Here’s why ECU should be concerned heading into 2016

Last week, we talked about why the ECU Pirates should be confident heading into the upcoming 2016 season. But in the world of college football, the line between confidence and concern can sometimes be very thin.

This is especially true for a team like the Pirates, who find themselves at the beginning of a transition phase with a whole new set of coaches and philosophies. While that can certainly be a source of optimism, it just as easily can go south in a hurry.

So that’s why we’re going to be a little more cynical realistic this week, looking at some of the reasons ECU should be concerned heading into the 2016 season.

Growing Pains

Objectively speaking, it’s probably going to take some time for the Pirates to gel under their new leadership in 2016. After all, ECU not only has a new head coach in Scottie Montgomery, but it also has new offensive and defensive coordinators and new position coaches. That means new schemes and systems to learn. Add to that simple things like coaches knowing how and when to push players and players learning how to play under those coaches, and those potential growing pains become plainly apparent.

While it would appear that Montgomery is very comfortable and even confident in his new role as head coach, the fact remains that he is still undertaking his very first head coaching job on any level. That’s a steep learning curve for anybody, no matter how well prepared they are. The biggest hindrance the Pirates will face in the upcoming season will be that transition period, and given that it’s a whole new experience for most of the staff, there’s no precedent to determine how long it will last.

Scheduling Conflicts

If the Pirates need one thing above all others in 2016, it’s a fast start. That would go a long way in assuaging any of the growing pains they’ll be going through. The problem is, ECU has a pretty challenging slate (especially early on) that’ll make a quick start difficult.

Three of ECU’s four non-conference games come against Power 5 opponents, two of which (South Carolina and Virginia Tech) come on the road. One positive is that the Pirates’ first two games will be at home. Opening the season against FCS Western Carolina, then welcoming NC State to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. That’s not a bad way to open up the season, but a poor showing against any of those teams could create problems for the Pirates ahead of their conference schedule.

Speaking of, ECU’s eight-game AAC jaunt won’t be easy, either. After opening with UCF on October 1, the Pirates hit a rough stretch. They’ll travel to rising USF on October 8, return home to face always solid Navy the next week, then travel to Cincinnati the week after that. They’ll cap off that stretch with a homecoming game against UConn on October 29. Also troubling is that the Pirates don’t get a bye week until November 19, meaning that they’ll face 11 straight weeks of action before getting a break.

In total, the Pirates face eight bowl teams from 2015 during the upcoming season. It’s paramount that the Pirates take advantage of their winnable games, otherwise they’ll face an uphill battle on the season.

Depth Perception

Another area of concern for the 2016 Pirates has to do with their depth in certain key areas, none more so than at quarterback. The departure of Kurt Benkert may have given the starting job to senior Philip Nelson, but it also created a hole in the backup options. In fact, only one of those options (sophomore Jason Conella) has taken a snap in an ECU uniform.

Aside from Conella, the Pirates have freshman John Jacobs and sophomore Ray Smith. At the very least, Montgomery and offensive coordinator Tony Petersen will need to be mindful of the situations they put Nelson in. For his part, Nelson can’t try to do too much when he is called upon, as one slip up or injury could mean that the Pirates would have to turn to one of the younger, inexperienced signal callers.

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Obviously, there are certainly a number of concerns for the Pirates heading into the 2016 season. At the same time, there’s also reason for the ECU fan base to be excited. We’ll have to wait until September 3 to see how that confidence and concern manifests itself.

Now, at least we know what to keep an eye on.