East Carolina Head Coach Blake Harrell Talks Opening Season Matchup With Alabama

On the heels of SEC Media Days in Tampa, Florida, the American Conference began its media days on July 24, with East Carolina head coach Blake Harrell taking the podium first in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Harrell was asked about his team's opening season game, where the East Carolina Pirates will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide on September 5.

"Anytime you have an opponent that's a big game, and obviously, you know, Alabama has done a tremendous job over the years, and they have a lot of talented players. Coach DeBoer has done an exceptional job; they're a very good football team," Harrell told the media on Friday.

"I think our focus has to be on East Carolina, our preparation, and just get started in August, and we're about our business. It's obviously the first game, so it's the most important game; it's the next game, what we also have, 11 games after that. So we gotta build our football team, make sure we're taking care of business there, and we're looking forward to just getting started here in August."

The Pirates went 8-4 last season with losses to NC State, BYU, Tulane, and UTSA before defeating Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl on December 27. The Pirates had the No. 19 offense in the country last season, averaging 5.84 yards per play, 449 yards per game, and 32.7 points per game. They'll feature a new quarterback after Katin Houser transferred to Illinois following a 3,300-yard season in 2025.

Harrell's comments at American Conference Media Days come a day after one of his players, cornerback Derrion Horsley, posted a picture targeting the Alabama game in week one. Former Alabama MBB guard Labaron Philon and current Alabama defensive back Red Morgan responded to the post on social media before Horsley deleted it.

Alabama opens its season against East Carolina on Saturday, September 5.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.