Busy Week Ahead For Pirate Nation

Pirate Nation:

Hope everybody is enjoying this warmer weather. I'm going to pack a lot of information in this letter.

This is a busy week inside the department with numerous teams in action, several events planned and the release of our 2019 football schedule.

Let's start with the football schedule: THANK YOU for standing by patiently awaiting our schedule to be finalized. One of our top priorities over the past month has been finding a sixth home game. Football scheduling is a relentless task that can involve hundreds of phone calls and emails trying to find the delicate balance between playing guarantee games while also providing a competitive home schedule for our fans.

We knew we weren't going to find many schools with an available date this late in the process plus an opponent that was willing to play on the road. The proud history of ECU Football also plays a role in some schools not wanting to play the Pirates in a home and home scenario.

We did have significant discussions with multiple FBS schools about a game in 2019 but due to existing contracts and financial penalties we weren't able to reach an agreement. Ultimately, we made the decision to partner with William & Mary for a game on Sept. 21 which will also be Family Weekend. We have a longstanding history with William & Mary from our time in the Southern Conference and I know they have interest among their fans to make the trek to Greenville. I think it will be a great weekend on our campus. We will continue to evaluate our future football schedules and make the necessary adjustments as we move forward.

The final schedule with dates (no times yet) will be released Thursday in conjunction with the American Athletic Conference office. It's exciting to see the schedule laid out and the challenge ahead of us.

While Coach Houston, his staff and players are focused on the gridiron, our staff is working tirelessly on making each home game unique for our fans. It's been really enlightening for me to speak to many of you and hear what is important when they visit campus. We are in the listening business. We understand that every time we host a game it's an event. Wins and losses are going to happen, but we want each of you to leave the stadium wanting to come back the following Saturday. Our discussions have involved everything from concession prices, in-game entertainment, player intros, Pirate Walk and location of our merchandise areas.

One new addition to the gameday experience will be allowing fans to walk on Bagwell Field immediately following each game after both teams have exited the field. It's a great opportunity for our young Pirate fans and adds another piece to the experience.

Our goal is to reward your loyalty and passion for the Pirates. We will have more information as we get closer to the season and finalize all the logistics.

If you can get off work around 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, there's no better place to spend your evening than with us on campus. We will host a Football Signing Day Celebration event beginning at 5 p.m. in the Club Area at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Coach Houston and his staff will review the recruiting class and show highlights of each recruit. This is a great opportunity to hear from our coaching staff as they head into spring practice. Admission is free and parking is available outside the north side of the stadium. We have received a great response to the event and hope you can make it.

Following the football event, come root on the Pirates men's basketball team against Wichita State at 7 p.m. for our Paint it Purple game. We have plans to recognize Coach Cliff Godwin and his baseball team during a first half timeout and Coach Houston will be introducing his assistant coaches and their families at halftime.

Stay tuned for more information concerning a special promotion for our men's basketball game against Memphis on February 13, Act Like a Captain, Dress Like a Pirate. We are asking all students to be creative and dress up in their favorite Pirate outfit and have a chance to win some cool prizes. More details will be released early next week.

We have several teams in action this weekend on campus:

Head coach Amanda Barnes-Moore and our women's lacrosse team begin their season Friday at 4 p.m. against Winthrop in Johnson Stadium and play again Sunday vs. Gardner-Webb at 1 p.m.

The women's basketball team will celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Saturday as they host Memphis at 1 p.m. in Minges Coliseum. It is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of women and girls in sports and we have several recognitions planned throughout the game. Saturday will also be Alumni Day, so we are looking forward to having several former Pirates in attendance.

Both Pirate golf teams opened spring play this week with the women at the UCF Invitational in Orlando and the men competing at the 11th Annual Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass.

Congratulations are in order for our men's tennis team as they are off to a 5-1 start and will have two home matches this weekend against Richmond on Friday at 2 p.m. and Appalachian State on Sunday at noon. Come out to the ECU Indoor Courts at Next Level Training Center to support the men.

The Pirates' softball team begins the 2019 season in Spartanburg this weekend with scheduled games against Youngstown State, Miami (Ohio), Towson and USC Upstate

You can purchase tickets for any of our home events by utilizing ECU's Online Ticket Center or by contacting the ECU Athletic Ticket Office at (252) 737-4500.

My schedule hasn't slowed down, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I have really enjoyed speaking to several groups in Greenville and surrounding areas. I'm learning Pirates are everywhere, across this city, state and country. I'm actually finishing up this letter today as we travel back from the Outer Banks to meet with several of our supporters and friends.

It was great to see and feel the passion for Pirate Athletics at the Greenville Chamber of Commerce Power Luncheon in January. I'm looking forward to speaking at the Kiwanis Club next week and have several other events scheduled in the region.

As I have told each group, we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are making huge strides. Pirate Nation has so much to be excited about.

I had the opportunity to join our coaches and student-athletes last week for truly one of the most impactful events I have been a part of with the 17th Annual Give Kids a Smile! Day. More than 80 area children were treated by 25 local dentists and received dental treatment, exams and X-rays while also benefitting from additional medical assistance. We had more than 70 Pirate student-athletes representing 10 of our teams in attendance along with five of our head coaches. Kudos to Danielle Morrin, Director of Life Skills, for doing a tremendous job organizing the event for the department.

As I stated in my first letter, community service is going to be a huge initiative for our department. We have a group of student-athletes who truly want to assist in the community. It showed with nearly 6,200 hours of community service in 2018. We are challenging our department to surpass that number in 2019.

I'm learning more each day about Pirate traditions and none are more distinctive than the Pigskin Pig-Out Party which will be held around the spring game on April 12-13. This is the 36th annual Pigskin-Pig-Out Party! 36 years!

Dave Hart recently spoke with a large group of our athletics staff about the history of the event and how it became one of the department's most storied traditions. We plan to bring back many of the popular events of the past including some of Eastern North Carolina's finest barbeque as the highly competitive cooking contest returns. It's a great weekend for the community as Pirate Fest will also be taking place on Friday and Saturday in Uptown Greenville. We are looking forward to partnering with Pirate Fest especially on Saturday where fans can attend the Purple & Gold Spring Game in the early afternoon before heading to Saturday's Main Event at the Town Common Stage on Tar River. You can visit www.piratefestnc.com for a complete line-up of events. We will be finalizing our list of events and will have a full schedule on our website later this month.

Several people have asked about my presence on social media. I'm not currently on Twitter but we are going to start a social media segment with me later this month that will help spotlight our student-athletes, coaches, staff and people on campus. It's important to me that the attention stays on what is important – our student-athletes. Hopefully the videos will allow you to be better acquainted with some of the amazing stories we have in our department.

We will continue to keep you updated on what's going on inside the walls of the athletics department and we are beyond grateful for your passion and support of the Pirates.

Jon

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