ECU Baseball Media day: Cliff Godwin on leadership, transfers, and team identity
GREENVILLE, NC: A decade after returning to his alma mater, Cliff Godwin remains the driving force behind East Carolina baseball’s sustained success. The Snow Hill native, Greene Central graduate, and ECU alum has built the Pirates into one of the premier programs in college baseball, leading them to eight NCAA regional appearances, four super regionals, and five consecutive American Athletic Conference titles.
As ECU prepares for the 2025 season with a roster featuring 27 new players and four new staff members, Godwin addressed the media to discuss the challenges, expectations, and evolving identity of his team.
"Going into our 11th season here and being able to coach at my alma mater is pretty awesome.
A lot of newness in our program this year. Definitely been some newness, some growing pains for sure, but I like the group we have and the staff we have. Every day is a new day."
On Patience with the New Roster
"Certain days I have utilized patience, and certain days I haven't, but our coaches have done a really good job coaching these guys every single day. It’s definitely made us better as coaches because we’ve had to go back and teach things that we haven’t had to teach in the past at this stage. And that’s okay—that’s why we’re called coaches.
The thing I have a ton of confidence in is our staff teaching our players the right way. They are super knowledgeable about baseball, and I know they will get the guys where they need to be."
On Returning Players and Leadership
"We’ve got some returners that are key players and key leaders in our program, like Ryley Johnson, Jake Hunter, Dixon Williams, Ethan Norby, Jaden Winter—guys that have been here. They’ve seen us do the right thing for a long time, they’ve seen us win a lot of baseball games, and they know what it takes to win at a high level. So, our players help a lot as well."
On Ryley Johnson
"Ryley is good. We’ve been protecting him a little—didn’t let him play in the outfield this past weekend. He might play some outfield this weekend, and he definitely will in the last weekend scrimmage going into the season. But he’s great—it’s just great seeing him back out there, hitting and moving around this weekend."
On Dixon Williams Playing Multiple Positions
"Yeah, I think you’ll see him at different spots. If we played tomorrow, he would definitely be playing second base. But depending on how the pieces fall into place—I told our team this—we definitely have the talent to win this year, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
Who’s going to play where? Who’s going to hit where? Who’s going to pitch where? We will not be the team early on that we will be at the end of the season. Some of that has to do with health, but it’s also about figuring out the right pieces to put out there."
On the Team’s Identity
"We definitely don’t have the identity we’re looking for yet, but we still have a couple of weeks. I think it’s just going to be a progression that we go through during the season.
When you have 27 new players and four new staff members getting to know one another, getting to know our system, it takes time. It takes longer than any of the coaches would like at times, but at the end of the day, that’s our job. We will continue to cultivate these guys and get them where they need to be."
On Remaining Motivated in a Changing College Landscape
"The Ryley Johnsons of the world, our staff—I get emotional because that’s what keeps me here. For me to sit here and say I like what’s going on in college athletics, I’d be lying to you.
This place means a lot. I’m not done yet. When Tony Bennett retired, that really hit home with me because he is a class act. I don’t know him personally, but a lot of people talk the talk—he actually walked the walk. I believed he did it the right way, and I respect him from afar as a basketball guy.
I think you’ll see more of that (coaches stepping down) because there are more things that coaches have to deal with today than ever before. I don’t care how much money you make—it wears on you. I don’t envy anyone coaching at a high level in college athletics today.
If you’re on the outside looking in and want to throw stones, come live in my shoes for a day. I can show you it’s a lot different. But we still have the right people in our organization, and as long as those guys are here, I’ll still be coaching here."
On Bringing in Transfers and Their Fit in the Program
"I really enjoy the portal guys, specifically. I’ve said this publicly a lot—I prayed about bringing in the right people, not necessarily the most talented.
We’ve got guys in that locker room that could have gone other places and gotten a lot more NIL money. I want everyone to know this—no one is getting rich here.
We tried to cover the expenses for the guys coming from the portal. So, if they were on a 50% scholarship, we tried to cover the rest so it would be easier for them to get their foot in the door.
We don’t pay players to come to East Carolina—we just tried to make sure they had a full ride. The guys have really meshed well with our culture, and a couple of them specifically—I’ve been really pleased with how they came here and want to win. They want to develop, whether they’re a pitcher or a position player, and that has been really cool to be a part of."
On Adjusting Coaching Approach for Newcomers
"I wouldn’t say we’ve changed our approach—we’ve probably had to be more patient at times. I think we’ve had to be more encouraging as coaches because these guys sometimes have confidence that comes and goes depending on how the wind is blowing.
The comparison game is real—especially in this day and age with social media. They look at what someone else is doing and think they’re supposed to be doing that today.
The days of a walk-on like Joey Berini or Justin Wilcoxen developing under our coaching staff and earning their time—I hope there’s a guy or two that can do that in our program. But the way of the world pushes kids to go somewhere else so they can get playing time immediately.
That said, I don’t think we’ve changed much. The foundation of our culture will never change as long as I’m the coach here."
On the Freshman Class
"The freshman class is very talented, for sure. We’ll have some guys in the Opening Day lineup as freshmen.
Braxton Tramel is a switch hitter who can play third base and outfield—he was voted hardest-working position player by his teammates. Sean Jenkins—I know you guys have heard about him—was voted hardest-working pitcher by his teammates. That’s pretty special when you’ve got a group like that.
Alex Peltier is an outfielder who has played really well—he can run, and he’s got a really good arm. Austin Kirby—if we played today, he would be one of our hitters.
There are some other freshmen I’m missing, but I’d say those guys are mature beyond their years. We’ve pushed them and hardened them in the fall. We told them, ‘Don’t listen to the outside world. It doesn’t matter that you’re a freshman—we’ve trained you to be ready.’ They’re talented enough to have success this year, even though the game is a bit older."
On Sean Jenkins Graduating Early to Play
"This is the first time we’ve ever had someone graduate early. Sean is a special talent.
My coaches brought it to my attention in the spring and asked what I thought about it. I said we’d present it to the family and see what happens. Thank God Sean wanted to be part of our program now because if he had waited, we wouldn’t have seen him—he would’ve been in professional baseball.
I’ve never been around a 17-year-old baseball player like him. Take away the talent—it’s the maturity, the work ethic, the want to win, the want to be a great teammate. I told Trey Yesavage, ‘He has your mentality as a junior.’ Yeah, he’s 17, but he doesn’t act like he’s 17. That’s just the number on his birth certificate."