The headline of the week out of Blacksburg was written on Wednesday when Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry named Marshall transfer Grant Wells the Hokies' starting quarterback. Wells was considered the clear favorite for the job coming out of the spring and clearly did what he needed to do to finish it off to win the starting job.
When naming Wells the starter, Pry had this to say with his initial comments on why Wells won the job and how confident he feels about having a Wells-Jason Brown 1-2 on his QB depth chart.
"We've met with Grant (Wells) and Jason (Brown), and let them both know that Grant will be our starting quarterback. Jason made it difficult. He had a great summer and a really good camp, was proud of the way he competed. Feel very fortunate to have a #1 like Grant who's had an exceptional camp, very accurate, great ball placement, great decision-making. And then to have a guy like Jason on the ready when we need him. He makes plays, is a big body, really was much better throwing the football this camp. Moving forward, Grant's our guy.," Pry said.
While Brown definitely has grown as a QB since his arrival in Blacksburg, Wells also continued to improve which clearly impressed Brent Pry in the process of him winning the starting QB job.
"Grant has certainly elevated (his game). For me, Jason's done such a nice job, but Grant's just been exceptional. Coach Glenn and Coach (Tyler) Bowen have done a great job with him. (He) puts in the extra (work), he's very coachable, great student of the game. He's getting better and better all the time, and I'm just so impressed with the ball he throws, makes it tough on the defense," Pry said.
QBs coach Brad Glenn provided some insights on how this quarterback battle has developed from Wells having a clear lead in the spring to South Carolina transfer Jason Brown closing the gap over the summer to Wells winning the job in the end.
"Going back to spring ball, I think there was a pretty wide gap coming out of spring ball Grant being ahead of Jason. And then over the summer, we had a little more access to those guys as coaches. And it wasn't anything like Grant coming back to Jason. Jason made up some ground over the summer and I think that translated into early on and fall camp. But at the end of the day, even though Jason was catching him and having a great summer and a great camp; Grant was a little bit ahead in all aspects of just overall command of the offense; understanding the offense; quick, intermediate, and deep ball accuracy. He was just ahead of him in all of those. But like coach (Pry) said, us as a staff and our locker room feel good that we have two really good quarterbacks," Glenn said.
Wells' deep ball in particular definitely appears to be well above average for a starting college QB which was on display to the public on both of his Spring Game touchdowns to Kaleb Smith. That skill has Brad Glenn, VT's pass game coordinator in addition to being QBs coach, thinking about opening things up for more shots down the field.
"No doubt, I think his #1 asset is his deep ball accuracy. It's nothing really that I've taught him, he just came here with really good feel for throwing a deep ball. When you've got a guy like that that you have confidence in that you can take more shots, you know usually it's a really good rule of thumb that you like to take 2 or 3 shots a quarter, but with him it may be even more. And then we got some guys on the outside we're confident in throwing it to, and they got good chemistry and that was built over the summer so we feel really good about our shots," Glenn said.
With Wells winning the starting quarterback job, many may wonder how good are Wells' leadership skills given playing QB is almost just as much about leadership as it is about throwing the football and running the offense. Brent Pry feels good about what he's seen in both of his top two quarterbacks and feels that Wells' leadership will grow further now that he is the confirmed starting QB.
"I think his leadership skills will emerge even more but to be honest, both of these guys; Jason and Grant, have demonstrated great leadership and have earned the respect of the whole football team. I think our guys feel good about either one of those guys taking the field and giving us a good chance to win a football game. Grant's got some unassuming qualities. He's got a quiet demeanor about him that demands respect. He's got a ton of maturity. He's in a good place," Pry said.
Brad Glenn also feels that Wells has plenty of good leadership skills that not only should continue to grow, but also are already rising to the surface behind the scenes and away from the facilities.
"I think Grant leads by example. He's not a vocal guy. I think that will come a little bit more now that all eyes are on him and he is the starting quarterback, but he does a good job of that behind the scenes of stuff we never see. We'll ask certain guys in the locker room 'how's Grant away from here, how's he away from us' and we've got nothing but positive feedback from that standpoint," Glenn said.
The Grant Wells era has officially arrived after a hard-fought competition at Virginia Tech with Brent Pry and Brad Glenn both confident in Wells' abilities not only as a passer but also as a offensive orchestrator and as a leader.
