The Commitment of Nicco Marchiol Gives WVU Something They Haven't Had in Years
Over the years, West Virginia has produced some very good quarterbacks. However, the depth at the position has never been the greatest.
During the Dana Holgorsen era, the Mountaineers relied heavily on transfers and JUCO transfers to lead the way under center (or in the shotgun). In doing so, there were never many quarterback battles which played a big part in the lack of QB development. A prime example is when Will Grier went down against Texas in 2017. Once he was ruled out of the game, Chris Chugunov took over and the offense struggled in the remainder of that game and then the two games to end the season at Oklahoma and in the bowl game against Utah.
Not only was development something that was an issue but getting high school quarterbacks to commit was another challenge. In fact, WVU had four recruiting cycles (2013, 2017, 2018, and 2019) under Holgorsen where a high school quarterback did not sign.
2012 - Ford Childress
2013 - N/A
2014 - Skyler Howard (JUCO), William Crest
2015 - David Sills V, Chris Chugunov
2016 - Cody Saunders
2017 - David Israel (JUCO)
2018 - N/A
2019 - N/A
Of those, the only two that did anything were Skyler Howard and David Sills V - who made his impact at wide receiver, not at quarterback.
With Neal Brown now at the helm, there has been an emphasis on recruiting high school quarterbacks so that they can develop within the system. Brown mentioned the importance of hitting the high school ranks earlier this offseason.
“You want to predominantly recruit high school student-athletes. That’s the key to success. If you are going to sign 25 in a class, you’d like for 20 of them to be high school players, for example. Where transfers have changed is that it used to be kind of a one-year thing with grad transfers. But now you are getting multiple-year guys. Building your roster is a little bit of a jigsaw. You are always adapting.”
Earlier this offseason, the West Virginia coaching staff received news that consensus 4-star QB Nicco Marchiol had committed to the program. This marks the 3rd consecutive recruiting class that Brown has landed a high school QB - Garrett Greene (2020), Will Crowder (2021), and now Marchiol (2022). Can you remember the last time West Virginia had three young, talented quarterbacks on the roster at once? It's been a long, long time but it's a good problem to have. By taking at least one quarterback per year, you enhance the odds of you hitting on one which is pretty simple math. The more you bring in, the more likely it is that one of them is a hit.
Once Jarret Doege departs following the 2021 season, it will be a wide-open competition between Greene, Crowder, and yes, even Marchiol, a true freshman. That being said, once one of those three emerges as West Virginia's quarterback of the future, you could put your money on one of the other two to transfer out. It's unfortunate but that is the reality these days. Nonetheless, a three-man quarterback competition will be good for WVU and will certainly be something fans can get accustomed to seeing. Brown's plan from day one was to bring in one quarterback in each signing class and so far he's delivered.
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