three consecutive bowl trips.
On Tuesday in Memphis, Tenn., it wasn’t about laughs and fun, but it was every bit as important as any appearance the Pirates have ever made.
The National Civil Rights Museum is a sobering reminder of the struggle for equality by blacks in America. From the famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail to the moment Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was felled by a single gunshot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, the tour was a chance for ECU players to devote a couple of extra hours to education Tuesday.
Of all the visits the Pirates have made, none could be more important than this one.
The photos below show the exterior of the museum, built into the backside of the famous Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed. The museum includes the restored and preserved room in which King stayed, and the adjoining room that housed other civil rights workers. Photography is not allowed inside.
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Sitcking it out
One of the guys I’ll miss most after Friday’s Liberty Bowl is a guy who will forever be an unsung hero in the East Carolina football program.
J.J. Milbrook never took a fair share of the credit for the turnaround that’s happened at ECU, one largely made possible by a core of fifth-year players who stuck it out when everyone was telling them to get out of ECU while they still could.
Instead, people like Milbrook, a strong safety, and linebacker Pierre Bell decided they didn’t want to run away from the disaster that was a 3-20 football team in the two seasons with coach John Thompson at the helm.
The players who did flee the scene have long since been forgotten. The ones like Milbrook who stayed have forever etched themselves into the program’s history.
Ever polite and well spoken, Milbrook is often overlooked despite his tenacity, willingness to play hurt and ability to lay serious licks on opponents. Milbrook beginnings at ECU was a much different time than the present.
“It was at a time when the previous coaching staff got released,” said Milbrook, who came to ECU from Miami’s Pace High. “A lot of us wanted to transfer, but we stuck it out. We thank God every day that we stuck it out because look at where we are now. We’re playing for another title.”
Although he’s been forced to split time with fellow senior Leon Best because of injuries, the No. 20 jersey has been a constant for ECU the last four years.
When he arrived, Milbrook was part of a team that has been stripped of its pride, and it’s ability and will to win.
When Skip Holtz arrived in 2005, many players were understandably still on the fence about their futures at ECU. Milbrook was one of them.
“Back then, being a part of East Carolina football, we didn’t have a coach, we didn’t know who was going to be our coach. We didn’t know what to expect. We were pretty much just working out on our own until coach Holtz came in. It was kind of a dire period because a lot of guys didn’t make it as far as grades, a lot of guys transferred, and he had a small handful that stayed.”
Milbrook, like most of his teammates, believes everything happens for a reason.
That’s why even though his Flordia friends at schools across the country were telling them to head their direction, he stayed.
“Transferring crossed my mind a lot,” Milbrook said. “But the word got back to coach (Steve) Janski, the assistant coach that recruited me in ‘04, and told me not to transfer, that things would work out.”
Bell, too, became a star at ECU because of his steadfast devotion to the ECU program.
Like many of his teammates at the time, leaving was naturally a consideration at the end of the 2004 season.
“There’s probably only four or five of us left from that class out of 26 people,” Bell said. “Everybody left for their own reasons. That was a dark period of time for ECU football. But thank God (athletic director) Terry Holland hired the right man.”
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The world according to Hud
Greg Hudson might seem like the typical football guy at first, but after four years around him, I can confirm he’s anything but.
The man who has overseen East Carolina’s defense for four memorable seasons, in fact, is easily the funniest and most candid man in the ECU football framework.
Attend a practice and expect Hud to call everyone into his web of jokes and fun-poking. As he strolls off the field in the midst of his players, any one of them might get called out as Hudson passes by the waiting media.
“Don’t talk to Bell today, you guys, he was bad today,” he’ll say. Or sometimes, “Ah, look at those media darlings” to those players already being interviewed.
The same man who called his linebackers “The Victoria’s Secret Crew” last season because they spent so much time wearing the red jerseys donned by injured players at practice also seems to have some strange attention coming his way.
At Wednesday afternoon’s press conference, Hudson was quite literally interrupted in mid sentence. A woman opened the conference room door and, without waiting for Hudson to finish what he was saying into the microphone, announced that all the young girls in the adjoining room - there are about 600 young girls in this hotel this week, 15-year old cheerleaders apparently - could hear everything he was saying because the speakers were on in their room.
