Pirates Officially Close Out Preseason Camp
August 22, 2006 | Football
Aug. 22, 2006
Holtz Post-Practice Quotes (audio)
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Head coach Skip Holtz officially closed out his second fall camp at East Carolina as the Pirates wrapped up the NCAA-recognized 20-day preseason period with a physical two-and-a-half-hour, full-pad workout Tuesday afternoon at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex.
With the start of classes Wednesday, ECU will return to its in-season schedule which regularly will include daily 4:00 p.m. practices Tuesday through Thursday with an off day each Monday.
"In short, camp is over," Holtzs said. "We hit Navy really hard yesterday and today, working a lot with the scout teams to learn what they do, and they do a lot both offensively and defensively.
"Navy gives you problems on what they do offensively," he added. "By the same token, what they do defensively is much different then our defense, so to our offense, it's learning a whole new scheme of things."
The Pirates will now focus their attention toward the final scrimmage of the preseason, set for Friday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. After an off-day Saturday, East Carolina will begin its game-week schedule in earnest with a Sunday night workout in helmets and shorts beginning at 8:30 p.m.
"We're approaching the scrimmage on Friday as if we are playing the game against Navy," Holtz continued. "Our scout teams have done an unbelievable job at trying to simulate them but I don't think you can ever copy the same exact speed at which it's going to come at you on game-day."
Holtz indicated that Friday's scrimmage will afford him and his staff one last opportunity to evaluate personnel on both sides of the ball before releasing his first official in-season depth chart.
"It will be played like a game," Holtz said. "We will put the coaches upstairs and make this a dry-run. This is will be our dress rehearsal for our opener."
NOTES: Senior wide receiver Bobby Good (foot) returned to action Tuesday after missing the last few days of work ... Reserve quarterbacks Brett Clay, Rob Kass and Patrick Pinkney experienced the majority of the snaps during the contact portion of Tuesday's session in order to give senior James Pinkney a slight rest before heading into game-week mode ... True freshman Dwayne Harris (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and sophomore transfer Wayne Hunter (Manteo, N.C.) took turns guiding the scout team offense at quarterback ... The Pirates will conduct walk-on tryouts at the conclusion of Thursday's practice ... ECU's matchup against Navy will open a four-game series between the two programs ... The Pirates and Midshipmen are scheduled to meet again in 2010 (Greenville), 2011 (Annapolis) and 2012 (Greenville) ... Season Opener: Sept. 2 vs. Navy (5:30 p.m.)
