When head coach Scottie Montgomery announced to his team on Tuesday that Gardner Minshew would be East Carolina’s starting quarterback, the players clapped and cheered. When Montgomery thanked Thomas Sirk for competing with so much intensity during the preseason, they cheered just as loudly.
“It was one of those situations where I could have said either name and they would have cheered,” Coach Mo said. “We’re really happy about the way the whole competition went. We think it pushed our football team to a higher space than we were before.”
The outstanding play of both quarterbacks – Minshew was 11 of 16 for 156 yards and Sirk was 10 of 16 and 93 yards in Saturday’s scrimmage – made it extremely difficult for the coaches to settle on a starter, but in the end Minshew had the edge, Montgomery said.
“Gardner did a good job and Thomas did a good job. We just felt like Gardner, at the end of the day, was a little bit further ahead from where Thomas was. He knew our personnel, and he knew our system.”
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