Hudson flashed his usual look, part annoyance and part amusement. He allowed the woman to finish interrupting him and leave the room before giving a classic response.
Loudly into the microphone, Hudson said, “Can you hear me over there? We have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up.”
Later in the conference, Hudson referred to one of his defensive ends, C.J. Wilson, as his hero. Hudson said his other end, Zack Slate, was the “skinniest defensive end in the country.”
I’ve spent a good deal of my column space the last couple of years saying head coach Skip Holtz was one of the best things to happen to East Carolina football in a long time. Hudson is certainly not far behind, and someday soon will likely be a head coach showering his unavoidable personality on his team and the media that covers it.
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Bittersweet week for Brandon
East Carolina running back Brandon Simmons echoes the sentiments of his 124 teammates when he admits it could have been better.
Not that he’s complaining about being in Memphis for the 50th Liberty Bowl, but Simmons can’t help but think how close the 9-4 Pirates could have come to an even better season.
“To an extent, we feel like we earned a great deal of respect, but at the same time, we feel like we could gain a lot more respect,” said Simmons, whose Pirates began the season 3-0 and surged to No. 14 in the national rankings. “If we had finished the season unbeaten, of course we would be riding a lot higher than we are now. But everything happened for a reason, and that’s pretty much how we look at it.”
Like many of his fellow seniors, Simmons is eyeing Friday’s game against Kentucky with bittersweet feelings.
As a player, Simmons emerged in the Pirate rushing game along with sophomore Norman Whitley.
“It’s a great experience,” Simmons said of his career at ECU, which began two years ago when he and brother Jason Simmons transferred to ECU from Elizabeth City State. “All good things must come to an end. I’m just enjoying the atmosphere day to day.
“This is the first year that I truly could showcase what I can do. I made a few plays here and there, and we’ve had a somewhat successful season. We can’t cap it until we play this bowl game, but so far it’s been a great experience.”
Simmons epitomized an ECU club that was forced to constantly change styles and approaches on offense due to a mass of injuries.
He’s hopeful that the ECU offense can solve one final riddle this season against a staunch Wildcat defense.
“It’s a great situation because we have a ton of respect for them as a defense and as a team, especially when you look at them on paper and look at them on film,” he said. “Their defense played well against Georgia and you have to respect them.”
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Pinkney likely to get another year
MEMPHIS - ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney will likely not play his last college football game at Friday’s Liberty Bowl.
The senior passer will undoubtedly start against Kentucky in the 50th playing of the game, but there is an increasingly good chance Pinkney will learn early in January that he’ll be back next year.
ECU applied for a medical hardship allowance with the NCAA on Pinkney‘s behalf, and it appears Conference USA will approve the request for an additional year of eligibility.
Pinkney himself said Tuesday in Memphis he feels he’s earned the additional year. He was used in a JV game his freshman season, thus activating his first year of athletic eligibility.
Pinkney subsequently injured his shoulder and required two surgeries. He then used his redshirt year under current head coach Skip Holtz, meaning without the NCAA granting him a fifth year, he would be finished at the end of Friday’s game.
The Reflector is awaiting official word from ECU athletic compliance director Tim Metcalf on the matter.
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Residual effects
When a college football coach interviews for another position, or is even linked with another opening, that coach accepts certain unavoidable truths.
If that coach decides to stick around at his current post, one of them is that he’ll likely say farewell to one or two recruits. When East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz spent the first part of last week in New York and being linked to the Syracuse University job he ultimately turned down, it created at least some stir with ECU’s recruits.
Word is that one of them, Somerville (N.J.) High wide receiver/defensive back Mike Naples, has sailed on his verbal to the Pirates in lieu of Boston College.
According to a report on mycentralnewjersey.com, Naples — also offered by Vanderbilt, Cincinnati and Akron — wavered in part because of Holtz’s potential interest in the Syracuse job.
“It got me thinking,” Naples said in reference to Holtz’s unknown future last week. “Everything about Boston College felt right. Everybody up there treated me awesome. I really like coach (Jeff) Jagodzinski. He’s like coach Holtz. They are both recruiting guys.”
It’s not an uncommon occurrence, mainly because some recruits obviously fear if a coach is looking now, he might be looking again soon.
