Will Grier Cleared To Play In West Virginia’s Opener

Will Grier has been cleared to play in the opening game of the season for West Virginia. Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorsen confirmed the news on Tuesday.


On Tuesday morning, West Virginia head football coach Dana Holgorsen announced that quarterback transfer Will Grier will be eligible to play in the team’s first game of the 2017 college football season. Grier transferred to West Virginia from Florida after receiving a one-year suspension from the NCAA for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in October of 2015.

There was speculation as to whether or not Grier’s suspension would follow him to West Virginia, but after sitting out the entire 2016 season due to the NCAA transfer rules, he has been ruled eligible to begin the upcoming season with the Mountaineers.

Grier was rated as a 4-star quarterback in 2013 during his college recruiting process and ultimately signed on with the Gators under then head coach Will Muschamp. He ended up redshirting his freshman year with Florida and saw his first action in 2015 as a backup to Treon Harris. Grier threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for one touchdown in his first appearance, leading new head coach Jim McElwain to start Grier in the team’s second game of the season. He played in six games with Florida before testing positive for PEDs, amassing 1,204 passing yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions during that time.

Grier looks to be a welcomed addition at West Virginia, who lost starting quarterback Skyler Howard to graduation. Grier joins redshirt sophomore Chris Chugunov on the Mountaineers’ quarterback depth chart.

West Virginia is coming off of a stellar 2016 season in which it finished with a 10-3 record and an appearance in the Russell Athletic Bowl. West Virginia opens its season on September 3 against the Virginia Tech Hokies at FedExField in Landover, Maryland.

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