Under the pressure of a looming deadline and the outside influence of every other college football team in America, East Carolina is hanging tough in the annual recruiting war despite some serious transition.
But for the first time in 12 seasons, the Pirates will have to see the mission through without longtime recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach Donnie Kirkpatrick.
The man who oversaw the team’s previous 11 signing classes for head coaches Skip Holtz and Ruffin McNeill will not do so for new ECU coach Scottie Montgomery. Kirkpatrick confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that he and Montgomery were unable to negotiate a deal for him to remain with the team he joined in 2005.