Former WVU QB recruited by Neal Brown earns starting job at Sun Belt program under former Mountaineer assistant
By Joseph Smith
It's pretty clear now as West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene approaches his final collegiate season that Mountaineers' head coach Neal Brown knows how to recruit playmakers at the quarterback position. Greene's backup Nicco Marchiol, who was also handpicked by Brown out of high school, has even shown flashes of greatness as he relieved an injured Greene last season to help WVU secure a Backyard Brawl victory against rival Pitt, as well as a win over Texas Tech the following week.
But it turns out Brown might scout high school quarterbacks better than any of us imagined, as another of Brown's high school recruits that originally committed to WVU recently landed a starting gig in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Mountaineer faithful likely remember Will "Goose" Crowder, who joined the program in 2021, the year sandwiched between the arrivals of Greene and Marchiol. Crowder failed to make enough of an impression to wrest the backup gig from Greene's hands as WVU rotated through transfer options Jarret Doege and JT Daniels at the position. He did manage as a redshirt freshman a 6-for-6 passing performance against Towson, racking up 57 passing yards and a touchdown.
But when Greene inherited the starting role from JT Daniels in late 2022 and ran with it into the next season, Marchiol looked likely to fill the backup role and Crowder saw the writing on the wall and hit the transfer portal.
He ended up at Brown's former program Troy, where he earned time as a special teams player in all 14 games in 2023 and also saw action at quarterback in five of those contests. He finished the season 9-for-13 through the air with 94 yards and one touchdown. On Wednesday, Crowder was announced as Troy's starter at quarterback for the upcoming season.
This season, he links up with a familiar face as former WVU assistant Gerad Parker inherits the head coaching job at Troy following the departure of former John Sumrall, who accepted the head job at Tulane. Parker was an offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for on Brown's WVU staff from 2020-2021, playing a role in the recruitment and early collegiate development of Crowder.
Troy's offensive coordinator will also be an old connection for Crowder, and Parker snagged Sean Reagan from WVU to take the role. Reagan was an assistant for Brown from the beginning of his tenure in Morgantown in 2019 through the 2023 season, and served as quarterbacks coach for WVU during Crowder's recruitment and tenure.