Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 75. East Carolina
You are without a doubt the best pirate team I've ever heard of.
They are without a doubt the best pirate team I’ve ever heard of. Having played their inaugural season in 1932, East Carolina moved to Division 1-A in 1965, immediately going 9-1 and winning the Tangerine Bowl. They’ve enjoyed a decent bit of success since then, winning 6 conference titles and appearing in 17 bowls. Even just over the period this list focuses on (40 years) they’ve had solid success, getting all the way up to 75th, and they’ve produced NFL Pro Bowlers Chris Johnson (CJ2K), Linval Joseph, Dwayne Harris, David Garrard, Jeff Blake, Robert Jones, and Earnest Byner. Quite the list of names for a Group of 5 school.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+---------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+---------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 10 | East Carolina | 1991 | 30.86 | 11-1 |
| 27 | East Carolina | 1995 | 13.848 | 9-3 |
| 24 | East Carolina | 1996 | 13.626 | 8-3 |
| 23 | East Carolina | 1999 | 12.312 | 9-3 |
| 29 | East Carolina | 2013 | 12.244 | 10-3 |
| 31 | East Carolina | 1983 | 9.807 | 8-3 |
| 35 | East Carolina | 2000 | 8.214 | 8-4 |
| 43 | East Carolina | 2008 | 4.157 | 9-5 |
| 46 | East Carolina | 2009 | 3.22 | 9-5 |
| 49 | East Carolina | 2022 | 0.591 | 8-5 |
| 52 | East Carolina | 2007 | -0.629 | 8-5 |
| 45 | East Carolina | 1994 | -3.965 | 7-5 |
| 59 | East Carolina | 2014 | -4.29 | 8-5 |
| 63 | East Carolina | 2021 | -7.494 | 7-5 |
| 60 | East Carolina | 2006 | -8.502 | 7-6 |
| 65 | East Carolina | 2001 | -10.295 | 6-6 |
| 68 | East Carolina | 2012 | -10.454 | 8-5 |
| 58 | East Carolina | 1989 | -10.818 | 5-5-1 |
| 60 | East Carolina | 1990 | -12.765 | 5-6 |
| 72 | East Carolina | 2010 | -15.349 | 6-7 |
| 69 | East Carolina | 1997 | -18.177 | 5-6 |
| 69 | East Carolina | 1998 | -18.486 | 6-5 |
| 82 | East Carolina | 2015 | -20.195 | 5-7 |
| 82 | East Carolina | 2005 | -21.479 | 5-6 |
| 84 | East Carolina | 2011 | -21.738 | 5-7 |
| 68 | East Carolina | 1987 | -21.873 | 5-6 |
| 81 | East Carolina | 1992 | -22.071 | 5-6 |
| 101 | East Carolina | 2020 | -25.959 | 3-6 |
| 80 | East Carolina | 2002 | -28.334 | 4-8 |
| 83 | East Carolina | 1988 | -29.874 | 3-8 |
| 115 | East Carolina | 2019 | -38.793 | 4-8 |
| 117 | East Carolina | 2016 | -43.098 | 3-9 |
| 96 | East Carolina | 1985 | -43.383 | 2-9 |
| 93 | East Carolina | 1986 | -43.771 | 2-9 |
| 113 | East Carolina | 2018 | -45.401 | 3-9 |
| 97 | East Carolina | 1984 | -47.573 | 2-9 |
| 116 | East Carolina | 2017 | -49.002 | 3-9 |
| 102 | East Carolina | 1993 | -51.339 | 2-9 |
| 112 | East Carolina | 2004 | -52.16 | 2-9 |
| 112 | East Carolina | 2003 | -61.067 | 1-11 |
+------+---------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 12542 (75th)226-246-1 record
2 conference titles
6-9 bowl record
3 consensus All-Americans
47 NFL players drafted
East Carolina doesn’t have a winning record, but does rank highly on this list because they’ve had a lot of quality years. Fans enjoyed back-to-back conference titles in 2008 and 2009, which don’t even appear in their top 5 seasons, ranking 8th and 9th respectively. The only consensus All-American I won’t cover below is OL Terry Long in 1983, who was part of an all-time East Carolina NFL draft class in 1984 which featured a whopping 8 players drafted, 3rd most of any college team that year behind Texas and Illinois. As listed above, the Pirates have produced 7 NFL Pro Bowlers since 1983, very impressive for a Group of 5 school.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2003 (1-11 overall, 1-7 Conference USA)
I think East Carolina knew it wasn’t going to be a great year when they lost their opening game 3-40 to Cincinnati, who would finish just 5-7. ECU scored just 13 points in their first 3 games, and didn’t get their first win until midseason. A 38-32 win over Army featured a 39 carry 184 yard 3 TD rushing game from ECU’s Marvin Townes. Both teams came into the game 0-6, and despite ESPN College GameDay not showing up for the Toilet Bowl, 35,000 fans still attended to watch the game of the year in West Point. ECU showed signs of improvement throughout the year, going from losing their first 3 games by an average score of 4-42, to losing their last 3 games by a 25-35 average. ECU didn’t finish last in Conference USA thanks to Army’s 0-13 season though. Starting QB Desmond Robinson threw for 1262 yards with a whopping 3 TD to 11 INT, and the backups combined for 3 TD 7 INT. RB Marvin Townes and WR Terrance Cooper were truly the lone bright spots, with Townes rushing for 1000+ yards and Cooper leading C-USA in catches with 87.
