Specialists Already Making A Difference

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Two-thirds of ECU's kicking game are known to Pirate fans as high-quality commodities. Record-setting, even.

The newcomer also is a proven talent. Jonn Young, a native of Advance, N.C., has returned to his home state after two years at West Virginia and is competing to be ECU's top punter, joining Caleb Pratt as the kickoff specialist and Jake Verity as the placekicker.

It makes the job a little easier for special teams coordinator Kirk Doll.

"The specialists, they make a major difference," Doll said. "Jake and Caleb, we're counting on them to do some other things for us as well. And punting-wise, Jonn Young is coming around. There are still some things that we're working on, but we're trying collectively to get everybody going in the right direction."

Pratt recorded a program-record 40 touchbacks a year ago as a junior, breaking the previous mark of 31 he had set two seasons earlier when he joined the team as an invited walk-on. He has a strong leg, with 131 of his 162 career kickoffs going 60 or more yards, including 98 of at least 65 yards.

As a freshman, Pratt had personal-best seven touchbacks against SMU. He makes it all sound simple.

"I try to drill my fundamentals in practice before the game, and while I'm out there I honestly just think, kick the ball," he said. "I've already gone through all the prep, so I know my foot placement and swing and everything will be good. When I'm approaching the ball, it's just a clear mind and swing through it."

Verity, who once made a 63-yard field goal in high school in Bremen, Ga., is being touted as one of the top placekickers in the American Athletic Conference, earning preseason All-AAC recognition from Athlon. For his career, the junior has made 40 of 41 point-after attempts, with one having been blocked in last year's finale at Memphis.

He also has made 17 of 27 career field-goal attempts for the Pirates, with a best of 52 yards against Houston a year ago.

"I feel like after last season there's a lot of room to improve, which is a good thing in my eyes," said Verity, who was ECU's leading scorer with 83 points in 2017. "We've had a really good camp so far. As far as preseason predictions, I'm ready to blow that out of the water. I'm shooting high."

Young redshirted at WVU two years ago and was called on for only two punts last season, so he made the decision to transfer. After having committed to the Mountaineers early, he wanted to make sure in his second recruiting process that he made the right decision.

"I wanted to make sure that I could really sit down and think about it," Young said. "Is this where I would really want to be, even if I wasn't playing football? If I were just a student, would I want to come here?"

He also likes the coaching staff and the opportunity ahead of him.

"When I visited I really liked (head coach Scottie Montgomery) and what he's doing with the football team and how he runs things," Young said. "He's just an all-around good person outside of football, too. I'm looking to grow not just as a football player but as a man off the field, and I saw that there's a good opportunity to do both coming here."

Doll is emphasizing steady work and getting better every day, with no dips in performance. He said there was good retention from spring ball, and he credited the entire coaching staff for that. By the time the season begins, the special teams will be ready.

"We've worked on punt return and kickoff return one day," he said. "We have some drill work we do. We haven't really gone full out. We do drills where the returners have to make somebody miss, and we're encouraged by what we've seen. But we're not set on anything yet."

•Montgomery saw some positives and some things to work on Tuesday as the Pirates completed their fourth practice of camp. It was their second workout in helmet and pads, having been in helmets only for the first two workouts and helmets and shoulder pads also on Sunday.

On what he called "a hard, hot day," he was disappointed in the discipline in the run game, both on the perimeter and the interior. He had seen huge strides previously.

"We had a few calls that we didn't make that could've made some big runs," he said. "We caught the defense a couple times in some great calls to have big runs, and we didn't have that happen."

The quarterback play continues to be stellar. Defensive coordinator David Blackwell mixed up his fronts, and Montgomery said Reid Herring was able to sight-adjust well. But for the Pirates to be where they want to be, the run game has to continue improving.

"We've known that we're going to be pretty good at quarterback and at receiver," Montgomery said. "We finally have the people up front who can get it done. We have people on the perimeter at receiver who can get it done and in the backfield who can get it done. Now the mental aspect of running the football, we have to be better than we were today."

Montgomery said he's excited for what tomorrow holds, the Pirates' first day in full pads.

"The one thing you want to see is that, in situations where we can go to the ground, we're athletic enough to stay up when we need to stay up and strong enough and physically imposing enough to get people on the ground, or not get on the ground offensively," he said. "It'll be a big test for us."

- Joe Corley

Players Mentioned

Reid Herring

Caleb Pratt

Jake Verity

Jonn Young

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