AMA Answers: A week or so later...

Well a week + later and here we are. Tons of good questions and some answers I had to be careful on so sorry if they seem a little tame. Most likely will chime in if there are other questions/topics I can touch on.

1st Place with a wooping 53 votes.

From a recruiting perspective, how much of the engagement with recruits during the season become a burden on the coaches? Do they actively lament or raise concerns about how recruiting takes away from scouting, game planning, and player development? While getting the level of support services that an Alabama has is nearly impossible, what do you feel is an appropriate number of scouting and recruiting staff that allows a program like Virginia Tech to cast a big enough net and conduct appropriate evaluations of talent that allows them to be a consistent ACC divisional champion? Do you have any insight on how VT's support system compares to a Miami, North Carolina, Pitt, etc?

It's a burden making sure they're aware of official visits, unofficial visits and who might stop by out of the blue. Guys like Guerry, Cantor, Transue, Lezzi and Ms. Bartelstein are invaluable and really make the recruiting side of things flow. Official Visits during home games are extremely hectic but coaches are pretty much in a rhythm when it comes to these. Depending on the game time coaches meeting early, then meet and greet with family & recruit/recruits. Spend a little time walking around facilities (locker room, field, Beamer Barn). Usually ends around the Tailgating lots and we persuade the families and recruits to walk around the lots and really see/feel the excitement and hype around game days. That's one of the things that really can separate schools when it comes to recruiting.
Comparing VT's support staff/system to Miami/NC/Pitt is difficult because there are so many titles not to mention hidden tasks that each staff member does. I'd say briefly looking at support staff and reading backgrounds of each VT is in very good hands when it comes to this stuff. I know and ya'll probably know Fuente is a big believer in the support staff and really appreciates them.

2nd Place coming it at 49 votes.

So you're working at UCF, you go undefeated with Scott Frost. Frost gets hired away by Nebraska. Says he wants to take his entire staff with him. (Am I correct so far?) His staff includes you. Cool.
Let's say you don't want to trade in sunny central Florida for Lincoln, Nebraska. What are your options at that point? Is Scott Frost such a great guy that you'd follow him anywhere for a certain amount of money, or are you looking at having to move anyway because UCF isn't going to/might not retain you for the next coach? I'm just curious about the process from your perspective as a player support personnel as opposed to a coach or trainer.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" that is the easiest way to describe how/why decisions are made in terms of support staff/football staffs. We're pretty in tune with what they want/how things should run that we get grouped into being somewhat irreplaceable along with a few other non coaches. Saw it first hand at VT where Fuente didn't make a splash hire for the 10th assistant job. He went with someone he knows very well and is aware of how hard said person works and the effort he puts in to make sure the job is done properly.

3rd Place was a solid 43

Are we entering an era where everyone else is picking up scraps and hope to just make it to the playoffs with a single or few great talents as opposed to a roster full?
How big are the support staffs getting for just football at major P5 universities like the one you currently work at? Can VT compete with those resources others are putting into place?

Look at top 10 of recruiting rankings and you can go on and on about history/traditions and recent success. I think we're starting to see certain teams figuring out how to sell what they have a little bit better and coaches really put in the effort to close harder. The top kids all want to go win championships, conference titles and go to the NFL. Can you provide that along with all the other so called glamour stuff.

4th Place came in at 34 votes.

Do those inside the large programs feel $ is exchanged to lure top athletes to some programs as often as much of the public perceives it to be?

Yes but mostly No.... I think it gets played up in the twittersphere and social media world. If you were to pay a player/family to go to said school you'd have to come up with a damn good way to move that cash. However some cases where you see smoke a fire could be nearby?

5th place showed up with 29 votes.
What is your biggest critique of VT's current recruiting? What can they do better?
Recruits the hotbeds VA, FL, GA, TX, NJ. You never know when landing 1 recruit or even offering 1 recruit might open the door. Pro Impact comes to mind as pipeline for VT and you could say the whole NC2VT movement has really really knocked it out of the park.

6th Place was close at 24 votes.
What are some of the craziest recruiting stories you can share from this past year. Bonus Q/A: craziest recruiting stories ever since CJF started (sans everything that's happened with Capehart and Land - we all know about that)
Not involved with the VT recruiting staff/ Support Staff so I can't really say much. However in terms of recruiting stories -> Tons of BOGO's with kids early on in the recruitment and you'll tend to see a lot of offers go out in 1 region to try and get some hype. I will say that JJB's recruitment was a roller coaster and he got wowed by Urban, Titles, and NFL aspirations. A last minute heave that was drained.

7th Place also was a solid 24 votes.

How important is the "arms race" of facilities in recruiting? Which facilities and/or improvements actually matter to recruits? Do the novelty items (e.g., Clemson's slide, Bama's waterfall) actually have sway?

When it comes to the big dawgs they all have something different but they have something that stands out. Like you said Clemson's slide, Bama's waterfall, Oregon has an on-site barber, others have separate dining facilities/sports nutrition stations. UCF is creating a $25 million dollar athletic village with a lazy river and pools, hot tubs etc etc. I would be lying if I said these things didn't matter. Beamer Barn is a thing of beauty, the new/updated Merryman facility is a step in the right direction and to top it off that $15.2 million dollar "gift" for the new "Student Athlete Performance Center" is a home run. VT will find its niche in the so called arms race market and capitalize on it I have no doubt.

8th Place slid in at 23

Given the perspective of your career, what would you say is the general ratio of guys who genuinely care about their education vs those that ain't come to play school? I feel like athletes get a bad rap in that department, and would think the stereotype is probably grossly exaggerated.

These kids are very easy to spot and most the time they or the parents will flat out tell you it's 1 at the most 2 years and done. These scenarios are extremely tricky as you know they've said this to every school they've visited. End of the day it's how much work do you/Head Coach want to put in to get an academic plan together for the kid to flake out/commit elsewhere. Most of the kids that ain't come to play school don't work out within the 1st year if not December time frame. I've been a part of 2 success stories and 1 not so successful story in 10 years

9th decided to show up at 18

How prominent and effective are negative recruiting tactics? Is the negative recruiting world as dirty as some writers/articles have led us to believe?

A couple years ago you heard more negative recruiting going on and the recruits would really hold on to these as a reason not to commit. Now coaches have started to understand the beast they're flat out asking if there are any concerns or issues that a recruit has. Dax asked about Bud and how long he was going to stay. The link with A&M was a bit of a concern and I'm not 100% sure he was offered the job but his name was one that was tossed around for a while. <-- shouldn't be anything new as Jimbo tried to pull BF once Beamer stepped down.

10th Place was a good one at 16

I wanna ask a question about how annoying the NCAA rule against impermissible benefits is but i'm not sure how to phrase it. What's the most ticky-tack you've seen the NCAA/compliance get about it? What's the worst interpretation of the rule?
Also: if you are allowed to answer this, do you think college athletes should be allowed to be paid above-and-beyond the current framework for compensation?

Worst interpretation of the rule would be well I paid for his/her meal that one day because someone was going to pay for it regardless. Something along those lines of well he/she would've got it anyways so why does it matter.
I am on the fence about the student athletes being paid for several reasons. My biggest question is how would you quantify what each athlete gets? We all know Football, Basketball, Baseball and Soccer at most schools are top dog. What would you pay the Volleyball, Track and Field, Golf, Swimming teams? Seems like a lot would need to change and the possibility of schools getting rid of the smaller sports teams would increase tremendously IMO.