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The Camping World Bowl on December 28th in Orlando, Florida will mark the beginning of the post-Will Grier era of West Virginia Mountaineers football, as the senior signal caller will be forgoing bowl game preparation to focus on preparing for the NFL Draft. The news broke Saturday morning via a press release from the athletic department, with a special note to Mountaineer fans from Grier himself.
Dear Mountaineer Family:
Since arriving in Morgantown, Jeanne and I have been welcomed into the Mountaineer Family and we, along with Eloise, have been so blessed by the support and love of so many. I hope that, in return, you know that I have given my all and worked hard each and every day to help our football program and University.
While we did not win every time we took the field, and I shoulder that responsibility, I can assure you that we tried. After discussions with Jeanne and my family, and after receiving professional input, I have decided not to participate in our upcoming bowl game and focus on preparing myself and my family for what I hope is the next step in our journey. I want to thank Coach Holgorsen, Coach Spavital and all of our coaches for believing in me and, most importantly, to my teammates, who are now lifelong friends who taught me the true meaning of TEAM.
It has been an honor to wear the WVU uniform, and I sincerely thank all of Mountaineer Nation for allowing my family and I to be a part of something so special. Country roads, take me home…”
- Will Grier
Grier becomes the second Mountaineer to announce his intentions of skipping the bowl game against the Syracuse Orange, joining senior left tackle Yodny Cajuste.
Grier finishes his Mountaineer career completing 516-of-785 passes for 7,354 yards and 71 touchdowns through the air and accounted for 76 total touchdowns. He threw for 300 or more yards in a school-record 19 games at WVU and had multiple touchdown games 20 times.
Redshirt sophomore Jack Allison is expected to take control of the West Virginia offense when they take on the Orange later this month, giving Mountaineer fans a glimpse of what’s to come in 2019.