Pirates Open Spring Football Practice
February 28, 2007 | Football
Feb. 28, 2007
Coach Holtz Spring Football Press Conference (Audio) | Photo Gallery 
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Third-year head coach Skip Holtz and the East Carolina Pirates officially opened the 2007 spring practice period with its initial workout Wednesday at Hight Field inside the Cliff Moore Practice Complex.
Holtz, who led ECU to its first bowl appearance since 2001 and its highest win total since 2000 last season after guiding the Pirates to a 7-6 mark, led his 135-member roster through a two-and-half hour workout in shorts and helmets under sunny skies and mild temperatures.
The session, the first of 15 scheduled practices, will culminate with the playing of the Purple-Gold Spring Game April 14 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
"From the start, I am certainly impressed with the attitude of this team," Holtz said. "They worked hard and it's exciting to be back on the field. I was pleased with our work ethic and thought there were a lot of positives for a first day."
The Pirates will return five starters on offense, eight on the defensive side of the ball and welcome back a total of 54 lettermen off a team which also recorded a runner-up 5-3 Conference USA East Division mark. In addition, ECU, which closed the year by winning five of its last seven games, turned in its highest single-season passing performance since 1992 and were among the nation's top 25 in passes intercepted.
Headlining the list of returnees are five seniors who were members of the season-ending depth chart in 2006, including offensive linemen Josh Coffman and Matt Butler, along with defensive tackle Mark Robinson, linebacker Fred Wilson and cornerback Travis Williams.
Coffman, who earned All-Conference USA honors as a junior, and Butler will help key an offensive unit that set a new school single-season record for first downs (264) while turning in the school's third-best passing mark and sixth-best total offense tally (4,526) in the program's annals a year ago.
All-league selections Robinson, Wilson and Williams played integral roles for a Pirate defense that allowed just 20.8 points per game in 2006, a mark which ranks among the top five Pirate teams since 1980, and also displayed one of the top 10 most-improved rush defenses in the nation last fall, shaving off nearly 80 yards per game from combined averages in 2003 and 2004.
The Pirates also welcome back a pair of All-Conference performers in junior linebackers Quentin Cotton and Pierre Bell, who finished as ECU's second and third-leading tacklers a year ago, but both will miss the spring practice period after undergoing off-season shoulder surgery.
In addition to continued fundamental work, Holtz' primary goal during the workouts will center around filling six offensive openings and three defensive slots - all in the secondary.
"Our goal at the end of the spring is to establish a two-deep and to enhance depth at as many position as we can," Holtz added. "Obviously, this spring will serve as great learning tool for the younger guys and as an evaluation period for our staff. Yet, the additional reps many of our underclassmen got during our bowl preparation period in December has already proven to be invaluable as well."
In addition to the return of Coffman and Butler, East Carolina also brings back junior tight end Davon Drew but must replace all five skill position performers from a year ago in receivers Aundrae Allison and Bobby Good, fullback Kort Shankweiler, tailback Brandon Fractious and quarterback James Pinkney.
Sophomore Rob Kass, who completed 14-of-30 passes for 184 yards in five games as a redshirt freshman in 2006, will open camp as the Pirates' top signal-caller to replace Pinkney, who wrapped up his four-year career as the school's all-time leader in completions (687), attempts (1,189) and 200-yard passing games (23) while standing second in the school record books with 8,173 career passing yards.
While juniors Marcus Hands and Brandon Setzer will join C-USA All-Freshman squad member Scotty Robinson as returning starters on the line, ECU's defense will also be bolstered by the return of a total of 26 lettermen. In addition to all-conference performers Cotton and Bell, the Pirates will also bring back C-USA honorees Zach Slate (DE), linebacker/safety Van Eskridge and end C.J. Wilson, who were both chosen to the league's all-rookie unit in 2006.
Senior kickoff return specialist Chris Johnson, who represents the Pirates' only returning first-team All-Conference USA choice, will join punt returners Williams and Steven Rogers, and deep snapper Wilson Raynor as special teams regulars. While ECU returns sophomore Ben Hartman, who was a perfect nine-of-nine on extra-point tries and three-of-five on field goal attempts last season as a part-time starter, the Pirates will have a large void to fill in replacing three-time All-Conference USA punter Ryan Dougherty - the all-time league record-holder in punts (237) and punt yardage (10,112).
In addition to Bell and Cotton, five other players will miss the entire or part of the spring practice session with injuries or other reasons (OL Willie Barton/personal, OL Terence Campbell/illness, TE Jay Sonnhalter/ankle, TE Martin Tanski/knee, DB Stacy Walls/knee).
After a Friday practice to close the opening week, the Pirates will return to work next Monday, Wednesday and Thursday before taking a full week off for Spring Break beginning Friday, March 9. East Carolina will return to its traditional weekly three-workout schedule Monday, March 19, and has scrimmages scheduled for Friday, March 23 and March 30 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium prior to the playing of the annual spring game.
After planning on spending its first two practice sessions in shorts and shells, Holtz indicated ECU would conduct its first full-pad workout Monday.
