A Comprehensive Look at the East Carolina University Football Schedule History
East Carolina University (ECU), also known as East Carolina, boasts a football program rich in history, marked by periods of both struggle and success. As a member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and participating in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the East Carolina Pirates have established a notable presence in collegiate football. This article delves into the historical timeline of the ECU football schedule, highlighting key moments, conference affiliations, and significant achievements.
Early Years and Initial Struggles (1932-1941)
East Carolina began organized football in the fall of 1932. Kenneth Beatty was the first football coach in school history. The team played five games, with two in Greenville. They however did not score a point the whole season, while opponents scored a combined 187 points. The 1933 season started just as they left the 1932 season. The team lost the first four games not scoring a point. The first victory in school history came against Campbell on November 11, 1933. The final score was 6-0. The 1933 team lost their final game against Appalachian St. 14-0. Coach Beatty left after the season. G.L. "Doc" Mathis was appointed the head coach after Coach Beatty left. Before the season, the school decided to change their nickname. The Men's Athletic Association wanted a nickname to inspire "more spirit and enthusiasm." The name was changed from the Teachers to the present Pirates. His first year, the team lost four games. But, they did win against Presbyterian Junior College and tied Old Dominion. The 1935 season included three wins, which was the largest total so far in history. Bo Farley was introduced as the third head coach. The 1936 season was the first winning season in school history. Coach Farley's team won against Old Dominion, Duke Junior Varsity and Louisburg. He only stayed for one season. J. D. Alexander began coaching in the 1937 season. He had been the head coach at Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee. The season started off badly, losing the first five games, but the team finished on a high note, beating both High Point and Louisburg to finish out the season. The one win in the 1938 season came against Western Carolina. The 1938 team also tied against Guilford. O. A. Hankner coached for only one season at East Carolina. His team managed only 18 points and lost every game. The team had numerous injuries that prevented the team from winning a game. After the disastrous 1939 season, John Christenbury was tapped as the new head coach. His 1940 team had the first winning season since the 1936 season. The team won the first four games, and lost to North Carolina St. Freshmen and High Point. East Carolina's first decade of football saw limited success, with only three winning seasons. However, the program achieved a significant milestone in 1941 with an undefeated season and a share of the Small College National Championship. The team scored 159 points compared to allowing 20.
Hiatus Due to World War II and Re-emergence (1942-1961)
Football activities were temporarily suspended for the 1942, 1943, and 1944 seasons due to World War II. East Carolina did not field any athletics from 1942 to 1945 because of World War II. Coach Christenbury was killed in an explosion at Port Chicago, California on July 1, 1944. Replacing him at coach was Jim Johnson. Coach Johnson was a 16 letterman while at East Carolina. He was brought in to revitalize the athletic program that was on hiatus because of World War II. His football team went 5-3-1 in 1946. After the three-season hiatus, the Pirates joined the North State Conference in 1947, marking their first conference affiliation. In the first year of conference play, the team had three wins compared to six losses. The next year was even more disastrous; as his team did not win once. Bill Dole became the Pirates eighth coach after Coach Johnson left. His teams went 4-5-1 in 1949. That made the third consecutive losing year for East Carolina. The 1950 season turned out better. The team tied the number of wins from the past three years with seven. Coach Dole's last year with the Pirates was in 1951. It was another losing season 4-6. Coach Dole left East Carolina and became the head coach at Davidson. Jack Boone stepped in as the new head coach after Coach Dole left. During his first year, he guided the Pirates to a 1952 regular season record of 6-2-2, and the team was invited to the Lions Bowl, their first bowl game ever. The Pirates came up short against Clarion College, losing 13-6. Coach Boone led the school to another first the next season, as the football team won the North State Conference championship. During the 1953 regular season, the team won eight while losing one en route to this championship. For the second time ever, East Carolina went to a bowl game. The team competed in the Elks Bowl, against Morris Harvey College, losing 12-0. The 1954 season would be the last winning season for four years. Over the four-year span the team won 12, losing 23 and tying twice. Coach Boone stayed at East Carolina for four more years, finally leaving after the 1961 season. He, at the time, was the longest tenured coach.
