WVU Mountaineer Sports: Basketball | Football | News |Childress Will Compete for Backup QB Job at WVU

Geno Smith shattered numerous records in the Orange Bowl. He owns the starting quarterback spot for West Virginia University. There will be a competition for Smith's backup.

Sophomore Paul Millard will battle Freshman Ford Childress for that job. Millard has the advantage of spending a year in the system. Childress just got onto the WVU campus last month and will be eligible to particpate in spring practice.

"Dana [Holgorsen] is not afraid to play any walk-on or any freshman," WVU Quarterbacks Coach Jake Spavital said. "Hopefully he pushes Paul and Paul gets better as well. I'm very curious to see who is going to come to play and compete for that backup role right now."

Childress and Millard both arrived at WVU from the state of Texas. Millard played in four games for the Mountaineers last season. He completed seven of 15 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions.

Childress will be the tallest of the WVU quarterbacks. At 6-foot-5, he is two inches taller than Geno Smith and four inches taller than Paul Millard. Childress remained strong in his commitment to WVU despite numerous offers late in the recruiting game from big schools.

"You knew the kid was going to get a ton of offers," Spavital said. "He always would laugh and say I'm never going to be that guy who puts a hat out on the table and does that. He said I'm committed to the Mountaineers and I'm going to be a Mountaineer, that's it."

Spavital has heard that before just to see that solid commitment go elsewhere.

"There were a lot of thoughts going through my head that we may not seal the deal with it, but the dad looked at me and said you're good," Spavital said with a smile. "Ford is not this guy who is going to change his commitments. When he says he is committed, he is committed. You can't ask for anything more than that. We got a good one."

Childress is already taking classes at WVU. He and four other players enrolled early to begin weight training and preparing for spring practice.

"The thing I am very impressed with is how well Paul Millard and Geno have taken Ford in and helped him," Spavital said. "They are teaching him the offense just as much. That shows a lot for the quarterback room right now. They are all there for each other and they are there to push each other."

The Mountaineers were not very deep at quarterback last season. However, they are gaining depth at that position and expect to get even deeper there in the future.

"When I first got here, there was one quarterback and he was in a walking boot," Spavital laughed. "Now we're to three, so we are taking baby steps. You want to recruit one quarterback every year, because if you bring in two, one of them will transfer out. We don't need to have that problem, so we'll take them one year at a time and get our numbers up."

Childress is coming off a great senior year at Kinkaid High School in Houston, Texas. He passed for 3,171 yards and 41 touchdowns while throwing just seven interceptions in 10 games. He completed 63 percent of his passes. Childress chose WVU over Arizona, Arizona State, Florida State and Oklahoma State.