Volume 27: The After Party continues with Donnie K, Shank and straight shootin' Rick Smith!

Volume 27 of "The Sports Objective" features David, Kyle and Bubba talking to 3 former ECU assistant football coaches--all of which served on at least 2 staffs here in Greenville.  

First, the guys talk to long-time recruiting coordinator and WR coach Donnie Kirkpatrick. Donnie K tutored the likes of Justin Hardy, Zay Jones, Dwayne Harris, Aundrae Allison, Lance Lewis and others during his 11 years on the staffs of Skip Holtz (2005-09) and Ruffin McNeill (2010-15).  He is now the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach at FCS power James Madison.

When you think of offensive line play at ECU, many people likely think of Steve Shankweiler's units and for good reason as "Coach Shank" was a part of four Pirate staffs--Art Baker, Bill Lewis, Steve Logan and Skip Holtz--and part of some of the most successful moments in Pirate football such as the 1991 season, 1999 and 2000 seasons, and the back-to-back CUSA championship teams.  He truly loves ECU and embraces what it means to be a Pirate. Find out what Coach Shank is up to now!

During the Skip Holtz era, the Pirates became known for playing great defense--particularly during the 2008 and 2009 seasons that ended in Conference USA titles.  A key cog in producing those defenses was secondary coach Rick Smith.  Smith, a coaching veteran of more than 40 years, returned as the Pirates' Defensive Coordinator from 2013 to 2015 and also served as the secondary coach on Scottie Montgomery's first staff in 2016.  You're not going to find anyone more "real" than straight shootin' Rick Smith!  Coach has a tremendous knowledge of the game, great stories and is always fun to talk to!