DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE EDITION October 2013 • $5.95 Thanks for the Memories, Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Meet some of the Pirate partisans who’ve rallied behind the home team in the storied facility for half a century Also in this issue... Ruff’s Game Plan # Walk-on Steals the Show # Rick Smith’s Resume 15 Questions for Derrell Johnson # ‘The Voice’ Reflects on Influences Volleyball Revamped # Pirate Club News & More 2013-10-PC.indb 1 9/26/2013 10:47:01 AM 2013-10-PC.indb 2 9/26/2013 10:47:02 AM A Letter from Executive Committee the Director Executive President Mr. Jim Creech Executive Vice President Mr. Carl Rogers October 2013 Immediate Past President Dear Pirate Nation, Mr. Jerry L. Wilkins It is an exciting time to be a Pirate! Many of our sports teams have gotten off great starts this fall, in- Board of Directors cluding two home wins for the Pirate Football team, a double overtime victory for the Women’s Soccer Mrs. Tracey Allen team, and two home wins for the Pirate Volleyball team! Your support of our outstanding student – Mr. Mike Ash athletes has been impressive. Dr. William (Bill) Bogey Mr. Donnie Bunn The start of fall has also included the culmination of many years of hard work and your generosity. On Mr. Rogers Clark August 30th the new basketball practice facility, recently named the Smith-Williams Center in honor Mrs. Clara Darden of Harry and Tammy Smith as well as Walter and Marie Williams, was opened. The center provides our Dr. David Marshburn student-athletes with a state-of-the-art venue dedicated to practice, train, and condition. The center is Mr. Landon Minges also home to new offices for our Men’s & Women’s Basketball teams. Mr. Danny Nichols A special thank you to all those who committed their support to insure the continued success of our Mr. Smokey Norris Men’s and Women’s Basketball Programs. None of this would have been possible without your generos- Mr. Mike Rogers ity, dedication, and commitment to our student-athletes. Mr. Harry Smith Mrs. Linda Tripp The Smith-Williams Center will also house the East Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame. This Mr. George C. Turner portion of the facility will provide the rich history of ECU Athletics the proper home it deserves. Upon Mr. Arnold Wallace its completion the space will be open to the public throughout the week and on home football and basketball game days. As we look to move forward with this area of the facility, we are continuing to ECU Chancellor seek support in making this vision complete. Please contact the Pirate Club office at 252.737.4540 for Dr. Steven Ballard additional information. Director of Athletics As we move ahead into the fall athletic season, I look forward to seeing each one of you in your purple Mr. Jeff Compher & gold cheering loudly on our Pirates. Executive Treasurer Dr. Rick Niswander GO PIRATES! Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. David A. Dosser, Jr. Financial Director Mrs. Sherrilyn R. Johnson J. Batt Director Emeritus Executive Director Mr. Walter L. Williams East Carolina University Educational Foundation Senior Associate Athletics Director Executive Director Mr. J. Batt Counsel Mr. Walter Hinson 2013-10-PC.indb 3 9/26/2013 10:47:05 AM Date Opponent / Event Location 08/31 vs. Old Dominion (PCW) Greenville 09/05 vs. Florida Atlantic (GR) Greenville 09/14 vs. Virginia Tech (FW/PH) Greenville 09/28 at North Carolina Chapel Hill 10/05 at Middle Tennessee State Murfreesboro, Tenn. 10/12 at Tulane New Orleans, La. 10/19 vs. Southern Miss (MIL) Greenville 11/02 at Florida International Miami, Fla. 11/09 vs. Tulsa (HC/HOF) Greenville 11/16 vs. UAB (SD) Greenville 11/23 at North Carolina State Raleigh, N.C. 11/29 at Marshall Huntington, W.Va. 2013 PIRATE FOOTBALL For game times, results and other details, please visit ecupirates.com. Photo by Paul Burgett/creativeconsequences.net. 2013-10-PC.indb 4 9/26/2013 10:47:06 AM OCTOBER 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Produced for the ECU Pirate Club by DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE EDITION Top Stories Bonesville Media P.O. Box 5017 A PIRATE LOOKS AT 50: Mike 6 Emerald Isle, NC 28594 October 2013 • $5.95 Bunting has not missed a home (252) 349-3280 since 1963 — Al Myatt Thanks for the Memories, DOWDY-FICKLEN MEMORIES: Life- 8 Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium long Pirate fans share their cherished recollections — Bethany Bradsher MEET J. BATT: The Pirate Club has a new Executive Director — Al Myatt NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES: Some 10 history of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Executive Director — Al Myatt J. Batt Meet some of the