Scottie Montgomery to East Carolina: Latest Contract Details, Comments, Reaction

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The East Carolina Pirates have their new head coach, making it official with Duke offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery on Sunday, according to Sammy Batten of the Fayetteville Observer.

Montgomery takes over for Ruffin McNeill, whom ECU fired after six seasons that included four bowl game appearances. McNeill was named assistant head coach at Virginia by new Cavaliers head coach Bronco Mendenhall on Saturday.

East Carolina made Montgomery's hiring official on Twitter:

The 37-year-old will be introduced as the team's head coach on Monday, per Brett McMurphy from ESPN.com.

ECU athletic director Jeff Compher also released a statement, detailing that he feels Montgomery is the kind of coach he was looking for, per Brett Friedlander of the Star News Online:

Ten days ago I said that I was looking for someone who will be a fierce competitor, who will lead our football program to championships, while equally demanding academic success. As we worked through the entire search process, it became overwhelmingly clear that Scottie Montgomery possesses every attribute necessary to put our football program in a position to win championships and graduate our student-athletes.

While McNeill's firing came as a shock, East Carolina rebounded nicely with the hiring of Montgomery. Duke's offense has been a model of consistency the last few years, even before Montgomery became the Blue Devils' offensive coordinator. Given Montgomery's age, there's plenty of room to grow as a coach, which seems to show East Carolina is going the patient route with this hiring.  

Montgomery spent the last two years as the Blue Devils' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Duke ranked 38th in the nation in passing with 253.4 passing yards per game in 2015 under Montgomery, a 37-yard increase from the year before.

Duke will play the Indiana Hoosiers in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 26, but it's uncertain whether Montgomery will be coaching for the Blue Devils in that game.       

Montgomery takes over an ECU team that went 5-7 this season and averaged 27.4 points per game.