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First college football head coach fired of 2024 season after blowout loss
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The first college football head coach firing of the 2024 season has occurred after Week 8.
East Carolina has parted with Mike Houston. In 2024, Houston’s sixth season, the Pirates were 3-4 after back-to-back blowout losses. ECU fell to No. 23 Army 45-28 on Saturday.
“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 program release. “This was a very difficult decision. Mike has led our program the last 5 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.”
Houston leaves ECU with a 27-38 record. As referenced by the AD, the height of Houston’s success came in 2022 when the Pirates earned back-to-back bowl bids, winning the Birmingham Bowl. Unfortunately for Houston, a 2-10 season followed in 2023. The 2024 squad started the season 2-0, but has dropped 4 of the last 5, including back-to-back losses to Charlotte and Army by scores of 55-24 and 45-28.
ECU hosts Temple in Week 9. Defensive coordinator Blake Harrell will serve as the program’s interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
