Gardner Minshew II

Early life

Minshew was born on May 16, 1996, in Flowood, Mississippi and raised in nearby Brandon by Flint Minshew, a contractor, and Kim Minshew, a middle school math teacher. Kim was also a former women's basketball player at Mississippi State. Minshew and his father adopted Mike Leach's air raid offense playing style while Minshew was playing flag football in seventh grade. While doing so, he formed a bond with Wyatt Rogers, the area coach who initially taught him how to enact that style of play. Rogers was the father of future college football quarterback Will Rogers, to whom Minshew became a mentor.

Minshew began playing football for Brandon High School in 2011, serving as the starting quarterback for the all-freshman team until varsity team quarterback Trey Polk broke his arm partway through the season. The next year, Minshew helped take the Brandon Bulldogs to the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) 6A championship game, where they lost 31–23 to South Panola. Minshew had 223 passing yards and one touchdown in the title game. He took the Bulldogs to the MHSAA South State championship as a senior in 2014, with 3,541 passing yards and 31 touchdowns en route to the semi-finals where they lost and ended their season before the championship. In four years of high school football, Minshew had 9,705 passing yards, 88 passing touchdowns, a.588 completion percentage, 1,417 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns, and only 24 interceptions. He was ranked a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and two stars by 247Sports.com.

Troy and Northwest Mississippi

Minshew's first two attempts at college football recruitment fell through: his primary recruiter at the University of Akron died in a car accident, while the coaching staff that recruited him for the University of Alabama at Birmingham left the program before he could matriculate. Finally, in December 2014, he committed to attending Troy University and playing football for the Trojans. He matriculated at Troy in January 2015, but left that May before he ever played in a game. In addition to describing the university as a poor fit, Minshew found it unlikely that he would unseat starting Trojans quarterback Brandon Silvers, and he began to look for other opportunities.

On June 3, 2015, Minshew signed a National Letter of Intent to transfer out of Troy and enroll at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he would play college football with the Rangers in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Northwest Mississippi coach Jack Wright told Minshew that he was unlikely to become the starting quarterback there either, but he won the role one week after transferring, with his competition also transferring out of Northwest. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 332 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown, in his NJCAA debut and was named the Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges (MACJC) Offensive Player of the Week. Minshew and the Rangers did not lose a game until October 16, when the East Mississippi Lions defeated them 49–16 in a second-half comeback. Minshew finished the game 18 of 37 for 211 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The Rangers then advanced to the postseason, where they faced East Central Community College in the semifinals. Minshew went 18 of 28 for 168 yards and three touchdowns in the 27–20 victory, becoming the sixth Ranger to throw for 2,500 or more yards in one season.

After defeating Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College 34–24 in the MACJC Football Championship, the Rangers faced Rochester Community and Technical College in the NJCAA National Football Championship. Minshew completed 23 of 30 passes in Northwest Mississippi's 66–13 rout of Rochester, throwing for 421 yards and five touchdowns. After the 2015 NJCAA football season ended, Minshew was named an MACJC All-State Football First-team selection, as well as an NJCAA All-American honorable mention. He finished the season with a 61 percent pass completion rate (223 of 367) and 28 touchdowns, and was first in the MACJC and second in the NJCAA with 3,288 passing yards.

2016 season

On May 3, 2016, Minshew signed a grant-in-aid with East Carolina University, which enabled him to continue his football career with the Pirates at the NCAA Division I level. There, following the offseason departure of Kurt Benkert, Minshew was brought in to back up Philip Nelson. He made his East Carolina debut in Week 1, relieving Nelson midway through the third quarter of a 47–29 loss to Central Florida after the other quarterback suffered an injury. After entering the game, Minshew completed 12 of 27 passes for 192 yards, but was intercepted twice, and coach Scottie Montgomery was ambivalent towards Minshew's performance, telling reporters, "I would be remiss if I said he did a great job". Nelson suffered another injury the next week at South Florida, and Minshew stepped in to complete 21 of 33 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown in the 38–22 loss. After that game, Montgomery told reporters, "He worked as well as he could." Montgomery also clarified that Minshew would not replace Nelson as the starting quarterback despite Nelson's injuries in consecutive games, saying, "If Philip's able to play, Philip is our starting quarterback right now. If he's not able to play, Gardner will be able to play and we're fine."

Minshew did not play again until November 5, replacing Nelson in the second quarter of a 45–24 loss to Tulsa. Minshew had career highs with 29 of 49 passes and 336 yards, but a number of on-field penalties hindered the Pirates. Montgomery attributed Nelson's benching to a nagging shoulder injury, but also suggested after the game that Minshew may get the start for East Carolina's Week 10 game against Southern Methodist, if only to preserve Nelson's health. Nelson ultimately started in the 55–31 loss to Southern Methodist, and was relieved by Minshew, the two combining for 284 passing yards. With Nelson still injured the next week, Minshew started in his first game for East Carolina on November 19, completing 16 of 25 for 238 yards and three touchdowns in the 66–31 loss to the Navy Midshipmen. He started again in the 2016 season finale, with 183 yards but two sacks in the 37–10 loss to Temple. Playing in seven games his sophomore season, Minshew completed 119 of 202 passes for 1,347 passing yards and eight touchdowns, with four interceptions.

2017 season

Although Thomas Sirk, a senior transfer from Duke University, was expected to become East Carolina's starting quarterback in 2017, Montgomery gave the title to Minshew after concerns about Sirk's history of Achilles tendon injuries, as well as Minshew's greater familiarity with his teammates. In the season opener against James Madison, Minshew completed 7 of 18 passes for 82 yards and one interception before he was benched at halftime in favor of Sirk. The reverse happened in the next game, with Minshew replacing Sirk after the latter suffered a hit to the head in the third quarter of a game against West Virginia. He went 7 for 13 with 137 yards, including a 95-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Brown, in the 56–20 loss. Minshew played his first full game of the season on September 16, completing 11 of 30 for 241 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, including another 76-yard pass to Brown, in the 64–17 loss to Virginia Tech. After the Virginia Tech game, Montgomery elected to start Sirk against Connecticut, citing their respective advantages: Sirk was a better runner and Minshew a better passer, and East Carolina, he believed, would benefit from a stronger run game.