While it’s unclear whether Holtz will be looking this time next year, the mere mention of his name in connection with other jobs can become a recruiting tool for other schools against him.
Even if a coach is around for the long haul, a couple of links to a couple of jobs can leave the door open for recruits to be swayed in another direction.
It’s the same reason, perhaps, that at least one seemingly solid verbal commitment fails to ink the dotted line every national signing day. Kids are impressionable, after all.
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Holtz declines Syracuse offer
East Carolina officials will announce later this afternoon that Skip Holtz has declined interest in the Syracuse University head coaching position.
The fourth-year ECU coach is traveling today from New York — where he attended his father’s College Football Hall of Fame induction and met with Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross — to Memphis for today’s Liberty Bowl press conference.
The statement will likely be released prior to this afternoon’s press conference.
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Decision coming
Not surprisingly, the future of East Carolina football coach Skip Holtz will be revealed soon, most likely within the next couple of hours.
Why? Because the clock has run out, naturally. Holtz knew this afternoon’s Liberty Bowl press conference in Memphis awaited him, and a weekend filled with practices with the Pirates after that.
It would appear the most recent speculation could actually come true, despite days of similar reports that did not. After his weeklong romance with Syracuse officials, it appears the Pirates’ fourth-year coach will not be headed to New York for the long term.
But, of course, the door is still hanging wide open for speculation about Auburn.
My guess, and the guess of others I trust to deliver unbiased opinions on the subject, is that the romance is over for another year, with everyone but the team that won the Conference USA championship last weekend.
Sure, the Auburn job is a great one, and it does appear Lou Holtz would like to put his son on the faster track to the BCS world. And no, I don’t mind being wrong about it. If I’m wrong about Holtz, I’ll be in great company in Greenville at the moment, in fact.
One undeniable truth about the situation is that the team that’s waiting for Holtz back in Greenville has likely been on bigger pins and needles this week than ECU’s fans, students and deep-pocketed alums.
It isn’t just Holtz’s future that hinges on the coach’s decision, it’s also the future of the 125 players that are currently 13 games into the school’s first-ever 14-game season.
Those 125 men have a game on Jan. 2 no matter who their coach is. For at least one more season, it looks like that coach is Holtz.
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Not over yet
At mid afternoon, there is no new word coming out of New York, where East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz has spent the last few days honoring his College Hall of Fame father Lou Holtz and pondering his own coaching future.
And now, when it seems Syracuse AD Daryl Gross is on the brink of naming his program’s next coach, Auburn has fully materialized on the radar as well.
Nothing to confirm, but there are some rumors that suggest Holtz, still with a bowl game left to play with ECU this season, could head to Alabama to address interest from the Tigers.
Holtz met with Gross in New York Monday, and was reportedly still in talks Tuesday when his father was inducted into the Hall at the Waldorf Astoria.
A text message from Holtz Tuesday night said that no decisions had been made.
Holtz is expected to fly directly from New York to Memphis Thursday, where he will attend the Liberty Bowl press conference. His 9-4 Pirates will play Kentucky in that game Jan. 2.
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Final Holtz update for 12-9
Skip Holtz was still East Carolina’s football coach at the stroke of midnight Tuesday night.
The fourth-year coach, in fact, was one in an impressive parade of current and former college coaches on hand for the College Football Hall of Fame inductions at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria hotel.
Sometime during the festivities, at which Lou Holtz was being inducted, Skip sent me a message saying he still hadn’t made a decision regarding the Syracuse University head football coaching position. He said there was nothing new to report.
So the question looms, and there was seemingly more discussion than just Monday’s meeting between Holtz and Syracuse AD Daryl Gross on the possibility of Holtz becoming the next coach of The Orange.
And the list is shrinking. A fellow Orange candidate was at the dinner Tuesday night, according to Donnie Webb of the Post-Standard, as Temple head coach Al Golden was on hand.
Fellow candidate Turner Gill, head coach at Buffalo, might have also had a second interview with Gross Tuesday, according to the Post-Standard.
Joining the list of names off the list at Syracuse is Illinois defensive coordinator Mike Locksley, who accepted New Mexico’s head coaching position. Locksley interviewed at Syracuse last month.
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Holtz latest
Still no word out of the Big Apple about what big changes might be in store for East Carolina football coach Skip Holtz.
