The East Carolina Pirates fell to 3-4 on Saturday with a loss to the Army Black Knights, then became the first team to fire their head coach so far during the 2024 college football season.
Houston went 27-38 in five-and-a-half seasons with the school.
Statement from Jon Gilbert
š https://t.co/HZEEbyz312 pic.twitter.com/Cjsw4Bln6v
ā East Carolina Pirates (@ECUAthletics) October 20, 2024
“This was a very difficult decision. Mike has led our program the last five 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,” ECU athletic director Jon Gilbert said in a statement on Sunday.
Social media had a lot to say about the season’s first firing.
Iām exceptionally thankful for the kind of men that Coach Houston developed within the program.
He provided stability and discipline in a very unstable program when he first arrived.
Having said thatā¦ this is a results oriented business.
The strength of @ECUAthletics is itsā¦ https://t.co/dQkMvXSQX2
ā #PackTheJungleš“āā ļøš (@ECUJungle) October 20, 2024
Mike Houston is a good man. Shame things didnāt work out at ECU. https://t.co/O91Hi38Qt3
ā J.W. Cannon (@cannonjw) October 20, 2024
Houston had succeeded everywhere he went before ECU. I don’t know if he reached his ceiling here or it says more about ECU. https://t.co/g55f6ioQac
ā TK from the Paper (@tkhighcountry) October 20, 2024
Wow. Winning is hard. Mike Houston seemed like a grand slam hire when it happened. https://t.co/qXSb95PCNE
ā Frank Sulkowski WJCL (@TheBigGuyWJCL) October 20, 2024
