East Carolina coach Blake Harrell has announced that Mitch Griffis will start at quarterback when the Pirates open the season at Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 5, at noon (ABC).

Griffis began his college career at Wake Forest, leaving the game after the 2023 season. He played at Texas Tech in 2025 before coming to ECU in January.

He competed with Miami of Florida transfer Emory Williams in spring ball and preseason camp.

There are position competitions throughout the program.

“We’re very fortunate within our football program to have a lot of competition within our team,” Harrell said. “We talk and hear all the time about it’s going to take everybody in our locker room to get it done and win football games.

“I truly believe that and we’re fortunate enough to have some depth on both sides of football. But at some point in time you’ve got to start pushing a guy for more reps with the ones or more reps with whatever group, whatever package he may be a part of.

“So, he gets comfortable with that, and the rest of your football team gets comfortable with that. Emory and Mitch have been awesome throughout the process. They’ve had tremendous growth since January. Both are competitors. Both are going to help us win games this fall.”

Griffis fits style

Harrell said Griffis’ experience with the Red Raiders eased his transition to new ECU offensive coordinator Jordan Davis, who was at North Texas in 2025.

“Mitch is probably a little bit more comfortable with the offense at this point and that’s really coming from his background, coming from Texas Tech where they have similar terminology, similar offense — a lot of parallels there,” Harrell said.

We’ll see Williams

Some notable Pirate quarterbacks such as Shane Carden and Katin Houser did not win quarterback competitions initially. Harrell isn’t ruling out the emergence of Williams, a fourth-year player.

“We can expect to see them both early in the season here, both in game one and then just see how that process plays out,” Harrell said.

Competition continues

Playing time is a factor that will continue to be evaluated across the board.

“Just like I wouldn’t tell our starting linebacker he’s going to be the starter for 12 games,” Harrell said. “We’re going to do the same at quarterback. We’ll take that week by week, just see how we grow, see how we progress and see who gives us the best chance to win games.

“Your best linebacker may not be your best linebacker come week 10. We saw an example of that last year. D.J. Johnson wasn’t a starter early in the season. Throughout the season he got better and better and better.

“By the end of the season, I thought he might have been our best linebacker. … You’ve got to keep that open mind to every position, the quarterback position included.”

Intangibles

Harrell was asked about intangibles working in Griffis’ favor.

“Mitch is just an outstanding leader,” said the ECU coach. “He’s a guy that knows the game.”

Not that Williams lacks in attitude or character.

“Both of them are phenomenal,” Harrell said. “They’re professionals and do a really good job. Mitch has kind of got that little bit more confidence with the offense right now, probably a little bit of difference there.

“I don’t think we’ve seen Emory’s best football either. I think he’s got a lot in the tank that he can show us. … He’ll have the opportunity at some point to do that as well.”

Ability, not age

Harrell was asked if Griffis’ age, being older, played into the decision to make him the starter.

“None,” was the response. “We have older guys on our football team. Emory’s a fourth-year guy. Mitch is in his seventh year, and we’ve got a lot of older guys. If we have a freshman that’s good enough to walk in and be the guy, that freshman’s going to be the guy.

“Whoever gives us the best chance to go win a football game at that moment in that time, that’s who’s going to be in the game. That can change throughout the football game, too.

“Your starting corner, you may get in a game, ‘Hey, they’re running the football to the boundary more.’ He’s not that guy. You need more of a run stopper there. You can rotate and pivot and make a change.

“You’ve got to keep that in mind throughout the game, throughout the season and adjust.”

Punters, Kickers

Harrell said Thursday that Tomas O’Halloran has wrapped up the punting job.

“Tommy’s kind of taken off with the punts,” Harrell said. “He … continues to boom it. His timing’s much better. I think a year ago he was still used to the Australian rules … and was taking his time back there, reading all the wording on the side of the football before he punted it.

“Now he actually catches it and gets it off in good time. He’s done a great job. Blake Shirley, the long snapper from Wofford, got here in June. He has really stepped in, taken that role on and been exceptional there.

“Then the kicking situation. Everett Scott continues to be the guy on the kickoffs. His leg jumps out. He is going to be really good in his career. He’s one of those guys that we hadn’t redshirted at this point in time. So he’s going into his junior year. He has three years of eligibility left. Excited about his future.

