It took a while, but Nicco Marchiol has found his new home. The former West Virginia starting quarterback announced on social media that he’s transferring to Northwestern to finish out his college career. Marchiol offically entered the portal at the start of January after there were rumors of his transfer towards the end of the 2025 season.

Marchiol started the first four games of the 2025 season. He went 2-2 as a starter, and famously led the Mountaineers to a comeback in the Backyard Brawl to beat Pitt. After the Kansas game, Rich Rodriguez surprisingly announced Marchiol would be getting surgery on his midfoot injury and was out for the foreseeable future, which ended up being for the rest of the season. Marchiol finished his four games throwing for 720 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Marchiol didn’t really fit Rodriguez’s offensive scheme, which relied heavily on the quarterback’s ability to run. Marchiol wasn’t too mobile. He was never Rodriguez’s quarterback, even after deciding to stay.

The Chandler, Arizona, native was recruited by WVU’s last head coach, Neal Brown. Marchiol was a 4-star quarterback recruit in the class of 2022. Marchiol had some success under Brown, backing up for Garrett Greene in his first couple of seasons. He played in nine games his redshirt freshman season and led WVU to wins over Pitt and Texas Tech. Then, Marchiol played in eight games and started in two. He was the next man up for WVU quarterbacks.

Once Rodriguez came, everything was shaken up, and after Year 1, Rodriguez completely flipped the quarterback room. Marchiol, Jaylen Henderson and Khalil Wilkins all entered the portal. Marchiol was the last of the three to find new homes.

Marchiol will now play for Northwestern head coach David Braun. Braun has led the Wildcats to two bowl wins in his first three seasons.