The Harrell Huddle: ECU Prepares for NC State
ECU head coach Blake Harrell met with the media this week as the Pirates shifted out of fall camp and into full-on game prep. With the season opener at NC State looming, Harrell touched on opponent prep, scout team development, crowd noise prep, and even gave a shoutout to local high school coaches.
Out of Camp, Into Opponent Prep
Harrell said the focus has officially shifted from camp mode to game-week mode.
“On to the opponent this week. It feels good to kind of finally be out of camp mode and into opponent prep. And yesterday was kind of a typical Monday practice and an opponent week for us, and this is a Tuesday practice, but really excited about where the guys are, the direction they're going. Obviously, we got a long ways to go and moving forward, and a lot of preparation to do, and just learning how to prepare and how to attack an opponent, as far as the game plan, and learning the game plan and some tweaks there, and going through the process of there, and just getting into that schedule and out of the camp schedule.”
Harrell emphasized that while they’re studying NC State, much of the work still comes from within:
“Although we are making it about our opponent and preparing for those guys, we also make it about ourselves and making sure our motivation, our energy, comes from within ourselves. The energy we bring, the effort we bring, the execution we bring to game day — that’s what matters most.”
Scout Team Buy-In
The scout team is taking shape, and Harrell highlighted some younger players stepping into important roles.
“Eddie [Love] is over there playing running back for us. He’s a little scat back. I think he's very similar to Hollywood (Smothers), their tailback — just a younger version. And Johnny Williams, a local guy from Havelock, came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I'm just going to try to give you the guys the best look and make you get better.’”
Harrell said that mindset is exactly what makes the scout team so valuable.
“If they'll have that mindset — I’m going to make the offense better or defense better every single day — in return, it will make them a better player over time. It’s early, but I haven’t seen anybody hanging their heads. That’s awesome. They’ve all got that team mentality, team mindset, that we're going to do this thing together.”
How This Week Differs from Camp
Harrell explained the rhythm of practices as the Pirates settle into their in-season schedule.
“You’re kind of getting two Tuesday practices, two Wednesday practices, so on, so forth. Our heavy work is this week and this weekend. Then we'll start to pull back, maybe take off some pads and do some things there to make sure we're saving their legs. We want to be fast and fresh for game day on the 28th.”
Conditioning, he added, is about simulating game settings — not just running sprints.
“I don't like doing conditioning where you just line up and run. I'd rather do it in a game setting mode… we're playing up and down the field and just doing some tempo drills and offense versus defense. That’s how we’ll make sure we’re in the best shape we can be for the 28th.”
Preparing for NC State’s Environment
This year’s opener will be in Raleigh, and Harrell said the biggest difference from last December’s bowl game against State is the setting.
“The thing we piped into practice today was the crowd noise. In Annapolis, I thought our fans were awesome on that day and that spilled over into our team. This time, you’re going into their house, and it’s going to be a loud environment. Two schools fairly close to each other, a packed house — we’ve got to be ready for that.”
At the end of the day, though, Harrell said the fundamentals won’t change.
“The game at some point, you got to put the ball down, block, tackle, take care of the football, take the ball away, get third down stops, get third down conversions. Those won’t change. The biggest change is the crowd noise factor — but that’s just part of the game.”
The Next Steps in “Game Mode”
Harrell stressed preparation as the biggest difference now that the Pirates are game-planning for an actual opponent.
“When you’re going through camp or spring ball against the same opponent every day, you don’t really have to study what the other side is going to do. Now you have an opponent — you’ve got to start cramming for that test. I told our players: humans procrastinate, but we can’t wait until the last minute to study. We’ve got to jam it in now.”
While over-preparing is necessary, he doesn’t want his team slowed down.
“Game one, you don’t know exactly what you’re getting — you’re going to get a wrinkle or two. But if you play the game the right way, fast, physical, with great energy, you’ll give yourself a chance to win.”
Message to High School Coaches
With local high school football starting this week, Harrell took time to salute the coaches and communities across the state.
“I started out as a high school teacher… those people are so special to our students and our student-athletes. High school football brings communities together. The town, the communities, they rally around high school football on Friday nights. Just a shout out to the people that make that happen — from the coaches to the players to the principals to the people selling tickets. Best of luck this Friday night to all the teams out there.”
Staff Culture Coming Together
Finally, Harrell said he’s proud of the way his staff has meshed heading into the season.
“At the end of the day, you just want to work for good people. We have a staff that serves each other, cares about others more than themselves, and you can tell that in their personal lives. We have men and women in our building that work their tails off for each other and for this program, and that put ECU football first. That’s something we can all be proud of.”