ECU And Harrell Agree To Restructured Contract

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina University's Board of Trustees approved a restructured contract on Friday for head football coach Blake Harrell. Harrell has led the Pirates to consecutive Military Bowl victories and a 14-5 overall record since October 20, 2024.

Harrell, who is in his seventh overall season at East Carolina, was officially named the 23rd head football coach on Nov. 27, 2024. The program's interim head coach (Oct. 20-Nov. 26, 2024) and the squad's defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach since his initial hire in January of 2020, Harrell led the Pirates to a 9-4 ledger (6-2 American) in 2025 and a share for fourth place in league play.

"Blake has done an outstanding job leading our football program, highlighted by back-to-back bowl wins and our most conference wins since joining the American," ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert said. "Despite the constant change in collegiate athletics, Blake has built a unique culture and belief that permeates throughout the entire program. Investing in our football program is essential to the success of our entire athletics department and the commitment and loyalty from our supporters allows us to have the resources necessary to compete at a championship level."

The Pirates stood among the FBS leaders (Top 25) in 2025 in 15 statistical categories with his offense averaging 32.7 points per game while allowing 20.1, the fewest at East Carolina since 1999. Since taking over the program in 2024, 17 student-athletes have been earned All-American Conference accolades with four garnering first team honors.

Off the field, over 50 members from the 2024 squad earned American Conference All-Academic Team honors maintaining a 3.00 grade point average from fall of 2024 to spring of 2025. This past fall, the Pirates sported a 3.08 cumulative GPA achieving their best non-COVID fall semester GPA. Since the fall of 2024, ECU has posted a 2.80 semester GPA or better and has had over 200 players with a 3.0 semester GPA or higher including a program-best 81 last fall.

He has guided the Pirates to a 14-5 (.737) record in 19 games becoming the fastest head coach to 14 victories and quickest to 10 wins in conference play, while becoming the second coach in program history to win consecutive bowl games with a 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh at the 2025 Go Bowling Military Bowl, ECU's second-straight win over a Power 4 member in postseason. A year ago, he posted a 5-1 record over a six-game span which included a 26-21 come from behind victory over NC State in the 2024 Go Bowling Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md. on Dec. 28, 2024. The win was the first over a Power 4 team since 2018, when ECU topped North Carolina, 41-19. Following the Charlotte win, ECU secured bowl eligibility in consecutive years and for the fourth time in the last five campaigns (2021 Military, 2022 Birmingham, 2024 Military, 2025 Military).

As the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach, his unit in 2024 ranked among the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) leaders (Top 30) in six categories including defensive touchdowns (12th/3 scores), red zone defense (13th/0.745), team tackles for loss (14th/7.2 per game), passes intercepted (27th/14 interceptions), turnovers gained (27th/22 total) and opponent 4th down conversion percentage (29th/0.457).

In 2024, his defensive unit allowed 27.3 points per game while holding four opponents under 21 points in a contest. Safety Omar Rogers notched a team-best 104 tackles to lead the club becoming the first Pirate since linebackers Zeek Bigger and Brandon Williams to reach the century mark. Joining Rogers (third team) as an All-American Conference selection were LB Zakye Barker (second team) and DL J.D. Lampley (honorable mention).

A 2021 Broyles Award Nominee, Harrell has spearheaded a turnaround for a Pirate defensive unit that surrendered just 25.9 points per game from 2021-24 – East Carolina's best four-year total since 2012-15 (27.0 ppg). He has mentored 15 All-American Conference Team selections as well as 2022 All-American Ja'Quan McMillian and 2025 National Football League Third Round selection Shavon Revel by the Dallas Cowboys during his time in Greenville.

The North Carolina native has also had coaching stops at Western Carolina (2001-02), McDowell HS (2003), Fuquay-Varina HS (2004), Franklin HS (2005-06), Lenoir-Rhyne (2007-13), The Citadel (2014-18) and Kennesaw State (2019) before joining the Pirates program.

Players Mentioned

J.D. Lampley

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