Pirate partisans who’ve rallied behind JUSTIN HARDY: Walk-on steals the 14 Pirate Club Assistant the home team in the storied facility for half a century show — Al Myatt Molly Baker Also in this issue... Ruff’s Game Plan # Walk-on Steals the Show # Rick Smith’s Resume 15 Questions for Derrell Johnson # ‘The Voice’ Reflects on Influences FIFTEEN QUESTIONS: Derrell Johnson 20 Volleyball Revamped # Pirate Club News & More — W.A. Myatt WRITERS Cover photo: View from the west end zone of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The 50,000-seat facility has undergone multiple Brian Bailey phases of enhancement and expansion since its dedication in 1963 was marked by a win over Wake Forest. That initial game Bethany Bradsher was played before a crowd of 17,000 packed into a permanent grandstand on the south side and an array of bleachers on the Jeff Charles north side. (ECU Media Relations photo) Kevin Monroe Al Myatt News & Features W.A. Myatt PHOTOGRAPHY ECU Media Relations W.A. Myatt MANAGING EDITOR Sara Whitford 14 18 22 26 ADVERTISING INQUIRIES sara@lookoutpublishing RICK SMITH: A History of Defense 18 (252) 349-3280 — Kevin Monroe PUBLISHER INSIDE SLANT: Ruff’s game plan 22 Danny Whitford includes big dose of leadership — Brian Bailey VISIT WITH THE VOICE: Life and Career 24 Influences — Jeff Charles REVAMPED: Torbett amps up the 26 intensity for Pirate Volleyball — Bethany Bradsher ©2013 Bonesville Media. All rights reserved. PIRATE CLUB NEWS 29 No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Right: ECU School of Dental Medicine namesake, Dr. Ledyard E. Bonesville Media is an imprint of Lookout Ross, is just one fan who’s been cheering on the Pirates in Dowdy- Publishing, which is an operating unit of Caro- Ficklen Stadium for half a century. (ECU News Services photo) 8 lina Data Systems. For more information, visit www.lookoutpublishing.com. APPRECIATION: We extend our sincere gratitude to Tom McClellan and the ECU Media Relations Office staff. They always work professionally in response to our requests for images that make this publication more enjoyable for Pirate Club members. 2013-10-PC.indb 5 9/26/2013 10:47:10 AM Lady Pirates Thrive on Local Flavor A Pirate Looks at 50 ...Years of ECU football Recollections of half a century at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Real Dedication: Mike Bunting (right) hasn’t missed an East Carolina By Al Myatt home football game since 1963. Bunting and his fellow alumnus, former ECU athletic director Bill Cain (left), are seatmates at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.” (W.A. Myatt photo) When East Carolina hosted Virginia and the region to say, ‘Hey, we can compete with these folks. ... If Tech on Sept. 14, it was the 256th game at we can build a program, we can compete on their level.’ It gave the football facility now known as Dowdy- us hope. In my opinion, it was the thing that started our football program. ... I put more importance on that game than any one we Ficklen Stadium. ever played in my lifetime.” Mike Bunting has seen 255 of those games since the sta- The Pirates topped the Demon Deacons, 20-10, on Sept. dium was dedicated. 21, 1963. The one Bunting missed, he considers the most impor- “I was at home in Greensboro at the time,” Bunting said. tant. “I got so excited, I said ‘I’m not going to miss another one.’” “People ask me what I thought was the most important He lives outside of Greensboro in Julian. The recurring game we ever played,” Bunting said. “In my opinion, for what it’s 300-mile round trip to Greenville obviously takes a high degree worth, and I didn’t see it, I listened to it on the radio. It was when of commitment. Coach Stas (Clarence Stasavich) and our ‘63 team beat Wake For- “Mike is a loyal and faithful Pirate,” said Bill Cain, a for- est. mer ECU athletic director, who sits with Bunting in Section 6. “The reason I thought that was the most important game “He’s been there and done it.” 6 and had the most significance, it got our people at East Carolina Bunting, 75, is president of Rubber Mil, Inc. 2013-10-PC.indb 6 9/26/2013 10:47:12 AM “We manufacture win at State in 1971. Wallace’s son, Bill, lettered at ECU in 2010 component parts for the metal and 2011 as a defensive back. working, lighting and appli- Cain said that Bunting went to many of the away games ance industries,” Bunting said. at one time and his support of the university hasn’t been limited Bunting graduated to athletics. from East Carolina with a de- “If there’s something going on at East Carolina, he’ll be gree in social studies in 1961. here,” Cain said. “He’s made contributions to other departments He went to two football games -- biology and music and art and medicine and everything else.