After speaking with Syracuse officials Monday regarding the school’s coaching vacancy, Holtz has not yet returned a text message, and also declined comment to Post-Standard reporter Donnie Webb.
If nothing happens soon, the discussions will likely be tabled again, as all parties are in New York for tonight’s College Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
Below are quotes from Lou Holtz, one of tonight’s inductees, as told to Webb earlier, and all indications are the ECU coach and Syracuse AD Daryl Gross aren’t done talking yet:
“I haven’t had a chance to get his thoughts and feelings,” Lou Holtz said. “He’s on a whirlwind schedule. He just finished the season and now he’s up here to be with me and his mother. The time schedule … they might be on two different time schedules.”
Asked what he meant about different time schedules, he said, “Syracuse has had an opportunity for the last several weeks to look at different coaches. (Skip) hasn’t had a chance to look at any schools.
“Syracuse hasn’t had offered to him. I know he’s talked to them. Other than that, I really don’t know.”
Will they offer him the job?
“I haven’t talked to Daryl. I haven’t talked to Skip about it. We just shared a cab this morning. He was going one place. I was going another.”
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Holtz-Syracuse latest
Post-Standard reporter Donnie Webb, beat writer for Syracuse University football, has become my man on the street in New York today.
He tells me ECU head coach Skip Holtz and Director of Athletics Terry Holland are together at the Waldorf this afternoon, possibly to discuss Monday’s meetings between Holtz and representives from Syracuse.
The vacancy atop The Orange football program appears to be short-lived, as Holtz Monday became latest in a string of candidates to discuss the position with Syracuse AD Daryl Gross.
With Holtz already in New York for father Lou Holtz’s induction into the College Football Hall of Fame and Syracuse officials in town for the same event, it seemed the planets were aligned for Holtz to fly the ECU coop after three straight winning seasons and a Conference USA championship.
Immediate word in my ears Tuesday morning was that Holtz might have turned down the job or the possibility of the job.
Now, it sounds much more like some negotiating is still going on today in the big city.
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C-USA championship week
The bowl bids are being doled out, and it’s looking like a 2009 game for East Carolina one way or the other.
Let’s face it, anything with Conference USA attached to its front end is about as predictable as a Ford Pinto, so the title game in Tulsa this weekend should be up for grabs, and that means the bowl possibilities remain in limbo as well.
As ECU head coach Skip Holtz told it Wednesday night after practice, the bowls might just fall the way they are meant to this holiday season.
Southern Miss jumped on the New Orleans Bowl and Rice opted Wednesday to stay home for the Texas Bowl, and that got the ball rolling in terms of C-USA’s tie-ins.
That means it’s ever more likely the Pirates will fall into the bowl game pecking order — if they upset Tulsa in Saturday’s championship game, they’ll go the Liberty Bowl Jan. 2, and if they lose, they’ll likely head to Mobile, Ala., Jan. 6 for the GMAC Bowl.
First and foremost, Holtz said his team was centered on Saturday’s noon EST kickoff at Tulsa for the C-USA title.
“It’s championship week, this is something we’ve worked for the entire season,” Holtz said Wednesday. “It’s a one-game tournament. There is a lot of speculation about bowl games and where we’d go, and if we don’t win. Right now, it’s looking like the Liberty has said they’ll obviously take the winner and that the GMAC will take the loser.”
Holtz said he didn’t know of any behind-the-scenes discussions at the moment about the other two bowls with C-USA tie-ins — the St. Petersburg Bowl and the Armed Forces Bowl.
The seniors
The fourth-year Pirates coach said his seniors have long since sensed the end is near.
“For some of them, I think it started to go off with about three or four games left in the season, where they really started to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Holtz said of his 24 total senior players, now knowing they have two games left to play in their ECU careers. “That’s when they start to reflect back and say, ‘Gosh, I wish I’d worked harder as a freshman.’ “
Holtz looked back to when he arrived at ECU for the 2005 season, taking over a team that went 3-20 the two previous seasons.
This is what they worked for,” Holtz said. “They came in here as a freshman class and we had the opportunity to work with them our first year here. To see the program in game five, and then game seven, and then getting in the bowl game and winning it. They’re not satisfied. They want to keep working.”
