Nicco Marchiol Confident in Fit, Reveals What Surprised Him About Rich Rodriguez’s Offense

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In the middle of a quarterback competition, Nicco Marchiol believes he’s the right man to lead the Mountaineers in Rich Rodriguez’s first season back at the helm.

Outside of just feeling ready for the opportunity, Marchiol is confident he fits perfectly into Rodriguez’s offense. The redshirt junior provided his thoughts on West Virginia’s wide open depth chart and what he likes about the offense while speaking with the media after practice on Monday.

“This offense, I feel, fits me so well. … I really enjoy playing in this offense. Feel like I’m getting a better grasp every day we go out there,” said Marchiol. But despite his comfort level, Marchiol did also admit to being surprised by the tempo.

He knew Rodriguez liked a fast paced offense, but he had no idea just how fast until he started trying to learn the offense himself.

“We want to be the fastest team in America.”

Marchiol also talked about enjoying Rodriguez’s philosophy, both on and off the field. “Hard Edge is a lifestyle,” said Marchiol before adding that this WVU team embodies what it means to be “Hard Edge.”

WVU QB Nicco Marchiol: “Hard Edge is a life style. This team really embodies it.”

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) August 4, 2025

While Marchiol is no stranger to competing for a spot, he acknowledged one big difference this time compared to when he battled Garrett Greene in the past. Everyone on the roster is in a competition of their own. And every spot being open has created an increased intensity and made it so he’s throwing to wide receivers who need to earn their spot, being blocked by offensive lineman who need to prove their worth and facing defensive players desperate to impress their coaches.

All in all, this is a situation Marchiol loves being part of and is why he’s confident in the team as a whole.

Marchiol has played in 20 games with three starts in his three seasons at WVU. Throughout his career, he’s thrown for 742 yards and eight touchdowns. Marchiol is 3-0 record wise as a starter at WVU.

Last year, Marchiol started two games, playing in eight, and threw for 434 yards with five touchdowns. He made his first start of the year against Arizona, where he threw for 198 yards and one touchdown while completing 18 passes on 22 attempts.

Marchiol started the following game against Cincinnati as well, completing 9-of-15 passes for 156 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

West Virginia’s Nicco Marchiol (8) throws the ball against Cincinnati during the 2024 season. (WVSN photo by Cody Nespor)

As a redshirt freshman in 2023, Marchiol made his first career start against Texas Tech, leading WVU to a win just one week after coming off the bench for a win over Pitt in the Backyard Brawl’s return to Morgantown.

Rodriguez has been very secretive when it comes to naming a starter for 2025, even joking he will wait until just before kickoff of the season opener before making the announcement. However, he is open to playing more than one quarterback.

“Some coaches say if you have two, you have none; if you have three, you have none. I don’t believe that I say if you’re good enough to win, just play with them, that’s for any position including quarterback,” Rodriguez said at the Big 12 Media Days.

Boding well for Marchiol, Rodriguez hinted that he tends to grasp the offense quicker than the other quarterbacks.

WVU’s 2025 season will kickoff at 2 p.m. on August 30 against Robert Morris at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Find more coverage of Nicco Marchiol and the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.