Spring Notebook No. 13 – Turning The Corner
April 10, 2019 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Brandon Lynch is entering his third season on the East Carolina coaching staff, but once again, just like in 2017, he's the new guy in the room.
When head Coach Mike Houston took over the Pirates' program, he brought most of his staff from James Madison with him. Lynch, however, was a perfect fit to stay on coaching the cornerbacks because of the history the two share.
Lynch got into coaching as an assistant to Houston when the latter was the defensive coordinator at Lenoir-Rhyne, then the next year remained on staff when Houston was elevated to head coach.
Now, eight years later, the two have been reunited, and ECU looks to be the beneficiary.
"The transition has been really good, and I say that because Coach Houston was the one who afforded my family and me to get into this business, so 80 percent of my base comes from him," said Lynch, who graduated from Middle Tennessee State in 2006 and has championship rings with the Indianapolis Colts from the NFL and the Saskatchewan Roughriders from the CFL. "And I know that some of those roots came from (defensive coordinator Bob Trott), so personally, from a growth mindset, it's been absolutely phenomenal."
Although the basic alignment for ECU's defense hasn't changed from a 4-2-5, the coaching staff has said several times that there is an "all-new defensive scheme." Houston has a defensive background, and his philosophy will be evident when the Pirates take the field.
"I would say it's a combination of terminology and way of attacking as far as our fundamentals, scheme and mindset are concerned," Lynch said. "The four things that we're really going to work to be great at are our stance, alignment, key and first step. Those are things that when we bring athletes in, those are the first things that we're going to work to be great at."
Lynch never has worked directly with Trott, but he relishes the opportunity do so now. The comfort level among the coaches already is high. He echoes what Houston says as far as terminology and mindset, and also pays close attention to how Trott wants the defensive scheme carried out.
"As an intentional learner, you always get excited to see different ways to do it, so being in a room with professionals who have different ways that have proven to be successful is exciting," Lynch said.
The secondary has played well in workouts this spring. In the first scrimmage on Bagwell Field inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on March 30, Michael Witherspoon had four pass breakups, Colby Gore and Damel Hickman had a pair of tackles each, and Juan Powell had a fumble recovery.
A week later in the second scrimmage, the defense came up with four turnovers, including a trio of interceptions. Freshman Ja'Quan McMillian had four tackles from his cornerback position.
Those are encouraging signs from a unit that in 2018 forced just 11 turnovers, with only five of those being picks.
"We have a lot of speed, length and athleticism," Lynch said. "You look at the returners, Colby Gore and Michael Witherspoon as well as Damel Hickman, all of those guys have length, all of them have speed and athleticism. And when you bring in the two young guys who have enrolled mid-year, Juan Powell and Ja'Quan McMillan, you have two other guys who are more than capable of going out and executing."
There are two more practices left in the spring, which includes the Purple-Gold Game on Saturday. Lynch, who has been getting the players to buy in on what he called the six words — the team, the team, the team — is ready to see the Pirates perform on the big stage in front of a crowd for a change.
"It's going to be great just to see the kids out here competing," he said. "We're looking to see exactly what we have. I know Coach Houston and Coach Trott have been talking a lot about, 'Can our guys be trustworthy to their teammates?' So we're really looking forward to our guys showing great intensity and great energy out there."
Great intensity and great energy were on display toward the end of Wednesday morning's practice, the 13th of the spring. After getting started in the Cliff Moore Practice facility, ECU finished in the stadium with a crowd of dignitaries and media on hand ahead of a brief ceremony to announce the $3 million naming rights of the south tower as TowneBank Tower.
"That was maybe our best practice of the year," Houston said. "We had great energy today and really competed at a high level. Both sides of the ball made significant strides from what we saw (in the scrimmage last Saturday). And I really like the way we competed in the last half of practice when we had our red zone portion of practice and our two-minute drill with both the first and the second unit. It was a great way to end practice, and as we look toward the weekend, you can feel more excitement around here."
He added that he's looking forward to participating in all the festivities this weekend, including the Pigskin Pig-Out and visiting with football alumni and fans. He also wants to see his players end the spring on a positive note because that's part of the learning process.
"We've got to have that kind of intensity and that kind of energy every single snap of that ball," he said. "That's the way you play at a higher level. We're trying to teach our young team how to play at a higher level, and they've got to understand that's an integral part."
- Joe Corley
ECU'S 2019 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Next Workout: Friday, April 12 (8-9:45 a.m.)
Remaining Workouts: April 13 (Purple-Gold Game, 1:30 p.m.)
