No member of Virginia Tech's incoming class is perhaps as highly anticipated and shrouded in mystery as Holland Fisher. Fisher, an Under Armour All-American safety from Manchester High School in Midlothian, Virginia, was one of the highest ranked players in the Hokies' 2013 signing class. Tech had to fend off a late push for Fisher by Alabama that included breakfast at Nick Saban's house. In the end, Fisher remained committed to Virginia Tech, but had to prep at Fork Union. Fisher signed with Tech again last February, and now that he's qualified will enroll in Tech's first summer school session on May 27.

For me, that is where the mystery begins. Fisher was regarded as a preeminent safety prospect. At 6-2, 210 pounds, Fisher harkens back to the days of the big, intimidating Hokie safety ala Kam Chancellor or Aaron Rouse. However, when I watched high school film of Fisher, he was used almost exclusively at the inside linebacker spot. Fork Union used Fisher as a free safety, but FUMA head coach Mark Shuman told the Roanoke Times Doug Doughty, "Holland Fisher played free safety, had one interception, had a couple sacks. He's a pretty good player. I think Fisher will be more of an outside linebacker. He's got good speed, good range. With what they like to do, I think he'll that rover-whip type guy."

On Tuesday night I talked to 6-2, 290 pound defensive tackle prospect Aaron Crawford (Stone Bridge) about his recruitment. In addition to Virginia Tech, Virginia, Old Dominion, Maryland, Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Duke have offered Aaron a scholarship. He's leaning towards pursuing something along the lines of a business or economics degree in college.

Aaron last visited Blacksburg on February 8th for a Virginia Tech junior day. He said of the trip, "It was great." He was able to spend time with Bud Foster and Charley Wiles. Aaron said of Coach Wiles, "He's a great guy, feel like he really knows what he's talking about." Aaron plans on returning to Tech again during the spring, and he'd like to commit right before his senior season at Stone Bridge begins.

As I discussed in my film review of Cam Phillips, a pressing need for the Virginia Tech offense was developing a true split end that can beat man coverage and stretch the field vertically. The Hokies passing game was better than expected last season, but the lack of a deep threat allowed opposing defenses to play their safeties in inverted coverage, often coming forward immediately at the snap without needing to worry about providing deep help to corners in man coverage. This had two effects. First, defenses had safeties flying into the box to stop the run just after the snap. This allowed defenses to play seven men in the box, and bring a safety late from angles that the offensive line and tight ends could not identify prior to the snap. Second, it meant that the safeties could help the linebackers and nickel corners on the crossing routes and misdirection routes that Coach Loeffler had the most success with throughout the year.

It's the least wonderful time of the year. C'mon, let the Andy Williams wash over you...maybe it will even make you smile. God knows we could use some of that right now. Football season is over. Basketball season is wrapping up. Mother Nature continues to give us the middle finger with this relentless barrage of the Polar Vortex and major snowstorms. Uncle. For the love of all things holy, Uncle! Two weekends ago I was drinking margaritas with the windows down, and the next I'm ice skating outdoors the day before a storm named Titan is about to roll into town. That brief glimpse of spring I experienced two weeks ago might have been the best and worst things for my psyche.

The transition from the Logan Thomas era has been a roller coaster ride, with many twists and turns, and those aboard don't know how it'll end. Tech's quarterback derby, already consisting of redshirt senior Mark Leal, redshirt sophomore Brenden Motley, three 2014 signees, Andrew Ford, Chris Durkin, and Travon McMillian, will feature another new face.

Excited and humbled to announce that I will be attending Virginia Tech #Hokies— Michael Brewer (@MBrewer16) March 2, 2014

Where does Texas Tech transfer Michael Brewer fit into Virginia Tech's quarterback competition? Even though he's transferring, Brewer will graduate in May, making him immediately eligible to play in the fall with two years of eligibility remaining. Loeffler's comments regarding Leal's preparation and performance in the Sun Bowl did not leave me feeling warm and fuzzy. Each of the three freshmen challengers have terrific upside, but it is rare that a true freshman can step in and effectively lead an offense against BCS competition.

I spoke with 6-3, 240 pound defensive end / outside linebacker Ricky DeBerry on Saturday morning. The 2015 cycle prospect was on his way to Charlottesville for a recruiting event. Ricky's played defensive end for the last two seasons at St. Christopher's School (Richmond, Virginia). "I normally don't play defensive end. My coach asked me to play there because he didn't necessarily trust anybody else in that position, and he asked me to play that for him the last two seasons. I normally play outside linebacker, sort of a pass rusher hybrid."

Over the course of our conversation DeBerry made it clear rushing the passer, whether it's at end in a 4-3, or OLB in 3-4 is extremely important to him and what he wants to do in college. His favorite pass rush moves are the swim and side scissors. He told me Virginia Tech is recruiting him to play defensive end.

On Saturday Andy Bitter published a candid interview with offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler about Tech's quarterback situation. It's not business as usual at Beamer Co.

After the Sun Bowl loss, Frank Beamer gave, according to WaPo's Mark Giannotto, a definitive response about the future of the quarterback position, "Mark [Leal]'s the next guy in line here."

"He had a couple tough throws. He'll learn from that. ... That's not a great situation for your backup guy to step into. But I've got a lot of confidence in Mark. I've seen him in practice too many times."

Frank siding with seniority is neither new or surprising. Scot Loeffler stocking the cupboard with capable prospects and effectively declaring an open competition is.

Former Rockbridge County High School football coach Jason White wasted no time pointing out his exception to the recruiting process.

After all, who could lose sight of 6-foot-6, 295-pound junior Austin Clark?

"You almost have to work your tail off to get kids looks," the nine-year head coach said. "With Austin, it's never been a problem of that.

"He got his first offer from UVa. the spring of his sophomore year, which is about a year ahead of schedule."

Clark holds offers from 15 Division I schools. The polite Lexington, Va.-native politely explained which way he leans.

Last season, Coach Aaron Moorehead molded a wide receiver unit that looked utterly inept against Alabama into a group that had 3 receivers post more than 40 catches. The Virginia Tech short passing attack became the Hokies most reliable offensive weapon. By exploiting matchups, using counter-action, and pick plays, Scot Loeffler's passing game controlled time of possession and kept the Hokie defense off the field for long stretches.

Despite their surprising success, the Virginia Tech passing game struggled against teams than could successfully play man-to-man defense, especially against the smaller Willie Byrn and Demitri Knowles. The Hokies also struggled to create big plays over the top of the defense. One of the major goals in the 2014 recruiting cycle was to recruit wide receivers that could get separation against man coverage and beat it over the top.

I had the pleasure of speaking with 6-2, 280 pound 2015 center / offensive lineman Brian Chaffin from Charlotte, North Carolina (Charlotte Christian) about his recruitment. Brian is considering Virginia Tech as well as scholarship offers from Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina State, UNC, UNC Charlotte, Mississippi State, Cal, Northwestern, and Marshall. Brian told me he's going to take as many visits as he can to the schools that have offered him, do his due diligence, try to narrow his list of schools in May before making his decision in June. Because Brian's answers were insightful and detailed, I'm posting this Q&A style.