An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

Pirate Nation,

Can you believe it? We are scheduled to have football on Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

It has been an adventurous road to get to this point, but it's a credit to our student-athletes, coaches, and staff. They made a commitment to protecting each other, following all our safety protocols and we are looking forward to watching them compete against Central Florida.

I want to update you on a couple items as we head into the weekend.

Social Justice Patch
The NCAA announced in July that student-athletes in all sports will be permitted to wear patches on their uniforms or a helmet sticker to support social justice issues. All team members are not required to wear a patch, but all participants must wear identical patches. The patch must not exceed 2 ¼ square inches and must be placed on the front or sleeve of the uniform.

Our football student-athletes, led by the program's Leadership Council, met regularly during preseason camp to share different ideas about a uniform patch and had conversations about a unified message. This was a deliberate process with the goal to be a part of meaningful change and use their platform to be voices for unity. The group decided on joined black and white hands with the words Be The Change and Black Lives Matter. The intent is not to make a political statement. It's an ethical statement of support.

This experience over the past couple months was more important than any football game for these young men. They learned more about each other as people and understand the differences of background and socioeconomic status of their teammates.

We are fortunate to have a group of student-athletes who want to be leaders for change, and I commend them for their leadership. Personally, I have done a lot of listening over the past five months, hearing stories from our student-athletes and staff, and helping them navigate these unprecedented times.

The support our department receives from this community and region is well-documented and we will never take that for granted. It's what makes Pirate Nation special.

The student-athletes did a video to explain their intent of the patch and what it stands for before Saturday's season-opener. You can find it below and on ECU Football's Twitter.

Capacity increasing in October
We are pleased to have the families of our student-athletes in attendance for Saturday's football game against UCF. Nothing compares to having all of Pirate Nation in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium to cheer on the Pirates, but we understand the capacity restrictions. We are excited about the announcement on Tuesday from Governor Cooper that our capacity can increase to seven percent for our home game against Navy on October 17. This is welcomed news and we will implement numerous safety protocols and measures to protect all spectators who attend the game.

Our staff is working on a detailed plan to put as many fans as possible in the stadium. All seats will be assigned based off priority and we will have a select number of tickets for our students. More information will be forthcoming from the Pirate Club and the Ticketing Department.

Saturday's game will include only immediate families of student-athletes, essential game management and broadcast personnel, and a limited number of media members. Parking lots operated by the University and used by fans on gameday will be closed.

20-game basketball schedule
I have been involved in numerous meetings with AAC Athletic Directors and Commissioner Mike Aresco over the past month concerning 2020-21 men's and women's basketball schedules. On the men's side, we are looking at a proposed 20-game conference schedule with a maximum of 27 regular season games. Our men's team is expected to play three games in a multiple-team event and we will most likely play four non-conference games in December. We are likely to have at least two conference games in December as well. On the women's side, we are also discussing a 20-game conference schedule. The women will play 25 regular season games and are not scheduled to participate in a multiple-team event.

When both schedules are finalized, we will send out season-ticket information.

Radio/TV Shows
Don't forget to tune into WNCT/ENCT (Greenville) at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday for the Mike Houston Television Show with Brian Bailey. It's a great opportunity to recap the action and look ahead to the following week. The Mike Houston Radio Show airs each Monday from 6-7 p.m. on The Game 94.3 FM and live on ECU Athletics Facebook page. Unfortunately, we are having to do the radio show in a private setting due to the ongoing pandemic, but the goal is to return to Logan's Roadhouse in the future.

Virtual Ticket
Make sure to check out the ECU Virtual Ticket on Saturday. It's a great opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Pirate IMG Sports Network production as Jeff Charles, Kevin Monroe and Marty Feurer call the action. The stream is available via the ECU Athletics Facebook page.

Wishing Vickie Matthews a Happy Retirement
Please join me in celebrating long-time ECU Athletics employee Vickie Matthews on her pending retirement. Vickie has played an important role in the athletic director's office and has been a huge help for me and my predecessors. After more than 15 years working in the athletics department, Vickie will be retiring at the end of the September. We wish her well and know she will be missed.

Thanks again for your continued support of our student-athletes, coaches and staff.

Go Pirates –

Jon

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