Amid Huge Staff/Player Turnover,
Harrell Seeks Continued Success
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Aug. 26, 2026)

Just one year into the NCAA’s new revenue-sharing rules, and amidst the continued growth of the transfer portal and Name-Image-Likeness money, the American Conference has become a feeder system for the Power Four conferences, and even a recently successful East Carolina program has proven to be no exception to that rule.

In the 2025-26 carousel alone, four successful American Conference head coaches departed for the much bigger money of the Power Four leagues: South Florida’s Alex Golesh (Auburn/SEC), North Texas’ Eric Morris (Oklahoma State/Big 12), Memphis’ Ryan Silverfield (Arkansas/SEC) and Tulane’s Jon Sumrall (Florida/SEC).

At ECU, where head coach Blake Harrell posted a second consecutive strong campaign (9-4, after a 5-1 interim stint in 2024) last fall, the Pirates lost both coordinators. OC John David Baker left for Ole Miss (SEC), and DC Josh Aldridge departed for the same title at South Florida, a fellow American program.

Meanwhile, among ECU’s 12 offensive/defensive starters from last season who had remaining college eligibility, nine — 75 percent! — departed for programs in the ACC, Big Ten or SEC, including quarterback Katin Houser (Illinois), running back London Montgomery (Florida) and four all-conference honorees: safety Ja’Marley Riddle (Georgia), left tackle Jimarion McCrimon (NC State), guard Emmanuel Poku (South Carolina) and wideout Yannick Smith (SMU).

Even for the Pirates, who have had to overcome budget, transfer and/or conference-affiliation issues for decades, that’s an extraordinary amount of turnover. For a very recent comparison, in 2025, 12 of Harrell’s top 14 staff members were returnees, and only four 2024 starters left via the transfer portal.

“You have guys that graduate, guys that move on, guys that join your program, guys that take other opportunities, whatever it may be,” Harrell said. “I think as coaches, you can fight that change, you can complain about it, or you can embrace it. We chose to embrace it.”

One interesting aspect of Harrell’s offseason search for two new coordinators came with his emphasis on familiarity — an understanding of ECU football, its opponents, even its recruiting philosophy.

Harrell ultimately filled his coordinator slots with men he and the Pirates had been competing against during league play. New offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jordan Davis was the OC for 12-2 North Texas last season. New defensive coordinator Jordon Hankins held the same title a year ago for an 8-5 Memphis squad.

“I wanted somebody who was familiar with the American Conference,” Harrell said. “I didn’t want a learning curve or somebody that didn’t know how to recruit to the American Conference. (North Texas) led the nation in several offensive categories last year. Over the last three years, (Memphis) has won 30 games.”

Even amidst such massive personnel turnover, many ECU fans can envision at least two silver linings.

First, with the exception of Army and Navy, where a combination of academic and military policies makes incoming/outgoing transfers rare, everyone else in the American Conference is dealing with some version of the same chaotic staff and roster realities.

Second, the departures of the four successful American head coaches mentioned above could disrupt the programs at Memphis, North Texas, South Florida and/or Tulane, which joined Navy and ECU as top-six teams in the league standings a year ago.

Harrell, the Pirates’ former defensive coordinator, is off to a fantastic start as a head coach: 14-5 overall, an impressive 10-3 in conference play, and the winner of back-to-back bowl games.

In the American’s preseason poll this year, ECU ranked in the top five, behind only Navy, Memphis, UTSA and South Florida. The Pirates might be a significant underdog in only two or three regular-season games all year — at Alabama on Sept. 5, of course, and perhaps at Memphis on Oct. 22 and/or at Army on Nov. 21.

It is now Harrell’s job, every year, to essentially microwave a football team. so it comes as no surprise that more than half of the Pirates’ starters this year probably will be immediate-impact major college transfers.

Just as Power Four programs poached so many of ECU’s top players after last season, the Pirates did the same to those in lower-tier FBS or FCS leagues. For example, their projected starting offensive line includes three fifth-year players (see below for details) who were standouts in the Sun Belt Conference (FBS), Conference USA (FBS) or the Big Sky Conference (FCS).

Elsewhere, while there will be positional battles to watch all over the field, the quarterback contest between 2023 Wake Forest starter Mitch Griffis (a seventh-year Texas Tech transfer who will turn 25 years old in September) and three-year Miami backup Emory Williams likely will get the most intense scrutiny, perhaps both during preseason practice and well into the regular season.

