GREENVILLE — East Carolina never changed the narrative.
From a humbling opening defeat to North Carolina A&T through Saturday’s 55-21 win over Connecticut, Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium had fewer fannies, the Pirates’ defense never broke its sponge status and losses piled up. So did the talk about Scottie Montgomery’s time as head coach.
The athletics director who hired him has been booted. The chancellor may soon be gone, too.
The stadium is about the only staple. That and the passion of fans in eastern North Carolina with their beloved Pirates.
They hate that this is happening. They’re heart-broken.
They’re mad, too. It didn’t have to be this way.
Go back ever where you want on the timeline, choose a level of command and assign some blame — there are plenty of choices. Hindsight is like that, a wonderful 20/20.
Few fans were clogging the neighborhood home of Dowdy-Ficklen on Saturday. What an unusual occurrence, given this was a 7 p.m. kickoff and the Pirates’ students and fans with their reputation for a party.
Time was when such games became an internal struggle — get on TV, with the money, but you’ve got to play at night to do it.
The stadium would be packed. Lathered up fairly well, too.
Administrators swallowed hard, wanting the money and enduring snare drum-tight moments until the evening was over.
Not now. Not even a day game with Carolina could fill the joint.
Make no mistake; the fans haven’t lost their passion. There’s still Carolinas shagging music blaring from the tailgates, raucous drinking games, lots of big football dreams.
Just not as many.
And it doesn’t matter whether it is with Scottie Mo or someone after him. They’ll come out and pack the place when the program reverses course and begins to win.
There’s reason to believe that is soon, given the broad freshman shoulders of Holton Ahlers and Montgomery’s recent recruiting. Good ol’ No. 12 is poised to be a great one. He threw four touchdown passes and for 242 yards Saturday, and ran for another score and 130 yards.
He grew up nearby, going to D.H. Conley High School, and knows of what he speaks.
“We want our fans back in the stadium,” Ahlers said. “It’s special to be in front of our fans. We’re going to get this program back to where it was. They deserve it.”
With the win, even though it was over the lowly Huskies, there’s a path to a strong finish available with trips to previously nationally-ranked Cincinnati and N.C. State to close the season.
The university isn’t so much at a crossroads as it is a mess. And it starts across campus, not in the Ward Sports Medicine Building that houses athletics.
But that’s part of it.
The school needs to know if the chancellor is going to leave, either by being asked directly or indirectly by the UNC System Board of Governors, or by simply falling on his sword. The reason is because the most important hire in refilling Dowdy-Ficklen is the athletics director.
The leader hiring the AD needs to be staying, and the AD making football program decisions needs to either decide Scottie Mo’s fate or come in knowing it’s been made and he’s able to hire his guy.
Arguments are valid on both sides for keeping or booting the coach. The team hasn’t won enough; that says let him go. Futures investing is challenging, but Ahlers is a difference-maker and recruiting has taken a significant step; that says keep him.
For football, there is no bigger hire than the AD. Then the coach. That part of the narrative hasn’t changed since August. Nor will it anytime in the future.
East Carolina can win again, including under Montgomery. They’ve got a great niche in these parts. Stadium enhancements opening next year are going to be one-of-a-kind in the Carolinas.
They know how to have fun in Greenville. Always have.
Time to show they know how to get the right people in place.
Opening kickoff at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday night included a very sparse crowd. Official attendance in the 50,000-seat stadium was 27,234, but most estimates had it pegged for about 17,000. Fans have increasingly stayed away as losses have mounted this season. The crowd for the seniors’ final home game was treated to a 55-21 win over Connecticut.