HAMPTON, Va. — The Hampton Pirates football squad will have their official inaugural season in the Big South Conference in 2019 and head coach, Robert Prunty knows the transition won't be an easy one. "I think our young men are going to understand it's going to be tougher", he said during the conference's media day recently. "We've been working hard in the off season program".
After finishing 7-3 in a dormant season filled with non-conference games, HU was picked to finish 6th in the preseason in the Big South and had just two players chosen for the preseason all-conference team. Offensive lineman, Gibrill Ghee was named to the first team, while wide receiver, Ronald Bell got an honorable mention. "Coming from the MEAC and looked at as the underdog, there's no where but up from here", he said.
Prunty, who enters his second season with the Pirates, talked about learning something his wife told him in the off season. "When she had our first son, Robert, she didn't want to let go of him and when I became the head coach at Hampton, I didn't want to let these guys go", he says. "I didn't trust the leadership of the team enough. I need to be able give some ownership to them".