Neal Brown Details Change in Nicco Marchiol, Labels Him Most Improved

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia Mountaineers are Garrett Greene’s team, but there’s still a chance they will need to turn to Nicco Marchiol at some point this fall. And even though Marchiol was serviceable enough in 2023 to allow WVU to win without Greene, there’s now a clear belief he could be even more dynamic if needed again.

Since WVU head coach Neal Brown has already talked about where Greene stands as a player, he was asked to describe what he’s seeing from Marchiol during the spring practices. Brown then took that question as an opportunity to praise the redshirt sophomore, labeling him as the most improved offensive player.

“I think it starts with his preparation, which sounds really simply, but he’s matured as a football player. So when he turns on the video, he knows what to watch. He knows how to prepare. He’s doing a really good job of asking for the scripts is he can be prepared going into each practice,” explained Brown about Marchiol stepping up preparation wise.

WVU HC Neal Brown on QB Nicco Marchiol: "I think it starts with his preparation, which sounds really simply, but he's matured as a football player. So when he turns on the video, he knows what to watch. He knows how to prepare. He's doing a really good job of asking for the… https://t.co/5xl0HSsnH4

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) April 11, 2024

Brown then went into even more detail, discussing Marchiol’s increased interest in learning the plays, and beyond that, why a certain play would be called in a particular situation.

“He asks me ‘what are we gonna call here?’ so he can think about, which that’s never been the case.”

Being prepared is important, especially for a quarterback, but Marchiol is also showing signs of being more fundamentally sound as he enters his third overall year with the WVU program.

“I think from a fundamental standpoint, he’s much more compact right now and his confidence has risen, because he’s got a lot of repetitions. I always think that’s the base for your confidence because he’s got the repetitions now. But the game has slowed down, slowed down a lot. Pre-snap he has a better understanding of what defenses are trying to do to him. But I’ve been really pleased.”

Brown’s comments about Marchiol come a couple weeks after quarterbacks coach Tyler Allen offered his own assessment of the young quarterback.

WVU QB Coach Tyler Allen Assesses Hype vs. Reality for Garrett Greene, Nicco Marchiol

Allen brought up his longstanding relationship with both WVU quarterbacks. “I’ve been around Garrett and Nicco for a while.. I’ve know GG since 2018. I was a GA at Troy. When Coach brown hired me we were recruiting him, and Nicco was a freshman when I came back (to WVU). We spent a lot of time together.”

As far as Marchiol’s progression, Allen cited his in-game experience from 2023 being valuable moving forward. However, Allen expects more production and confidence from Marchiol if he had to enter a game again this fall. In fact, Allen made it clear he will demand a lot more from Marchiol or whoever is under center.

Watch Brown’s full press conference below.