While this has pretty much nothing to do with Virginia Tech, I stumbled across this series on Campus Rush from last fall. I thought it was an intriguing look at a program that has many different challenges, but a unique culture that surrounds it.
Here's a couple of passages from Part 1 that I found to be a similar message to those around the Hokie program, about keeping players in-state:
Tulimasealii strongly considered going to almost every Pac-12 school, most notably Washington, at which he felt a connection because the Huskies were the first college football program to seriously pursue the undersized prospect. But the islands, which include Hawai'i, Tonga and American Samoa, where Tulimasealii was born, have a special pull on everyone, Tulimasealii says, especially the locals. He wanted to stay to see if he could help bring pride back to the only game in town. He wanted to lift his people.
Tulimasealii stayed, he says, because he wanted to help his people rise. Sapolu, Chang and Mariota lifted Hawai'i up; now it's time for the next generation to carry some of that honor, too. It will only take one local staying and shining, Tulimasealii says, for everyone else to follow. They're setting the table for a Hawai'i football renaissance. But in the wake of Mariota's success, do high schoolers have the same passion for UHโor are they already fixated on the mainland?
PART 2 - A HEISMAN AND A LEGACY: HOW MARCUS MARIOTA'S SUCCESS HAS CHANGED HAWAI'I'S FOOTBALL CULTURE
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