Sean Reagan Pleased With QB Development This Spring

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Although today was not the quarterbacks' best day, assistant coach Sean Reagan has been really pleased with the development of West Virginia's top two quarterbacks, Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol, through the first 12 spring practices.

Reagan, making his return to the quarterback room after spending last season with the tight ends, said earlier today that Greene and Marchiol were around 70% completion percentage in practices and their decision making was in the "upper 80s to low 90s" prior to today, which is encouraging news for Mountaineer football fans.

Coach Neal Brown said before the start of spring football practice that it was going to be a true competition for the starting quarterback job, and that's exactly what has transpired. Their reps have been equally distributed between the ones and twos, and both quarterbacks are demonstrating growth and improvement.

According to Reagan, No. 1 on Greene's to-do list this spring is improving his pocket presence and getting through his read progressions.

"We're still trying to hone in on slowing his eyes down, and he's gotten better at that every day," he said. "He's really improved on his RPO reads from when I last coached him."

Reagan says Marchiol's No. 1 deal is improving his footwork.

"We've really harped hard on footwork and eye placement and where they need to be, whether it's an RPO, a run read or in the pass game, and he is night and day from day one to day 12," he explained.

Nicco Marchio and Garrett Greene

Both quarterbacks offer something West Virginia has not had from that position since Brown's arrival in 2019, an athletic player who can make plays with his arm or his legs.

When West Virginia calls a zone-read or an RPO, both are legitimate threats to get yards with their legs. That alone will keep defenses honest and make every aspect of West Virginia's offense more formidable, including a strong returning ground game.

Going back through recent history, Will Grier was athletic, but he used his exceptional athleticism mostly to buy time to throw the football. The last WVU quarterback capable of hitting a home run with his legs was probably Skyler Howard.

Therefore, West Virginia's current two quarterbacks are probably more similar to Howard in that regard.

"If you have a true pocket guy, everything has to be on time 'one, two, three – ball out, ball out, ball out' but we're a little more lenient, I guess, with athletic guys like Garrett and Nicco to where I'm like, 'Look, if you got green grass take off,'" Reagan said. "They have done a better job of that so far this spring getting yards with their feet when we call pass plays."

Last year, Greene was occasionally criticized "for going rogue," meaning he would do something other than what the play was intended to do. Sometimes it worked out for him and other times it didn't.

Reagan said he's not a big fan of the term "rogue" because it can have a negative connotation. Quarterbacking is sometimes more art than engineering, and there are certainly many different ways of getting positive results.

Instead of "rogue" Reagan chooses to call it "making plays." What he doesn't want is his quarterbacks trying to make plays that end up hurting the team.

"It's a tricky thing and a fine line dealing with that," he admitted. "You don't mind it as long as it's not going to be a decision that gets you beat. If you get off your mark or you get away from your eye placement, go make a play. The second piece to that is we've got to continue to get better and not force something to happen."

Reagan used an example from today's practice.

"(Greene) scrambles and he could have taken off and run, and it would have been like third and three. But he forced a throw down the field and it ends up being an interception in the end zone. That's what we have to continue to work on."

Marchiol, too, was a little off this morning with his decision making.

On the flip side is their ability to make something out of nothing, and that is something that's going to keep defenses on their toes this year. It will also stir Brown's and offensive coordinator Chad Scott's creative juices in the meeting room when they come up with game plans this fall, just as it did when they had athletic quarterbacks in the past.

"The great thing about athletic quarterbacks is if you call a pocket pass, well, with Garrett and Nicco, that could turn into a 35 or 40-yard scramble run," Reagan said. "Decision wise, maybe someone was open, but if they can turn that into an explosive play, that goes down as a plus in my book."

Greene clearly has more live-game experience under his belt as the team's No. 2 quarterback last year, but Reagan said the three quarters Marchiol got in West Virginia's season-ending win at Oklahoma State were extremely valuable.

Both quarterbacks played important roles in upset victories last year - Greene against Oklahoma and Marchiol versus Oklahoma State.

"Nicco having almost three quarters of experience in (the Oklahoma State game) goes a long way," Reagan said. "You can't take for granted the reps you get in live action, especially in Big 12 play.

"I think he's more comfortable and he's more comfortable with our terminology of the offense," Reagan said of Marchiol. "He really enjoys what we're doing offensively, which goes a long way, so we're pleased with where he's at."

The coach is pleased with where both are, as well as true freshman Sean Boyle, who earned 12 pluses in the 15 snaps he took during last Saturday's scrimmage. Boyle also possesses outstanding foot speed, according to Reagan.

As for naming a starting quarterback, Reagan said he envisions a competition that lasts through the summer and into fall camp.

"If they keep battling the way they are battling now, it's going to be a tough decision," he admitted.

Reagan indicated it's going to come down to which guy can master the finer details of the position.

"Both are executing at a high level, so to sum it up in one word would be details, but we can win with both of them," he concluded.

West Virginia has one more spring practice scheduled for Thursday morning ahead of Saturday's Gold-Blue Game inside Milan Puskar Stadium.

Tickets are available in advance for $10 each and can be purchased online at WVUGAME.com or by calling 1-800-WVU GAME. WVU students will be admitted free by showing their valid student ID at the stadium gates upon entry.

A portion of the proceeds from the Gold-Blue Game once again will benefit WVU Medicine Children's. Since 1984, the Mountaineers have donated more than $790,000 to WVU Medicine Children's.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Sean Boyle

Garrett Greene

Nicco Marchiol

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