Jarret Doege is the unquestioned starter for the West Virginia Mountaineers next season. He earned it in the final four games of the 2019 season by showing a calm presence in the pocket and an ability to throw downfield. Due to Doege only playing in 4 games, he is eligible for 2 more full seasons and he is clearly the best option for the Mountaineers moving forward. His ability and experience makes him the obvious choice for Neal Brown for the next two seasons.
Austin Kendall, who left the field prematurely while the rest of his teammates celebrated a season finale upset win at TCU, may or may not return. To be honest, he is pretty much stuck at West Virginia University next season. Kendall could spend his Senior season as a backup for Doege or quit football entirely. Unless he’s completely fed up with the team after being benched for the last three games, there’s a good chance that Kendall will be the backup next season.
West Virginia’s quarterback of the future, four star golden boy Garrett Greene, will be a fiery, precocious Freshman ready to compete for the starting position immediately next season. Greene is confident and believes that he can beat out the quarterbacks in front of him with more experience. He will simply not accept being the 4th quarterback on the team, even as a Freshman. Greene is a winner and he wants to be involved.
Where does this leave the ultra-talented, dual threat Redshirt Freshman Trey Lowe? Unfortunately, Lowe is on the outside looking in, an enormously talented young man who will have his talented wasted on the sideline for the Mountaineers.
With all four quarterbacks on the roster, this would be an extremely complicated situation for the coaching staff. My guess is that if Austin Kendall decides to return for his Senior season, Head Coach Neal Brown will likely have to have a frank, very difficult talk with Trey Lowe.
I imagine the talk would go something like this: “Trey, you’ve done everything that you’re supposed to do. You’ve been a great teammate, you’ve worked hard on special teams, you put in the time in the offseason, but the reality is that your chances of getting significant playing time in a West Virginia uniform is very low. We will support you looking at other options to have a real chance at playing college football.”
When student athletes are involved, it’s important to consider what’s best for the young men. Obviously Neal Brown and Mountaineer fans would like for Trey Lowe to remain with the team for the next four years, but can anyone honestly say that this is what is best for this young man’s future? While the success of the football program is paramount, would anyone really blame Lowe for doing what’s best for himself?
