Mike Houston became the first FBS coach to be fired during the 2024 season.
On Sunday morning, East Carolina announced it had fired the coach after five seasons
Athletic director Jon Gilbert made the announcement a day after the Pirates (3-4) lost to No. 23 Army 45-28.
“After a comprehensive evaluation of our football program, I informed Mike Houston this morning that we are making a change in leadership,” Gilbert said in a statement from the school. “This was a very difficult decision. Mike has led our program the last five plus seasons with tremendous class and has positively impacted so many student-athletes. After earning back-to-back bowl invitations, we looked poised for continued success. Unfortunately, we have not seen the results we all want, and a change is needed to move the program forward. We have high expectations and those are not changing.”
Houston, a Franklin native, played tight end at Mars Hill, then began his coaching career as defensive coordinator at Forbush High School in 1994. He moved on to Asheville’s T.C. Roberson High and was named head coach after five seasons. Following a 42-18 mark at the school, he moved on to the college ranks, where he was defensive coordinator at Brevard and Lenoir-Rhyne, before taking over as head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne.
Houston left the state in 2014 to coach for two seasons at the Citadel. He then spent three years at James Madison, winning an FCS national championship in 2016.
Houston took over at ECU in 2019 and, after two losing seasons, won seven games in 2021 and eight in 2022, earning bowl berths both seasons. Last year, ECU fell to 2-10, and, entering this year, Houston was the least secure FBS coach in the state in the North State Journal’s annual hot seat ratings, earning a grade of “warming up.” Our preview pointed out that “ECU finished in the bottom five in the nation in scoring last year and put up 10 points or fewer five times.”
East Carolina won its first two games this season, but the Pirates have won just once in their next five outings, a stretch that concluded with back-to-back losses to Charlotte and Army, where ECU gave up a total of 100 points.
ECU named defensive coordinator Blake Harrell interim coach. He will lead the program for the remainder of the season, while the school embarks on a coaching search.
“We are confident we will identify the right leader for our football program,” Gilbert said in a statement from the school. “I believe ECU is a premier job with a passionate fan base, unprecedented support from our Pirate Club donors, and great facilities that continue to improve. Right now, we are focusing on our student-athletes as they compete for a postseason opportunity in the final five regular season games. My hope is Pirate Nation will rally around our student-athletes like they have always done.”
Harrell graduated from Western Carolina in 2002. He had served as a student assistant while there, and, like Houston, began his coaching career at the North Carolina high school level. Harrell also spent time at Franklin, Fuquay Varina and McDowell. He moved to the college level, joining Houston at Lenoir-Rhyne, where he earned an MBA degree and coaching in several roles for seven seasons.
Harrell moved with Houston to The Citadel, but he remained there for five seasons before moving on to Kennesaw State. After a year there, he rejoined Houston on the ECU staff, where he has served as defensive coordinator since 2020. He was nominated for the Broyles Award, given to the top assistant in college football, in 2021.
The stage is set for Harrell to make an immediate impact with the Pirates. East Carolina’s next three opponents are Temple and Florida Atlantic at home, followed by a road game at Tulsa. Those three teams are a combined 6-15 on the season, 1-8 in the AAC.
Among candidates that might be attractive to East Carolina during the coaching search, are head coaches at smaller schools, such as ETSU’s Tre Lamb, Davidson’s Scott Abell and ULM’s Bryant Vincent. All three have offensive backgrounds, which would be a change from Houston and Harrell’s experience on the defensive side of the ball.
Coordinators at larger school are also a possibility. Fromer ECU quarterback Joe Sloan is currently offensive coordinator at LSU. Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley served on Ruffin McNeill’s staff at ECU. Casey Woods, the offensive coordinator at ACC surprise team SMU, doesn’t have a connection to the Pirates but should merit attention as well.
The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