“Noah Perez and Andrew Conrad continue to battle it out (for placekicker). Andrew will have several good days, then he might pull a kick to the left just a little bit. … Noah hit the ball really well today. Those two can continue to help us win football games. We’ll kind of give that a few more days and see where we’re at with that position.”

Michael Allen slowed

A hamstring injury in the first preseason scrimmage has limited Michael Allen at running back.

“The running back room has been really deep,” Harrell said. “… The two that stand out to me are Ashton Gray (North Texas transfer) and T.J. Engleman. They both have had some good scrimmages, some good practices, and they’re both battle tested.

“T.J. played for us a lot late in the season (in 2025), ran the ball hard, does a good job of ball security for the most part.

“Ashton Gray did a really good job in the bowl game (New Mexico Bowl). They’ve had carries under fire. They know what it takes to win in this league and understand our offense, too.”

Running back depth

Harrell addressed the value of numbers in the running back room.

“I don’t think you can make it through a game in college football right now with just one guy or maybe two,” Harrell said. “I think you need several, whether you play three, whether you play four, just kind of depends on the week maybe or what you’re doing or what you’re asking those guys to do.

“If you’re … getting the ball to them in space, maybe you don’t have to go quite as deep. If you’re asking those guys to protect or carry the rock quite a bit, maybe you’ve got to go a little bit deeper. So that could change from week to week.”

Allen’s status for the season opener will be determined.

“He’s working his way back,” Harrell said. “He’s in practice. … Probably more of a game time decision for him. We’ll kind of see where that rolls. He’s turning in the right direction.”

Class of 2022

Harrell confirmed Thursday that defensive lineman J.D. Lampley was practicing after being ruled ineligible with the Class of 2022 by a court ruling in favor of the NCAA last week.

The legal wheels are apparently turning.

“The class of ’22 is still kind of day by day, hour by hour,” Harrell said. “I think he’s got some things that’s coming up, but you can add him to your roster. There was kind of a deadline for us to get guys back in school earlier this week, so we were able to work that thing out and just thank you to the folks that made that happen.

“It’s kind of a waiting game at this point. You may look up and you have him for a week, two weeks availability, and then you don’t have him for a couple weeks. Then something else may come through and you have him for a couple other weeks. So it’s more of a waiting game. We’ll kind of sit and see where it plays out, make sure all parties are 100 percent comfortable before we put him in competition.

“You can practice as an ineligible player, just like in academics. If you’re ineligible for your academics, you could practice but not play in competition. So that’s kind of where we’re at with that. It’s kind of a waiting game. At the same time, he’s got to be prepared if the moment does come.

“Thankfully he’s at a position that you rotate guys anyway. You’re rotating bodies, you’re rotating defenders in there. If you were at a quarterback position or a left tackle, you’re kind of, ‘Hey, you’re the starter, you’re the guy, we got to roll with you.'”

Harrell did not say if running back Marlon Gunn Jr. or defensive end Sam Dankah were still possibilities to play from ECU’s Class of 2022 signees.

He expressed hope that the American Conference would follow the Power Four leagues and prohibit members from adding former NFL players to their rosters.

Briefly

Alabama has named sophomore Keelon Russell as its starting quarterback after a competition with senior Austin Mack. Russell is a run-throw threat. … Harrell had grandparents who were season ticket holders at Tennessee, so he developed a sense of support for the Volunteers in their rivalry with Alabama. … Harrell hopes the Pirates will be able to use the new indoor practice facility within 60 days. … Harrell was defensive coordinator at The Citadel in 2018 when the Bulldogs played at Alabama. The contest was tied 10-10 at the half before the Crimson Tide pulled away to a 50-17 win. … ECU athletic director Jon Gilbert worked in athletic administration at Alabama for 16 years. … Harrell thanked Pirate Nation, noting that 17,000 season tickets have been sold. … The first home game with be Saturday, Sept. 12, at noon against Appalachian State (ESPNU). … In its only previous game at Alabama in 1998, ECU trailed, 21-0, at the half before losing 23-22 as the Tide returned a blocked conversion kick for its only points of the second half in the third quarter.