New ECU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Donnie Kirkpatrick is no stranger to this neck of the woods.

Kirkpatrick handled the ECU receiver corp from 2005-15 where he had six first-team all-conference (Conference USA, American Athletic Conference) selections, two all-rookie team choices, an Associated Press All-America pick, a league most valuable player award, an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision career record and three NFL draft picks.

He helped lead ECU to back-to-back C-USA championships in 2008-09 and eight bowl appearances, including wins in the 2007 Hawai’i Bowl against Boise State and the 2013 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl against Ohio.

In his three years at JMU he presided over a record-breaking NCAA Division I national championship season in 2016. The Dukes also won a pair of Colonial Athletic Association titles and made three-straight FCS postseason appearances (2016 National Champions, 2017 National Runner-Up, 2018 second round).

Kirkpatrick’s son Davis was a memorable four-year letterman as a pitcher at ECU.

We recently caught up with Kirkpatrick where he gave his impressions on his return to Greenville and much more in the latest from the PirateIllustrated.com sports desk.

PI AUDIO: DONNIE KIRKPATRICK TALKS ABOUT HIS RETURN TO ECU & MORE