Football Recruiting
Report
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
By Sammy Batten |
|
Right answers seal deal with QB
By
Sammy Batten
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Recruiting Class of 2016 Thumbnail Sketches...
Reid Herring headed to Greenville last
weekend ready to make a verbal commitment to play for the East Carolina
Pirates. But first the Raleigh, NC, quarterback had two questions to ask
ECU's new offensive coordinator, Dave Nichol.
Herring got the answers he wanted in the
tete-a-tete with Nichol prior to
the Pirates' annual spring game at
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. In return, East Carolina received the first pledge
for its football recruiting Class of 2016.
The 6-foot-3, 172-pound Herring
ultimately chosen the Pirates over offers from two Atlantic Coast Conference
schools, Boston College and Miami.
“I went into the weekend thinking I was
going to commit,'' Herring said Monday evening. “But first, I had a just a
couple of questions for Coach Nichol.''
And those questions were?
“I wanted to see the depth chart, know
who they were recruiting and know for sure I'd have a chance to compete for
the starting job,'' Herring said. “And I also wanted to know if I were to
get hurt that they'd still honor my 0(scholarship) offer.
“He (Nichol) pretty much answered those
before I even asked them.''
Herring is part of a strong rising senior
class of quarterbacks in the North Carolina high school ranks that also
includes Oklahoma commit Austin Kendall of Cuthbertson High, Chazz Surrratt
from East Lincoln, Dylan Parham of Southeast Raleigh (N.C. State pledge) and
Jamie Newman of Graham (Wake Forest). Newman and Surratt also received
offers from ECU.
But Herring is the one who has shown the
most interest in the Pirates since receiving their offer in April 2014. He's
made multiple unofficial visits to Greenville over the past year and became
more excited about playing in ECU's “Air Raid'' style of offense.
“It (offense) was very appealing,''
Herring said. “It's what we do here at Millbrook. I've watched what Shane (Carden)
has done and that was really eye opening.''
Carden, of course, just completed a
star-studded career running the most prolific offenses in ECU history over
the last three seasons. Though he certainly hasn't put up Carden numbers
yet, Herring has built an impressive resume at the prep level in two years
as the starter for Millbrook.
Taking over the starting job as a
sophomore, Herring passed for 2,149 yards in leading Millbrook to a 10-4
record and berth in the third round of the state 4-AA playoffs. A year ago
as a junior he completed 166 of 292 passes for 2,100 yards and 17 touchdowns
for an 11-3 squad while earning all-league honors at quarterback and punter.
Herring, whose father Scott played for
North Carolina in the 1980s, has been producing as a quarterback since his
first week he stepped on an organized football field as an 8-year-old. But
he had to endure a few days at tight end first.
“One day during that first week me and
another player just decided to switch one day at practice,'' Herring said.
“I think they realized I had a pretty strong arm, and from that point on
I've been a quarterback.''
When asked about his best attributes as a
quarterback, Herring gave the perfect answer for a future ECU quarterback.
“Probably my football IQ,'' he said. “I
have very good knowledge of the game. Plus, I have pretty good arm strength
and accuracy.''
Herring has also been putting his “good
arm'' to use on the baseball field for Millbrook as a pitcher and shortstop
the last two seasons. He is toying with the idea of giving both football and
baseball at try at East Carolina.
“I've talked to Coach Nichol about it,
but not (baseball) Coach (Cliff) Godwin,'' he said. “So I'm not sure about
that yet. I'll probably have to think about that a little more. But I would
definitely say it's a possibility.''
In the meantime, Herring will finish off
his junior season of baseball and start building toward a strong senior year
of football.
“It feels like there is a weight off my
shoulders now,'' Herring said. “Now I can completely focus on getting better
and stronger.''
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
04/21/15 05:26 AM.
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