WVU, Holgorsen glad to be on the other side of things at QB
Head coach Dana Holgorsen is on the opposite side of things this season when it comes to his offense.
Last year the Mountaineers were breaking in a new quarterback, albeit a talented one, in Florida transfer Will Grier while seemingly the rest of the Big 12 Conference was returning their starters.
Now, Grier returns for his second season under center and many of those other quarterbacks have moved on.
The focus for Grier this spring has been primarily centered around the need to become more efficient while running the offense and putting that into practice on the field. But it’s the other aspects that make him such a valuable piece to the puzzle.
The biggest of those is the fact that Grier doesn’t necessarily need much coaching at this stage of his development and has become basically a coach in his own right on the field.
“He’s a student of the game, a coach’s kid. He has great experience and it helps us from a coaching perspective because he’s doing all the coaching out there,” he said.
Grier played only 11 games last season but managed to throw for just under 3,500 yards and a total of 34 touchdowns, numbers that naturally should increase with another year in the system.
The biggest challenge at the quarterback position is not necessarily with Grier but those players behind him as the coaches have to get redshirt sophomore Jack Allison and freshman Trey Lowe ready to step into roles and perform better than the issues the Mountaineers had a season ago.
Once Grier was injured, the offense stalled out and that can’t be the case if that happens this year.
“You’ve got to have the next guy ready to play at a high level,” he said.
As for the rest of the offense, not only do the Mountaineers return Grier but the bulk of the production around him including three of his top four pass catchers, two of the top three running backs and multiple players up front.
“I think we’re a confident group. Anytime you have as many starters coming back that should give you confidence,” he said. “You should be a year better. You should be in a much better place with timing and scheme. There’s nothing that replaces an extra year with the same guys.”
The Mountaineers also are adding some new players to the mix like Alabama wide receiver transfer TJ Simmons, Miami tight end transfer Jovani Haskins and running back Alec Sinkfield all of which impressed during the course of spring drills.
“We’re anticipating some new guys helping us,” Holgorsen said.
