When UNC went looking to stabilize its football program after the tumultuous ending to the Larry Fedora era, the Tar Heels turned to former coach Mack Brown for a second tenure in Chapel Hill.
While Mack 2.0 has played to mixed results, there are some wondering if East Carolina might follow a similar script following the ouster of coach Mike Houston over the weekend.
The name Skip Holtz has been bandied about as a possible replacement for Houston.
Holtz coached the Pirates from 2005-09. He compiled a 38-27 overall record in Greenville, 28-12 in conference play. The 2008 and 2009 squads both finished 9-5 and won Conference USA championships, the last times the Pirates have finished on top of their league.
Jonathan Ellerbe, who has followed ECU sports for the popular Pirate Radio since the early 2000s, believes the school should take a strong look at courting Holtz to return. It was the first name he mentioned when asked about possible coaching targets for the Pirates on a recent edition of The David Glenn Show.
“He came here and did what East Carolina needs now, which is he rallied the troops out of a hole and built a successful program that won back-to-back conference championships,” Ellerbe told Glenn. “I think a guy like Skip Holtz can do that because he comes in and runs it like a CEO.”
Holtz left ECU following the 2009 campaign to take the South Florida job. He went 16-21 with the Bulls before being let go following the 2012 season. He was hired at Louisiana Tech in 2013 and compiled a 64-50 mark before being released in 2021.
Holtz is currently the head coach and general manager of the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League (formerly USFL). The Stallions have won three straight league titles and compiled a 26-4 record under Holtz’s tutelage.
East Carolina hired Ruffin McNeill to lead the program after Holtz. McNeill went 35-24 from 2010-15 before being let go, a move some say now was a big mistake. The Pirates have been in the wilderness for much of the last decade after McNeill’s departure.
Houston seemed to have turned the corner with a 7-5 season in 2021 and an 8-5 campaign in 2022, which included a Birmingham Bowl victory over Coastal Carolina.
But the Pirates tanked last season at 2-10. Houston’s 2024 team squandered a double-digit lead at home to Appalachian State in mid-September, then suffered back-to-back lopsided losses to Charlotte (55-24) and Army (45-28) to start October.
Houston was relieved of his duties Sunday after the Army loss, which left the squad 3-4, 1-2 in the American Athletic Conference. Houston, who won an FCS championship at James Madison, never beat App State, NC State or Charlotte during his time on the job, which especially rankled fans. East Carolina now seems to be falling behind similar regional programs like App, Charlotte, Liberty and Coastal Carolina.
Ellerbe said Holtz, now 60-years-old, would be a great promoter for the program in this new era of NIL. The Pirates had more than 20,000 season ticket holders during his first tenure in Greenville. Holtz also could build a solid coaching staff, as he’s shown with the Birmingham professional spring league team, Ellerbe said.
“You’ve got to have a coach who is a fund-raiser and that can friend-raise to get people into the stands,” Ellerbe said. “Skip Holtz is a name and he’s available right now. I don’t know what his answer would be, but he would be someone worth kicking the tires for.”
Other names that have emerged from fans and other media weighing in on the coaching search include Joe Sloan (LSU offensive coordinator) and Garrett Riley (Clemson offensive coordinator), who both have ties to ECU. Sloan played for Holtz.
Could interim coach Blake Harrell, the defensive coordinator, get a shot to earn the job full time? The Pirates play a winnable game against Temple this weekend and, after a bye, close with FAU, Tulsa, North Texas and Navy. Three wins and bowl eligibility are not out of the question barring a collapse within the locker room.
Former ECU quarterback Holton Ahlers, who played under Houston and was a big reason for the Pirates successes in 2021 and 2022, gave a strong endorsement for Dwayne Ledford, the Atlanta Falcons offensive line coach since 2021.
Ledford played for East Carolina in the 1990s and served as a graduate assistant with the Pirates at the end of the Holtz era.
“I truly believe Dwayne Ledford is the guy for the job. 90s ECU football Alum who WANTS to be here. Understands what being a pirate is about,” Ahlers posted on Twitter/X. “Players coach, with an ability to develop OL. Reminds me of Dan Campbell. Could be @ECUPiratesFB version of Cliff Godwin.”
Ledford has been an assistant all over the Old North State, including Sanderson High in Raleigh (2007), Gardner-Webb (2011), Appalachian State (2012-15) and NC State (2016-18). He served as offensive line coach at each of those stops and was co-offensive coordinator with App State from 2013-15.
Ledford left NC State after the 2018 season and joined Louisville’s staff for two seasons. There he served as both offensive line coach and offensive coordinator before accepting a position with the Falcons.
