The Scottie Montgomery Era at ECU began on Monday with all the fan fare yadda yadda and optimistic bombast that accompanies every new coach hiring everywhere. That is exactly how it should be as “hope springs eternal….”
AD Jeff Compher, of course, implied Scottie to be THE guy we wanted from Day One…. and managed to do so keeping a straight face despite giggles from the assembled media. No offense to Scottie but REALLY Jeff?
I’ve never met Scottie Montgomery. My deep inside Duke Football contact has told me on several occasions that he is a very fine fellow. So I have no reason to doubt that he is exactly the right guy…. at exactly the right time…. to lead ECU Pirate Football to heretofore new heights of unparalleled excellence as befits their lofty aspirations. …. and, as soon as he seems to be doing so, he can say Adios Greenville and Hello Big Time Somewhere Else. Or maybe he will get “Loganed” or “Ruffed”.
One thing I will never do here is declare that one fan base’s rabid board monkey faction is noticeably more rabidly delusional than another’s. To do so would ignite a competition amongst’em to be Most Rabidly Delusional and that would result in 
an awful mess for someone to clean-up. Let’s just say ECU’s takes a backseat to no one’s when measuring rabid delusionalness(?).
The current crop o’ purple crazies are direct descendants of the mob that rioted in Carter Stadium back in the mid 80s. Did that security guard’s broken arm ever heal properly? If that happened these days would they create a “Pirate Football Matters” movement with t-shirts and everything?
My casual awareness of ECU / ECC / ECTC Football goes back to Jack Boone and Coach Stas and Dr Leo Jenkins and a fullback named Tom Michel who, legend has it, was so strong he “bent a bar” in the weight room.
EVERY fan base’s nitwit faction truly believes it does not receive the credit it is due as a premier program. EVERY fan base’s nitwit faction is convinced the media is out to get us and refuses to recognize us as America’s Team with THE BEST FANS ON EARTH……
EVERY program is The Prime Target of Concerted Media DisUnderAppreciation!
ECU, NCSU, UNC, Alabama, Ohio State, Dallas, New England, The Yankees, The Spurs, Lehigh et al. They all have nitwit factions who count the number of words in articles and the font size of headines and placement on a page or number of seconds in a TV recap. …… and piss ‘n moan ‘n whine ‘n go on monkey boards and GO ALLCAPS in likkered-up rage.
My recalling Tom Michel aside, I don’t follow the daily goings-on in Greenville. I am aware that over the past 50+ years they ha
ve had some Great victories, produced some very fine players, run off some darn good coaches and ushered in as many Bombastically Optimistic New Eras as their UNC System brethren on the west side of I-95. ….. and, through it all, maintained a reputation as THE Comely Coed Capitol of North Carolina. ….. “cute coeds in cowboy boots” – Aarrrgghh!
I admit, when I heard AD Compher had made Ruff “walk the plank” I figured….
Sum o’ dem ol’ boys down ’round Chocowinity just realized: “Hey, Ruffin McNeill is A Negro”.
Several of Cleavon Little’s classic lines as Sheriff Bart in Blazing Saddles came to mind.
Being a born & bred Downeaster myself, I sure hoped THAT was NOT the case. If it was the case….. hopefully it will be another five years before ‘dem same ol’ boys catch on about Scottie. Hopefully Scottie will be “movin’ on up…..” before they catch on.
If Ruff’s ebony epidermis was not his undoing, dagnabit if I figure what was his undoing. He truly did LUV ECU; and regularly whupped up on NC State and REALLY whupped up on The Kenanites. Hellfire, Ruff even had Hokie Frank’s number. What could be more orgasmic for a Pirate Fan than all THAT.
Yeah, this was “a down year” but it was one Lincoln short PLUS Ruff had more casualties than George A. Custer at The Little Big Horn. IMO, Ruff deserved another year for sure….. UNLESS there were other reasons no one’s gonna talk about ??
The track record of Legacy hires in North Carolina is pretty darn bleak. Legacy hire means hiring a coach who played and matriculated at your school and “bleeds” whatever your school’s primary color is. Just ask John Bunting and Chuck Amato….. or Carl Franks.
Sure you knew about John and Chuck, but how many of you remembered Carl Franks at Duke? That is how Internet Legends become Legends.
I bet you think I’ve forgotten the late “Big Ed” Emory who was also a legacy hire at ECU who came and went just like Legacy Ruffin. I would never forget “my first High School Coach” – Ed Emory.
ECU has an “interesting history” with Football Coaches. “The School That Dr Leo Built” has been “a steppingstone” for some just as UNC and NC State and Duke (Spurrier) have been. Pat Dye, Bill Lewis, Lou’s Boy Skip….. and, in a sense, the irrepressible Steve Logan who was last seen headed to San Fran to turn Colin Kaepernick into the next David Garrard.
The 49ers are “woeful” and Kaepernick reduced to a multi-tattoed “Colin Who”, so look for Steve to be returning to “the local airwaves” before long. Wonder if he still has any Barcelona Dragons gear?
Coach Scottie does seem like a very nice guy. I hope he does well “down there”. Being a Head Coach is different from being “an Assistant Senior Associate Head Coach or whatever” he was at Duke. The sign on his door is lots shorter and he gets to be first in line at every Pirates Club BBQ he has to attend the next six months. Don’t discount the advantage of getting the warm hushpuppies.
The Detail$ in $cottie’s Deal…. LINK
Staff selection and “daily peer management” is critical in every coaching situation. The rabid nitwit fan faction has no clue what that means or how critical it can be. It doomed both Bunting and Amato who, like Scottie, had no “buck stops here” experience.
Will ‘dem ol’ boys at The Sleeping Giant of Downeast give Scottie a year or two or three to “figure it out” ?
…. it’ll take ‘dem ol’ boys at least that long to figure if his name is Scotty…. or Scottie. Some never will figure that out.
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There have been some slight but meaningful “design changes” in Yea Olde Website. More Quirkies !! We will be discussing all that in a few days.
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