2015 AAC Football Media Day Coverage
July 31, 2015 | Football
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GREENVILLE, N.C. -- The American Athletic Conference's 2015 Football Media Day is set to begin Monday, Aug. 3 in Newport, R.I. The annual event will take place at the Hyatt Regency on Goat Island.
East Carolina Director of Athletics Jeff Compher, head coach Ruffin McNeill along with four student-athletes (ILB Zeek Bigger, RB Chris Hairston, IWR Isaiah Jones and OLB Montese Overton) will be on hand to preview the upcoming season. Compher is set to arrive Sunday for meetings, while the rest of the Pirates' travel party are schedule to arrive Monday mid-afternoon and will hit the ground running participating in Media Day events.
Coach McNeill and ECU players will attend media sessions with CBS, ESPN3, American Digital Network and USA Football, which will take place between 3 and 7 p.m. (ET) before taking part in the famous clambake, with all 12 teams, bowl partners and invited media members.
Tuesday's action starts at 8:30 a.m. with group photos before AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco's address at the podium at 9 a.m. with his annual remarks to the local and national media members in attendance. Commissioner Aresco is expected to address a number of topical issues, including the addition of Navy to the conference, the playing of the first American Athletic Conference Football Championship, student-athlete health and well-being initiatives and protecting the game of football at the grass-roots level.
ESPN anchor Kevin Negandhi, one of the leading figures in sports media, is an anchor for ESPN's SportsCenter. He has hosted a number of high-profile programs on ESPN, including College Football Live, NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, NBA Tonight, Outside the Lines and the NCAA Women's Final Four, will serve as the emcee for the Summer Kickoff.
Negandhi will moderate a pair of roundtable discussions on national and conference-wide football matters Tuesday, Aug. 4, which will feature The American's 12 head football coaches. The session with the West Division coaches will begin at 9:45 a.m. (ET), while the East Division coaches take the stage at 11:15 a.m.
Live coverage of The American's Summer Kickoff and Media Days will begin Tuesday, Aug. 4, at 9 a.m. on The American Digital Network. ESPN3 will follow with a two-hour recap of the two-day event, hosted by John Rooke and Anthony Becht, Tuesday at 12 noon.
The American's contingent in Newport includes 15 players who were named to the 2014 all-conference team, including six returning first-team selections. Four players who have been named to the 2015 Maxwell Award preseason watch list will be in attendance (Cincinnati's Gunner Kiel, Houston's Kenneth Farrow, Navy's Keenan Reynolds and USF's Marlon Mack), as will two players named to the Bednarik Award watch list (ECU's Bigger and Temple's Tyler Matakevich).
2015 AAC Football Summer Kickoff and Media Day Schedule
The American Digital Network Coverage
Tuesday, Aug. 4
9 a.m. -- Mike Aresco, American Athletic Conference Commissioner
9:45 a.m. -- West Division Coaches' Roundtable (moderated by Kevin Negandhi)
(Tom Herman-Houston, Justin Fuente-Memphis, Ken Niumatalolo-Navy, Chad Morris-SMU, Curtis Johnson-Tulane, and Philip Montgomery-Tulsa)
10:45 a.m. -- Terry McAulay, American Athletic Conference Coordinator of Football Officiating
11:15 a.m. -- East Division Coaches' Roundtable (moderated by Kevin Negandhi)
(George O'Leary-UCF, Bob Diaco-UConn, Tommy Tuberville-Cincinnati, Ruffin McNeill-East Carolina, Willie Taggart-USF, Matt Rhule-Temple)
ESPN3 (Link)
Tuesday, Aug. 4
12 Noon -- John Rooke and Anthony Becht with in-depth coverage of Media Days, including interviews with all 12 American Athletic Conference head coaches
Pirate Fans can also follow all the #AmericanKickoff action (interviews and behind the scenes) via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat (American_Conf) throughout the two-day event.
East Carolina will open the 2015 season at home against Towson inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Sept. 5 with a 6 p.m. (ET) scheduled kickoff. The Pirates first AAC game of the season is set for Sept. 19 at Navy with a 3:30 p.m. start and will be televised on ESPN3.
