GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – ECU football is getting ready to kick off and coaches and players are confident that the struggles from last season have fueled the guys through offseason and fall camp.

ECU football is getting ready for their first game of the season on August 31st against Norfolk State and the team has seen some new additions across the field hoping to strengthen their overall performance this season. Especially their new starting quarterback Jake Garcia, the junior who transferred from the University of Missouri. Garcia says the last several years have been a journey and that he’s excited to get the ball in these guy’s hands.

“I was super excited, I walked out of the office and was like let’s go! Then I was like ok now what? Let’s go home and watch some tape. It was a back-to-work mentality,” Garcia said.

Head coach Mike Houston says last season was difficult to go through and doesn’t want that to be the product they put on the field this season.

“It’s driven me all offseason and I think the players feel the exact same way it has driven them. I think we all feel confident in our ability to go out and play at a much higher level this fall,” Houston said.

ECU’s new offensive coordinator JD Baker says this was his first fall camp and first time working for a defensive head coach and they were able to work on new skills.

“It was good for us because I feel like we raised our level of physicality, especially up front to get it to a point where it needs to be and take the steps necessary to go do what we need to do,” Baker said.

Defense is seeing new starting faces and defense coordinator Blake Harrell says they have a bunch of fifth-year guys that understand the standard and hold other guys accountable.

“So some of that is just player-led, as a coach that’s what you want to get to and we have developed that in the defensive unit,” Harrell said.

Offensive line center Dustyn Hall says going 2 and 10 last season left a sour taste in his mouth and has given him the motivation to make this season stronger.

“So every single day you wake up you are striving for that goal to win a conference championship so you are going to give everything you’ve got,” Hall said.

Mike Houston says they have a very talented roster right now as they start off the season and is confident they’ll have a better outcome this season.