By Staff
MTSU Sports Information
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee Head Football Coach Rick Stockstill announced this morning that he has withdrawn his name from consideration for the head coaching vacancy at East Carolina University.
Stockstill, who was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year today, led the Blue Raiders to a 10-3 season and a win over Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl in 2009. Stockstill, who also earned Sun Belt Conference Co-Coach of the Year honors this season, has twice been named SBC and TSWA Coach of the Year (2006 and 2009) in his four years at the helm.
Stockstill is currently on the road recruiting and has issued the following statement:
“I am very humbled and appreciative of the interest East Carolina University has shown in me about their head coaching position. ECU is an outstanding University, community, and its football program has a great tradition and has been very successful throughout the years.
“The timing is never good for a coach to change jobs. However, the timing of this opportunity came at a critical time in recruiting with both universities and to the fault of neither MTSU nor ECU.
“I have decided I will remove my name from consideration at ECU. I could not look in the eyes of these recruits and their families and tell them the things I believe in and what I want them to believe in and then leave Middle Tennessee with only two weeks left in the recruiting process. Also, I have so much respect and admiration for our current players that they were ultimately the reason I could not pursue this any further. We have invested a lot together during these four years which played a major role in this decision.
“Personally, I want to thank Dr. (Sidney) McPhee, Chris (Massaro), and Middle Tennessee for giving me the opportunity to be the coach of the Blue Raiders. They gave me a chance to be a head coach four years ago and I will always be grateful for that opportunity.”
East Carolina D-lineman to enter NFL draft
ECU Sports Information 
GREENVILLE —East Carolina junior defensive tackle Linval Joseph will forego his senior season and enter the 2010 National Football League Draft according to a confirmatory announcement by the league Tuesday.
 He was included among a list of 53 players released by the NFL who have been granted special eligibility for this year’s draft, scheduled for April 22-24. Joseph met the league’s three-year eligibility rule and submitted a written application in which he renounced his remaining college football eligibility with the Pirates.
 The Santa Fe (Fla.) High School product was a two-time All-Conference USA performer who recorded 60 tackles this year – a team-high 13.0 of those coming behind the line of scrimmage for lost yardage. The 6-foot-6, 322-pound lineman was credited with five or more stops on six occasions and was the unit’s co-leader with 14 quarterback hurries, tallying a combined six in division and conference championship-clinching wins vs. Southern Miss and Houston.
 In 41 career games, Joseph booked a total of 143 tackles, 29.5 TFLs and 6.5 sacks.
 The NFL Draft will start in primetime for the first time in 2010. The first round will be held on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. (ET). The second and third rounds are set for Friday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m., while rounds 4-7 will be held on Saturday, April 24 at 10:00 a.m. The entire NFL Draft will be televised by NFL Network and ESPN.