GREENVILLE — In his first two years with the East Carolina football team head coach Ruffin McNeill has yet to piece together a winning season but that skid may come to an end sooner rather than later thanks to what appears to be a top-notch recruiting class.
In his first year with his alma-matter McNeill went 6-7 and lost to Maryland in the Military Bowl. Last season the Pirates finished 5-7 (3-3 Conference USA) and saw their streak of five-straight bowl games come to an end.
Heading into his third season with an 11-14 career record at ECU, McNeill needs to put together a winning season and appears to be on the right track as he approaches Wednesday’s National Signing Day.
“On paper this is the best recruiting class in the history of East Carolina since we’ve been keeping up with them,” said Mark Lindsay of Rivals.com and Pirateillustrated.com. “Right now they’re ranked third in Conference USA (behind USM and UCF) and are sitting on a school record 12 three-star recruits.”
East Carolina has an estimated 20-22 scholarships to hand out his year and has already signed a pair of three-star junior college defensive backs from Hinds C.C. (Mississippi) in CB Adonis Armstrong (5-10, 180) and S Godfrey Thompson (6-0, 205) and have received commitments from 16 others, according to Lindsay.
After finishing the season ranked 92nd in the nation in sacks allowed (2.5 per game) the Pirates put a premium on offensive linemen where their five commitments ties defense back for most of any position.
DeShawn Byrd, a 6-6, 315 pound junior college tackle out of Grand Rapids C.C., and Jonathan McLaughlin, a 6-4, 288-pounder from Mauldin, S.C., highlight this year’s crop of offensive linemen as both received three stars from Rivals.com.
Of all the recruits Lucas Thompson, a 6-1, 185-pound safety from Winter Garden, Fl., is the most prolific as he is rated the 17th best at his position by Rivals.com.
“The biggest surprise would probably be Lucas Thompson,” Lindsay said. “He made his decision during the Under Armour All-American game in St. Petersburg and he committed on the fifth on January. He chose East Carolina over schools like Alabama and Cincinnati.”
After Thompson, fellow safety Jabril Solomon is the second highest rated recruit as Rivals.com has him listed as the 26th best safety in the nation. The Hemingway, S.C. native is 6-2, 178 pounds and runs a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash.
According to Lindsay, the Pirates also have received commitments from a total of three linebackers, two wide receivers, one defensive lineman and two players that are listed as athletes.
As with every year, there are always some players that get away and this year one of the main targets that fell of the hook was quarterback Kanler Coker from Flowery Branch, Ga.
“The one that ECU lost was Kanler Coker. He decommitted and went to North Carolina,” Lindsay said.
Though ECU will be without graduated star quarterback Dominique Davis next season it will have Rio Johnson, Shane Carden, Brad Wornick and Cody Keith all vying to pilot the Pirates’ Air Raid offense. Johnson, a rising junior, was the No. 2 QB on the depth chart this season.
With an estimated 2-4 scholarships left to be offered, Lindsay said there are still some big fish to be had.
“They need a running back. They’re looking at Jela Duncan out of Charlotte who is a very good one and he’s down to East Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest,” Lindsay said. “They’re also hoping to get Jamal Marcus out of Durham Hillside and it’s down to East Carolina, Duke, Wake and North Carolina and he has a lot more offers than that.
“Those are two of the biggest ones you hope to get close to signing day or on signing day. Those would be the icing on the cake.”