Winning Recipe?

The N&O says Holtz is working on it.

HOLTZ LIKES ECU'S 'FLAVOR'

By JAYMES POWELL JR, Staff Writer

GREENVILLE -- Skip Holtz is hoping a little Down East home cooking will make East Carolina's football team Mmm Mmm good for recruits.

The Pirates' new head coach said his primary goal in assembling a coaching staff is bringing together a talented, selfless group with a little East Carolina spice added on. He hopes to make the Pirates irresistible to top recruits and thus rebuild the crumbled program.

ECU has already announced the hiring of four assistants and Holtz said he expects to name three more by week's end. So far, none of the previous assistants have been officially retained, although some could stay on the staff. Harold Robinson, for example, remains the program's high school liaison and may be kept by Holtz.

The common link for three of the four new hires is a tie to East Carolina.


"I needed an East Carolina flavor on this staff," said Holtz, who arrives in Greenville after spending six seasons at South Carolina.

"I needed people who had played at East Carolina, coached at East Carolina, recruited for East Carolina. I needed an Eastern North Carolina flavor on this staff."

Already named to ECU's new staff are running backs coach Junior Smith (a Pirates player from 1991-1994), offensive line coach Steve Shankweiler (a Pirates coach from 1987-1991 and 1998-2002) and assistant head coach Donnie Thompson (a Pirates coach in 1987-1988). The fourth assistant coach is Phil Petty, who played quarterback for Holtz at South Carolina and has what the Holtz called his "personal flavor."

None of the new assistants were at ECU Tuesday; instead, their new boss had them scurrying across North Carolina scouring the state for talent.

"Knowing that North Carolina is where we're going to start our recruiting base, having people that have recruited North Carolina is very important to me," Holtz said.

The new head coach, however, said he needs much more from his new staff that just a knowledge of the area and its recruits. The three home-grown assistants were all at ECU during the Pirates' good ol' days and can help fix what's broken now by explaining what worked correctly in the past, Holtz said.

"I think the East Carolina background flavor is important because this place is unique," Holtz said. "I need people in here that understand the history of East Carolina, where it's been, the success that they've had in the past, the reasons for our downfall over the last four years and what they were doing then compared to what we're doing now to turn and get that back."