Another interesting group of newcomers to watch is the quartet who followed ECU’s new coordinators from their previous schools to Greenville: North Texas running back Ashton Gray, Memphis linebacker Crews Law, Memphis safety Myles Pollard and North Texas wideout and return man Landon Sides. As a general rule of thumb, in contrast to the speed-dating aspect of most transfers, coaches rarely make talent-evaluation mistakes with their own players.

2026 EAST CAROLINA FOOTBALL

Head Coach: Blake Harrell, 2nd full season (14-5 overall, 10-3 American Conference)

Offensive Coordinator: Jordan Davis (1st season with Pirates, 1st season as Pirates’ OC)

Defensive Coordinator: Jordon Hankins (1st season with Pirates, 1st season as Pirates’ DC)

Returning Starters/Offense (1): fifth-year WR Brock Spalding

Returning Starters/Defense (2): senior LB DJ Johnson Jr., seventh-year DT Jasiyah Robinson

Returning Starters/Special Teams (2): junior P Tomas O’Halloran, sixth-year PR Kyler Pearson

Most Accomplished Incoming Transfers (6): fifth-year Kennesaw State OG Brandon Best (1st-team All-CUSA), fifth-year Southern Miss OT Hayes Creel (3-year FBS/FCS starter), fifth-year Marshall RB Michael Allen (part-time starter, 1,012 career rushing yards, 7 TD), senior App State S Zyeir Gamble (starter, 100 career tackles), seventh-year Texas Tech QB Mitch Griffis (2023 Wake Forest starter, 2,314 career passing yards, 17 TD), fifth-year Northern Arizona OG Ethan Kramer (2nd-team All-Big Sky, 2-year starter)

Other Intriguing Incoming Transfers (13): senior Minnesota CB Jaylen Bowden, senior UTRGV TE Ismael Flores, junior North Texas RB Ashton Gray, senior Furman WR Ja’Keith Hamilton, senior Miami WR/KR/PR Ray Ray Joseph Jr., junior Memphis LB Crews Law, sixth-year Florida International CB Ashton Levells-Mitchell, junior Wake Forest WR Jeremiah Melvin, junior Louisville CB Rae’mon Moody, junior UCF CB Christian Peterson, fifth-year Memphis S Myles Pollard, senior North Texas WR/PR Landon Sides, senior Miami QB Emory Williams

NFL Draft Departures (1): CB Shavon Revel Jr. (third round, Cowboys)

NFL Free Agent Departures (4): LB Samuel Dankah (Broncos), LS Tristan O’Brien (Saints), DT Zion Wilson (Eagles), QB/WR Mike Wright Jr. (Seahawks)

Key Transfer Portal Departures (9): S Ja’Marley Riddle (1st-team All-AAC, 2-year starter, 134 career tackles), Georgia; LT Jimarion McCrimon (1st-team All-AAC, 2-year-starter), NC State; OG Emmanuel Poku (2nd-team All-AAC, 2-year starter), South Carolina; WR Yannick Smith (3rd-team All-AAC, 1,017 career receiving yards, 8 TD), SMU; QB Katin Houser (2-year starter, 6,438 career passing yards, 43 TD), Illinois; CB Jordy Lowery (starter, 78 career tackles), Florida; RB London Montgomery (starter, 1,101 career rushing yards), Florida; TE Desirrio Riles (starter, 475 career receiving yards, 4 TD), Florida State; TE Jayvontay Conner (starter, 342 career receiving yards, 4 TD), Vanderbilt

2026 ECU Schedule

Sat., Sept. 5—at Alabama, noon (ABC)
Sat., Sept. 12—Appalachian State, noon (ESPNU)
Sat., Sept. 19—at Old Dominion, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sat., Sept. 26—NC Central, 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sat., Oct. 3—OPEN
Sat., Oct. 10—Rice
Thurs., Oct. 15—at UAB, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Thurs., Oct. 22—at Memphis, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sat., Oct. 31—Temple
Fri., Nov. 6—South Florida, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sat., Nov. 14—at Charlotte
Sat., Nov. 21—at Army, noon (CBSSN)
Fri./Sat., Nov. 27/28—Florida Atlantic

Preseason Media Poll: ECU = 5th among 14 American Conference teams
DG/NCSN Regular-Season Prediction: 8-4