Coming off of a 140 tackle season, the most in the American Athletic Conference and 10th in the country, inside linebacker Zeek Bigger is entering his fifth and final season with East Carolina.

Bigger is poised to take on a major leadership role with the Pirate defense, something the Gastonia native said will be easy to handle this season.

“Most of the time I can speak out and say things and sometimes I don’t even have to,” said Bigger. “The team knows when it’s time to go at any time and any moment. Like I said, it came down to a couple plays last year and that really impacted our season and our record at the end.”

The plays Bigger was referring to include a Hail Mary against UCF that gave the Knights a 32-30 win and a share of the AAC title. The Pirates were in contention for the AAC crown until the heart breaking loss.

Bigger said since he came to ECU, the one thing he has wanted more than any personal accolade or team goal is a shot at a conference championship, which has eluded him to this point.

“Ever since [my class] has been here, we’ve always been talking about winning a championship,” Bigger said. “We’ve won a bowl game and things like that, but we want a conference championship. That’s all we’ve been thinking about since we’ve been here. So I think with us seniors that all came in together, this is the time for us to achieve that.”

Despite those high expectations, the Pirates were picked to finish No. 4 in the East Division of the AAC last week during the conference’s media day. But the senior is mature enough to not take outside expectation into consideration.

“That’s [the voters’] opinion. If they want to pick us that way, that’s what you do,” said Bigger. “They don’t know anything about us. Between the lines, that’s where we handle our business. We don’t look to talk — talk is cheap, we’ll see how it plays out between the lines.”

Defensive coordinator Rick Smith identified the strong side of the defense as the strength, which includes Bigger’s position as the “Mike” inside linebacker. Bigger will likely line up next to fellow senior and Greenville native Montese Overton on the strong side.

After losing six starting seniors off of the 2014 team, the Pirates still move into this season with an experienced and senior-laden squad.

In the preseason depth chart for the Pirates, seven seniors are expected to take on a starting role. Bigger said the comfort level he has with his fellow seniors will make the defense stronger as a whole.

“It’s great to be able to look to my left and look to my right and see people that have been around me for a while. I know what they’re about and I know what I’m about,” Bigger said. “All of us have a go-get attitude and we always want to be the best. We never want to do anything less than being the best.”

Smith is not sold that his defense has found a leader quite yet, as the team is only three days into its training camp.

“[Last season] everyone thought Zeek was our leader. Brandon Williams was our leader,” said Rick Smith. “Brandon led in a quiet type of way, but Zeek leads in a vocal way. But right now, Zeek’s kind of lost without Brandon. Our leaders have to be identified, some of that may have been found in the spring. But if we can’t find leaders, [the coaching staff] will lead.”

The pressure on Bigger’s strong side of the ball will also be softened by the strength on the defensive line.

For the first time since 2013, senior defensive end Terrell Stanley will return to the field after a serious car accident ended his chance at seeing the field in 2014. Stanley’s return to the practice field was undeniably impactful on Bigger, who became emotional while talking about his teammate and friend.

“It’s been so great. God is good that’s one thing you can say. I’m getting kind of teary right now because that’s my ‘dog,’” said Bigger on Stanley’s return. “Him not playing last year kind of hurt me also. But having him back, it’s going to bring a little more pump to the team because he’s always a go-getter and I know he’s by my side.”

Bigger and the rest of the Pirate football team will kick off their season on Sept. 5 against Towson at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.