West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez feels good about the quarterback room.
So much so that the head coach has doubled down on his excitement about the position in his two most recent interview sessions with the local media.
“I think of all the positions we have, I mean everybody’s worried about the quarterback position and I know I said this the other day but I feel really good about the quarterback room,” Rodriguez said. “Real good. So we’ll be O.K. there.”
That is quite a vote of confidence for a room that has plenty of question marks with the departure of multi-year starter Garrett Greene and not a ton of on the field experience.
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Redshirt junior Nicco Marchiol returns but has attempted just 122 passes over his three years completing 71 of those for 742 yards and 8 touchdowns. But Marchiol had his most productive season this past year completing 66-percent of his 56 passes for 434 yards and 5 of those scores.
When Greene was out with injury on the road against Arizona and Cincinnati, Marchiol engineered a pair of wins for the Mountaineers in his stead.
On top of Marchiol, West Virginia brought in two experienced transfers in Jaylen Henderson of Texas A&M and Max Brown from Charlotte. The pair have multiple years of experience at different locations with Henderson starting his career at Fresno State and Brown at Florida.
Henderson saw limited time at Fresno State appearing in five games but started the final four of the 2023 season for the Aggies. During that stretch he accounted for eight of the 14 team’s touchdowns over the final three games. He completed 53-of-78 for 715 yards and six passing touchdowns while also proving himself as a capable option with his legs.
Brown appeared in just five games in 2024 and completed 43-93 passes for 561 yards and 3 scores while rushing for 72 more. He also played in five more games during his time with the Gators where he threw for 192 yards and rushed for 37. Prior to that he was an accomplished quarterback at Lincoln Christian in Oklahoma where he accounted for 4,416 passing yards and 68 touchdowns in two years.
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The final two scholarship options in the room competing for the job are redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins who drew praises from the former coaching staff for his development although at the time it was said that patience was going to be needed.
True freshman Scotty Fox enrolled in January after a senior season where he racked up 3,076 total yards of offense. Those totals included 2,759 passing yards on a 64.0-percent completion rate with 34 touchdowns and 321 rushing yards with seven touchdowns.
The group will be coached by a combination of Rodriguez, his son Rhett and assistant quarterbacks coach Pat White. The first two on that list will play a role as a good cop/bad cop dynamic.
“So I think they get a little good cop, bad cop stuff with Rhett and I, but, you know, he’s done a great job with them. And I really, I like our quarterback room from a conscientious standpoint. I mean, those guys really are eager,” Rodriguez said.
Join the Main Street Morgantown family-friendly holiday shopping event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 13) in Downtown Morgantown.
The event will feature a district-wide scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes and the opportunity to explore holiday pop-up markets by Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op and Apothecary Ale House.
While exploring downtown shops, participants who spot DASH the Dog can collect stamps. Each stamp brings participants closer to the chance of winning prizes from downtown merchants such as gift cards and goods. To qualify for prizes, completed Downtown Dash Guides with five or more stamps must be turned into Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op, Apothecary Ale House or at Breezeline’s play-to-win tent on Courthouse Square.
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As a break from shopping, parents and their little ones can visit Kids Craft, Cookies & Cocoa Central at the WARD Building to enjoy a complimentary hot cocoa and cookie bar and children’s crafts provided by Hotel Morgan sponsored by Main Street Morgantown and Breezeline.
Visitors can also visit the beautiful 25-foot-tall holiday tree on display at Courthouse Square, a collaboration between the City of Morgantown, Monongalia County and Main Street Morgantown.
Sponsored by Breezeline, the Downtown Dash celebrates the holiday season, promotes walking and shopping throughout the downtown district, and supports local businesses by driving foot traffic directly to storefronts.
WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia First Foundation visited the Wheeling Police Department to commend its efforts in addressing the area’s mental health and opioid crisis.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger presented to the WVFF board, highlighting the department’s progress.
Schwertfeger attributed a 14% decrease in Group A crimes from 2024 to 2025 to the department’s crisis intervention program.
“Just another great partnership,” he said. “More collaboration in this area that we are very proud of and we want to keep the momentum going,.”
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WVFF Executive Director Jonathan Board praised the program’s success.
“This in particular, the CIT program, that isn’t just in the ether, but is showing success – actual scientific success about de-escalation, about bringing together services providers and to boots on the ground and first responders, this is vitally important to not only this region but the entire state,” Board said.
The visit was part of WVFF’s ‘Hold the Line’ tour across the state.
Now that you know about West Virginia’s2026 recruiting class, I figured it’d be a good time to give a little insight into those who were once committed to the Mountaineers and landed elsewhere.
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What happened, and where did they go?
QB Brodie McWhorter (Mississippi State)
McWhorter committed to Neal Brown and his coaching staff, but reopened his recruitment when the coaching change was made. Rich Rodriguez did recruit him at the beginning, holding several conversations with him before backing off and pursuing Jyron Hughley and Legend Bey. Hughley committed, Bey committed to Ohio State (signed with Tennessee), while WVU added two more quarterbacks in Wyatt Brown and John Johnson III.
RB Jett Walker (Texas)
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Walker fit the bill for what Rodriguez wanted in the backfield. A big, physical presence who could absorb contact and hammer it in between the tackles. With multiple backs committed and feeling good about a few others, WVU didn’t feel pressed to hold onto him. Walker flipped to Minnesota and then flipped to Texas just three weeks later
WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (Georgia Tech)
Jean-Noel was the second recruit to commit to Rodriguez in the 2026 class, but reopened his recruitment in mid-April. He then considered Purdue, Pitt, Kentucky, UCF, and Florida State before landing at Georgia Tech.
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OL Justyn Lyles (Marshall)
The Mountaineers had a number of offensive line commits, and with the late additions of Kevin Brown and Aidan Woods, and their chances of securing Jonas Muya, Lyles took a visit to Marshall and flipped his commitment.
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LB Caleb Gordon (North Carolina)
Gordon’s commitment to WVU was very brief. As a matter of fact, it was the shortest of the bunch, announcing his pledge on November 24th and then flipping to NC State on the first day of the early signing period (December 3rd).
LB Daiveon Taylor (Kent State)
Taylor was the first commit in the class; however, it was so early that he was committed to Neal Brown’s staff, announcing his decision in April of 2024. He backed off that pledge the very day Brown was fired (December 1st) and eventually signed with Kent State.
CB Emari Peterson (unsigned)
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Peterson decommitted from WVU just days before signing day, likely due to the Mountaineers zeroing in on a pair of JUCO corners in Rayshawn Reynolds and Da’Mun Allen. He will sign in February and currently has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Liberty, LSU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wake Forest, and a few others.
S Aaron Edwards (committed to Tulsa)
West Virginia chose to part ways with Edwards and ultimately replaced his spot with fellow JUCO safety Da’Mare Williams.
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S Jaylon Jones (undecided)
Jones decommitted in late October and did not sign during the early signing period. He will likely choose between Central Michigan, Hawai’i, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State.
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S Taj Powell (Louisville)
Taj is the brother of former Mountaineer basketball guard Jonathan Powell, who is now at North Carolina. He decommitted the day after West Virginia lost to Ohio and flipped to Louisville that same day.
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Former West Virginia Coordinator Fired After Just One Season at Texas
Another West Virginia Running Back Expected to Hit the Transfer Portal
