East Carolina Pirates Roster 2019 Pirates Roster

Head Coach: Scottie Montgomery        2017 Salary: $1,050,000        Offensive Coordinator: Tony Petersen       Defensive Coordinator: David Blackwell         

Stadium: Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium       Surface: Grass        City: Greenville        State: North Carolina

The first two seasons of the reign of Scottie Montgomery at East Carolina have been trying to say the least. Montgomery has won six games total in those seasons, and teams that average three wins per season do not keep their coaches for a long time. The Pirates are now able to move the ball which represents some progress over the beginning of the Montgomery era. Quarterback is still an open question for the Pirates with a three-way competition for the job. Trevon Brown is back as the top wide receiver and he has the explosiveness to do some damage provided that he and the new quarterback can get on the same wavelength. The Pirates have a loaded backfield with Darius Pinnix likely to serve as the lead back. The Pirates can pass the ball, averaging 317 yards per game last season. For a three-win team, the offense was remarkably competent.

The reason why East Carolina was so bad was their sieve of a defense. The Pirates allowed 541 yards per contest and even allowed 70 points in their last game of the season. David Blackwell comes in to coach the defense with the hope that any effort cannot be as bad as last year, when there was no effort. East Carolina is not very patient with its coaches so there is a sense that Montgomery is going to have to do something big this year to stay employed. The Pirates may have to take some chances because a porous defense is not the backbone of a winning team.