AAC Fever’s managing editor, Tyler Waddell, received the privilege of interviewing new ECU coach Scottie Montgomery via phone call earlier this week. Here’s what the first-year coach had to say:
Tyler Waddell: So how have your first few weeks been as new the East Carolina head coach? Are you settled in yet?
Scottie Montgomery: As a coach, I don’t think you ever get settled in. I think when you get settled in, that’s when the problems start to occur. We’re trying to continue to keep moving and working our butt off, but of course we’re not settled. We don’t ever want to be settled. We are having a great time, and we’re making sure we know each one of our people in the building and build relationships as best we can.
TW: What was it like for that short time you were still assuming duties as offensive coordinator with Duke, while taking over recruiting duties before NSD at ECU?
SM: It was a hectic time because you want to devote everything you have to both colleges. There was no sleep going on until about 2 or 3 a.m. in the morning, but it was worth it. I was fortunate enough to have coach [David] Cutcliffe to give me the ability to do and handle both. In the morning I’d be working my butt off in Durham trying to make sure our guys got progressed and did the things they needed to do to get ready for the bowl game. And then around 4 or 5 o’clock I’d start recruiting a little bit for East Carolina and just making sure that was going the correct way. And then I’d get back to game-planning and getting practice ready and our coaches were very flexible. Late night I’d spend another couple hours putting together and recruiting our staff. That was the other thing – recruiting, and recruiting our staff at the same time – so that went into late, late night because other coaches had stuff to do. At the end of all that, I still had to make sure I was doing the research on the university so that when I was in front of people, I would know what I was talking about from a standpoint of researching the university, our donors, and everything going into that. So I did that really late night because I didn’t have communication with anyone but myself and myself. It wasn’t very hard to hold that schedule for 2-3 weeks, but if it would have went beyond that, it would have gotten hard. I stayed on the phone. My wife didn’t know half the time if I was talking to her or if I was on the phone, so she just stopped responding to me.
TW: This is your first ever spring practice as a head coach. What do you expect in this new role, and what should fans/media expect as spectators?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hoBB3Wxnxo]SM: For the spring, we’re just trying to stress fundamentals and our team discipline. We’re also going to try to use the spring to fill some of the vacancies that we have, like the quarterback position and some defensive spots we have. We still return a lot of our players so we also want to see our guys and be able to evaluate them coming out of this whole deal, but a lot of energy is what we have seen to this point and I think our fans and everybody would say that right now we have a tremendous amount of energy and momentum, we’re just trying to make sure we continue to roll with it and our guys compete at the highest level they possibly can.
TW: The whole Ruffin McNeill ordeal was weird and made a lot of people upset. As I’m sure you know, there was a petition with over 7,000 signatures to bring him back to Greenville. What was that like for you? Was it uncomfortable?
SM: I never really had to deal with anything. It was a fortunate time for our staff and players because there was a period of time between his exit and the entering point of our staff. As a staff and from a player’s standpoint, we’ve talked about the windshield and compare to the rearview mirror. The rearview mirror, of course, is smaller because you need to look out of the windshield – it’s a lot bigger so you can look forward. We’re 100 percent locked in on moving forward and looking forward. I have a great respect for McNeill, of course how could I not being in this business. I can understand why people would love for him to be the head coach because he’s a wonderful person and he did a good job while he was here. At some point, there was a decision to go in a different direction, and that’s what happened. I respect the decision-makers because it gave me my opportunity so I’m very, very happy for the opportunity to be able to work with this group of men.
TW: What would you say to one of those fans that signed the petition, and how do you get them to buy what you’re selling?
SM: I just hope they love me the same exact way. I appreciate how much energy and loyalty that they have toward the head coaching position for the football team … we were at dock in January but now we’re sailing and have the wind to our back, so we’re really happy about the speed in which we’re moving. All aboard, and let’s go win some championships.
TW: Speaking of the fans, ECU has seven bowl wins in its 51-year program history, but might have one of the most passionate fan bases in the country. Thoughts?
SM: We want to make sure our fan base gets exactly what it deserves. …we want to make sure we’re not only going [to bowl games], but winning them and doing things the right way. Our fan base is great. Pirate Nation is unlike anywhere else and that’s why we made the decision to come here versus other places. When it was time to put together the staff, everyone was all excited about being able to play on Saturday afternoons at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium because of our fan base. We’re really happy that we have the fan base that we have and other people are envious that we have the fan base that we have.
TW: How do you feel about the group you inherited? What’re your early thoughts on the 2016 season?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JYtvQcu8Bw]SM: We treat every one of our players the way we want to be treated. I think that’s a major part of why we’re going to be successful – it is a family atmosphere. We recognize that these players have done some great things in the past. We also recognize that we’re not the first group of great coaches to come through here. That level of humility that you’ve gotta have when you’re working with new people is something that each one of our coaches heard before they accepted the job up here, and they needed to understand what the opportunity was with the people we have here. We are really encouraged by the players we have here now because they understand it’s going to take a lot to be successful.
TW: What can you tell me about the current quarterback competition between Kurt Benkert and Philip Nelson?
SM: It’s one of those subjects that no one knows the outcome to, especially not after just [a few] days of spring ball. I’ll say that it’s a fantastic competition right now and the room is on fire because everyday they’re competing against each other not only in the classroom but out on the field. They’re teammates; they know what’s going on, so I’m excited about that competition.
TW: What have you learned about Kurt in your short time getting to know him?
SM: [Kurt] is an exceptional arm talent, he’s relentless in the classroom, he has a great mind for the game, and really has the opportunity to be a great leader. I’m really impressed with the way he’s learning the system.
TW: What’s ECU’s ceiling as a football program?
SM: We have a tremendous amount of energy, a tremendous amount of passion, a tremendous amount of ‘want-to,’ and we have a lot to prove. We have a chip on our shoulder for the right reasons. A lot of us are here by way of not getting every single thing that we wanted in life, and a lot of us know that we have an opportunity to get anything that we ever wanted if we work together. We are really passionate about what we can get accomplished this year and over the next several years.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
