ECU head coach talks Michigan football prep

Mike Houston, who is heading into his fifth season as the head coach of East Carolina football, Is getting his team prepped for this weekend’s season opener against Michigan football. On Tuesday, Houston met with the media, where he had the chance to break down how the Pirates are prepping for the Wolverines and more.

East Carolina football coach talks Michigan football game prep and more

Mike Houston looking to control excitement

When facing a team like Michigan football — one that is well-coached and incredibly talented, avoiding mistakes is essential. No one knows that better than ECU’s Mike Houston, who is hoping to knock off the Wolverines in the Big House on Saturday.

“… Everybody’s going to be excited on Saturday; the players are already excited,” Mike Houston said, per the team site. “They’re going to be highly motivated. We’ve got to focus on our individual roles and focus on playing our position, playing our part, playing within the scheme, and not trying to do too much.

“I’ve watched all their films from last year, and you see games break open because someone gets outside of their wheelhouse of what they should be doing, or they force something, and it turns into a big mistake. That’s kind of how they made their living last year, taking advantage of their opponents’ mistakes We have to focus on playing as clean of a game as we can and executing at a high level in all three phases. We’ve laid out the things that we really need to do in order to maximize our opportunity to go up there and come away with a win.”

How will ECU handle ‘The Big House?’

For a program like East Carolina, which doesn’t often get to play against programs as big as Michigan football, preparing for the environment is crucial. Houston had a chance to talk about this yesterday as well.

“Well, in those past games, we were playing in big venues,” he began. “We played in front of 80,000 fans at South Carolina, and I think that our players, from the start in those games, didn’t let the surrounding environment impact them. They stayed really dialed in, and that’s the reason we’re going to the stadium on Friday. We want to check off the box of this one of the largest stadiums in the country, and there’ll be 110,000 in there, but you’re playing on the same dimensions with the same rules, and you’re playing against 11 guys. It’s about keeping the focus on doing the things that we do every day in practice and just not letting the environment be too big for them.

“Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of experience playing in loud environments,” Houston continued when asked about how the East Carolina football offense will handle the stadium noise. “I don’t think anything will ever compare to the Fargo Dome up in North Dakota, and I’ve been to The Swamp. I’ve been to a lot of different places. BYU was very loud last year. When you’re preparing for venues like that, we try to simulate that in practice during our team periods, by adding so much noise that it makes it hard for the kids to communicate, because that’s what it’s going to be. When it gets loud in that stadium, and it’s hard for us to hear on offense, we’ve got to focus on being able to communicate without verbal words. Our offensive staff has a lot of experience handling stuff like that, and we’ve been working on that for a few weeks.”

No turnovers — that is the goal for East Carolina against Michigan football

Losing the football to Michigan could become an early killer for East Carolina football, which is facing one of the best defenses in the nation this weekend. Houston knows that, and is looking to make sure that the Pirates can hang onto the football — ECU must play a perfect game to pull off the upset.

“I think it’s more about staying away from the big mistakes that give your opponent something that they didn’t have to earn,” he stated. “I think that the biggest thing from an offensive standpoint is just staying away from the big errors. It’s okay to throw a ball away every once in a while, and it’s okay to punt.

“It’s not okay to lay the ball on the ground and the 10-yard line or throw a post route into post coverage and give up a cheap interception. I think that’s the bigger thing, especially early in the ballgame, because you do have all those juices flowing. It’s going to be about not making the big mistake that gives them momentum and staying in the game early because after that, everybody will settle down, and it comes down to playing the game.”

Michigan football and East Carolina football will face off at 12:00 PM (Eastern) this Saturday at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. For the Wolverines, this weekend is about battling injuries, suspensions, and the Pirates in hopes of kicking off the 2023 season with a 1-0 record — something that the Wolverines have done four times in a row (since 2019).

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