West Virginia quarterback Nicco Marchiol (8) warms up before the Frisco Bowl NCAA college football game against Memphis Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

MORGANTOWN — The biggest question starting West Virginia’s fall camp was who was going to be the starting quarterback to lead Rich Rodriguez’s offense. Rodriguez’s had his fair share of notable quarterbacks to play for him, like Pat White, who now is on staff, but his 2025 quarterback is still a mystery.

Rodriguez didn’t name a starter through the spring and didn’t suggest anything during his press conference at Big 12 Media Days. He didn’t even narrow it down from the seven options. WVU returner Nicco Marchiol, Texas A&M transfer Jaylen Henderson, Charlotte transfer Max Brown, and a couple of underclassmen make up the contenders.

Wednesday marked the first time Rodriguez has spoken since the start of the month at Big 12 Media Days. He was asked about when the starter would be named and said for sure when everyone would know.

“What time is kickoff?” Rodriguez asked about the season opener against Robert Morris. “2 o’clock. If we have the first possession, we’ll know at about two.”

Rodriguez said he has a process for narrowing down the starter. His son and quarterbacks coach, Rhett Rodriguez, will work with Rich to evaluate each player. Right now, five players are getting reps.

“All of them got to get an opportunity to show that they can be the guy,” Rodriguez said. “I’m hoping, I’ve said this before, I’m hoping there’s more than one. If I have three quarterbacks that are good enough to win with, I’ll play all three.”

Rodriguez said getting all five quarterbacks reps isn’t an issue because of the fast-paced practices.

This isn’t the first time Rodriguez has talked about rotating quarterbacks. He mentioned it at Big 12 Media Days. Rotating quarterbacks does come with its challenges. Each quarterback is different and has different strengths. Maybe Henderson is a better runner, so the offense will have more designed quarterback runs. Marchiol could be a better thrower, so there are more pass plays. The others might have other strengths.

Over the next couple of weeks, Rhett and Rich will figure out each quarterback’s strength.

“Quarterbacks have some plays they do better or are better at than others,” Rodriguez said. “I already talked to our staff. We already talked about it, throughout the next three weeks, if the quarterbacks all keep elevating, if we have like three we think we’re ready to play, we’re going to find out what those three do the best.”

A multiple quarterback system could be tricky, not only for dividing up reps, but for creating variety between each one. Usually, when a two-quarterback system is used, one is more of a passer and the other is more of a rusher. The 1b quarterback is also seen as a weaker one, with only a select plays it comes in for. There’s also the issue of whether or not to rotate a quarterback who’s in a groove. Rodriguez said he’ll keep a player in “who’s hot.”

“Sometimes coaches go, ‘Well, are you worried about your opponents?'” Rodriguez said. “Every time that quarterback is in, they’re going to run just that. They’ll have enough variety that you can’t just cue in on just two or three plays that this quarterback does well.”

In the early stages of fall camp, it’ll be mostly time to evaluate each quarterback, seeing which player has better fundamentals. Then, it’ll get ramped up to see which quarterback runs Rodriguez’s scheme the best, and more importantly, can help WVU win games.

After the first day of camp, it’s far too early to tell.

“It doesn’t bother me to rotate quarterbacks if they’re good enough to win with, and so that’s why I told all of our guys, not just the quarterbacks, prove they’re good enough to win with, and you’ll play,” Rodriguez said. “It’s as simple as that… They all play really, really well, I think that’s a good problem to have.”