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ECU: Number 61: Countdown to Kickoff Tarpeh Jayson

East Carolina is inside of 70 days of kickoff, when the Pirates take on Norfolk State inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Aug. 31 to begin the sixth year of the Mike Houston era in Greenville. To count down the days to kickoff, we will be utilizing the Pirates’ football roster to help us, going in numerical order from the highest number on the roster to the lowest.

It was no secret East Carolina needed to add some immediate help up front along the offensive line after the inconsistency of last season’s line play. The Pirates went out and added some reinforcements from both the junior college and Division I ranks.

One of those players was Tarpeh, a junior college lineman from Lackawanna Community College in Scranton, Pa., who ended up committing to ECU and then staying with the Pirates despite a late flip push from Appalachian State.

Tarpeh was tabbed a two-star JUCO prospect by 247Sports, coming in as the No. 19 offensive tackle at the junior college level nationally. He attended Woodbridge High School and spent a few seasons at VMI as a backup and developmental lineman, before heading to Lackawanna, and growing into a full-time left tackle.

One of the biggest players on the team, Tarpeh made a pretty big initial impression upon arrival in the spring. He was recruited initially by former offensive line coach Allen Mogridge, and committed to that offensive staff. But he ended up staying onboard after the offensive staff change, and rolling with newly-hired position coach Matt Mattox, who also believed in his size and athleticism.

Tarpeh showed up in solid shape in January as a mid-year enrollee, but certainly needed time to adapt to the physicality of the Division I level, and the scheme in general. He started the spring a bit slowly, working at both guard some, along with offensive tackle. But he continued to trend upwards as the practices came and went, and was eventually given a look at left tackle by the end of spring. That’s where he closed the spring, working as the top backup behind senior Parker Moorer, and holding his own in the spring Purple-Gold game in the process.