ECU Defensive Line Getting It Wright for the Season Opener
With the season opener just over a week away, first year ECU defensive line coach Rod Wright has his hands full trying to turn around a defensive front that had an abundance of issues last season both stopping the run and creating enough push to disrupt the passing game of its opponents.
Wright along with defensive coordinator David Blackwell and the Pirate defensive coaching staff will get an opportunity to see their game one opponent on Friday when N.C. A&T takes on Jacksonville State. That should give them some advantage in that regard.
The other side of the coin is the fact that the Aggies will have a game under their belt. As the old saying goes, a team will make the most improvement between game one and game two and the early start gives the Aggies a dress rehearsal before arriving in Greenville next week.
The big emphasis right now defensively for ECU is on fundamentals. Technique has to be a big foundation for the overall improvement of the Pirate front four if they're going to turn things around this season.
“Technique will work for you in any scheme and any game and that’s the thing. Even when you change schemes, something that’s never going to change is pad level, hand placement, our effort and how we get to the ball,” said Wright, “I believe that’s a deal that we’ve improved on and something we’re going to continue to stress coming up until next week’s game.”
The former Texas and NFL defensive lineman is counting on a pair of leaders to anchor the Pirate ship when they open the season next week.
“Right now the guy who is standing out on the edge, you’ve got Kendall Futrell. He’s a guy that the last couple of years has had some nicks and bruises and some unfortunate things that happened to keep him off the field,” said Wright, “He’s always a guy who we felt had the talent to get the job done and so far he’s done that. He’s been really good adapting to our new scheme with our bandit rushing end, he’s the body type - he’s doing well in the passing and running game.”
“Inside, Alex Turner has been really good for us. A guy who has some starts under his belt and has been able to take his stuff that he learned last year into this year as a junior for us. He’s been a leader. He’s been one of the toughest if not the toughest guys on our defense. He has been very solid for us.”
New defensive coordinator David Blackwell says he has told his kids that they look game ready.
"There are still some certain situations that we have to clean up a little bit, some zone work that we've got to clean up, third down situations where we start to really hone in on situational football and game planning, but there is no question that we look like a team that is ready to play this week," Blackwell told PI on Wednesday.
Blackwell says you keep them ready and focused now with just over a week to go with "install".
"You've got to keep them sharp. It's like a bowl situation where you tend to have a long time before that bowl game," Blackwell said, "You always save things to install the week of the game so each guy is sharp and they don't get complacent and feel I've got this and I know it. So we'll have some things to install on Monday and Tuesday of next week and maybe even a little on Wednesday of next week. Certain game plan things that keeps us going as we move forward to the game."
"I'm was excited the way we came out and practiced the last two days as a football team, not just as a defense and I think we look like a team that's ready to play a game," said Blackwell.
Catch the complete PI AUDIO from our one on one interview with new ECU defensive line coach Rodrique Wright as our countdown to game one continues here on PirateIllustrated.com.
