Donnie Kirkpatrick - Football Coach - East Carolina University Athletics

Donnie Kirkpatrick

Title:
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Email:
kirkpatrickd18@ecu.edu
Phone:
(252) 737-4570

Follow @CoachDonnieK

Rejoined the Pirates’ staff as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Dec. 7, 2018 …
Owns 39 years of collegiate coaching experience, 10 as a coordinator …
During his 15 overall years on the ECU staff (2005-15, 2019-22), has been an integral part of offensive units that have posted seven (7) of the Top 10 scoring averages in program history (2013/40.2, 2010/36.8, 2014/35.8, 2022/32.5, 2012/31.5, 2007/31.0, 2020/30.2) and helped the Pirates earn bowl eligibility status on 10 occasions...
Orchestrated an offensive unit that tallied 461.1 yards of total offense the fifth-highest average in program history and stood 23rd nationally …
Pirates stood among the nation’s Top 25 in fumbles lost (first/2), turnovers lost (first/7), pass offense (16th/290.5), third down percentage (17th/46.4) and pass efficiency (28th/149.29) …
Mentored a pair of All-AAC selections in Keaton Mitchell (first-team) and C.J. Johnson (third-team) as well as Isaiah Winstead (honorable mention) …
Senior Holton Ahlers left the program having set 10 ECU, six American and two Birmingham Bowl records …
Four individuals ranked among the NCAA FBS Top 25 leaders in Ahlers (10th in passing yards, 13th in completions per game, 14th in passing yards per game, 15th in completion percentage, 16th in passing touchdowns, 16th in points responsible for, 16th in total offense, 22nd in points responsible for per game), C.J. Johnson (13th in receiving touchdowns), Mitchell (second in rush yards per carry, 8th in all-purpose yards, 10th in rushing yards per game, 12th in rushing yards, 15th in total touchdowns, 16th in rushing touchdowns) and Winstead (eight in receptions per game, 18th in receiving yards) …
ECU’s offense registered 400-plus yards of offense in 10 of 13 contests (500 or more on four occasions) …
Mitchell rushed for 1,452 yards marking the second-straight 1K-plus campaign of his career … Registered nine 100-plus rushing efforts in 2022 including a program record seven consecutive to close out the season … Finished his career with 15 total 100-plus yard games standing second all-time at ECU …
The Pirate offense turned the ball over just seven times on the year (fewest in the nation) and did not have a turnover in nine of 13 contests including seven-straight to end the season …
Directed a ground attack in 2021 that racked up 1,949 yards - the program's sixth-highest total since 2000 (and most since 2014) after coordinating a unit in 2020 that averaged 173.8 rushing yards per game, the Pirates' highest clip since 2007 ...
The 2021 Pirates ranked among the nation's Top 25 in two team offensive categories - fourth-down percentage (9th/72.2) and pass yards per game (24th/270.8) - and in three individual listings (RB Keaton Mitchell 9th/rush yards per carry, QB Holton Ahlers 19th/pass yards per game and 21st/completions per game) ...
In all, ECU eclipsed the 400-yard total offense mark in six (of 12) contests in 2021, which included four games of 500+ and one 600+ performance (612 vs. Tulane) ...
Had two players earn '21 All-American Athletic Conference honors, including first-team selection Mitchell and second-team choice WR Tyler Snead ...
The running back tandem of Mitchell (four) and Rahjai Harris (one) collectively turned in five 100-yard rushing outings in 2021 for the second-straight year ...
In addition to logging 1,132 yards in 2021 to become the Pirates' first single-season 1K rusher since 2013, Mitchell also racked up a team-best 20+ yards on 12 carries (five surpassing 50+) and turned in a 222-yard effort vs. Tulane - the most by an ECU running back since Chris Johnson booked 223 against Boise State in the 2007 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl ...
Reintroduced significant tight end production into East Carolina's offense as Ryan Jones' five TD receptions marked the most by a Pirate TE in a single-season since 1990 ... Also, Jones (102 vs. Temple) and Shane Calhoun (114 vs. Marshall) became the first pair of ECU tight ends to post single-game triple-digit receiving totals, also since 1990 ...
Closed '20 campaign averaging 40.0 points, 212.5 rushing yards and 470.0 total yards in ECU's last pair of contests which resulted in a two-game American Athletic Conference win streak - the Pirates' first since 2015 ...
