ECU player reveals alarming comments directed at him by Kevin O'Sullivan during Conway Regional outburst

Much has been made at this point of Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan berating NCAA Tournament officials and Coastal Carolina staff over a game time delay on Sunday. Not as much has been reported on when it comes to his alleged interaction with the East Carolina baseball team ahead of the game.

Until Monday. On Monday, the Pirates Radio Live show had on Parker Byrd, an ECU sophomore who was at the heart of the dust-up.

Byrd explained that he was the player that O’Sullivan reportedly told to shove a white board up his rear end. He was walking onto the field when he heard O’Sullivan from around the corner. Already aware of some yelling, Byrd did his best to diffuse the situation.

“He started cussing at like (Bradley) Zayac and (inaudible) but they didn’t like acknowledge it, really,” Byrd said on the radio. “They had headphones on and were kind of like in the zone. I walked around the corner and he’s the first person I saw. I’m like, ‘Morning coach, how you doing?’ Because I mean I heard about all the stuff that happened and I was trying not to picture him as a bad dude. It was a bad situation, maybe not his fault. Then I turned the corner, I saw him, I said that.

“He’s like, ‘Eff you, you can stick that white board up your effing a.’ And I’m like, holy. My reaction was, ‘Are you serious?’ and I was laughing because I was so caught off guard.”

But the interaction wasn’t done there. O’Sullivan had more to say.

“And Nick Parham and Braden Burress were like right beside me and they were kind of doing the same thing I’m doing, looking at him like he’s crazy,” Byrd said. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, eff you. You m-effers better be ready to play today.’

“I was like, ‘Well, coach, we are ready to play, but I’m not even on the roster so…’ But I was like, ‘We’re ready to play.’ And he was like, ‘Good, you m-effer.’ And then at that point, (they) saw him like cussing us out basically and (were) like, ‘Hey, don’t you talk to our players like that.’ Then coach (Cliff Godwin) got involved and kind of told him to shut up, basically. But it was wild.”

Video emerged Monday of O’Sullivan’s interaction with key tournament staffers and Coastal Carolina personnel. It’s not very flattering for the Florida coach.

For his part, though, O’Sullivan said he addressed the situation after the game. He did not open up on how.

“I don’t want to address that right now. I handled it properly,” O’Sullivan said, as the reporter chimed in for follow-up. “At the end of the game, yes.”