Holtz again deflected growing rumors about the vacancy at Syracuse.
On Wednesday, Holtz said, “I don’t have an agent. I’m not looking for a job.”
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A helping Hud/Post game notes
The East Carolina Pirates just can’t help the fact they play in Conference USA.
That carries a certain stigma, especially when you’re a C-USA team that can’t just sneeze and score a touchdown.
Because it’s an offense-first league and always will be, the defensive stalwart Pirates will likely be a distant underdog a week from today when they represent the average East Division in the C-USA title game.
But Friday afternoon’s steady ECU pummeling of UTEP had to strike a nerve with the West, especially since it’s understood the title game will pit the best offense in the league — likely that of the Houston Cougars, who routed the Pirates once already this season — against the best defense in the league in ECU.
Defensive coordinator Greg Hudson lit the fire under every one of his players in the season’s second half, no matter their class or experience level, and all of them have responded. Houston, Tulsa or Rice will be able to draw the same conclusions other teams have when approaching a game with the Pirates.
They are a mixed bag of juniors and seniors who haven’t been injured yet, and sophomores and freshman who are playing above and beyond themselves at the moment for a team that cinched an 8-4 season with its rare 51-23 blasting of the Miners.
Head coach Skip Holtz said the win started with ECU’s front four, and he’s right. Despite having almost no experience behind them at the moment, C.J. Wilson, Zack Slate, Linval Joseph and Jay Ross have become punishers this season.
Sacks leader Wilson added 1.5 to his total, and Ross, Slate, Joseph and true freshman Robert Jones also had hands in sacks against UTEP passer Trevor Vittatoe.
On offense, the Pirates took a page from the defense, offering up senior Brandon Simmons as the lead weapon in the attack and getting a burly 111 yards and four total touchdowns out of him.
No matter who it is, the West winner will try to make its way against a Pirate defense that has shrugged off its injuries and has seen a new surge of leadership, boosted by the safety unit of Van Eskridge, J.J. Milbrook and Leon Best.
In the middle, linebackers Pierre Bell and Nick Johnson are still peaking, and when players like redshirt Austin Haynes deliver the kind of boom he laid on UTEP’s Kris Adams Friday, it’s clear the message is making it all the way through the roster.
The West will play out this afternoon. Houston, Tulsa and Rice are all 6-1 heading into the day, but Houston holds the trump card of having already beaten Tulsa. The Hurricane, meanwhile, hold the same tie-break over the Owls, while the Cougars’ lone loss is to Marshall.
If Houston beats Rice today, the Pirates will be in Robertson Stadium next weekend for the championship game. A Rice win would overturn Houston’s edge, but the Owls would still lose out on the division title if Tulsa beats Marshall.
Both games kick off at 3:30 EST.
Here are some post-game thoughts from Friday’s interview room:
Kicker Ben Hartman, who rebounded from a dismal 2-for-7 slump to connect on four field goals against UTEP:
“I think it’s a real big confidence booster, especially for the offense. We haven’t been scoring a lot of points the last couple of weeks, and whoever we play next week, we know we’re going to have to score a lot of points. And also, we really wanted to do this for the seniors.”
“We’re going to enjoy this win until we find out who we’re going to play on Saturday.”
On making his first field goal in the game, which clanged off the inside of the upright and went through:
“I actually thought that was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s kind of like, you can’t get too fancy or too cute. It’s one of those things you can laugh at and it kind of let’s you relax. (Holtz) said quit messing around and just put it through.”
Defensive end C.J. Wilson, who had 1.5 sacks and three total tackles:
“Seeing our offense do what they did, especially since they’ve struggled a little bit, to put up as many points as they did gave us momentum on defense. We knew that if we got off the field three-and-out it would keep our offense going. They got their drive going, their rhythm, and we played a complete game.”
“You get all the rest you need (when the offense is moving the ball) and it keeps their defense on the field. They get tired, and the offense controls that clock.”
Wide receiver Alex Taylor, who made three catches for 55 yards and returned an onside kick 40 yards for a touchdown.
“We have a lot of young guys on the team, so to be able to build on that is great. A lot of guys played and a lot of guys did great things. Austin Haynes had one of the best hits we’ve ever seen. (Receivers) Joe Womack played a pretty good game, Darryl Freeney played great.”
