Deondre Farrier had a career high seven catches two seasons ago against Mike Houston’s James Madison ballclub. Last season, Farrier recorded a career best 108 yards in receptions against UCF. His longest career touchdown came on a 46 yard strike against USF in 2016.
Suddenly Farrier finds himself as father time as a fifth year senior for ECU.
“Time is flying. Senior year - five years here . Going through all the different coaching staffs, seeing every coach. Coach Ruff, Coach Mo and now Coach Houston. It’s going to be good,” Farrier said after Saturday’s sixth practice of the spring.
Farrier outlined where the team made some progress in the first week of spring practice before his senior season begins.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on the run game. The inside run a lot. The main thing is focusing on our habits and changing to the positive,” Farrier said, “Just staying in a winning mindset.”
“We’re just more competitive. We’re more hard nosed, so you know what’s coming. It’s not like it’s just going to pop up in a game.”
The former Lake Nona product out of Orlando has now come full circle after playing for Donnie Kirkpatrick earlier in his career when he was the wide receivers coach under Ruffin McNeill. Kirkpatrick is now back as the new offensive coordinator at ECU.
“That’s amazing. It’s great. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that,” Farrier said, “He’s a real offensive mastermind I feel like, so it’s going to be a great year.”
Farrier talked about his big emphasis in this his final season as a Pirate.
“Just becoming a complete player. Putting everything together and staying healthy so I can play every single game. Staying healthy is the biggest thing.”
Coach Houston demands more physicality than ECU had over the past three years and the team is quickly buying into the new norm.
“We definitely love it,” Farrier stated, “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but we’ve come a long way since Monday. We’ve still got lots of work to do.”
When asked about the difference in the current ECU offense and what the Pirates were doing before, Farrier said the emphasis is on quality and more preparation in film study with quarterback Holton Ahlers.
“I wouldn’t say we’re doing a lot of things different, we’re just doing a lot of things better. We spend a lot of time in the film room going over things and staying on the same page. It takes a lot of practice, staying on the same page - timing - it’s going to be a lot better than last year.”
