East Carolina plans to promote interim head coach Blake Harrell to the full-time role, pending approval from the school’s board, a person briefed on the decision said Monday.
Harrell, formerly the defensive coordinator, is 4-0 since taking over as the interim coach, with wins against Temple, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa and most recently North Texas, overcoming a 21-0 deficit to win 40-28 on Saturday. ECU fired former coach Mike Houston with a 3-4 record in October before Harrell took over.
After beating North Texas, ECU players began publicly calling for Harrell to get the full-time job on social media.
— Katin Houser (@katinhouser) November 24, 2024
The 49-year-old Harrell is a Western Carolina graduate and joined ECU in 2020. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator at Kennesaw State, The Citadel and Lenoir-Rhyne, after coaching at the high school level in North Carolina.
East Carolina was considered by industry sources to be the best head-coaching opening at the moment, a Group of 5 job that paid Houston almost $2.5 million, while no Power 4 jobs are open. By promoting Harrell, ECU likely can save some coaching salary money and put it toward the upcoming revenue sharing with players.
(Photo: Jim Dedmon / Imagn Images)
