Pirates enter uncertain waters

Ruffin McNeill didn't have any time to waste after taking over as East Carolina's new football coach.

Hired on Jan. 21 and introduced the next day in Greenville, McNeill then hit the road that weekend to recruit.

The Pirates have 19 commitments in a transitional class that was gathered by former coach Skip Holtz, and it is up to McNeill to close the deal.

With four players already enrolled, McNeill personally visited the homes of the other 15 recruits in the last 10 days.

"The first thing I did was I met with the current players and let them know we're going to be OK," McNeill said Tuesday. "The second thing I did was talk to the recruits and let them know the same thing."

McNeill expects to hold onto all of the recruits lured by Holtz, who left after five seasons for South Florida, except one. He said he doesn't know yet how many of the 19 players he will have to play immediately his first season.

"I'll know more after spring practice," McNeill said. "I know this, we don't have a set of entitlement rules at ECU. No one, senior or freshman, is entitled to start."

The Pirates lose a lot of experience on both sides of the ball from a 9-5 team that won the CUSA title in 2009. Twenty-eight seniors depart with Holtz, including quarterback Patrick Pinkney and leading rusher Dominique Lindsay.

Mike Farrell, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com, said the Pirates will have help at both positions from this recruiting class.

Dominique Davis, a Boston College transfer via Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, and incoming freshman Desi Brown are a pair of quarterbacks who could contend for the starting role in 2010. Josh Jordan and Rio Johnson are the two returning quarterbacks on the roster who will be sophomores in the fall.

"They will be an upgrade at the quarterback position down the line," Farrell said of Davis and Brown. "There should be a competition between those two."

Davis started three games for BC in 2008, including the ACC championship game, and completed 63 of 138 passes for 741 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions.

But the recruit that most impresses Farrell is running back Alex Owah, who spent the 2009 season prepping at Hargrave Military Academy.

"He could be a home run at running back," Farrell said.

Owah is one of four players already enrolled at ECU, joined by defensive end Maurice Falls, linebacker Jeremy Grove and defensive end Derrell Johnson.