In Alabama's season opener against East Carolina next Saturday, there will be a huge difference in the age and experience of the starting quarterbacks.
Alabama will start 19-year-old Keelon Russell from the 2025 recruiting class. His opponent will be 25-year-old Mitch Griffis from the 2020 recruiting class, the same class that the Crimson Tide signed Bryce Young in. Young is heading into his fourth NFL season with the Carolina Panthers.
ESPN's Pete Thamel reported on Thursday that Griffis would start for East Carolina, while the Pirates also intended to rotate at QB with Miami transfer Emory Williams getting snaps:
Sources: East Carolina is set to start veteran transfer Mitch Griffis, and he’ll debut for ECU at No. 13 Alabama in the opener. Miami transfer Emory Williams will also play for ECU against Alabama. pic.twitter.com/jGzV5trAJs
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 27, 2026
Alabama will have to prepare for two quarterbacks in the East Carolina gameplan
Griffis began his career at Wake Forest, spending four seasons at Wake Forest. He initially planned to transfer to Marshall for the 2024 season, but he instead stepped away from football for a year before landing at Texas Tech a season ago. He served as a backup for the Red Raiders, completing 26-of-36 passes for 357 yards and two touchdowns.
Griffis has 10 career starts heading into his sixth season of college football. He's an experienced player who won't be intimidated by the Bryant-Denny Stadium environment.
Griffis is among a handful of class of 2020 prospects who are still hanging around college football. Alabama has one, too, with oft-injured 7th-year senior Jah-Marien Latham looking to make a significant impact in his final season.
Williams came to East Carolina with a significant pedigree after being a 4-star recruit out of high school. After three seasons at Miami, he transferred this past offseason, and many expected that he would ultimately win the Pirates' starting QB job. While he'll start the season as the backup, Williams is expected to play in the opener, which will force Kane Wommack to prepare for two quarterbacks.
East Carolina is going to throw the kitchen sink at Alabama to try and keep the game competitive for as long as they can, so running a two-QB system isn't a shocker. Griffis is more of a runner while Williams is more of the traditional pocket-type passer, but the offensive system that ECU wants to run likely won't look all that different regardless of which QB is in there taking snaps.
ECU took significant losses in the Transfer Portal, but is coming off a 9-4 season and a win in the Military Bowl. They are typically a quality Group-of-Six program that will come to Tuscaloosa expecting to compete.
If Alabama's defensive line is as good as the coaching staff has propped it up to be in fall camp, then it should be a significant mismatch in the trenches, and the QB play should matter very little in the outcome.
Add us as a preferred source on Google