Scottie Montgomery

What many in the Pirate Nation thought was inevitable has become official.

East Carolina has made the decision to fire head coach Scottie Montgomery, and he will not return for a fourth season in 2019. Montgomery, who informed the team in a closed meeting on Thursday at noon, will not coach the team for this coming weekend’s season finale at NC State. The final two years of his contract will be bought out. ECU will owe Montgomery around $800,000 through January 31, 2021.

Montgomery’s tenure with the Pirates comes to an end after three disappointing seasons at the helm of the program. ECU has gone just 9-26 overall, including a paltry 4-20 mark in American Athletic Conference, since Montgomery took the job in 2016. The Pirates are also just 1-14 on the road.

"As much as we would have liked the outcome to be different, the progress of a program is ultimately measured by its competitiveness, win total and championships," chancellor Cecil Staton said. "It is our decision to move in a different direction with new leadership.

"He cared deeply for his players, was an outstanding mentor, and always focused on the word 'student' in student-athlete. We wish him all the best."

The search for ECU’s next head coach will begin immediately, as the Pirates also look to finalize an athletic director hire in the coming days. It will mark the second football hire in a span on four years, and the third since 2010.

Montgomery’s time with the Pirates started with a bang. The former Duke offensive coordinator led the Pirates to a blowout win over Western Carolina and a rivalry victory over NC State to start the year 2-0 before the wheels fell off. ECU lost a close game at South Carolina and proceeded to falter in nine of its final 10 contests, only defeating UConn to finish the season 3-9.

Expected improvement in Year 2 didn’t transpire like the administration hoped as the Pirates once again sputtered to a 3-9 record with wins over UConn, BYU and Cincinnati. A blowout loss to FCS foe James Madison proved to be a black mark on his resume, as was a 70-13 thrashing at the hands of Memphis.

Following the blowout loss at Memphis, Montgomery went on record and guaranteed a bowl game to the Pirate Nation. His promise was busted after ECU’s ninth game of the season, a 24-18 loss at Tulane. Despite improvements on defense and the promise of true freshman quarterback Holton Ahlers, ECU continued to find a way to lose games. A second straight FCS loss to North Carolina A&T to open the season ruined the campaign before it really ever had a chance to get going, and close losses to USF, Memphis and Tulane only further added to the frustration.

ECU failed to be competitive in most conference games of Montgomery’s tenure. Seventeen of Montgomery’s 20 league losses came by double digits.

Along with the victory over NC State in Year 1, Montgomery managed to beat rival North Carolina 41-19 earlier this season. The Pirates also had a non-conference win over Old Dominion on a last-second field goal.

Montgomery was dealt a tough hand from the beginning. He took over a fractured fan base after the controversial firing of Ruffin McNeill and a tumultuous leadership group that eventually saw the resignation of athletics director Jeff Compher this past March. Many believed Montgomery also didn’t have the necessary talent and depth to succeed in the American Athletic Conference when he took over the job, but the inability to adjust to his personnel with schemes and the coaching style of his staff proved to be a downfall in the end.