On the win for the 24 seniors ahead of him:
“You’re always going to remember your last. For these guys to go out that way, I know it feels great. It’s like losing family members, so you want to let them have fun before they go. It was wonderful to be able to come out and do that for them. I think that’s four in a row in letting the seniors go out the right way.”
On Brandon Simmons’ big day:
“Brandon is a downhill runner, a very physical runner. You give him a nice little crease and he’s going to do something. I was happy that he was able to have the day that he had.”
On his touchdown return:
“Coach always says get the ball and drop to the ground, but if you see something and you can go, go. My first reaction was to get down so I don’t take a big hit, and just secure the ball. Once I saw daylight, I said I’m gonna run as far as I can and hopefully they won’t catch me.”
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Holtz still a commodity
There is no longer much shock value to hearing Skip Holtz’s name uttered on ESPN.
As the network’s massive roster of analysts ponder endlessly the best candidates for college football’s coaching vacancies, the East Carolina’s coach’s name has clearly fallen into the regular rotation.
On Monday, ESPN named Holtz as a leading possibility for the Syracuse job.
On one hand, Holtz isn’t staying around forever no matter where he goes next or when. Even a national title run won’t keep Holtz from exploring new and different opportunities at some point.
On the other hand, big deal.
Hearing Holtz’s name mentioned in regard to a coaching vacancy means only one thing to me — it’s November. It’s the time of year when things that might not have been working a month ago at a handful of programs across the country definitely aren’t working now.
No matter who they are each year, this is the season of the scapegoat. Across the nation, losing coaches are bracing to take the fall for their failures.
Holtz has had interest coming from numerous directions the last couple of years, incuding West Virginia last season.
Having his name on the ESPN experts’ lists and having his famous father’s face on the network all day every Saturday are reasons to expect much more of the same. ECU’s upset-filled start to the season added even more fuel, and even going 3-4 since then doesn’t extinguish all the flames.
The fact is, ECU’s coach is on the cool list in college football.
Want proof? Last week I did an interview with 950 KJR in Seattle. They certainly didn’t want to talk about me or the Pirates. They wanted to ask me how good of a fit I thought Holtz would be at Washington.
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Tuesday practice notes
Skip Holtz admits this is the time of the football season when a team generally practices less and less in full pads.
But the importance of this weekend’s game at Southern Miss had the Pirates going at it in full gear Tuesday night.
After the session ended, Holtz continued to stress to his team that the only way to beat Southern Miss, the team’s longest standing rival, is to be more physical than the Golden Eagles.
In the same, breath he reminded his players just how often ECU teams have failed to do that.
“I keep talking about over the last 12 years, we’ve beaten this team two times, we’re 2-10,” Holtz said. “It’s going to be a heck of a battle. The Rock is not an easy place to play. We’ve got to get it in our mind that this is going to be a physical football game and we’re going to have to play a complete game to go down there and be competitive.”
Holtz contended there were numerous rivalries developing in Conference USA’s East Division, where ECU is the current front-runner at 4-1. Overtime wins over UCF and Marshall the last two weeks likely solidified that notion.
Still, even at 2-4 in the league, Holtz knows Southern Miss is the team the Pirates have faced the most, often with disappointing outcomes.
The teams are set to square off for the 34th time Saturday at 3 p.m. EST.
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Marshall midweek
East Carolina coach Skip Holtz seemed to be feeling the rush of a short week after Wednesday night’s practice.
The season’s most critical game comes this Saturday after the Pirates played last Sunday night at UCF. Looming Saturday is Marshall, the Pirates’ 2007 Conference USA nemesis, and Holtz was trying to keep the momentum up in the midweek practice sessions.
“We’ve got an awful lot we’ve got to get done,” Holtz said Wednesday. “We came out here with an awful lot of fire and energy, but we kind of tapered as the day went on, and we didn’t quite finish with the spirit that I’d like.
“These guys are tired a little bit with the short week. As late as they got back (Monday morning after Sunday night’s 13-10 win at UCF), and with all the pressure that’s being put on them right now with academics, I think getting our sleep is going to be important.”
Holtz said one of the stresses as a coach is getting in as early in the morning as the team did Monday and knowing that many of his players were obligated to be in class later that same morning.
