WVU coaches on Grier: "He's good."

Will Grier hasn’t been formally tabbed the starting quarterback for West Virginia this fall just yet but it seems more of a matter of when not if it will happen.

Already with six games under his belt during his time at Florida, Grier came into the West Virginia football program with experience and expectations. During his time in the swamp, Grier led the Gators to a 6-0 record while tossing for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman.

But then came his suspension for a banned substance and he was off to Morgantown but was required to sit out all of last season as a transfer prospect.

That’s when he caught the attention of defensive coordinator Tony Gibson while Grier was working with the scout team last season. Gibson’s defense ranked atop the Big 12 Conference during the course of the season but was challenged by the transfer signal caller and let people know it.

Often times he would be left scratching his head wondering what had happened as Grier was able to fit the ball into tight windows with the scout team players against his first team unit.

“But then I’d think that quarterback is pretty good,” Gibson said. “I don’t know if we’re going to face a guy this week that’s better than that guy. So we’ll be O.K.”

That has carried over into his first full spring with the football program as Grier has performed well in making the right reads and getting the football out of his hands. While every defense has its holes, Gibson often will take his chances but not with the redshirt junior.

That’s because Grier has shown the ability to recognize the coverage, identify how to attack it and execute where the ball needs to go. That isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds.

“He’s good,” Gibson said.

Grier has taken all first-team reps open to the media throughout the course of the spring and when asked about things he didn’t know on offense, coordinator Jake Spavital summed things up by saying that the practices have been geared toward him figuring out Grier and his capabilities.

“He’s pretty much is what I thought he would be,” Spavital said.

That doesn’t have the sound of a quarterback competition, now does it?

Part of that feeling out process has been Spavital looking into what routes Grier prefers to throw as well as how he hands different route combinations throughout the course of the spring. That means anywhere from quick throws to challenge him on get the ball in and out of his hands and deep come backs across the hash to test his arm strength and accuracy at a distance.

It’s all a part of a process.

“Each day I go out with a new play to see how far he can throw it,” Spavital said.

West Virginia is looking to improve its efficiency in the red zone and the fact that Grier has shown that ability to fit the ball into tight windows is a key aspect in achieving that.

“That field gets shrunk so you have to make tight throws,” head coach Dana Holgorsen said. “Will has the ability to make those throws.”

While Grier has not received clearance that he will not be suspended for the first six games of the 2017 season, Holgorsen has expressed confidence that will be resolved in time for the opener against Virginia Tech.

That means that even after spring ball is wrapped up, Grier will be challenged with leading his team during the summer and getting the offense on the same page heading into the fall.

So far so good in the Grier era.