When head Coach Mike Houston took over the Pirates' program, he brought most of his staff from James Madison with him. Lynch, however, was a perfect fit to stay on coaching the cornerbacks because of the history the two share.
Lynch got into coaching as an assistant to Houston when the latter was the defensive coordinator at Lenoir-Rhyne, then the next year remained on staff when Houston was elevated to head coach.
Now, eight years later, the two have been reunited, and ECU looks to be the beneficiary.
"The transition has been really good, and I say that because Coach Houston was the one who afforded my family and me to get into this business, so 80 percent of my base comes from him," said Lynch, who graduated from Middle Tennessee State in 2006 and has championship rings with the Indianapolis Colts from the NFL and the Saskatchewan Roughriders from the CFL. "And I know that some of those roots came from (defensive coordinator Bob Trott), so personally, from a growth mindset, it's been absolutely phenomenal."
Although the basic alignment for ECU's defense hasn't changed from a 4-2-5, the coaching staff has said several times that there is an "all-new defensive scheme." Houston has a defensive background, and his philosophy will be evident when the Pirates take the field.
"I would say it's a combination of terminology and way of attacking as far as our fundamentals, scheme and mindset are concerned," Lynch said. "The four things that we're really going to work to be great at are our stance, alignment, key and first step. Those are things that when we bring athletes in, those are the first things that we're going to work to be great at."
Lynch never has worked directly with Trott, but he relishes the opportunity do so now. The comfort level among the coaches already is high. He echoes what Houston says as far as terminology and mindset, and also pays close attention to how Trott wants the defensive scheme carried out.
"As an intentional learner, you always get excited to see different ways to do it, so being in a room with professionals who have different ways that have proven to be successful is exciting," Lynch said.
The secondary has played well in workouts this spring. In the first scrimmage on Bagwell Field inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on March 30, Michael Witherspoon had four pass breakups, Colby Gore and Damel Hickman had a pair of tackles each, and Juan Powell had a fumble recovery.
A week later in the second scrimmage, the defense came up with four turnovers, including a trio of interceptions. Freshman Ja'Quan McMillian had four tackles from his cornerback position.
Those are encouraging signs from a unit that in 2018 forced just 11 turnovers, with only five of those being picks.
"We have a lot of speed, length and athleticism," Lynch said. "You look at the returners, Colby Gore and Michael Witherspoon as well as Damel Hickman, all of those guys have length, all of them have speed and athleticism. And when you bring in the two young guys who have enrolled mid-year, Juan Powell and Ja'Quan McMillan, you have two other guys who are more than capable of going out and executing."
There are two more practices left in the spring, which includes the Purple-Gold Game on Saturday. Lynch, who has been getting the players to buy in on what he called the six words — the team, the team, the team — is ready to see the Pirates perform on the big stage in front of a crowd for a change.
"It's going to be great just to see the kids out here competing," he said. "We're looking to see exactly what we have. I know Coach Houston and Coach Trott have been talking a lot about, 'Can our guys be trustworthy to their teammates?' So we're really looking forward to our guys showing great intensity and great energy out there."
Great intensity and great energy were on display toward the end of Wednesday morning's practice, the 13th of the spring. After getting started in the Cliff Moore Practice facility, ECU finished in the stadium with a crowd of dignitaries and media on hand ahead of a brief ceremony to announce the $3 million naming rights of the south tower as TowneBank Tower.
"That was maybe our best practice of the year," Houston said. "We had great energy today and really competed at a high level. Both sides of the ball made significant strides from what we saw (in the scrimmage last Saturday). And I really like the way we competed in the last half of practice when we had our red zone portion of practice and our two-minute drill with both the first and the second unit. It was a great way to end practice, and as we look toward the weekend, you can feel more excitement around here."
He added that he's looking forward to participating in all the festivities this weekend, including the Pigskin Pig-Out and visiting with football alumni and fans. He also wants to see his players end the spring on a positive note because that's part of the learning process.
"We've got to have that kind of intensity and that kind of energy every single snap of that ball," he said. "That's the way you play at a higher level. We're trying to teach our young team how to play at a higher level, and they've got to understand that's an integral part."
- Joe Corley
ECU'S 2019 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Next Workout: Friday, April 12 (8-9:45 a.m.)
Remaining Workouts: April 13 (Purple-Gold Game, 1:30 p.m.)
Players Mentioned
Defensive Back
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Defensive Back
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Defensive Back
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Defensive Back
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Defensive Back
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