ECU wins the hearts of fans with big victories

In 1970, when coach Mike McGee was trying to promote East Carolina football, he coined the term "Purple Pride" as a rallying cry.

It might have become a forgotten phrase at times, but passionate, spirited Pirate fans are brimming with that old "Purple Pride" today -- and for good reason.

East Carolina, after beating No. 17-ranked Virginia Tech and No. 8 West Virginia on consecutive Saturdays, is back in the national rankings for the first time since 1999. The Pirates are 14th in The Associated Press poll and 20th in the USA Today coaches poll, both of which were announced Sunday.

That leap into the limelight caused the Pirate Nation -- from the students who swarmed the field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday to longtime loyalists -- to bounce with more pep in their step.

"This town is rabid; it really is," said Grant Jarman, 60, president of the Pirate Club and a Greenville car dealer. "Everybody is just so proud of the program. [Coach] Skip Holtz is doing such a good job.

"I don't know if anybody saw us winning the first two ball games. If you're a realist, you were probably picking the Pirates to be 0-2. But it's all types of excitement."

Though there was jubilation after East Carolina defeated West Virginia on Saturday, the euphoria increased when fans found out about the national ranking Sunday.

Jarman, who said he hasn't missed an East Carolina game in 40 years, saw the excitement while having lunch Sunday at Chico's restaurant in Greenville. Later he fielded phone calls after the AP rankings came out.

There have been times, not long ago, when Jarman doubted East Carolina could turn its football program around.

The Pirates had gone 3-20 before Holtz arrived four years ago, and they are not in a conference that receives an automatic bid for the Bowl Championship Series.

"It just goes to show what good coaching can do," said Jarman, who saw purple flags flapping on cars around town all day Sunday. "This is a proud Pirate nation right now."

(Staff writer Lorenzo Perez contributed to this report.)