Mike McGee coached at East Carolina for only the 1970 season . He compiled a 3 – 8 record . His team recorded wins over Furman , Marshall and Davidson . The victory over Marshall was sadly the final football game for the 75 Marshall players , coaches , and administrators that departed on Southern Airways Flight 932 for Huntington as their plane crashed , leaving no survivors . This tragedy is memorialized in the movie We Are Marshall , and a plaque memorializing the victims is located outside the visitors ' locker room at Dowdy – Ficklen Stadium . McGee left for the 1971 season to become head coach at his alma mater , Duke . The 1970 season would also mark the first game in the ECU-NC State series . He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990 . Former NFL wide receiver Sonny Randle , an assistant coach in 1970 , was tapped to take over as head coach after McGee left . His first season only saw four victories . But one victory came over instate rival , North Carolina State . The 1972 season accumulated the most wins in a season for the Pirates , since the 1965 season . The team won the Southern Conference Championship , which was the first time since the 1966 season . The only two losses of the season came against North Carolina State and North Carolina . The 1973 season was much like the 1972 season . The team again won nine games , while only losing to North Carolina State and North Carolina . They also won the conference championship . After the 1973 season , Randle left to become the head coach at his alma mater , Virginia . His record at ECU was 22 – 10
Southern Airways Flight 932
Southern Airways Flight 932
East Carolina Pirates football