ECU'S WHITLEY FEELING GREAT' AFTER NEARLY QUITTING Top returning RB welcomed back by team

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1 ECU'S WHITLEY FEELING GREAT' AFTER NEARLY QUITTING Top returning RB welcomed back by team Sun-Journal David Hall September 10, 2009 GREENVILLE Months after emerging as East Carolina s go-to running back, Norman Whitley almost went away. Whitley, who led the Pirates with 698 rushing yards last season to help them to their first Conference USA title, said he thought long and hard this spring about moving on with his life. On pace to graduate in December with a degree in child development and family relations, Whitley contemplated skipping his final two years of football eligibility to work toward a Master s degree before he finally rejoined the team over the summer. You ve got to kind of look at reality, said Whitley, a contemplative, soft-spoken junior from Hamlet who was left off the Pirates spring roster for what coach Skip Holtz called a violation of team athletic department policy. When reality sets in in so many ways... you ve got to ask yourself what s more important: Is it playing football and beating yourself up every day, or is it getting your degree and focusing on what s after your degree? Whitley said he had indepth discussions about his decision this spring with Holtz, who has not divulged the specific reason for Whitley s absence from the spring roster. The fifth-year coach, Whitley said, gave him that time and that respect to sit back and think about some things before he decided to return. Now, Whitley is left to work his way back onto the field. After he rejoined the program, he suffered a hip injury that kept him off the roster through fall camp. Although he s healthy now, Whitley is not listed on ECU s depth chart. The time he missed in the fall, Holtz said, allowed fellow running backs Brandon Jackson, Dominique Lindsay, Jonathan Williams and Giavanni Ruffin to vault past Whitley. It s hard to move to the front because nobody wants to give up that spot in the front of the line, said Holtz, adding that Whitley will be available Saturday at West Virginia. Despite his reluctance to return this season, Whitley was embraced by his teammates when he did. While he weighed his options, he said, several teammates called or sent text messages encouraging him to continue his career. We wanted him back, said senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney. He was a key to our success. Lindsay, who started last week s win over Appalachian State in the season opener, called Whitley a great guy and said his experience is invaluable. He can help the younger guys learn the system and stuff like that, Lindsay said. You ve got more coaches out there anytime you ve got more people out there that s done been in the system. For Whitley, who scored four touchdowns last season, experience includes both highs and lows. In the Pirates loss to Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl in January, his untimely fumble was returned 56 yards for the decisive touchdown with 3:02 remaining.

2 Whitley, who had scored on a 69-yard run to help ECU to a victory over Tulsa in the C-USA title game a month earlier, said the way the Liberty Bowl ended was not a factor in his nearly hanging up his cleats. It s times that I thought about it, but you can t weigh your feelings on one play, he said, adding that he has not watched a replay of the bowl game. If I weighed my feelings on one play, I d be smiling more times than I m sad. I broke a long run at Tulsa in the conference championship game. What if I didn t? What if the fumble would have occurred then? For three years, Whitley has worked at a group home in preparation for his career after football. He said his ambition is to work with children and to help better people. Despite Whitley s missed time and his drop on the depth chart, Holtz said Whitley is doing the right things. Norman s done a great job, he said. He s had a great attitude. With his hip feeling healthy and an indecisive off-season behind him, Whitley is ready to contribute on Saturdays again. I m running around better than I was last year, he said. Everything is great.

3 HARRIS WAITING TO BREAK LOOSE Whitley status The Daily Reflector By Nathan Summers September 23, 2009 Although he hasn't set foot into the ECU backfield yet this season, junior running back Norman Whitley is ready to run, according to Holtz. Last year, Whitley found a role on the team when senior Dominique Lindsay was lost for the season with a knee injury and junior Jonathan Williams was suspended. But the Pirates' 2008 leading rusher is having a tough time getting back on the playing field. Whitley endured an injury, but was also immobilized in the offseason by Holtz's disciplinary actions and has yet to make his first carry since January's Liberty Bowl. Holtz insists it's nothing more than a numbers game now, as Lindsay, Williams, Giavanni Ruffin and Brandon Jackson are all currently ahead of Whitley on the depth chart. He's coming out here every day and busting his rear end, and he's waiting for his opportunity, Holtz said of Whitley, who last season finished with a team-high 698 yards and four touchdowns. It's hard to play four tailbacks or five tailbacks. It's hard when you come to camp almost a month late and those guys have kind of established themselves. He understands the deal. Nobody is against Norman.