5. 2013 (10-3 overall, 6-2 Conference USA)
During the Shane Carden era from 2012-14, East Carolina was HOT for a bit. This 2013 team was very good and built up a lot of hype going into 2014. Featuring a dynamic air raid offense led by offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, the Pirates averaged 40.2 PPG en route to a double digit win season. This team was clearly really good, and in hindsight was stacked with playmakers at the skill positions. In week 3 ECU barely lost 10-15 to Virginia Tech, who finished 8-5 under Frank Beamer that year. 2 weeks later ECU boat raced North Carolina 55-31. Finally later in the year ECU got a 42-28 win over NC State, and it wasn’t close either, NC State scored 2 TDs in the final minute. East Carolina’s schedule featured plenty of blowout wins, along with wins over bowl eligible Middle Tennesse and FAU teams. A 28-59 loss to Marshall in the final week sent the Herd to the C-USA title game instead of ECU, but they still beat Ohio 37-20 in the bowl.
QB Shane Carden won Conference USA MVP, completing 71% of passes for 4000+ yards and 33 TD 10 INT. RB Vintavious Cooper had a 1193 yard rushing season to go with 13 TD, and added another 412 receiving yards to lead the team with 1605 total. Junior WR Justin Hardy had 114 catches for 1284 yards, and would finish his career next season as the NCAA’s all time leading catcher with 387!!! That’s not even the craziest part—freshman WR2 Zay Jones, who had 62 catches for 604 yards, would go on to break Hardy’s NCAA record for catches with 399!!! Hardy and Jones were 4th and 2nd round picks respectively in their NFL Drafts. Carden didn’t make the NFL, but finished as East Carolina’s all time passing leader.
4. 1999 (9-3 overall, 4-2 Conference USA)
Now let’s talk a walk through the 90’s in reverse chronological order. 1999. East Carolina was hot, this was easily their best decade. 6 winning seasons with 4 of their top 5 seasons of the last 40 years. Future Pro Bowl QB David Garrard entered his sophomore season after a promising freshman year in 1998. Things wouldn’t come easy in 1999, with Hurricane Floyd damaging the East Carolina campus and forcing the relocation of the Miami (FL) game. But HOLY cow, the start this team had to the season. A 30-23 win over West Virginia, 27-9 over Duke, 21-3 over South Carolina, and if that wasn’t good enough? How about 27-23 over #9 Miami (FL). ECU got as high as #16 in the nation after a 5-0 start before dropping their first game to Southern Miss, and would remain in the top 25 the rest of the season, going 9-2. A loss to LaDanian Tomlinson and TCU in the debut of the Mobile Alabama Bowl would end the year at 9-3 and unranked. The East Carolina team as a whole won the Disney’s Wide World of Sports Spirit Award for 1999, having overcame damage from Hurricane Floyd to put together one of the best seasons in school history. Garrard went on to complete 4 years as the starting QB, and started for the Jacksonville Jaguars for 5 years. Punter Andrew Bayes was a consensus All-American, averaging 48.1 yards per boot.
