That’s true, we were terrible last year probably with two of the better players in the AAC. LeDay (transfer from Virginia Tech) was the other guy but who tore his ACL so can’t count on him but he will also be back. We underwent one of the most extreme roster make overs I can ever recall with 11 new players so that’s pretty much a completely new team that was able to retain the best of what we had.
You do realize you are on a Charlotte board which has seen two coaches in 4 years and basically the whole team left each time a new coach was hired. I think we had 3 players left when Price took over he was trying to just fill out the team and then when Sanchez started last year we were down to 3-4 guys. We played half the year with 7 scholarship guys and two walkons till two others returned from injuries. We started 4 freshman and JD for half the games.
This is the first time in 5 years that we only had two transfers which actually helped with roster balance. Hope you are able to see the improvement, but we have been stuck in this mess for years so we are looking forward to stability for once.
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Mentioning PER is like chumming the water. 
The mainstream acceptance of PER as a key stat has come a long way this decade.
I think the difference woodniner was Dooley basically pushed the players out which is probably not a great thing in general but needed. They were able to add 7 JUCO’s but 2 of them were redshirts with 3 years of eligibility which helped balance out the roster pretty well while adding experience. 1 senior, 5 juniors, 3 sophmores, 4 freshman.
It doesn’t matter that the coach grew up around there and went to school there. He is in the business of change as a head coach. The reason not to stick around is that the baseball program at ECU gets crapped on while the football stadium gets renovations during crap years. I have seen the behind the scenes at ECU first hand and the baseball area doesn’t even have enough room to store gear with any type of system. The cleats and other gear are crammed in with the washing machines. I have seen D2 teams get more love. You can only abuse a guy so much especially when he is getting other offers.
The brand new baseball stadium was opened in 2005, it was literally the first major building project of this century.
Also it’s next on the upgrade list.
I’d rather see the money directed elsewhere personally. College baseball doesn’t really move the needle. If he goes he goes, the resources and support are there to have a top 25 team and people that want the job, plenty of ECU grads in coaching having success. Tommy Eason is one that lives in Greenville played and coached here and coaches Pitt CC, took them to the JUCO world series, and probably would be next up.
The Pirates cannot currently pay their bills, the university and perhaps the physicians group are picking up the slack, and the university has had to freeze hiring because they have prioritized funding sports. I will be surprised if there is not significant pushback from faculty, staff, the BOT and maybe the BOG that would stop upgrade spending in it’s tracks. I don’t say this because I am a fan of another school, but because it is the appropriate thing to do
clt says we need to have a serious discussion about too many schools in the system.
close ECU, and divert programs to UNCP
Close appy, and divert programs to wcu
If this ended up as more than a one time deal I would even agree with you. We had a terrible AD who derailed the money maker in football by firing Ruff after a bad luck season and paralyzed basketball with the dumb 7 year/ million a year Lebo extension after a 220 RPI year. There at least seems to be light at the end of the tunnel now and for all of our troubles I think all the heavy investment before Compher under Holland when times were good is exactly what got us to the AAC. If all it cost us is a 13 million dollar bailout/loan from the university until the new TV deal kicks or the teams improve that’s ultimately a deal.
So at what point did you get off the Lebo train and will you admit “you guys were right”?
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I would imagine when he left this board.
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Lebo actually did a good job that first year when I was excited about him. It’s hard to argue otherwise when we went from a #236 RPI to #96 RPI and had the biggest turnaround in the nation that year. I don’t think you were paying attention past that year though, I was one of the first ECU fans off the Lebo train criticizing him by year two for not starting Maruice Kemp infact and especially Akeem Richmond that following year leading to lots of underachievement.
It’s not like you guys were anymore right about Major either. You guys were just fortunate enough not to have an idiot AD give him an 8 year extension in late February of a clearly bad 220 RPI year. I never supported that or any thing that AD did, I thought he should be on the hotseat infact. At least you got to have another crack at it with Price in the in between.
Here’s to both Sanchez and Dooley actually getting it turned around, it’s not been a pretty decade for either of us.
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I left every board for the most part of 2 years and boycotted ECU sports after we fired Ruff and until Lebo was gone. Lebo actually quit and walked away from 2 million dollars of guaranteed money I think it was or we might still have him as bad as the AD screwed it up.
That’s one thing nice I will say about Lebo is he essentially donated 2 million dollars to us I guess out of guilt or whatever or just not wanting to go through the motions that badly. It was clear he didn’t want even want to coach 3 years before he did it and had basically quit, had surgery on the clock etc but I do think him for quiting because we probably couldn’t have afforded to fire him and the football coach.
clt says ecu cannot afford lebo
Like going back in time reading this guy tell everyone that shit really smells like roses.
Yep, They had a press release, but it doesn’t mean anything until they break ground. Here is the most important line.
“Although there’s no set timeline for the completion of the new facility upgrades, fundraising for the project has already started”
I mean we could announce a $100 million football stadium expansion with drawings, and it wouldn’t mean anything until the contract is awarded and they break ground. It is really just a fund raising ploy at this point. Posting that article when they are clearly in a negative financial position stating this is why they are not hurting financially is a joke. Maybe I’ll go by the local Piggly Wiggly in Greenville next time I am in town, and have the players wash my car for $5 so that they can build this. Dedicated donations are the only way that the baseball team gets funding for this expansion. Non-dedicated funds will be required to keep the football team afloat once they find out that this new hire doesn’t pan out.
The finishing touches are being put on this current 67 million dollar expansion 18 month project as we speak.
I wouldn’t doubt they find a way to make it happen, things tend to get done around here when they say they are going to happen. We’ve had how many tens of millions of dollars in expansion the last decade already?
I know all about the expansion of the stadium. I was there not too long ago meeting with the head of athletic facilities. When did the article say it was going to happen? What date? You guys have a declining enrollment and a balance sheet that typically runs in the red of late. You guys are on a shoestring budget until the football program makes a big turn or UNC Pembroke stops offering tuition for $500 a semester. With overruns to the tune of millions per year some big changes are in need and more expansion within the athletic department is not on the table. Baseball is on an island and anything that they get will be self-funded.
It’s baseball, I don’t think it’s a big deal anyway and as far as building and renovations there have been like 200 million this decade alone. The baseball stadium is only 14 years old as well. It’s hard to say we have neglected our facilities, especially the important ones with the most ROI.
I know you guys have seen Mike Houston’s resume, he was one of the best hires last year and he’s won everywhere he’s been. 3 national title games in 8 years. I wouldn’t bet against him winning which fixes the the budget issues. It’s pretty simple, just win and all of this is a non issue.
I believe Mike Houston is going to do a good job and win there, but then he will be gone. He is no Lebo and planning to retire there. The only thing more consistent on Houston’s resume than success is job change. While the goal for G5 programs is to win enough to have this problem, we both know from recent history that choosing a winner to replace Houston can be difficult. If ECU’s solvency is completely predicated on winning on the field you will never be on sound financial footing.