West Virginia will get redshirt junior quarterback Nicco Marchiol back under center in 2025.
And that means that head coach Rich Rodriguez will at least have some experience at the most important position on the field to build around moving forward.
Marchiol has only played a total of 423 snaps over his three years with the program but has been effective when asked to step into a larger role due to injury to starter Garrett Greene. Marchiol has completed 71-122 passes with 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He's also rushed for 285 yards and 3 scores.
Now, Marchiol will have every opportunity to surpass those totals in one season if indeed is tabbed as the starter. A dual-threat option that runs well for his 6-foot-2, 223-pound frame, Marchiol should fit into what West Virginia wants to do with Rodriguez at the helm.
The veteran head coach has been known to adapt his offense over the years to the skill set of the quarterback and Marchiol has the ability to run the spread offenses with a focus on the run game, while demonstrating the ability to throw the football or run it when needed.
No, you aren’t going to confuse Marchiol with Pat White, but Rodriguez has shown the ability to win in a variety of ways over the course of his career when tailoring to the strong suits of the quarterback.
Marchiol has the pedigree as a former four-star quarterback with scholarship offers from Florida State, USC, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Penn State, Arizona State and a number of others. He also has the benefit of having time on his side where he has been able to develop as a quarterback in a lot of different ways.
That improvement was on display this past season when Marchiol showed significant progress in his maturation on the field over the previous two seasons. That was evident in the spring when he carried himself with a different level of confidence and spilled over into when he was thrust into action replacing Greene.
It wasn’t all perfect, but overall, the returns were encouraging as in his two starts against Arizona and Cincinnati, Marchiol completed 27-37 passes for 354 yards with 3 touchdowns and one interception. Most importantly the Mountaineers won both of those games with him filling in as the quarterback.
Marchiol has already shown improvement in his career, but with more opportunities and an offense that can take advantage of some of his physical tools, this should be a good match.
Marchiol will enter the spring at the top of the depth chart and if he can hold that it will be interesting to see just how far he can go as the full-time starter.
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