An Update From East Carolina University's Athletic Director

From East Carolina University:

An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

December 6, 2019

Pirate Nation:

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. We appreciate all the fans that attended our football regular season finale and showed support for our seniors.

Progress was made under head coach Mike Houston that saw our team make noticeable gains throughout the year. We had several games that could have gone either way, but overall progress was made especially in terms of the culture being formed. I understand and share your frustration when the Pirates don't win. You decide every Saturday in the fall to spend your hard-earned income to support our football program. I get it. I'm not naïve to it. I am thankful for your continued support. We will get better.

The one point I emphasize to you is that our coaches, staff and student-athletes are committed to returning East Carolina football to its rightful place. Coach Houston and his staff are on the recruiting trail preparing for a signing class we will announce on December 18th.

We are quickly moving our focus to the 2020 campaign. Our 2020 home schedule features six games with five of our opponents playing in a bowl game later this month. The home slate includes Marshall and Norfolk State in non-conference action and conference games against Central Florida, Navy, SMU and Tulane. It's a competitive schedule and we need YOU in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

I'm pleased to announce that ticket prices for the 2020 football season will remain the same. No increase in prices. Our season ticket prices will remain below the AAC average and lower than programs throughout our region.

Our goal is to recruit new season-ticket holders and have a high renewal rate. It's imperative we increase our season-ticket number from a year ago. Our single-game ticket sales in 2019 were encouraging, but we need to have a strong season ticket base. We are blessed to have a unique venue in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and there's nothing like a fall Saturday in Greenville. Our staff is already looking for new ways to improve the fan experience and will be holding several town hall type meetings in the spring to hear from our supporters.

Season tickets for 2020 will go on sale December 18 at 9:00 a.m. and a new addition for 2020 will be a payment plan for up to eight months. We have heard from numerous Pirate fans that allowing more time to pay for their tickets would be a welcomed benefit. The plan is as follows:

• Order from Dec. 18-Jan. 10 for an 8-month payment plan
• Order from Jan. 11-Feb. 10 for a 7-month payment plan
• Order from Feb. 11-March 10 for a 6-month payment plan
• Order from March 11-April 10 for a 5-month payment plan
• Order from April 11-May 10 for a 4-month payment plan

We have a full menu of ticket options and worked to make it a quick process where you can select your seats and choose your payment plan. Season ticket renewals will be sent out to those who purchased tickets in 2019 by December 18.

In addition, any person that purchases a $99 season ticket and pays in full by January 10 will receive a 25 percent discount. The final cost will be $75 for one ticket for an entire season of football. It would make a great holiday gift for any Pirate fan.

Tickets can be renewed or purchased through the ECU ticket office by visiting ECUPirates.com or by calling 252-737-4500 or through e-mail at athletictickets@ecu.edu.

One of our goals for 2020 will also be adding to our Pirate Club membership. The Pirate Club is a great way to support our student-athletes and allows you to have additional benefits for our sporting events. You can visit ECUPirateClub.com for more information or call (252) 737-4540.

Phillip Wood steps down
Senior Associate AD/Pirate Club Executive Director Phillip Wood informed me last week he will be leaving the department at the end of December to pursue other opportunities. Phillip has served as the executive director of the East Carolina University Educational Foundation (Pirate Club) and senior associate director of athletics since July 2017.

We are grateful for Phillip's leadership, dedication and contributions to the Pirate Club, our athletics department and the university. As a member of the leadership team, Phillip has been a great resource for me this past year, has worked tirelessly to usher in TowneBank Tower from the ground up and has made real and measurable progress in so many different areas.

In his role, Phillip was responsible for all major gifts, which includes endowments, capital projects and premium seating. Among the major gifts completed under Phillip's leadership was a $3 million leadership gift from TowneBank for the TowneBank Tower naming rights and a $1 million leadership gift from Edwin and Ann Clark for the Trade Club within the TowneBank Tower. Phillip also served as a sport administrator for our men's and women's golf programs.