3. 1996 (8-3 overall, Independent)
East Carolina played as an Independent from 1977-96, so they had a pretty diverse schedule back then. And boy, ECU really used to stick it to the big boys. East Carolina scored a TD with 20 seconds left against WVU to make it 9-10, but the 2 point conversion pass sailed out of bounds for the 1 point loss. It was quickly forgotten about, as just next week ECU beat South Carolina 23-7. A few weeks later ECU was 3-2, playing at #12 Miami (FL). Just like 1999 the Pirates were giant killers, only this time it was much less close, beating the Hurricanes 31-6. Finally, at the end of the year 7-3 East Carolina faced off against NC State in the Carolina Panthers’ stadium, in a rivalry matchup for state supremacy. RB Scott Harley put on an all-time great performance in the Charlotte massacre, rushing for a school-record 351 yards on 42 carries in a 50-29 win. NC State didn’t stand a chance. Harley rushed for a school-record 1745 yards on the year on 5.7 YPC, with 14 TD to boot. ECU finished unranked, but #24 in my rankings.
2. 1995 (9-3 overall, Independent)
Steve Logan’s Pirates team played Peyton Manning and #8 Tennessee to a respectable 7-27 loss in Neyland Stadium to start the year. And once again, this was a Pirates team that matched up well at the line of scrimmage with the Power conference teams. Results in a 3-3 start included a wins over #22 Syracuse and West Virginia, and 0-7 loss to Illinois. From there on ECU was flawless, rattling off 6 straight wins finishing with a 19-13 victory over Stanford in the Liberty Bowl. ECU had great talent in the trenches and held their own all year long against each opponent. QB Marcus Crandell, one of the best in school history and a master of the intermediate throw, threw for 2751 yards 18 TD 12 INT with another 6 rushing TD. RB Jerris McPhail was a 5th round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, accumulating 1252 yards and 7 TD from scrimmage. CB Emmanuel McDaniel ranked 5th in the nation with 6 INTs and was drafted in the 4th round by the local Carolina Panthers.
1. 1991 (11-1 overall, Independent)
In a history of overachieving and beating the “big dogs”, 1991 was the best of all. QB Jeff Blake and consensus All-American LB Robert Jones, who’d both go on to be Pro Bowlers in the NFL, were the faces of the team in what was clearly the best team in ECU history. Opening against reigning Big Ten co-champions Illinois, East Carolina fought to a hard 31-38 loss that would show promise for the rest of the year. From then on, the wins came pouring in, leading to fans chanting “We Believe” and printing it on shirts, hoping for the team’s first bowl in 13 years. A 4-1 start included a 31-20 win over South Carolina and blowout wins over UCF and Akron. People thought this team was good, but they really took notice after beating #15 Syracuse on the road 23-20. That set up a home game 2 weeks later against #23 Pitt. In what ended up being one of the most memorable games in school history. Blake led an 80 yard TD drive and 2 point conversion for the 24-23 win, ECU’s 2nd straight win over a Top 25 team.
That wasn’t even the end of things! ECU also beat Virginia Tech 24-17 in Blacksburg later in the year. Heading into the Peach Bowl at 10-1 facing rival #21 NC State, ECU went down 17-34 in the 4th quarter, but completed a miraculous comeback to win it 37-34 in the final minutes. A perfect punctuation to a perfect season. East Carolina finished #9 in the nation, with a 3-0 record against Top 25 teams and 5-1 record against Power conference teams. QB Jeff Blake finished 7th in Heisman voting with 3000+ passing yards 28 TD 8 INT, and LB Robert Jones was a consensus All-American. RB Dion Johnson was also an All-American at the all-purpose position, rushing for 255 yards, with 743 receiving yards, and 675 return yards with 6 total TD. A top 10 finish, 3 All-Americans, a Peach Bowl win—amazing.
1991 East Carolina is my 34th best Group of 5 team since 1983.
5th Quarter
Is East Carolina’s ranking fair? What players/plays/games do you think of when you think of East Carolina? Why did East Carolina used to beat so many Power conference teams compared to today? Who are the best 3 QBs in school history, ranking between guys like Jeff Blake, Marcus Crandell, David Garrard, Shane Carden? How about RBs, is it anyone other than CJ2K? And I’m definitely curious about who the best WRs have been with a wealth of talent at the position between Dwayne Harris, Justin Hardy, and Zay Jones.
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