We’ve now had a few days to digest the dismissal of Ruffin McNeill as head football coach, which East Carolina announced on Friday. The release was sent out just after 11 a.m. and Director of Athletics Jeff Compher held a press conference at 2 p.m. that afternoon.

It gave Compher an opportunity to explain the decision and address speculation and rumors that had been circulating in the few hours since the announcement.

“Our expectation is to win conference championships,” Compher told members of the media on Friday. “Everything we do should be geared toward moving in that direction. Based on my assessment, I did not believe that was the case.”

McNeill took ECU football to heights it hadn’t reached in decades. That included 26 wins between 2012 and 2014, four bowl appearances and a co-divisional title, among other accolades.

Absent from that list of accomplishments is a conference championship. That’s what ultimately led to his termination.

“After observing and evaluating the program after three seasons, I came to the conclusion that our football team was not meeting competitive expectations,” Compher said. “In my opinion, the trajectory of the program was not going in the right direction.”

So Compher elected to roll the dice and see if he can change that. He made a similar move in the summer of 2014 when he elected not to renew the contract of baseball coach Billy Godwin. He brought in former ECU letterman and then-Ole Miss assistant Cliff Godwin.

The move turned out to be a homerun. This past season, Godwin helped lead ECU to an American Conference championship and its first NCAA regional appearance since 2012.

Regardless of what McNeill lost from the 2014 superstar team and the injuries that plagued the team this season, Compher didn’t put too much stock in the excuse. He felt that, in college football, someone needs to step up to that adversity. It almost happened, too, as ECU came close to beating Florida, BYU and Temple, to name a few.

But the Pirates didn’t and something needed to change.

Now that we’ve had time to come to terms with McNeill’s dismissal, it’s time to move past it and look forward to who is hired as the 21st coach of the Pirates. Whoever comes in will have large shoes to fill in terms of not only physical achievements, but also the deep connection to the fan base that McNeill had.

It’s not going to be possible to evaluate any hire made until about this time next year. Whoever comes in will, barring injuries, have the tools for success that McNeill left. Kurt Benkert will eagerly await his chance to command the ECU offense. He’ll have weapons in rising seniors Isaiah Jones and Davon Grayson, along with the likes of Trevon Brown and Jimmy Williams.

ECU will also have the debut of Tennessee transfer running back Derrell Scott. Anthony Scott, Marquez Grayson and Shawn Furlow will add depth to the backfield, too.

On defense, ECU saw glimpses of what linebackers Yiannis Bowden and Jordan Williams can do. Rising senior Terrell Richardson, as well as rising juniors Bobby Fulp and Travon Simmons, will highlight a secondary that was shaky at best this season.

Now it’s time to wait and see if the next coach can accomplish what McNeill couldn’t in six years.

“I hope people understand that the direction we want to go is winning championships and working toward playing on New Year’s Day,” Compher said. “We will work tirelessly to find a head coach that will lead us in that direction.”