List of East Carolina Pirates head football coaches

The 20th head football coach at East Carolina University, Ruffin McNeill

There have been 22 head coaches for the East Carolina Pirates. East Carolina started organized football with the nickname Teachers, in 1932.[1] The school changed the nickname to the Pirates on February 26, 1934.[2]

East Carolina has played in more than 800 games in a total of 84 seasons, 42 of which are in Division I-A.[3][4] In those games, seven coaches have brought the Pirates to bowl games: Jack Boone in 1952 and 1954, Clarence Stasavich in 1963, 1964 and 1965, Pat Dye in 1978, Bill Lewis in 1991, Steve Logan in 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2001, Skip Holtz in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, and Ruffin McNeill in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Five coaches have won conference championships with the Pirates: Jack Boone in 1953, Clarence Stasavich in 1966, Sonny Randle in 1972 and 1973, Pat Dye in 1976, and Skip Holtz in 2008 and 2009. Steve Logan is the all-time leader in games coached, years coached, and wins, while John Christenbury leads all coaches in winning percentage with 0.867. O. A. Hankner is statistically the worst coach the Pirates have had in terms of winning percentage, with .000.

Of the 22 Pirate coaches, Mike McGee and Pat Dye have been inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame. Two coaches, Clarence Stasavich and Bill Lewis, have received National Coach of the Year honors. Three former players have been head coach for the Pirates: Jim Johnson, Ed Emory and Ruffin McNeill. In addition, former players have become Pirate assistant coaches, such as Junior Smith and Paul Troth.[5][6] The current coach is Mike Houston. Statistics correct as of December 3, 2021, after the end of the 2021–22 college football season. East Carolina changed from East Carolina Teachers College to East Carolina College in 1951 and to East Carolina University in 1967.

Key

  ^ Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
  * Spent entire professional head coaching career with Pirates

# Number of coaches[7]
GC Games Coached
W Wins
L Loses
T Ties
W–L % Win–loss percentage

Coaches

Former coach, Steve Logan
# Name Term Regular season Post-season Awards
GC W L T W–L % GC W L
East Carolina Teachers College Teachers
1 Kenneth Beatty* 1932–1933 11 1 10 0 0.091 – – – –
East Carolina Teachers College Pirates
2 G.L. "Doc" Mathis* 1934–1935 12 4 7 1 0.375 – – – –
3 Bo Farley* 1936 5 3 2 0 0.600 – – – –
4 J. D. Alexander 1937–1938 15 3 11 1 0.233 – – – –
5 O. A. Hankner* 1939 8 0 8 0 0.000 – – – –
6 John Christenbury* 1940–1941 15 12 3 0 0.800 – – – –
7 Jim Johnson* 1946–1948 27 8 18 1 0.315 – – – –
East Carolina College Pirates
8 Bill Dole 1949–1951 30 15 14 1 0.517 – – – –
9 Jack Boone* 1952–1961 97 49 43 5 0.520 2 0 2 –
East Carolina University Pirates
10 Clarence Stasavich 1962–1969 75 47 27 1 0.647 3 3 0 1964 NAIA Coach of the Year[8]
11 Mike McGee^[9] 1970 11 3 8 0 0.273 – – – –
12 Sonny Randle 1971–1973 32 22 10 0 0.688 – – – 1972 Southern Conference Media Coach-of-the-Year[10]
1973 Southern Conference Media Coach-of-the-Year[10]
13 Pat Dye^[11] 1974–1979 66 47 18 1 0.724 1 1 0 –
14 Ed Emory* 1980–1984 55 26 29 0 0.473 – – – –
15 Art Baker 1985–1988 44 13 31 0 0.295 – – – –
16 Bill Lewis 1989–1991 33 21 12 0 0.647 1 1 0 1991 National Coach-of-the-Year[12]
17 Steve Logan* 1992–2002 122 67 55 0 0.543 5 2 3 –
18 John Thompson* 2003–2004 23 3 20 0 0.130 – – – –
19 Skip Holtz 2005–2009 61 37 24 0 0.607 4 1 3 –
20 Ruffin McNeill 2010–2015 59 35 24 0 0.593 3 1 2 –
21 Scottie Montgomery 2016–2018 35 9 26 0 0.257 – – – –
David Blackwell† 2018 1 0 1 0 0.00 – – – –
22 Mike Houston 2019–2024 58 24 34 0 .414 1 1 – –

References

General
  • "East Carolina Coaching Records". East Carolina History. College Football Data Warehouse. 2008. Archived from the original on April 21, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  • "Football". Sports. East Carolina Official Athletic Site. 2008. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2008.

† The defensive coordinator appointed interim football coach to finish out 2018 year.

Specific
  1. ^ "1932". 1930's Football. Joyner Library, East Carolina University. August 30, 2005. Archived from the original on September 4, 2008. Retrieved April 17, 2008.
  2. ^ Staino, Patricia (November 2003). "The East Carolina story". Metro Signature Section. Archived from the original on October 24, 2006. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  3. ^ Before 1973, Division 1 was referred to as NCAA University Division (Major College) From 1973 to 1977, this division was refer to as NCAA Division I. From 1978 to 2006, this division is referred to as NCAA Division I-A. 2006, the NCAA changed the name from Division I to Football Bowl Subdivision.
  4. ^ "Football Classifications". East Carolina Pirates. College Football Data Warehouse. 2008. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved April 17, 2008.
  5. ^ "Purple pedigree runs deep in newest Holtz aide". Bonesville.net. 2004. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  6. ^ "Paul Troth Named To East Carolina Football Staff". Sports. WITN. Retrieved April 14, 2008. [dead link]
  7. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Pirates.
  8. ^ "College Division: 1960-1982". AFCA Coach of the Year Award - Past Winners. American Football Coaches Association. 2006. Archived from the original on January 2, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  9. ^ Mike McGee at the College Football Hall of Fame
  10. ^ a b "Media Coach of the Year" (PDF). Annual Individual Awards. Southern Conference. 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  11. ^ Pat Dye at the College Football Hall of Fame
  12. ^ "Football Bowl Subdivision". AFCA Coach of the Year Award - Past Winners. American Football Coaches Association. 2006. Archived from the original on January 2, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2008.