ECU Mourns The Passing Of Former Football Coach Dale Steele
July 21, 2026 | Football, General
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Dale Steele, who served as an assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and an administrator with the East Carolina football program, passed away on Sunday, July 19 at the age of 70. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, August 1 at 1 p.m. (ET) inside Butler Chapel on the Campbell University campus.
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He is survived by his wife Pam of 52 years, daughters Meghan Penny and her husband, Ben of Coats; Kelsey Hearrell and her husband Tony of Brigham City, Utah, and his precious granddaughters, Emery Penny and Fenley Hearrell; his mother, Margaret Steele of Little River, S.C.; his brothers Kevin Steele and wife Linda of Edisto Island, S.C. and Jeffrey Steele of Auburn, Ala.; his nephew, Gordon Steele, his wife Melissa and their children of Birmingham, Ala.; his niece, Caroline Steele of Auburn, Ala.; and his beloved fur babies, Chess and Finnegan.
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Steele, who spent nearly 15 years with the Pirate program, came to Greenville in 1989 where he served as a wide receivers coach for five years until his promotion to assistant head coach under ECU Hall of Famer skipper Steve Logan. In 1991, he added the title as recruiting coordinator while still working with the receivers helping ECU to a 37-34 win over NC State in the 1992 Peach Bowl.
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The Alabama native returned to East Carolina in 2013, serving three years as the director of football administration under another ECU Hall of Famer in Ruffin McNeill. He oversaw on-campus recruiting and program marketing, as well as being the liaison with the department's compliance and student development divisions.
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In 2018, Steele came back to Greenville under head coach Mike Houston where he was named the director of football administration, working with the program before his retirement in 2022. Under Houston, he once again oversaw all logistics for the Pirates, which included a 53-29 win over Coastal Carolina in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl.
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Inducted into the Campbell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025, Steele was named Campbell's first head coach of its modern era on June 15, 2006, of a program that had been dormant since 1950. Steele built the coaching staff and oversaw Campbell's first six recruiting classes on the NCAA Division I level.
Under Steele's guidance, the Camels produced 33 All-Pioneer Football League performers from 2008-12 and 192 PFL Academic Honor Roll members. The team led the PFL – and ranked among the nation's Top 20 programs – in rushing for three-straight years from 2009-11. In 2011, Campbell won five consecutive games and finished with the program's first overall (6-5) and conference (5-3) winning records.
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The son of a high school coach and a 1976 graduate of the University of South Carolina, where he played on both the offensive and defensive line, Steele began a collegiate coaching career that lasted more than 45 years in 1977 as a graduate assistant at Ball State. Among the many accomplishments his teams produced were five bowl games – including four during three stints on the staff at East Carolina, as well as back-to-back NCAA FCS national championships in 2016 and 2017 while serving as Director of Football Administration at James Madison.
In November 2025, Steele was presented with the Orange Tie Award at the 2025 Orange Tie Gala after establishing the Steele Family endowed scholarship.
A 35-year member of the American Football Coaches Association, Steele served as FCS representative on the NCAA Football Issues Committee, as well as a voting member on the FCS Coaches Poll and All-America selection committee.
Following retirement, Steele remained involved in college football as an advisory and team host for the Myrtle Beach Bowl and has remained present in Campbell Athletics in an unofficial capacity, connecting the entirety of the Camels' modern era of football while continuing to serve the program's coaches, student-athletes, administrators and alumni.
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He is survived by his wife Pam of 52 years, daughters Meghan Penny and her husband, Ben of Coats; Kelsey Hearrell and her husband Tony of Brigham City, Utah, and his precious granddaughters, Emery Penny and Fenley Hearrell; his mother, Margaret Steele of Little River, S.C.; his brothers Kevin Steele and wife Linda of Edisto Island, S.C. and Jeffrey Steele of Auburn, Ala.; his nephew, Gordon Steele, his wife Melissa and their children of Birmingham, Ala.; his niece, Caroline Steele of Auburn, Ala.; and his beloved fur babies, Chess and Finnegan.
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Steele, who spent nearly 15 years with the Pirate program, came to Greenville in 1989 where he served as a wide receivers coach for five years until his promotion to assistant head coach under ECU Hall of Famer skipper Steve Logan. In 1991, he added the title as recruiting coordinator while still working with the receivers helping ECU to a 37-34 win over NC State in the 1992 Peach Bowl.
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The Alabama native returned to East Carolina in 2013, serving three years as the director of football administration under another ECU Hall of Famer in Ruffin McNeill. He oversaw on-campus recruiting and program marketing, as well as being the liaison with the department's compliance and student development divisions.
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In 2018, Steele came back to Greenville under head coach Mike Houston where he was named the director of football administration, working with the program before his retirement in 2022. Under Houston, he once again oversaw all logistics for the Pirates, which included a 53-29 win over Coastal Carolina in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl.
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Inducted into the Campbell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025, Steele was named Campbell's first head coach of its modern era on June 15, 2006, of a program that had been dormant since 1950. Steele built the coaching staff and oversaw Campbell's first six recruiting classes on the NCAA Division I level.
Under Steele's guidance, the Camels produced 33 All-Pioneer Football League performers from 2008-12 and 192 PFL Academic Honor Roll members. The team led the PFL – and ranked among the nation's Top 20 programs – in rushing for three-straight years from 2009-11. In 2011, Campbell won five consecutive games and finished with the program's first overall (6-5) and conference (5-3) winning records.
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The son of a high school coach and a 1976 graduate of the University of South Carolina, where he played on both the offensive and defensive line, Steele began a collegiate coaching career that lasted more than 45 years in 1977 as a graduate assistant at Ball State. Among the many accomplishments his teams produced were five bowl games – including four during three stints on the staff at East Carolina, as well as back-to-back NCAA FCS national championships in 2016 and 2017 while serving as Director of Football Administration at James Madison.
In November 2025, Steele was presented with the Orange Tie Award at the 2025 Orange Tie Gala after establishing the Steele Family endowed scholarship.
A 35-year member of the American Football Coaches Association, Steele served as FCS representative on the NCAA Football Issues Committee, as well as a voting member on the FCS Coaches Poll and All-America selection committee.
Following retirement, Steele remained involved in college football as an advisory and team host for the Myrtle Beach Bowl and has remained present in Campbell Athletics in an unofficial capacity, connecting the entirety of the Camels' modern era of football while continuing to serve the program's coaches, student-athletes, administrators and alumni.
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