HAMPTON, Va. — Robert Prunty has been named the 21st head football coach of the Hampton Pirates. He was introduced at a news conference Dec. 8 at Hampton University’s Student Center Theater.Prunty

“I am up for the challenge,” Prunty said.

Eugene Marshall Jr., Director of Athletics at Hampton University, welcomed Prunty, a Hamptonian with more than 30 years of football experience as a player and coach and a four-time conference recruiter-of-the-year honoree with two different Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs.

“Coach Prunty’s record speaks for itself,” Marshall said. “He’s from Virginia. He played for Hampton. It was very refreshing to hear him say ‘I want to come back to Hampton.’”

Prunty served last season as East Carolina University’s associate head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. Prior to that, he served four years as the University of Cincinnati’s associate head coach and defensive ends coach and three years as co-defensive coordinator. Before impacting the Bearcat program, Prunty spent three seasons under Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech, 2010-2012, directing the Red Raiders’ defensive ends.

Prunty is a Chatham, Va., native and a 1983 Hargrave Military Academy graduate. Prunty split his collegiate career between Hampton University and Alabama A&M, where he graduated in 1988.

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