The Purple-Gold spring game is next Saturday, which means we don’t have a lot more time to look into our crystal ball (read: speculate) about the upcoming East Carolina football season.
Once we get an official on-field look at the 2016 Pirates in game situations, we’ll certainly know more about their prospects for the upcoming season.
But in the meantime, let’s examine how ECU has progressed so far this spring.
(Don’t) Curb Your Enthusiasm
If there’s been one hallmark of new head coach Scottie Montgomery’s tenure so far with the Pirates, it would be the energy and enthusiasm he has injected into the program. That enthusiasm has permeated throughout the entire team, from the coaches on down to the players themselves.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDrKx-smLSU/
Just look at the effort and fire.
It’s that type of excitement and energy that can act as a bit of a painkiller for a team during the grind of practice and the season. The importance of that enthusiasm in energizing the players and fan base can’t be overstated, especially for an ECU team that is coming off a 5-7 season that snapped a streak of three straight bowl appearances.
Making Adjustments
Four weeks into the spring practice session, it seems like the Pirates have adjusted nicely to new styles on both sides of the ball. New offensive coordinator Tony Petersen has been pleased with what he’s seen out of his players so far, while learning new defensive coordinator Kenwick Thompson’s new scheme has been the primary focus of the Pirates’ defensive unit.
Weapons abound for both Petersen and Thompson, but there has still been a steep learning curve.
By all accounts, it feels like the Pirates have taken to their new leaders very well. Much of the focus of Montgomery and his staff has centered on discipline.
A disciplined approach is very important for the Pirates, particularly with new systems and schemes to learn. ECU has packed as much learning and preparation as possible into their practices up to this point, and Montgomery has made his expectations clear: focus on fundamentals first, with everything else coming with time. If the first few weeks of spring practice are any indication, Montgomery should be very happy with his team’s ability to pick up on things quickly.
Battleground
File this under “Good Problems to Have”: The Pirates have a great deal of talent, albeit relatively unproven, at several key positions. As such, much of the action so far this spring has been on positional battles.
A lot of the attention and hype has gone to the QB battle between junior Kurt Benkert and senior transfer Phillip Nelson. Benkert has the ability to really flourish under Montgomery and Petersen, but Nelson has a good deal of talent in his own right, as well as the experience from two Power 5 programs (Minnesota and Rutgers).
Elsewhere, running backs Anthony Brown and Devin Anderson have both impressed when they’ve gotten opportunities. Montgomery has said that building depth is important for his team this spring.
On the defensive side of the ball, junior Ray Tillman has been making a strong push to see more playing time at inside linebacker. If the Pirates have a bevy at any position, it’s linebacker, but in Thompson’s 3-4 scheme, there’s plenty of opportunity to go around.
Like we said earlier, once the Purple-Gold game rolls around, we’ll finally have a clearer picture of just how the 2016 ECU Pirates are going to look. However, if the first four weeks of spring practice is any indication, it would appear that the Pirates are well on their way to competing and improving every day. If they keep on this current trajectory, they’ll be a team no one in the AAC will look forward to seeing on Saturdays.
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