Then-freshmen Harris (3) and Mitchell (2) combined for five 100-yard rushing outings in 2020, the most century-mark ground efforts at East Carolina since 2012 ... Harris went on to become the first Pirate to earn AAC Rookie-of-the-Year honors ...
Ahlers ranked 25th nationally (FBS) in passing TDs (18) and receiver C.J. Johnson stood 6th in yards per reception (21.3) in '20...
In his first year back in Greenville (2019), helped East Carolina eclipse the 400-yard mark on six occasions (500+ four times) with a balanced unit that stood 22nd nationally in passing yards per game (288.8 ypg) and turned in its highest rushing total (1,696 yards) since 2014 ...
Directly tutored Ahlers, who finished sophomore season with national statistical ranks of 9th (total offense), 12th (passing yards per game), 17th (completions per game) and 21st (total passing yards) ...
Unit turned in 73 "big plays" (20+ yards), the second-highest single-season total in program history (93/2014) ...
Responsible for four individual single-game records in 2019, three by Ahlers (556 total yards vs. Cincinnati, 535 pass yards vs. Cincinnati, 6 pass TDs vs. SMU) and one by WR C.J. Johnson (283 reception yards vs. Cincinnati) ...
Emphasis on ball security resulted in only 17 turnovers, the third-fewest by a Pirate offense since 2000 ...
After spending 11 earlier years on the ECU staff (2005-15), served as James Madison's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2016, 2017 and 2018 …
Directed a unit that collectively, over a three-year span, ranked among the FCS’s Top 10 in completion percentage (3rd/67.4), rushing TDs (4th/108), points per game (4th/38.5), pass efficiency (6th/152.9), rushing yards (6th/9,422), 3rd down percentage, (9th/45.1) and total offense (10th/446.2) …
Tutored All-CAA selections at quarterback each season, including 2016 league offensive player-of-the-year Brian Schor (led FCS in completion percentage and pass efficiency) …
In 2018, led a unit that averaged 406.9 yards per game and ranked nationally (Top 20) in four stat categories - completion percentage (2nd/67.4 pct.), first down offense (8th/279 yards), third down percentage (13th/45.6 pct.) and scoring offense (18th/33.9 ppg) …
JMU’s offense stood among the Top 15 in three categories during the 2017 campaign, rating third in first downs (325), ninth in completion percentage (64.9 pct.) and 15th in scoring offense (34.4) …
Orchestrated a record-breaking campaign in ‘16, establishing new CAA standards in points (700), rush yards (4,125), total offense (7,612) and first downs (380), while ranking first at the FCS level in completion percentage (70.8), team pass efficiency (181.69) and first downs …
Additionally, on the ground, the Dukes produced 18 100-yard rushing performances, including a team-best 11 from All-American running back Khalid Abdullah …
Played key role in the Pirates’ success that included consecutive C-USA titles (2008-09) and eight bowl appearances as receivers coach and recruiting coordinator under Skip Holtz (2005-09) and Ruffin McNeill (2010-15) …
Produced six first team all-league (C-USA, AAC)
receivers, an All-America selection, a league MVP, a FBS career record-holder and three NFL Draft picks while at ECU …
Had a direct impact on the Pirates’ top four receivers (career receptions & yardage records) in school history - Trevon Brown (2014-15/first two seasons), Justin Hardy (2011-14), Dwayne Harris (2007-10) and Zay Jones (2013-15/first three seasons) …
Harris (6th round/Cowboys), Hardy (4th/Falcons), Jones (2nd/Bills), along with Aundrae Allison (5th/ Vikings/2007) were all ECU receivers who were selected in the NFL Draft …
Prior to serving as receivers coach at Western Carolina (2003-04), was head coach at Southern Conference member Chattanooga for three years (2000-02) …
Orchestrated one of the top aerial attacks in Southern Conference history as UTC head coach, ranking first in passing offense (339.1) and total offense (453.5) in 2000 …
Also spent time on the Appalachian State (1984-88), South Carolina (1989-92), Eastern Michigan (1993- 94) and Louisville (1995-97) staffs as an assistant before initially joining the UTC football program as offensive coordinator in 1998 ...
Worked with and developed quarterbacks Chris Redman (Louisville) and Charlie Batch (Eastern Michigan), who both would go on to be early selections in the NFL Draft …
Earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Lenoir-Rhyne in 1982 before receiving a master’s in secondary education from Appalachian State in 1984 …
Married to the former Misty McReery and the couple have two children - Molly and Davis (who was a four-year letterman as a pitcher at ECU) ...
Age 64 (October 24).