One of the positions that ECU hopes to make good use of offensively is at tight end. On Wednesday ECU picked up a JUCO tight end when Zech Byrd out of Garden City, C.C. in Kansas chose to play his football for the Pirates.

“Ive been on this long journey some sleepless nights, but I kept my faith in God and he saw me through the juco process,” said Byrd, “By saying that I’m more than grateful and blessed to say that I will be attending East Carolina University”

Fontel Mines and Mike Houston handled Byrd's recruitment for the Pirates.

The 6-7, 260 pounder held offers from Utah, Auburn and Louisville in addition to the Pirates.

He also had a good number of offers when he was in high school at Stanhope Elmore in Millbrook, Alabama including Alabama, Louisville, Auburn, Florida and Michigan.

The addition of Byrd adds to what the new staff led by new ECU head coach Mike Houston feels is a very solid haul.

Garden City went 10-1 including 7-0 in conference play last season with their only loss came in a 10-9 loss to East Mississippi Community College.

Byrd missed the 2017 season with a broken foot and has three years of eligibility remaining.

We hope to have more on this East Carolina NSD addition here on PirateIllustrated.com.