All Hands On Deck In Birmingham - Day 1
December 29, 2014 | Football
Pirates Arrival In Alabama l 
Photo Gallery l AL.com Pirate Coverage
Pirate Nation - welcome to the official All Hands On Deck blog for this week's Birmingham Bowl.
Once again, it's our hope that we can bring you the sights and sounds from this year's bowl site (Birmingham) and the Pirates' bowl preparation through the eyes of the players, coaches and East Carolina support staff via photo galleries, practice highlights and interviews - all leading up to ECU's matchup with Florida on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Historic Legion Field.
Well it was a busy day for the Pirates as they landed in Birmingham - the site of their eighth bowl game in the last nine years (fourth in last five). After a short and bumpy 90-minute flight, the Pirates arrived at their hotel before lunch. Upon arrival and check-in, ECU Head Coach Ruffin McNeill, Shane Carden and Justin Hardy conducted a couple interviews with the local media before attending a team meeting, where the players and coaches got acquainted with the layout of the hotel. Then the team piled into four buses and headed over to Tuscaloosa, Ala. - home of the Alabama Crimson Tide.
First up was the Paul M. Bryant Museum and a 90-minute tour. Named after the former University of Alabama head coach, who patrolled the sideline for 25 years, Bryant won a then record 323 career games, six national championships and was voted National Coach-of-the-Year three times. Players and coaches got a chance to see the history of the Crimson Tide program and take their pictures with one of several national championship trophies. They even got a chance to listen to stories from defensive coordinator and secondary coach Rick Smith, who coached at Alabama from in 1986 under Ray Perkins.
The Pirates then took a tour of the Walk of Champions plaza outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium, which houses five statues of Alabama head coaches (Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Bryant, Gene Stallings and Nick Saban) that claimed national championships. In addition to the statues, plaques honoring players and staff members from each of the national title teams can be seen along the walk-way, including East Carolina's own Worth Gregory, who was a member of the 2012 title squad.
Following a tour of the Crimson Tide's football meeting rooms, locker rooms, athletic training and the strength and conditioning areas, the Pirates had dinner at the Cypress Inn Restaurant before returning to the hotel for some down time.
Tuesday's schedule will consist of team meetings starting at 11:45 a.m. (CST) before the Pirates head over to Hoover High School for its first two-hour practice in Birmingham at 2 p.m. Then its more free time before bowl events begin on Wednesday.
Well that's about it for now. Thanks for reading and please checkout our Facebook, Twitter and Bowl Central Page for all the latest images and sounds from Birmingham, Ala.