“The short work week doesn’t bother me near as much as getting home at five in the morning and then getting the emails that I got about how many players were in class at 9 o’clock,” Holtz said. “I’m really proud of them for the commitment they’re making to getting their degrees, but they’re tired right now.”
Holtz recalled last season’s long journey to El Paso to play UTEP in a Saturday night game and how the long return affected the team’s schedule for the following week, a home loss to N.C. State.
During a traditional game week cycle, Holtz and his staff spend a large portion of Sunday grading the film from Saturday’s game. That’s always followed by a Sunday night practice which Holtz said allows the staff to put to rest the previous game.
Mistakes are accounted for and any team punishments for in-game mistakes are rendered. It’s also the first night of preparation for the following week’s opponent. This week, that wasn’t an option.
“We came in Tuesday, and we’re putting on the UCF film,” Holtz said of the non-traditional week.
Holtz said all of the UCF business was laid to rest by Tuesday, and the Marshall game-planning began then as well.
Suspension update
Junior wide receiver Jamar Bryant, who was suspended for the rest of the season prior to the Virginia game due to a violation of team rules, has been a regular at Pirate practices the last several weeks, but he has been demoted to the scout team.
At the time of Bryant’s suspension, Holtz said it would last for at least the remainder of the season, and that he would reevaluate the receiver’s status with the team during the offseason.
Sophomore running back Jonathan Williams, meanwhile, made an appearance in court Wednesday to address assault charges. Williams, suspended indefinitely from the team following the Memphis game, was also spotted at practice Wednesday night.
Though Williams was not participating in drills or wearing a practice uniform, he walked off the practice field with the team.
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Sudden impact
East Carolina is a late bloomer on the football field this season.
Last Sunday night, a game that seemed destined to go the way of host UCF, even after the Pirates rallied to tie it 10-10 late in the fourth quarter, suddenly slanted in ECU’s favor.
From quarterback Patrick Pinkney’s fourth-and-10 connection with Davon Drew to keep the game-tying drive afloat to the Pirate defense’s snuffing out of an odd fake punt call from Knight coach George O’Leary in the waning minutes when field position seemed the most valuable commodity, the Pirates have made winning late a new trait.
On the defensive side, cornerback Emanuel Davis not only forced and recovered a late fumble that stifled UCF’s attempt to somehow make a 10-0 halftime lead stand, he then snared the interception on the first play of overtime that gave the Pirates the ball to win the game.
Like it did in a week three win at Tulane, the light suddenly went off for the ECU offense after being blanked in the first half. With time ticking away in the fourth quarter, the Pirates seized the momentum when the Knights seemingly thought they were destined to win.
Having forced a fourth-and-10 on ECU with less than four minutes to play and clinging to a 10-3 lead, UCF was suddenly defenseless as Pinkney, from the Knights’ 36-yard line, connected with Drew to send the drive to the UCF 23 with a fresh set of downs.
Then, with 2:10 to play on a third down, Pinkney was rushed to his left and fired a pass against the grain to Drew over the middle, and the tight end rumbled to inside the UCF 5-yard line.
From there, Norman Whitley plowed into the end zone to tie the game, 10-10, with 1:51 to play.
The teams traded turnovers during a couple of frantic sequences in the dying minutes of regulation, but neither led to a decisive score.
UCF running back Brynn Harvey fumbled, but a booth review showed his knee hit the ground before losing the ball. But then quarterback Michael Greco lost the ball for the Knights under pressure from Davis, and ECU covered it on the UCF 22 with less than a minute to play.
But when ECU co-quarterback Rob Kass took the field, he promptly tossed an interception to Johnell Neal, ending the threat and allowing UCF to take a knee and force overtime.
Still, head coach Skip Holtz said immediately after the game he was thrilled with his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“I’m really proud of the way this team hung in there, the way they kept competing,” Holtz said. “They never gave up. They played together. It’s a great win, a conference win.
“(UCF) only lost two games at home, to Texas and South Florida, so I’m certainly not going to sneeze at it.”
