Reid Herring hoping to keep grip on ECU’s starting quarterback job

All little kids playing football in a backyard or a youth league dream they can grow up to be a college quarterback. But for Reid Herring it has been more than fantasy since he was 9 years old.

“My Pop Warner coach told me I had potential with my arm talent,” said Herring, referring to Trevor Thomas. “I’ve always tried to do things the right way.”

That next level is almost here for the Millbrook graduate.

The 6-foot-3, 197-pound redshirt sophomore has maintained his grasp on the starting role at East Carolina as the Pirates opened practice this weekend for their season opener against N.C. A&T on Sept. 1 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Third-year head coach Scottie Montgomery, previously Duke’s offensive coordinator, said Herring has emerged from a cast he calls “the most talented trio of quarterbacks” he’s coached. The others are redshirt freshman Kingsley Ifedi and true freshman Holton Ahlers, the highly recruited hometown kid from D.H. Conley.

“I’m not going to say we’re committed to (Herring) yet, but he’s ahead of both guys as far as understanding and executing the offense,” said ECU offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tony Peterson said. “Barring something major, it’s going to be hard to take the job from him.”

Herring’s only playing time last year was in a 48-20 late-season win over Cincinnati. He completed his only pass attempt for a 20-yard touchdown ran and for times for a net 4 yards. In the spring game he was 12-of-20 for 191 yards.

But what Montgomery likes is Herring’s two years in his system. He dealt with first-year starters that were new to his system the past two seasons.

“The first plus is talent,” Montgomery said. “I think we’re more talented than we have been. The second part is they only know our terminology. They know what to do when I tell them to throw in the flat. There are no ‘buts’ or ‘my previous coach told me this.’ There is an understanding from the quarterback to the coordinator to the head coach. They speak our language.”

This story was originally published August 4, 2018 at 4:45 PM.