4 ECU S WHITLEY SEES FIRST ACTION Sun Journal David Hall October 14, 2009 GREENVILLE Buried deep beneath the litany of fatal mistakes committed during East Carolina s upset loss at SMU on Saturday was a name that hasn t appeared in a box score since the Pirates Liberty Bowl loss to Kentucky back in January. Norman Whitley, ECU s top returning rusher from 2008, saw his first action of the season after spending the first five games working his way back up the depth chart. The junior from Hamlet came off the bench to carry three times for two yards and catch a nine-yard pass. The time on the field, which Whitley admitted came as a surprise, was due in part to the absence of running back Brandon Jackson, who didn t make the trip to Dallas because he was one of several players afflicted by a flu bug that circulated throughout the team. The plain-talking, dreadlocks-wearing Whitley said his long-awaited return was less than inspiring. It wasn t as exciting as I thought it would be when you get an L, when you re losing, he said. I feel like if I would ve went in there and made a big difference, then the outcome would be a little different how I look at it and how I feel about it. It doesn t mean anything if a player gets in there and doesn t do anything with the opportunity to turn it towards winning a game. Whitley ran for four touchdowns and a team-high 698 yards last season, emerging as a feature back near the midway point. His 69-yard touchdown run helped the Pirates to a win over Tulsa in the Conference USA championship game in December, but his late fumble in the Liberty Bowl contributed to a loss to the Wildcats. Before Saturday, Whitley, who was left off ECU s spring roster for what fifth-year coach Skip Holtz called a violation of team athletic department policy, hadn t played since. In the spring, Whitley contemplated giving up football to focus on his degree in child development and family relations and work toward graduate school. After some lengthy heart-to-heart talks with Holtz, he decided to come back. But a hip injury further hindered Whitley s return to the team and forced him to miss part of fall camp. Holtz, whose team plays host to Rice on Saturday, said that while Whitley has been healthy and available all season, the injury allowed other backs to slip past him on the depth chart. ECU offensive coordinator Todd Fitch said this week that a knee injury suffered by running back Jonathan Williams at SMU will likely thrust Whitley and senior reserve Darnel Ballard into action for the foreseeable future. For a man whose recent past has been all practice and no play, another chance to help the team is welcome. I feel like I haven t been contributing as much as I should or as much as I could, Whitley said, adding that he has not been given an indication of how often he might play. But I ve got to wait on an opportunity to come. If an opportunity never comes, then there s nothing I can do about it. If it comes, it comes. If it don t, it don t. That s how I ve got to look at it.

5 WHITLEY BECOMING A FACTOR FOR ECU The Daily Reflector By Nathan Summers March 30, 2010 Norman Whitley is a walking testament to perseverance this spring. The senior East Carolina running back became an invisible man last season after being one of the team s promising playmakers in Not sure if he wanted to play football his senior year after off-the-field troubles and a drastically reduced role on former coach Skip Holtz s team, the arrival of new head coach Ruffin McNeill has put Whitley right back on his football course again. A new coach and a new offense mean a new lease on life for the 5-foot-9, 186-pound Whitley, who rushed for 698 yards and four touchdowns as a sophomore before logging three total carries for two yards last season. In Monday s practice, Whitley showed numerous times how he can fit into McNeill s pass-heavy attack. With the role that the running back plays, you can be very special in this offense, Whitley said. With some of the things that we re doing, when you do get the running back to play, even if you ve got five or six receivers running down the field, if everybody drops back you ve got the running back wide open, you have 10 or 15 yards to run before anybody gets near you. Whitley said he figures if Holtz had the same offense, he could have been the same player he hopes to be under McNeill. I was talking to my linemen about it and I m excited, Whitley said. It s targeted around a small, quick running back. Coach Holtz wanted that big back that can pound you and pound you, and that wasn t to my advantage. Spring Practice Notes A handful of players who have recently changed positions were all battling it out in their new roles at Monday s practice. Senior former wide receiver Wes Pittman pulled a regular shift on the second unit at outside linebacker, and in front of him at defensive tackle was newcomer Diavalo Simpson, recruited as an offensive lineman. Junior former tight end Michael Byrd took reps at right defensive end. Former receiver Jacobi Jenkins, a sophomore, was trying to get comfortable at cornerback on the second unit while senior defensive back Darryl Reynolds, a cornerback for most of career, continued to play reps at the top free safety spot alongside junior Derek Blacknall. Redshirt Matt Milner played at the top right end spot on the defensive line, flanked by redshirt Jimmy Booth and junior Maurice Mercer at tackle and junior Antonio Allison at the left end. At linebacker, senior Dustin Lineback and junior Matt Thompson have flanked junior Steve Spence on the top trio. For much of the scrimmage time at the end of practice Monday, redshirt Grant Harner manned right tackle on the offensive line in place of junior Steven Baker, while sophomore Dalton Faulds played center in place of the recently injured Will Towery. Redshirt receivers Mike Price and Justin Jones continued to be noticeable and took a lot of reps during team drills, along with sophomore Dayon Arrington, junior Darryl Freeney and senior Dwayne Harris.

6 Senior backs Whitley and Jonathan Williams were both on the receiving end of nice short passes from redshirt quarterback Rio Johnson. Perhaps the most visible newcomer Monday was freshman back Alex Owah out of Hargrave Military Academy, who had numerous bursts up the middle.