Conference Championships and Independence (1962-1996)
In 1962, East Carolina transitioned back to being a football independent. The tenth head coach for the Pirates was Clarence Stasavich. He came to East Carolina after 16 years at Lenoir-Rhyne College. His team went 5-4 his first year. The Pirates went to their first bowl game in nine years in 1963. The team went 9-1 and was invited to the Eastern Bowl. They beat Northeastern, 27-6 in their first ever bowl win. The next two years, the team again went 9-1 and was invited to the Tangerine Bowl. They won both games against Massachusetts, 14-13, in 1964 and Maine, 31-0 in 1965. Also in 1964, Coach Stasavich was named the NAIA Coach of the Year. The 1965 season also marked entering their first conference, the Southern Conference, since the North State/Carolinas Conference. The Pirates joined the Southern Conference in 1965 and quickly found success, winning the conference championship in 1966 under coach Clarence Stasavich. Despite going 4-5-1, Coach Stasavich guided the Pirates to their first conference championship in 13 years. Even though East Carolina won eight games in 1967, they were not invited to a bowl game. The last two seasons for Coach Stasavich were losing seasons. Mike McGee coached at East Carolina for only the 1970 season. He compiled a 3-8 record. His team recorded wins over Furman, Marshall and Davidson. The victory over Marshall was the final football game for the 75 Marshall players, coaches, and administrators that departed on Southern Airways Flight 932 for Huntington as their plane crashed, leaving no survivors. This tragedy is memorialized in the movie We Are Marshall, and a plaque memorializing the victims is located outside the visitors' locker room at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. McGee left for the 1971 season to become head coach at his alma mater, Duke. The 1970 season would also mark the first game in the ECU-NC State series. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990. Former NFL wide receiver Sonny Randle, an assistant coach in 1970, was tapped to take over as head coach after McGee left. His first season only saw four victories. But one victory came over instate rival, North Carolina State. The 1972 season accumulated the most wins in a season for the Pirates, since the 1965 season. The team won the Southern Conference Championship, which was the first time since the 1966 season. The only two losses of the season came against North Carolina State and North Carolina. The 1973 season was much like the 1972 season. The team again won nine games, while only losing to North Carolina State and North Carolina. They also won the conference championship. The team, coached by Sonny Randle, achieved consecutive Southern Conference championships in 1972 and 1973, a feat unmatched in school history. East Carolina brought in Alabama linebackers coach Pat Dye as their new head coach in 1974. In his first season, the Pirates won seven games, while losing four. The next year, Coach Dye won even more games. On October 24, 1975, longtime coach and administrator, Clarence Stasavich died. This was one day before the Pirates beat the UNC Tar Heels for the first time ever, 38-17, with Coach Dye preemptively ending the game and taunting the Tar Heels by downing the ball just yards from goal line late in the game. Dye secured the Pirates' fourth Southern Conference championship in 1976. Coach Dye brought the team to the nine win plateau again in 1976. His team also became Southern Conference Champions for the first time under his tenure. It would also be the last time the Pirates ever would become Southern Conference champions. East Carolina left the conference after the 1976 season. The team again became independent. The team had a winning season in 1977. The Pirates won its opener again NC State, 28-23. The next game it went to Durham to play Duke. Former Pirates coach Mike McGee was still the coach. East Carolina beat the Blue Devils 17-16. The team went on to win eight, while losing three for the season. East Carolina began the 1978 season under the new Division I-A moniker. Coach Dye guided the Pirates to an 8-3 record after the season. The team only lost to instate rivals North Carolina and North Carolina State, and Southern Mississippi. With the winning mark, ECU went to their first bowl game in 13 years. They beat Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl, 35-13. The 1979 season would be the last for Coach Dye at East Carolina. From 1977, ECU once again operated as a football independent for three seasons, achieving winning records. Georgia Tech defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Emory, an ECU alum, became the Pirates fourteenth head coach. His first two years were lackluster, going 4-7 and 5-6. After a 7-4 campaign in 1982, Emory lead East Carolina to a Pirate first in the 1983 season. That team went 8-3, losing only to Florida State, Florida and Miami. The Pirates lost by a combined 13 points in those three losses. The team was ranked number 20 in the final AP Poll, the first time East Carolina finished ranked in the polls. Florida State quarterbacks coach Art Baker, a former ECU assistant, became the next head coach. He had been the head coach at Furman and The Citadel. Coach Baker led the Pirates to records of 2-9 in 1985, 2-9 in 1986, 5-6 in 1987 and 3-8 in 1988. Baker never had a winning record as head coach at East Carolina. The program experienced a period of rebuilding, with only one winning season in the seven years leading up to 1991. East Carolina tapped Georgia defensive coordinator and former Wyoming head coach Bill Lewis as Baker's replacement. His first year, Coach Lewis won six