Will Grier

Classroom

Will Grier already graduated with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies in journalism, communications and sport and exercise psychology in December of 2017 and is currently working toward a second bachelor’s degree in sociology. Grier has earned a spot on both the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and WVU’s Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll for numerous semesters, and he made it twice on the dean’s list.

Character

Grier has a very high maturity level as he took a bad experience in his life and turned it into a positive. He now influences his whole team and the university with that positive mindset. During his younger years, he had been through a lot that ultimately shaped him into the man he is today. He is married and has a young daughter who mean the world to him, and there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for them as he spends as much time as he can with them and cares for them deeply. Grier loves and cares deeply about his football family and has complete trust in each of them.

“Will Grier is uniquely mature. He’s farther along in life than most players his age, having a wife and child already, but his experiences have given him a new perspective. Grier was forced to leave Florida and had to look elsewhere, which pushed him to grow up faster because he had to make some grown-up decisions as a youngster to atone for past poor decisions. It’s to WVU’s benefit that he has a certain level of maturity and eyes-wide open approach going forward. I’m a fan.” - Rick Neuheisel - CBS Football Analyst, Sirius XM College Football Analyst

Community

Grier finds it important to give back to the community and pay respect to the state for all they do for the school and the football program. He is passionate about WVU Children’s Medicine. Since Grier is a fairly new father (his daughter is less than 2 years old), he visits the children’s hospital because he feels he can relate to the parents. He has visited the hospital more than 40 times since he has been in Morgantown for the past two years.

Grier took part in the Walk the Talk with Dana, in which Head Coach Dana Holgorsen led a walk for the Morgantown community in support of the Hoss Foundation which partners with the WVU Children’s Medicine.

Grier also has worked the Mountaineer Day of Play (Mountaineers Get Moving) through which former and current players try to inspire children from across West Virginia to make healthy lifestyle choices at the annual Day of Play activity camp.

He also helped with the Football 101 for women and helped teach them about the game of football.

Competition

Grier is the one of, if not the best, players in the country with being named a Heisman Trophy contender and earning unanimous preseason All-American quarterback honors. In 2017, he threw for 3,490 yards and 34 touchdowns before a hand injury ended his season, yet he still received Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year honors. Grier completed 28 passes for more than 30 yards, and he led the team to a 7-3 record in 2017 before suffering his hand injury.

As of nomination time, Grier has enjoyed a prolific senior season, completing almost 77 percent of his passes (46/60) for 761 yards and nine touchdowns. He also ranked in the top 5 nationally in six categories including passing yards, touchdowns, efficiency, points responsible for and yards per completion. He led the team to a 2-0 start, giving him a 9-3 mark as a starter.

Grier ranks in the top 25 in 11 offensive categories, has thrown for 300 or more yards in 11 of his 13 games, threw for a career-high 429 yards against Tennessee in the season opener, and earned national player of the week honors by four organizations as well as Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. He threw for five touchdowns against Tennessee, marking his fourth career game in which he threw for five touchdowns, which set a new school record.