Head Coach: Blake Harrell is entering his first full season as the head coach of the Pirates. He took over as the program’s interim coach in the middle of last season and rallied the Pirates to a 5-1 record to close out the season. This included a massive in-state bowl win over the despised NC State Wolfpack. Now with the job full-time we will see if Harrell can turn the Pirates into a conference title contender.
Program Outlook: The Pirates are a program that often punches above their weight especially against the richer ACC programs within the state. Generally they hit some down years since joining The American, mainly because it happened to time with the ill-advised decision to fire Ruffin McNeil. This is a program that can, and expects to compete for conference championships. If last season’s ending is any indication they might be on their way to doing so.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: This is what gives me just a little pause on the East Carolina optimism. The Pirates garnered lot of offseason excitement because of the hot finish, QB Katin Houser who ignited their offense last season is back along with receivers Yannick Smith and Anthony Smith but looking beyond this there’s more transition than you are led to believe. East Carolina ranks 105th in the country returning 43.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. This is in part because they took some hits in the portal including losing star receiver Chase Sowell and several DBs. They still have some good playmakers on the defensive side of the ball including DL J.D. Lampley who has been the best Pirates defender at getting pressure on opposing QBs the last 2 years and DB Ja’Marley Riddle who ended last season hot. The Pirates brought in a huge freshman class and took on a few players in the portal who could make an instant impact. Watch for Jaquaize Pettaway from Oklahoma, he is a speedy receiver who could break big plays for the Pirates.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: East Carolina’s schedule has great balance. They have one of the most fun non-conference schedules in the entire country. The Pirates open with in-state rival NC State. Their FCS foe is Campbell who is coming off a rough year but is only an hour and a half away. Then they travel 3 hours down the road to play Coastal Carolina in a first time matchup, and finally they host BYU is an awesome matchup. Their conference schedule is perfectly balanced. The Pirates face 4 contenders and 4 rebuilding programs. The Pirates will face some tough tests but this schedule doesn’t stop them from contending.
Final Thoughts: I’m a huge believer in this coaching staff, this program really took off once Harrell was in charge and developed a more aggressive style of play. The roster turnover gives me pause on whether the Pirates can compete for a conference title but I believe they’ll reach a bowl at a minimum but could get up to 8-9 wins with an upset or two in there.
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