East Carolina Spring Football notebook

East Carolina Enters Fifth and Final Week of Spring Drills

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina opened its fifth and final week of spring workouts under the guidance of fifth-year head coach Skip Holtz and staff with a lively two-hour session in shells Monday afternoon on Hight Field inside the Cliff Moore Practice Complex.

The Pirates returned to action in shorts, shoulder pads and helmets after conducting their second intra-squad scrimmage of the season last Wednesday afternoon. After turning in its 13th practice Monday, ECU has just one more workout scheduled before closing camp with the Purple-Gold Game Saturday.

“We came out trying to get a lot of individual work done today,” Holtz said. “We have about 11 guys that have really played a lot of football for us in the past and now we have to determine who will round out the rest of the 30. The key to this football team is the development of those players. After seeing 250 scrimmage plays and watching all of the tape, I think we are close to getting that goal accomplished and I look forward to a strong final scrimmage on Saturday.”

Holtz also released the program’s second depth chart of the spring Monday after completing evaluations of the second scrimmage. Although the Pirates are currently without 12 players who were members of last season’s two-deep because of injuries, a total of seven freshmen have used the opportunity to earn inclusion in the top two units at this stage.

Offensively, tackle Grant Harner, center Daulton Faulds and receivers Jacobi Jenkins and Andrew Bodenheimer have benefitted from strong scrimmage performances to move into top backup positions. On the defensive side of the ball, end Allen Crowder will likely enter Saturday’s contest as the starter opposite C.J. Wilson, while free safety Jack Schultz and cornerback Leonard Paul are listed second at their respective positions.

“Our ones and twos on the depth chart are definitely getting more defined,” Holtz added. “I believe that a lot of players are putting themselves in position to be major contributors for this team. This summer is still going to be very critical as we start to identify the people that are working hard and battling for those starting and backup roles. There are still some positions that concern me, but we also have to remember that there are still many key players that are going through injuries right now. Despite that, I am really proud of the progress that we have made. Everyone is working hard out here and that is all I can ask.”

After Wednesday’s practice, East Carolina’s coaching staff will conduct a player draft to select roster positions for the Purple-Gold Game, which is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. kickoff at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Tickets, which are priced at $5.00 for the contest or $10.00 with the addition of a plate of bar-b-cue from the Pigskin Pig-Out Party, can be purchased online at www.ECUPirates.com or by calling (800) DIAL-ECU.

EAST CAROLINA‘S 2009 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Next Workout: Wednesday, April 15

Remaining Workouts: April 18 (Purple-Gold Game, 3:00 p.m.)

Tom McClellan
Assistant AD/Media Relations
East Carolina University