games, including wins over Cincinnati and Virginia Tech. This was the first winning season for the Pirates since the 1983 season. The 1990 season was mediocre for the football team, going 5-6. The best winning season for East Carolina occurred in the 1991 season. After losing the opening game to Illinois, 31-38, the Pirates won every other game. Notable wins were South Carolina, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. For their accomplishment, the Peach Bowl invited them to play in their 1992 contest. The team played NC State and came from behind to win 37-34. The Pirates finished the season ranked number No. 9 in the AP and Coaches Poll. After the season, Lewis won the 1991 Coach-of-the-Year Award. The Pirates gradually rebuilt the program, culminating in an 11-1 season in 1991 under coach Bill Lewis. The team capped off the season with a Peach Bowl victory over North Carolina State, finishing ranked ninth in both the AP and Coaches Poll, the only time the Pirates finished the season ranked in the top 10. Lewis was awarded the American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year award for his performance. The Pirates chose their offensive coordinator Steve Logan to succeed Lewis, promoting him to serve as their 17th head football coach. He led East Carolina for eleven seasons, from 1992 to 2002. In 1994 Coach Logan logged his first winning season as a head coach, with ECU winning seven games and losing four in the regular season. The team was rewarded by being invited to the Liberty Bowl to face Illinois. The Fighting Illini shut out the Pirates 30-0. This was their first bowl game shutout since the Elks Bowl against Morris Harvey in 1954. The Pirates took the momentum from the 1994 season and increased their win count to nine, while losing three in the 1995 season. The only losses were to Tennessee, Illinois and Cincinnati. The 1996 season was another winning year, where they went 8-3 with wins over South Carolina, Miami and NC State. Because they were still Independent, with no bowl tie-ins, the Pirates were left out of post-season play. In 1995, ECU won the Liberty Bowl over Stanford and finished 23rd in the Coaches' Poll.
Conference USA Era (1997-Present)
For the 1997 season, the university was invited to Conference USA. This would be the football team's first year of conference play since they left the Southern Conference in 1976. The Pirates joined Conference USA (C-USA) in 1997, ending their status as football independents for the first time since 1976. The next three years were more fruitful for the Pirates with quarterback David Garrard. Garrard would go on to a successful NFL career with the Jacksonville Jaguars as well as one season with the New York Jets. The team enjoyed three straight bowls, losing two while winning one. Coach Thompson's tenure set the Pirates back several years, accumulating only three wins over two years, with records of 1-11 in 2003 and 2-9 in 2004. His teams beat only Army both years and Tulane his second year. In his first season, Coach Holtz helped turn the team around winning five games, two more wins than the John Thompson had accomplished in his entire tenure. His second season marked the Pirates first winning season since 2000, winning seven games, and East Carolina was bowl-eligible for the first time since the 2001 season. The 2006 team had notable wins over Virginia, Southern Miss, Central Florida and North Carolina State. A loss to Rice in the last conference game of the year kept the Pirates out of the Conference USA Championship Game. In 2007, Holtz' Pirates continued their winning ways. On August 30, 2008, the Pirates pulled off a stunning upset against then 17th ranked Virginia Tech 27-22 on a late blocked punt returned for a touchdown by senior wide receiver T.J. Lee. The following week they pulled off an even stronger upset of then 8th ranked West Virginia by the score of 24-3, not allowing a touchdown for the entire game. This was the Pirates third straight victory against a top-25 ranked opponent. In C-USA, the Pirates won consecutive conference championships in 2008 and 2009 and three C-USA East Division titles (2008, 2009, 2012).
Read also: Affording ECU
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
The team played home games at College Stadium on the main campus from the 1949 to the 1962 season. With the exception of the 1999 Miami football game, they have played their home games at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium every year since 1963. The stadium is located south of East Carolina's main campus near the intersection of South Charles Boulevard and 14th Street. Dowdy-Ficklen underwent an expansion in 2010, raising the capacity of the stadium to 50,000. The coaches and administrative support is located in the Ward Sports Medicine Building, which is located adjacent to the stadium. Strength and conditioning for the players occurs in the Murphy Center, a $13 million indoor training facility which was completed in June 2002 and which is located in the west end zone of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Bowl Games
Lost Lions Bowl vs. Lost Elks Bowl vs. Won Eastern Bowl vs. Won Tangerine Bowl vs. Won Tangerine Bowl vs. Won Independence Bowl vs. Won Peach Bowl vs. Lost Liberty Bowl vs. Won Liberty Bowl vs. Lost Mobile Alabama Bowl vs. Won Galleryfurniture.com Bowl vs. Lost GMAC Bowl vs. Lost PapaJohns.com Bowl vs. Won Hawai'i Bowl vs. Cancelled Military Bowl vs.
The Pirates have a bowl record of 12-11 (.522).
All-Time Record
All-time record477-463-12 (.507)
Read also: Your Guide to ETSU Academics
Read also: Tuition for International Students at ECU
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