I have asked Executive Associate AD for External Relations Ryan Robinson to supervise the Pirate Club on an interim basis. Ryan will not be seeking the role on a permanent basis. We will begin a search immediately and will update you on our progress.

Plenty of hoops in December
I hope you have an opportunity to attend one of our five basketball games at Minges Coliseum this month. The men have four home games beginning on Saturday, December 14 against Campbell at 4 p.m. The women host Howard on Monday, December 16 at 7 p.m. Head coach Joe Dooley and the Pirates will also host Maryland-Eastern Shore (Dec. 18, 7 p.m.), Charlotte (Dec. 22, 4 p.m.) and Eastern Kentucky (Dec. 28, 4 p.m.) before the calendar turns to 2020.

Football Signing Day Celebration
Several exciting events are planned for National Signing Day on Wednesday, December 18, the day Pirate football prospects can sign national letters of intent.

We will produce a live Signing Day Show on ECUPirates.com that will feature interviews with Mike Houston, members of the coaching staff and video from the newly-signed Pirates. Several current football student-athletes will appear on the live stream as well.

Later that evening, Coach Houston will host a meet and greet with Pirate Club members to officially introduce the class to Pirate Fans during a "2020 Signing Day Celebration." We will have a Q&A session with attendees and hear Coach Houston's thoughts on his first season at the Pirates' helm. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in Harvey Hall. There is no admission charge, but fans planning to attend the event must register online at: https://ecupirateclub.com/sb_o... in order to establish an approximate headcount. The deadline to register is December 10. I was informed this morning we already have 150 registered so make sure you get signed up.

Save the Date
The 37th Annual Great Pirate Purple/Gold Pigskin Pig-Out Party has been set for April 17-18. We will have the annual ECU Purple-Gold Spring Football Game on Saturday. Details will be forthcoming in January, but we have several exciting changes from a year ago.

Academic honors for student-athletes
Several student-athletes were recently recognized by ECU Acting Provost Dr. Grant Hayes in the Provost's monthly newsletter for their academic success. Freshman swimmers Adela Vavrinova and Sara Niepelova were among 19 Foreign Language and Literatures students who were welcomed into their respective national honor roll societies. Adela and Sara were inducted into ECU's chapter of Delta Phi Alpha, the National German Honor Society.

The Miller School of Entrepreneurship in the College of Business became the second school in the state to establish Sigma Nu Tau, an entrepreneurship honor society. At the recent charter and induction ceremony, junior soccer student-athlete Melanie Stiles and senior football student-athlete Rowe Mellott were among four charter student members sworn into the chapter.

Baseball season tickets on sale
Make sure you get your season ticket for the 2020 East Carolina baseball season. Tickets are currently on sale and can be ordered through ECUPirates.com or by calling (252) 737-4500.

Sixth-year head coach Cliff Godwin has scheduled 33 home games for the 2020 season at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium, including the 17th Annual Keith LeClair Classic (High Point, Indiana and Ole Miss), four American Athletic Conference series (Cincinnati, Houston, USF and Wichita State), four non-conference series (Columbia, Georgia Southern, Rhode Island and William & Mary) and single-game contests against Campbell, Duke, Elon, North Carolina, Old Dominion and UNCW.

Honors for student-athletes
Four Pirate football players received recognition for their play in 2019. Senior defensive end Kendall Futrell and junior placekicker Jake Verity earned Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference honors. True freshman wide receiver C.J. Johnson and junior offensive tackle D'Ante Smith received honorable mention accolades.

Freshman wide receiver Tyler Snead and junior volleyball student-athlete Bri Wood were named male and female student-athletes of the month for the Pirates in November.

Please know 2019 was just the beginning of what I truly believe is going to be a special era for ECU Athletics. We will continue to work in pursuit of comprehensive excellence and need you to be on the journey with us.

Thank you for your continued loyalty, dedication and commitment to Pirate athletics.

ARRRGH!

Jon

This press release was produced by East Carolina University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.