Bruce Bivens

Senior linebacker for East Carolina. 2021: 57 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

LB · East Carolina · Sr. · #5

6′0″ · 229 lb · Houston, TX

CFB Index 37 · #403 of 578 LBsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceEast Carolina 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

ILB recruit

No. 2118 nationally · Signed with East Carolina

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for East Carolina. 2021: 57 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to East Carolina in 2017.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at East Carolina, 236 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20174 games

Signed with East Carolina3-star out of Aldine Davis

202112 games

The role got bigger.

All-AACsecond

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#2118 national

CFB

College

East Carolina

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-AAC · 2ND TEAM

All-AAC 2nd team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

2 coaches

2017–2018

Scottie Montgomery

East Carolina

2019–2021

Mike Houston

East Carolina

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Scottie Montgomery → Mike Houston. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017East Carolina3-9HC: Scottie Montgomery · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

2018East Carolina3-9HC: Scottie Montgomery · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

2019East Carolina4-8HC: Mike Houston · Balanced

2020East Carolina3-6HC: Mike Houston · Run-leaning

2021East Carolina7-5HC: Mike Houston · Balanced, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

37Below cohort / limited sample #403 of 578?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (83rd percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#459 / 2743 · 83rd pct

Sacks#529 / 2743 · 78th pct

2.0

QB hurries#530 / 2743 · 75th pct

Tackles for loss#688 / 2743 · 73rd pct

4.5

Solo tackles#1004 / 2743 · 62nd pct

Passes defended#1695 / 2743 · 19th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	4.8	0.4	0.2	0.0
Road6g	4.7	0.3	0.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.7	0.5	0.3	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	4.8	0.2	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Blake Harrell

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

37 · #403 of 578 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #403 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	East Carolina	57	22	4.5	2.0	--	--	--
2020	East Carolina	47	17	4.5	0.0	1	1	--
2019	East Carolina	61	31	1.5	1.0	--	--	--
2018	East Carolina	61	27	8.5	2.5	--	--	--
2017	East Carolina	10	5	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		236	102	19.0	5.5	1	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 4 · 2021

W 31–28

vs Charleston Southern

1 QB HUR · 1 TFL · 1 SACKS

Edged out Charleston Southern at home in a shootout.

With J. Young — 45 AVG · 5 IN 20 · 58 LONG · H. Ahlers — 238 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 34.1 · 4 rush yds (9 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	L 19-33@ App State	5	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 2	L 17-20vs South Carolina	6	1	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 3	W 42-38@ Marshall	4	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 31-28vs Charleston Southern	6	4	1.5	1.0	—
Wk 5	W 52-29vs Tulane	3	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 16-20@ UCF	4	1	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 8	L 24-31@ Houston	5	4	1.5	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 29-14vs South Florida	5	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 45-3vs Temple	5	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	W 30-29@ Memphis	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	W 38-35@ Navy	9	6	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 13	L 13-35vs Cincinnati	4	2	0.0	0.0	—
Total		57	22	4.5	2.0	—

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Bruce Bivens

20174 games

202112 games

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

Players who play like Bruce Bivens