a program that won just three games in its past 25 contests. Skip signed 23 athletes in his first recruiting class, including his first commit, Rob Kass. Also included in the recruiting class was future NFL player Aundrae Allison. Skip's first victory at ECU came in the first game of the 2005 season as the Pirates defeated the Duke Blue Devils 24–21 at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. The victory was ECU's first non-conference Division I win since 2000, when the Pirates won the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl against Texas Tech. During Holtz's first season, the Pirates also defeated conference foes Rice, Southern Methodist University, Marshall University, and the University of Alabama Birmingham. In 2006, Holtz's second season as head coach, ECU won seven games, including victories over intrastate rival North Carolina State University, Conference USA East rival Southern Miss, and ACC foe Virginia. As a reward for their season, the Pirates earned their first bowl game under Holtz's tenure, playing the Bulls of the University of South Florida in the Papajohns.com Bowl, losing 24–7. Despite the bowl loss, the 2006 season was ECU's first winning season since 2000, and the Papajohns.com Bowl was the Pirates' first bowl game since 2001. In 2007, Holtz's team won eight games, including wins over intrastate rival North Carolina and going 3–2, versus Conference USA East opponents. Finishing second in the East Division, Holtz's team was invited to the Hawai'i Bowl to play #24 Boise State University. East Carolina won the bowl game 41–38. This was the first bowl victory since the 2000 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl versus Texas Tech. It was also the first back-to-back winning season and bowl berth since the 1999 and 2000 seasons. The 2008 season was opened with two upsets over ranked opponents; 17th ranked Virginia Tech in week one and 8th ranked West Virginia. This was the first time a Conference USA team beat three ranked teams in a row. Skip finished up the season 9–5, which included a C-USA East Division title and C-USA Champions title. This was the first time the Pirates played in the C-USA Championship Game. It also was the first conference title since 1976. The Pirates played in the Liberty Bowl, losing to Kentucky, 25–19. This was the third Liberty Bowl appearance. The last time the Pirates went to three straight bowl games was the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons. In 2009 Skip Holtz led the ECU Pirates to a