More often than not, talent and a good work ethic lead to success.
It’s a saying used by coaches to describe student-athletes who mature and break out of their shells in a particular sport over the course of their high school career.
Cohen Ezzell is a perfect example.
During the past three seasons, the C.B. Aycock senior put himself on college coaches’ recruiting radars, and he officially put himself on the map when he recently signed a national letter of intent to play football at East Carolina University.
“I can breathe now. It’s a lot of hours and hard work going into this moment, and it feels good just to say it’s official, and I’m ready to start in June,” Ezzell said. “To me, people think because being a preferred walk-on has walk-on in it, but I got recruited, they had to look at my film, I didn’t just show up on the tryout day. I’m on the roster and have a jersey number, but it’s not going to be easy for me, and I’m going to have to go up there and show them that I want it.
“My plan is to have a scholarship by spring, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Ezzell said his recruiting process took some twists and turns, but he’s glad he ended up as a Pirate. He had originally verbally committed to Barton College, but on Feb. 7, during National Signing Day, he received a phone call that changed everything.
“(Barton) sent my original NLI to Aycock so I could sign it and send it back and be done,” Ezzell said. “I was in coach Hawley’s office practicing my signature, and my phone goes off, and I saw that the ECU O-line coach, coach Mattox, had messaged me.”
He chose not to sign with Barton, and after the 15-minute phone call, the ECU coaches asked Ezzell if he wanted to play football in Greenville.
“They told me to take a day to think about it and call them back the next day,” Ezzell said. “This is a dream that I’ve been chasing since I was little, and I’m just super excited and blessed.”
Ezzell has been a mainstay on the C.B. Aycock offensive line for the past three seasons. He spent most of his time at guard but can play tackle as well, but he was recruited to play guard at ECU.
“I’ve been playing guard since I was eight, so I’m excited to be moving forward at that position,” Ezzell said.
Last season, he was part of an offensive line group that protected a stable of running backs that rushed for more than 2,000 yards. The team also averaged more than 29 points per game and reached the playoffs for the second straight season.
Ezzell said he loved playing under the bright lights at Hardy Talton Stadium every Friday night, and he’ll never forget helping the Golden Falcons win their first conference title since 1981 when they defeated Smithfield-Selma in 2022.
“I’ll never forget the Smithfield-Selma game, with 2,500 people here. This place was rocking,” Ezzell said. “There’s nothing like running out to ‘Swag Surfin’ and seeing a sea of people move with you and behind you.
“You can go to Food Lion, and people congratulate you for this and that. It’s a community that I loved to grow up in, and I enjoyed every bit of it.”
C.B. Aycock head coach Thomas Zietlow said if the team needed two or three yards, he could count on Ezzell doing everything he could to make sure the Golden Falcons picked up the yards.
“He’s a pretty physical offensive lineman. He’s big and strong and gotten a lot stronger in the past year, for sure,” Zietlow said. “He’s got a little bit of that nasty streak to him too, between the whistle, so that’s kind of an x-factor that you can’t really teach.
“Kids that want to be physical play to play, so it’s pretty important to have that, and he’s got it for sure.”
Zietlow also said Ezzell’s willingness to work and refine his craft is what defined his tenure as a Golden Falcon.
“He has good feet, but he’s had to work on that. He’s worked on that through going to camps the last couple of years and learning from coaches here and coaches at colleges,” Zietlow said. “He just likes to be physical play in and play out, so those are probably his two biggest qualities.”
Ezzell said he plans to become an industrial technician and follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, and he can’t wait for the opportunity to continue his football career in Greenville.
“I’ve always grown up doing stuff with my hands, so that’s what I want to continue to do. That’s what my grandpa did,” Ezzell said. “Unfortunately, he’s not here. He passed with us in 2020, and he’s a big part of what I do, and that’s why his picture was up there when I signed.”