WVU Coaching Staff Believes Frosh QB Garrett Greene has a Bright Future

For the first time since the season opener vs. Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown inserted true freshman quarterback Garrett Greene into the game, but for only one play. The play resulted in a seven-yard carry, nearly picking up a first down.

During Tuesday's press conference, Brown gave a little insight on why Greene was thrust into action and how he feels he has handled his first year in the Mountaineer football program.

"I just felt like we needed to finish with some positivity. I put Garrett in there. We really had a plan where we could have used him. If I had to do it again, would I put him in more? Maybe."

"Garrett is a guy that we're excited about his future; we think he's got a bright one. I really like how he competes; he's got a lot of energy," Brown said. "Offensively, he's the leader within that newcomer, which we call our developmental group - he's established himself. He's been a little up and down on our Monday night football games. He's played better here in the last couple of weeks, and so that gave us some faith. In retrospect, probably should have used him a little bit more just trying to get some confidence in our offensive unit as we finished the game there on Saturday. We're excited about him. Will we see him on Saturday? We may, we may not, but he's a guy that has a bright future here."

Starting quarterback, Jarret Doege struggled to find any rhythm vs. Iowa State, completing just 21 of his 41 pass attempts for 209 yards. The Mountaineers' offense failed to reach the end zone throughout the game, with all six points coming off the leg of kicker Tyler Sumpter. Despite not having much success vs. Iowa State, Brown still exudes confidence in Doege, which reassures that he is the starting quarterback. "Like I said, it wasn't one of Jarret's best games, but he wasn't the cause of why we were struggling either."

West Virginia offensive coordinator Gerad Parker also raved about Greene's potential, but noted that this offseason will be extremely important for him in his development.

"It's been good to see him grow, he's gotten better, he cares, he's got ability, and he's like any good young player that you hope to bring into our program. He shows a bright future and those things. He's going to have to grow and to continue to not only change his body, but just the logged reps and mental reps it takes to play the position he's playing; it's unlimited. I think for him, it's just going to be continuing to grow and go through a full offseason, a spring offseason, a summer prep and imagine how much further along he'll be in that time. It's invaluable the reps he's gotten already, and he's showed a lot of great promise. Now, it's just going to be about continuing to grow in the process of playing that position even more."

The one thing Greene brings to the table that the other two quarterbacks on the roster don't is the ability to scramble and make plays with his feet or just being able to extend plays because of his mobility. This will help the Mountaineers' offense be a little more dynamic in the future by having a quarterback that can pull it on a read-option or call his own number when there is a gaping hole in the middle of the field. There's no question Greene appears to be on the right track to have a successful career in Morgantown, but don't expect him to overtake Jarret Doege as the team's starter anytime soon.

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