East Carolina fires head coach Mike Houston

East Carolina is moving forward in a new direction with its football program, as head coach Mike Houston has been fired, the school announced on Sunday. Houston was in the midst of his sixth season at the helm since being hired in 2019.

Blake Harrell will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. He has been ECU’s defensive coordinator since 2020.

Houston’s contract was set to run through 2026, earning $2.3 million per season. East Carolina athletic director Jon Gilbert signed Houston to a new five-year contract, adding three additional years to the original agreement, back in 2021.

Houston took over a true rebuild, and went 4-8 in 2019 and 3-6 in 2020 to begin his tenure. In 2021, the Pirates took a major step forward, going 7-5 and making the Military Bowl, which was later canceled. ECU then improved even more in 2022, going 8-5 and winning the Birmingham Bowl over Coastal Carolina.

Since then, though, things have been disastrous for Houston and East Carolina. 2023 marked the first season after the departure of longtime quarterback Holton Ahlers, and the Pirates struggled immensely on their way to a 2-10 campaign.

After the 2023 season, Houston opted to part ways with offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick, hiring John David Baker from Ole Miss to replace him. ECU also added multiple players through the NCAA transfer portal, most notably on offense with quarterbacks Jake Garcia (Missouri) and Katin Houser (Michigan State).

ECU started the season 2-0 with a 42-3 victory over Norfolk State and a 20-14 road win at Old Dominion, but lost their next two games 21-19 against Appalachian State and 35-24 at Liberty. Houston was heavily scrutinized by many for those two performances, both of which many felt were winnable games.

In Week 5, the Pirates defeated UTSA 30-20 at home to improve to 3-2 (1-0 in AAC play). In Week 6 on the road at Charlotte, East Carolina lost in what can only been described as a shattering game. Charlotte dominated the game from start to finish, ultimately winning 55-24.

Jake Garcia, who won the starting quarterback job in the offseason and started the first six games of the season, was benched in the second quarter and replaced by Katin Houser. After the bye in Week 7, Houser got his first start of the season at Army. The game didn’t go ECU’s way, though, with the Pirates falling 45-28.

Houston’s tenure at East Carolina will forever be remembered by his struggles against other North Carolina schools. After the loss to Charlotte in Week 6, Houston fell to 0-7 against in-state FBS opponents; 34-6 at NC State (2019), 33-19 vs. Appalachian State (2021), 21-20 vs. NC State (2022), 43-28 at Appalachian State (2023), 10-7 vs. Charlotte (2023), 21-19 vs. Appalachian State (2024) and 55-24 at Charlotte (2024).

Overall, Houston was 27-38 in his six seasons in Greenville. That includes a 15-28 record in AAC play.

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