7 FRESH FACES ON THE GRIDIRON Top 5 new impact players for the Pirates 2010 season The East Carolinian Addison Harvey July 7, 2010 As the 2010 season nears, ECU faithful will have to adjust to many changes to their beloved football team. The Pirates have a completely new coaching staff, new offensive and defensive schemes and a newly renovated Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Along with all these changes, fans will have to get used to some new names on the field. With the Pirates losing nine of 11 defensive starters and a handful of offensive starters, there will be many new players contributing in head coach Ruffin McNeill's first season in Greenville. I. Andrew Bodenheimer The talented redshirt sophomore wide receiver was one of the pleasant surprises at McNeill's first spring practice. Bodenheimer, who busted onto the scene late in the 2009 season, started his first game at wide receiver verses Houston. He spent most of last season on special teams, playing in all 14 games. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound receiver starred in spring practices and left Pirates fans thinking about his future in the annual Purple-Gold game hauling in two touchdown passes. With the new Texas Tech style of offense McNeill has brought with him, Bodenheimer is sure to be one of the breakout stars of the 2010 season as an outside wide receiver. 2. Justin Jones Lots of changes are ahead for Pirate fans in the 2010 season, as they will see the football in the air more than they have in years. Since head coach McNeill has come to town, ECU fans have been talking about how the Pirates are going to air it out in 2010 and one of the more intriguing targets is inside wide receiver Justin Jones. Jones, a redshirt freshman out of Conyers, Ga., stands at a massive 6-foot-8-inches tall. Jones will create a huge matchup problem for opposing defensive backs with his height. The Georgia native will surely be one of the main targets for Pirate quarterbacks in the fall. 3. Steve Spence One of the more intriguing questions going into the 2010 season is who will step up on defense for the Pirates? ECU only returns two starters from their 2009 Conference USA Championship campaign and a lot of new faces are going to have to step up. One of the faces to look out for is linebacker Steve Spence. The junior from Norfolk, Va., has showed signs of brilliance on the gridiron in his three years. Spence will be one of the feature linebackers in the Pirates' new defensive scheme. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker recorded six tackles in the spring game, which may be a sign of great things for Spence in the upcoming season. 4. Marke Powell Aside from the Pirates' new aggressive high-flying offense, the Pirates' defense seems to have a new philosophy of blitzing and blitzing often. During spring practice, defensive coordinator Brian Mitchell made it known that his defense was also going to be aggressive and pressure opposing quarterbacks as much as possible. One face that ECU fans got to see a glimpse of in 2009 was freshman Marke Powell. Now a sophomore, Powell served on the special teams unit last season, appearing in II games. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound defensive end has tremendous speed from being a converted linebacker, and if everything goes as planned, Powell may be one of the new, young stars on the Pirates' defense.

8 5. Norman Whitley While most Pirate faithful are familiar with the onetime ECU starting running back, Whitley faded in With a new coaching staff, the senior running back has a fresh, clean slate to finish off his career as a Pirate. The Pirates' offense philosophy for the 2010 senior has many new roles for the running back core. Whitley could be a vital part of the offense as a passing target out of the backfield. The Richmond County product is elusive and has great speed that will be another weapon in offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley's arsenal.

9 WHITLEY WINDS DOWN CAREER QUIETLY ECU senior hopes to play in future Sun-Journal David Hall December 28, 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. It wasn t supposed to end this way for Norman Whitley. The East Carolina senior running back, once a key piece of the Pirates offense, will likely go out inconspicuously as the Pirates face Maryland today in the Military Bowl. There was a time when he was hard to ignore. Whitley led ECU with 698 rushing yards in That same season, his 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter helped lift the Pirates to a win at Tulsa in the Conference USA title game. Afterward, he stood on a platform and directed the school band, a smile on his face and his long dreadlocks swinging in the chilly breeze as his teammates celebrated ECU s first league championship in 32 years. Since then, though, Whitley has been hard to find. He fell into former coach Skip Holtz s doghouse last season for reasons that remain undisclosed, and a combination of medical and personnel reasons have limited him to a single carry this season. Through it all, Whitley has maintained a positive attitude. I had a lot of ups and downs when I was here at East Carolina, but I found a way to battle through them with the support system I have back home and at East Carolina, he said this week. Without that support system, I wouldn t be able to do what I m doing. Whitley, a native of Richmond County who already has his degree in family community services, missed spring camp when he had surgery to remove a cyst in his mouth and all four wisdom teeth. ( Some things went wrong, he said.) Meanwhile, fellow running backs Jonathan Williams and Giavanni Ruffin took over on the depth chart as they got a jump on learning a new scheme. In a primarily one-back offense, Whitley has been the odd man out. But he has remained a pillar of support for his teammates, doing what he can without playing time. He s been a leader for us on the sideline, first-year ECU coach Ruffin McNeill said, adding that Whitley might see action today in his final game. I m really pleased with Norman. He s been a blessing to be around. He s a good person. He s going to be successful in life, but he s been a great addition to the team. Whitley, who plans to do something with youth after football, isn t ready to make that move just yet. He ll train through the spring in Greensboro to prepare for ECU s NFL scout day in hopes that his speed will catch a well-place eye. I m not giving up on my career by any means, Whitley said.

10 Speed kills, and once you ve got speed, anything can happen on the next level. So after this, I m going to continue to train and see where it goes from there.