By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
The East Carolina Pirates fired their head football coach Mike Houston on Sunday. His departure comes after the school fell to 3-4 on Saturday.
Houston guided the Pirates guided the Pirates before losing 45-28 to the No. 23 ranked Army Black Knights in West Point, New York. With the loss; Houston fell to 106-62 as a head coach.
The Pirates were 5-14 in the last two seasons.
READ MORE: Click here for our latest NCAAF coverage
Do you like sports betting? Check out what our sports betting and casino partners have to offer to you.
Do you like what we do? Do you want to support The Capital Sports Report? You can make a monetary donation here.
Defensive coordinator Blake Harrell has been named interim head coach.
“After a comprehensive evaluation of our football program, I informed Mike Houston this morning that we are making a change in leadership,” ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert said in a statement. “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.
“We are confident we will identify the right leader for our football program. 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.”
The 52-year-old Houston had been at East Carolina since the 2019 season when he was just 27-38.
READ MORE: Click here for our latest Sports coverage
The Pirates’ 3 wins this season surpassed their 2023 win total. They went just 2-10 last season.
Houston has been a head coach with the Pirates, James Madison Dukes, The Citadel Bulldogs, and Lenoir-Rhyne Bears.
Editorial Note: There are affiliated links on this page. We may receive compensation if you purchase a product through a link on our site. If you enjoy our work and would like to donate to support our coverage, you can do so through this PayPal link https://paypal.me/tcsrmedianj
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, Tumblr, YouTube, and TruthSocial
Check out our videos: Videos Keep Independent Journalism Alive! Ad-free experience and Exclusive Premium-plus content. Join our Paid Substack for additional content for $10 per month. This is ad-free content. We believe that what you read matters and great writing is valuable. Through Substack, writers can flourish by being paid directly by their readers.© 2007-2025 The Capital Sports Report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcasted, rewritten, or redistributed.
