Rich Rodriguez Gave WVU QB Max Brown a Compliment No One Expected

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Aug 26, 2025 11:12 AM ET

Nicco Marchiol and Texas A&M transfer Jaylen Henderson are widely viewed as the favorites to log the most snaps at QB for the Mountaineers this season, and the two youngsters Scotty Fox Jr. and Khalil Wilkins have done some things throughout camp that have folks in the building excited about the future.

The forgotten piece of the quarterback battle? Charlotte transfer Max Brown.

He may not come with the same level of consistency as Marchiol or the "wow-factor" as Henderson has, but he's a tough son of a gun who just won't back down. Jed Drenning has mentioned a few times on the In the Gun Podcast over the summer how folks shouldn't count out the "scrapper" in this QB situation the Mountaineers have.

Last night, head coach Rich Rodriguez said something about Brown that caught my attention and led me to rewind the audio to make sure what I heard was correct.

“Max Brown might be the best athlete of all of them, and he’s got some experience playing at Charlotte; was at Florida initially. Big, strong guy. Got tremendous arm strength. Still learning the system as well. He was set back a little bit. He was sick for a few days last week, but he’s a talented guy.”

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Brown's athleticism whatsoever. I'm just impressed that's Rodriguez's assessment, given that Jaylen Henderson, Khalil Wilkins, and Scotty Fox Jr. are all in that room.

He hasn't been in the greatest of situations throughout his career, be it at Florida or last year at Charlotte, where the offense was just a unit without any sort of direction or vision while he was under center.

Maybe the old saying, "third time's a charm," will apply here, and Brown will finally break through. He doesn't have to be the "starter" to do so, either. Rodriguez admitted that he will likely play multiple quarterbacks each week, and if Brown continues to make strides, he could be a key part of what the Mountaineers do offensively.