Jon Gilbert reiterates trust in Mike Houston after 2-10 season

East Carolina University Athletic Director Jon Gilbert faced the media on Nov. 28 for his annual State of Pirate Athletics address, reinforcing his belief in Head Coach Mike Houston after the Pirates football team finished the season with a disappointing 2-10 record. 

Pirate fans have many questions and concerns about the future of this team, which was just in a bowl game less than a year ago, after Head Coach Mike Houston and Offensive Coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick decided to part ways at the end of the 2023 season.

ECU only won against one Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) school this season and accumulated 10 losses in a single season for the second time in school history. Gilbert said everyone in the program recognizes that things didn't go as planned this season and that they are striving to change that.

“We have not met expectations for where this program should be,” Gilbert said. “It starts with me, Coach Houston, our student athletes had not met their expectations either. I feel terrible with how the season played out, I know that we can do better, it's going to take a lot of hard work from everybody in this department to get it turned around, I do believe in Mike Houston.”

Kirkpatrick's role was anticipated to change after the Pirates offense only averaged 17 points per game and scored 22 offensive touchdowns, the second fewest in FBS football this season. 

Houston, who has been at the helm since 2019, has had many fans calling for his name towards the end of the season, but Gilbert said he believes that the future of Pirate football belongs to Houston.

“As you think about what next year looks like, I do feel that Mike being our head coach, making what adjustments and tweaks that we need to make, that is going to put us in the best position to be successful next year,” Gilbert said. “We do need change, everybody sees and we see what the record is and we see what our shortcomings were and I think everybody here is committed to fix it.” 

Since its implementation in 2021, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has been a significant element of college football, as players can now receive money based on what they bring to the table with their NIL. 

This has had a significant impact on recruiting, as bigger players are being offered NIL money from several programs, resulting in a "bidding war" for highly recruited players. ECU and the Athletics Department have recognized this, and Gilbert said that the Pirates require a strong presence in NIL in order to attract the players they desire. 

“We are only as good as the players we have,” Gilbert said. “The better the NIL that we have, the more opportunities we will have to attract players. If you look at our roster, we had 10 to 12 seniors this year, we are a very young team, if we can hold onto those young players that we need to hold on to, and supplement through recruiting, we have a chance to flip this pretty quickly in my opinion.” 

After making two bowl games in a row (2021's bowl game was canceled due to COVID-19), the Pirates fell short of a bowl game this year on Oct. 28 when they lost to the University of Texas at San Antonio (8-4, 7-1 American Athletic Conference)

Along with finishing last in the AAC this season, ECU now has the most losses in AAC football history, with 50 since joining the league in 2014. Gilbert stated that competing for AAC titles should be the program's goal.

“On a baseline level, we should play in a bowl game every year and I think that it is achievable,” Gilbert said. “I do think we should compete for conference championships, I do think we have all the things here in place that we can win a conference championship here. So my expectation is at minimum we should be playing in a bowl game every year and we should be competing for conference championships and be in that upper tier in our league.”