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Hartman a joker, not a choker
Another horrible joke, another game-winning kick for East Carolina’s Ben Hartman. Much like he did last season before booting game-winning field goals against North Carolina and Boise State, Hartman and ECU head coach Skip Holtz tried to settle each others nerves with a pre-kick joke Sunday night in Orlando, Fla. The tradition continued in overtime as Hartman was on the hook again, sending a 39-yard field goal through the uprights for a 13-10 comeback victory over host UCF. Despite the growing legend of Hartman and his winning kicks, the jokes seem to be getting worse. “This one I found in the student newspaper,” Hartman said of the joke he told Holtz. “It was by far the corniest one I’ve ever told the man. Why did the skeleton not cross the road? He didn’t have any guts.” This time, the junior kicker from Winston-Salem said Holtz was critical of his joke choice after the game. “After I made (the kick), he came over and gave me all this hogwash, saying that joke was terrible, that was corny,” Hartman said of Holtz. For a kicker, Hartman persistently stays involved on the sidelines, cheering his teammates while contemplating his next kick. On Sunday night, Hartman had missed two first half attempts, but converted both of his second half tries. He said he knew he could make the overtime kick if given the opportunity. “I told (defensive end) Zack Slate, you get them to turn over the ball and I’ll make the kick and we’ll walk out of here with the W,” Hartman said. Hartman said he’s like all players in that he wants the ball when the game is on the line, but he lamented that fact his early misses were the difference between the Pirates winning in regulation and winning in overtime.
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UCF midweek update
East Carolina’s defense has been trying to do more with less lately, and it seems to have quietly been working.
Many times this season, the Pirates have lined up for battle in their nickel defense, leaving senior Pierre Bell and junior Nick Johnson as the only linebackers on the field so the Pirates can load up on defensive backs.
It can be a little stressful for that tandem, especially when an opponent runs instead of passing against the big secondary, but both linebackers have excelled as loners in the middle.
“When we add another DB to the mix, it just gives me and Nick another chance to make plays,” said Bell, who has combined with Johnson to make 94 total tackles and rank second and third in that regard on the team. “It adds a lot more speed to the field, especially in our league.
“All teams want to do is sling it around in these weird formations. The added speed just helps us get to the ball faster.”
The duo has also made 13 combined tackles for loss, a couple of interceptions, three pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and forced two fumbles.
Johnson said the nickel look is something he Bell are suited to doing, especially against the tall and fast teams of Conference USA.
Return of J.R.
According to ECU head coach Skip Holtz, one of the rescues for the running game in the absence of Jonathan Williams could be junior J.R. Rogers, who has recovered from a nagging high ankle sprain that limited him since August camp.
Although he is stuck behind sophomore Norman Whitley and senior Brandon Simmons on the depth chart, Rogers has steadily been picking up steam in practice. With Williams out of the picture with an indefinite suspension, Holtz said Rogers is emerging.
“I don’t know if it’s because he’s got his legs under him now, but he comes out here and he’s quick … and he’s bringing an excitement and an enthusiasm,” Holtz said of Rogers, a Raleigh native who transferred to ECU in 2006 from California’s Bakersfield Community College. “He’s waited, coming from a junior college to sitting out and redshirting last year and then getting injured and having to wait through six or seven games.”
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Williams facing charge
East Carolina running back Jonathan Williams’ future and playing status are in limbo following his early October arrest.
According to Pitt County court reports, Williams was charged Oct. 5 with resisting a public officer in Greenville.
“We have just been made aware of the situation and we are certainly going to gather facts from an internal standpoint and let the judicial system take its course,” ECU coach Skip Holtz said in a statement Tuesday. “Any charge filed against an ECU football player is something that we take very seriously, but since this is a legal matter, any further comment on our part would be inappropriate at this point.
“Our basic expectation for every member of our program has always been that they must earn the right to represent East Carolina University on the football field every week and that they will be held accountable for their actions on and off the field. Any player charged with a crime will not represent ECU in any manner until cleared to do so by university and athletic department administrators. We always work closely with those entities to ensure that student-athletes are disciplined in a fair and consistent manner within the expectations for all ECU students as well as the expectations for all student-athletes.”
Williams, who is the Pirates’ leader in rush yards (380) and touchdowns (5), was released on $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 5. Williams played a significant role in each of the team’s last two games, a 35-20 loss at Virginia and last weekend’s 30-10 home win over Memphis.
The former J.H. Rose High star was also arrested last April and charged with driving while intoxicated and underage consumption.
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