List of East Carolina Pirates football seasons This is a list of seasons completed by the East Carolina Pirates football team since the team ' s creation in 1932 under Coach Kenneth Beatty . Since that first season , the Pirates have played over 700 regular - season games and 15 bowl game s . Historically , East Carolina has seen moderate success . While East Carolina ' s first ten years of football included only three winning seasons , the team has recorded one undefeated season and several one - loss seasons since their early struggles . Football was called off for the 1942 , 1943 , and 1944 seasons due to World War II . After the three - season hiatus , the Pirates joined the North State Conference . East Carolina won its first championship — the North State Conference championship — in 1953 . In its 15 years as a member of the North State Conference , the Pirates won two championships and went to two bowl games . In 1962 , the team left the conference and returned to its previous status as a football independent . During two of those years , the Pirates went 9 – 1 . In 1965 , the Pirates accepted membership in the Southern Conference . The team won the Southern Conference championship under coach Clarence Stasavich in the following year , but did not win another conference championship until 1972 . The 1972 team was coached by Sonny Randle , who won the Southern Conference championship in his second year as head coach . In 1973 , he again coached a conference - championship team — the only time in school history the team won two conference championships in a row . Randle left to take a position as head football coach of Virginia in 1974 and was replaced by Pat Dye . Dye , in his third year , won the Pirates ' fourth Southern Conference championship . In 1977 , ECU left the Southern Conference and had three more winning seasons as a football independent . In 1980 , under new head coach Ed Emory , the Pirates had their first losing season since 1971 . The team struggled over the next two years . In 1983 , Emory ' s Pirates ended the season ranked as one of the top 25 teams in the country by the Associated Press . The next seven seasons included just one winning season — 1989 . The Pirates gradually rebuilt the program , and the 1991 team , coached by Bill Lewis , went 11 – 1 , losing only to Illinois in the season opener . The team capped off the season with an in - state win over North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl . Following the win , the Pirates entered the offseason ranked ninth in both the AP and Coaches Poll . Thanks to his performance during the year , Lewis was awarded the American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year award . The season marked the only time the Pirates finished the season ranked in the top 10 . In 1995 , ECU won the Liberty Bowl over Stanford and finished 23rd in the Coaches ' Poll . The Pirates joined Conference USA ( C - USA ) in 1997 , ending their status as football independents for the first time since 1976 . Since joining the C - USA , the Pirates have had nine winning seasons , seven losing seasons , and one 6 – 6 year . In 2014 , the Pirates joined the American Athletic Conference as full members .