Pirates Officially Open 2006 Season With First Workout
August 04, 2006 | Football
Aug. 4, 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina Head Football Coach Skip Holtz, who led the Pirates to their highest win total since 2001 during his initial season at the helm last fall, officially welcomed his 105-man preseason camp roster for a morning walk-through before guiding ECU through its first workout of the season, a three-hour afternoon session in helmets and shorts at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex.
East Carolina will follow Friday's initial practice with single workouts at the practice facility through Tuesday before conducting the first of three two-a-day periods Wednesday, Aug. 9.
The Pirates are scheduled to put on shoulder pads for the first time Sunday before following with full gear Tuesday per NCAA rules. ECU's preseason practice schedule will culminate Sept. 2 when the Pirates travel to Navy for a season-opening 5:30 p.m. kickoff.
"Personally, I've been ready to get back out here for a few months now," Holtz said. "I'm excited about the season because of the level of commitment and leadership I've seen during the spring and summer workouts. I was pleased with what I saw today in a setting that was high-tempo with everyone flying around. I thought we got a lot accomplished.
"One of the first things that jumped out at me was that everyone was communicating very well," Holtz added. "It appears we were able to carry over a lot of the mental aspects of what we're trying to do from the spring, and that's encouraging."
The Pirates return seven offensive starters and six off the defensive side of the ball while welcoming back a total of 45 lettermen, including senior quarterback James Pinkney, senior wide receiver Aundrae Allison and a pair of senior defensive backs in safety Pierre Parker and cornerback Kasey Ross.
Pinkney, who will operate East Carolina's offense out of the same scheme in back-to-back years for the first time since assuming the starting job in 2003, completed 222-of-366 passes for 2,773 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2005 and will enter his final campaign as the program's third-leading all-time passer with 5,390 yards. Allison will look to surpass a record-setting debut last year when he became the first ECU pass-catcher in history to eclipse the 1,000-yard milestone (83-1,024).
The Pirates also return leading rusher Chris Johnson, who as a sophomore ran for 684 yards on 176 carries, and junior wide receiver Phillip Henry after a 28-catch, 428-yard performance a year ago. In addition to the return of several other key skill performers, ECU also welcomed back two of five starters on the offensive line - senior tackle Eric Graham and junior guard Matt Butler.
Defensively, sophomore All-Conference USA selection Marcus Hands (DE) and a deep secondary are expected to key a Pirate unit which finished among the top 20 nationally in pass defense last season. In addition to Hunt, East Carolina also returns Parker, Ross, tackle Brandon Setzer and nose guard Mark Robinson. In addition, ECU also brings back battle-tested seniors Kyle Chase (SS), Jamar Flournoy (FS), Markeith McQueen (CB) and junior Travis Williams (CB) in a secondary that picked off 15 passes a year ago - best since 1999.
Holtz was also encouraged by the return of five members of the program's projected depth chart who missed the spring practice period because of injury. Allison (knee), Johnson (neck), Hands (shoulder), linebacker Pierre Bell (foot) and center Drew Sutton (ankle) were all cleared to play during the late summer and actively participated during Friday's practice.
On the other hand, the Pirates opened camp without starting defensive end Shauntae Hunt and center Fred Hicks. Hunt is expected to return to the ECU lineup in October after suffering a freak knee injury during a non-football related event during the summer while Hicks is also nursing a knee injury.
Prior to the afternoon workout Saturday, the Pirates will conduct their annual media day activities inside the Murphy Center.
