East Carolina Pirates football
2025 East Carolina Pirates football team
First season	1932; 93 years ago
Athletic director	Jon Gilbert
Head coach	Blake Harrell 1st season, 5–2 (.714)
Stadium	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium (capacity: 51,000)
Field	Bagwell Field
Year built	1963
Field surface	Tifton 419 Hybrid Bermuda
Location	Greenville, North Carolina
NCAA division	Division I FBS
Conference	The American
Past conferences	Independent (1932–1946) North State (1947–1961) Independent (1962–1964) SoCon (1965–1976) Independent (1977–1996) C-USA (1997–2013) AAC (2014-2025)
All-time record	462–455–12 (.504)
Bowl record	11–11 (.500)
Conference titles	7 (1953, 1966, 1972, 1973, 1976, 2008, 2009)
Division titles	3 (2008, 2009, 2012)
Rivalries	Marshall (rivalry) NC State (rivalry) UCF
Consensus All-Americans	3
Current uniform
Colors	Purple and gold[1]
Fight song	E.C. Victory
Mascot	PeeDee the Pirate
Marching band	The Marching Pirates
Outfitter	Adidas
Website	ecupirates.com

The East Carolina Pirates are a college football team that represents East Carolina University (variously "East Carolina" or "ECU"). The team is a member of the American Athletic Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Blake Harrell is the head coach.

The Pirates have won seven conference championships and eleven bowl games. The Pirates have 20 All-Americans over their history. Four players have their jerseys retired. Numerous Pirates have played in the NFL, including ten current players.

The team played its inaugural season in 1932. The team played home games at College Stadium on the main campus from the 1949 to the 1962 season. With the exception of the 1999 Miami football game, they have played their home games at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium every year since 1963. The stadium is located south of East Carolina's main campus near the intersection of South Charles Boulevard and 14th Street. Dowdy-Ficklen underwent an expansion in 2010, raising the capacity of the stadium to 50,000. The Pirates announced a $55 million renovation project to Dowdy-Ficklen in 2016, which added a new tower above the south side stands, among other things.

The coaches and administrative support is located in the Ward Sports Medicine Building, which is located adjacent to the stadium. Strength and conditioning for the players occurs in the Murphy Center, a $13 million indoor training facility which was completed in June 2002 and which is located in the west end zone of Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. The Pirates also practice and train at the Cliff Moore Practice Facility, which was fully renovated in 2005 and which has two full-length NFL-caliber fields.