ECU Media Day Perspectives From Players, Coaches … and Media
August 05, 2017 | Football
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By Joe Corley
ECUPirates.com
The signs are everywhere. Football season is near.
The days certainly aren't short and it's anything but cool outside, but the days are shorter than they were a month ago, and the heat of July broke briefly – briefly – with overnight lows reaching down into the upper 50s as the calendar turned to August.
Camp for the East Carolina football team began Thursday, and two days later – just four weeks ahead of their opener at home against defending FCS national champion James Madison – the Pirates held their annual Media Day on Saturday.
It was the first Media Day at ECU for Zach Maskavich, who has been a sports reporter at WNCT-TV since December. Maskavich had covered Virginia, Towson, James Madison and Richmond at previous jobs, and he had a good idea of what he wanted to accomplish.
"Mainly, I'd like to get one-on-one interviews with the players and introduce myself to them because they're going to see me throughout the season," he said. "For this team in particular, I'm looking to learn things about them because I wasn't here last year. And there's a lot of new faces here, too."
One of those new faces at ECU this season is running back Tyshon Dye. He and safety Korrin Wiggins are graduate transfers from Clemson, which won the national championship last year.
Dye, who finished last season with 21 carries for 109 yards, said he didn't participate in Media Day as much as he would've liked at Clemson, but he added he didn't notice much of a difference in how ECU runs its Media Day.
"The atmosphere is probably a little less here, but the fans are good and they want information," Dye said. "Being here, talking to the media, I think it helps provide great insight for the fans."
Another new face for the Pirates this season is Robert Prunty, who was hired during the offseason as associate head coach and defensive line coach. Prunty has been coaching since 1993, including the last four years at Cincinnati, a rival of the Pirates in the American Athletic Conference. Though he's new to ECU, to him it was almost like just another day at the office.
"No big difference," he said. "The fans, they're excited and they want to know more about the team, how they're doing, what they're doing. This is informative and it helps brings the fans closer to the team."
Being close to the team has become an issue for the media in college football in the last several years. With the rise of the internet, online publications and a 24-hour news cycle, some schools have begun to limit media access.
Just this season, in fact, the University of Texas has mandated reporters no longer tweet from press conferences, but instead wait until it's over. Louisiana State has closed practice completely. The school now provides video and photos from practice.
On Media Day, the ECU football team practiced from 10:30 a.m. until noon, with the last 30 minutes open to reporters. At the first two practices Thursday and Friday, practice was open to video and still photographers for the first 30 minutes, with Coach Scottie Montgomery available after practice.
"The access here is great," said Josh Graham, sports director at The Game 94.3. "We appreciate Scottie Montgomery for the access he gives us because, as we're learning more and more, that's becoming an issue throughout the country."
Graham has been covering ECU for seven years, and he also has covered UNC, Duke and the rest of the ACC. ECU's Media Day has a different feel.
"There's less people, first and foremost, less media, but not in a bad way," he said. "It means you can have more of a closer relationship with the players and coaches. You can have a conversation with them. It seems more natural."
One of the easiest players to have a conversation with is wide receiver Jimmy Williams. Back for one final season after being granted a medical hardship waiver last December, Williams was glad to be at Media Day. The wait to talk to him was lengthy, and it was easy to see why.
"I like cameras," Williams said. "I like talking to people. You ask me something, and I'm going to give you an honest answer. I feel like that's just the way it should be. It's coming from my heart and my mind."
Montgomery, who opened his press conference by saying about the morning's practice that, "The most spirited practice happened today," said he prepares for Media Day like he does everything else.
"We try to be very detailed and give (the media) what they want and need to be able to do their jobs," he said. "I really do enjoy the interaction with the media. I know a lot of other coaches don't, but I can remember when I was a kid, all the information I got about teams and I was able to spew out came directly from the newspaper and from television media."
By Joe Corley
ECUPirates.com
The signs are everywhere. Football season is near.
The days certainly aren't short and it's anything but cool outside, but the days are shorter than they were a month ago, and the heat of July broke briefly – briefly – with overnight lows reaching down into the upper 50s as the calendar turned to August.
Camp for the East Carolina football team began Thursday, and two days later – just four weeks ahead of their opener at home against defending FCS national champion James Madison – the Pirates held their annual Media Day on Saturday.
It was the first Media Day at ECU for Zach Maskavich, who has been a sports reporter at WNCT-TV since December. Maskavich had covered Virginia, Towson, James Madison and Richmond at previous jobs, and he had a good idea of what he wanted to accomplish.
"Mainly, I'd like to get one-on-one interviews with the players and introduce myself to them because they're going to see me throughout the season," he said. "For this team in particular, I'm looking to learn things about them because I wasn't here last year. And there's a lot of new faces here, too."
One of those new faces at ECU this season is running back Tyshon Dye. He and safety Korrin Wiggins are graduate transfers from Clemson, which won the national championship last year.
Dye, who finished last season with 21 carries for 109 yards, said he didn't participate in Media Day as much as he would've liked at Clemson, but he added he didn't notice much of a difference in how ECU runs its Media Day.
"The atmosphere is probably a little less here, but the fans are good and they want information," Dye said. "Being here, talking to the media, I think it helps provide great insight for the fans."
Another new face for the Pirates this season is Robert Prunty, who was hired during the offseason as associate head coach and defensive line coach. Prunty has been coaching since 1993, including the last four years at Cincinnati, a rival of the Pirates in the American Athletic Conference. Though he's new to ECU, to him it was almost like just another day at the office.
"No big difference," he said. "The fans, they're excited and they want to know more about the team, how they're doing, what they're doing. This is informative and it helps brings the fans closer to the team."
Being close to the team has become an issue for the media in college football in the last several years. With the rise of the internet, online publications and a 24-hour news cycle, some schools have begun to limit media access.
Just this season, in fact, the University of Texas has mandated reporters no longer tweet from press conferences, but instead wait until it's over. Louisiana State has closed practice completely. The school now provides video and photos from practice.
On Media Day, the ECU football team practiced from 10:30 a.m. until noon, with the last 30 minutes open to reporters. At the first two practices Thursday and Friday, practice was open to video and still photographers for the first 30 minutes, with Coach Scottie Montgomery available after practice.
"The access here is great," said Josh Graham, sports director at The Game 94.3. "We appreciate Scottie Montgomery for the access he gives us because, as we're learning more and more, that's becoming an issue throughout the country."
Graham has been covering ECU for seven years, and he also has covered UNC, Duke and the rest of the ACC. ECU's Media Day has a different feel.
"There's less people, first and foremost, less media, but not in a bad way," he said. "It means you can have more of a closer relationship with the players and coaches. You can have a conversation with them. It seems more natural."
One of the easiest players to have a conversation with is wide receiver Jimmy Williams. Back for one final season after being granted a medical hardship waiver last December, Williams was glad to be at Media Day. The wait to talk to him was lengthy, and it was easy to see why.
"I like cameras," Williams said. "I like talking to people. You ask me something, and I'm going to give you an honest answer. I feel like that's just the way it should be. It's coming from my heart and my mind."
Montgomery, who opened his press conference by saying about the morning's practice that, "The most spirited practice happened today," said he prepares for Media Day like he does everything else.
"We try to be very detailed and give (the media) what they want and need to be able to do their jobs," he said. "I really do enjoy the interaction with the media. I know a lot of other coaches don't, but I can remember when I was a kid, all the information I got about teams and I was able to spew out came directly from the newspaper and from television media."
Players Mentioned
Running Back
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ FootballSaturday, April 18
Monday, April 13
Friday, April 10
Tuesday, April 07
