2002 ECU Football Outlook
July 23, 2002 | Football
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The past four seasons have been unprecedented for East Carolina University's football program.
A model of consistency, the Pirates have put together four straight non-losing records for the first time since being classified NCAA Division I-A in 1977.
ECU has been invited to three consecutive bowl games, another first for the program during its I-A era.
The final Conference USA standings have seen the Pirates tie for second place in each of the last three seasons.
However, among last season's departing seniors were many of the key players in that success. Missing from the 2002 roster is record-setting quarterback David Garrard, the team's regular starter for the last three and one-half seasons. Leonard Henry, the nation's sixth-leading rusher in 2001, has also moved on, as both he and Garrard were selected in the NFL Draft this past April. Also departed is All-America linebacker Pernell Griffin, who racked up a C-USA record 460 tackles over the past four years.
Gone are the team's leading rusher (Henry), leading passer (Garrard), leading tackler (Griffin), and leading receiver (Derrick Collier).
The current squad is thin on returning all-star players; four of ECU's six All C-USA honorees were seniors. For the 2002 Pirates to continue the program's string of successful seasons, 11th-year head coach Steve Logan will depend upon a stable of talented young student-athletes who are hungry to make names for themselves.
