As far as flips go for Virginia Tech, this has been the gold standard.
And while David Wilson's acrobatics may retain high honors for on-the-field moves, the Hokies' turn of offensive lineman Doug Nester is top-shelf on the recruiting trail.
"I love it there," Nester said. "It's almost like a small little Huntington away from all the bad stuff. It's a great place to live and there's a really great group of guys coming in. I just feel like they work hard and know what to do."
Nester verballed to Ohio State in August... of 2017. That was prior to Urban Meyer's retirement and the Buckeyes' regime change spurred him to keep his options open.
Nester said that he remains "committed right now" to the Buckeyes, but noted that the coaching change has prompted him to take a step back in the recruiting process and weigh all options to ensure he makes the right decision for his future.
"That's very important," Nester said. "I just feel like with all this happening, I really have to go back and check all the boxes off. I'm going to take my [official visits] to different places and see what's out there."
He made official visits to finalists Ohio State, Penn State, and Virginia Tech over the final weekends of the 2019 recruiting cycle. And in the end, the Hokies and their life and family-oriented pitch prevailed for the blue-chip's services.
Per the 247Sports Composite, Nester is rated a 4-star (0.9519) offensive guard and nationally the No. 106 prospect. The 6-6, 305 pound Spring Valley HS (Huntington, WV) product is a unanimous 4-star across the major recruiting services.
| Service | Stars | National | State | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 247Sports | 4 | 146 | 2 | 6 (OG) |
| Rivals | 4 | 156 | 2 | 8 (OG) |
| ESPN | 4 | 72 | 2 | 10 (OT) |
And if that's not enough distinction, Nester was selected to participate in the Opening Finals and All-American Bowl. Spring Valley coach Brad Dingess summed up his performance in the latter event.
"He played really well," said Spring Valley head coach Brad Dingess, who was in attendance for the contest. "He picked up a couple pancakes and in pass pro, he didn't give up anything and [the defense] did a lot of stunts. For that stage and that level of talent, I thought he performed really well. They were very pleased with him there and he started. Every drive he was in on, they scored. That says something right there."
Dingess noted to the News and Sentinel Nester played 647 snaps his senior season without conceding a sack and knocked down 89 defenders.
"He really took pride in his craft," Dingess said. "Being good and being an all-state player and getting scholarships has never been satisfying to him. Every day, he came to work to get better. That's what made him stand apart from the other ones. He was such a great practice player. It's hard to get him to talk, but he's a great leader, and he brought that every single day."
Bottom line: Nester was a marquee get for Virginia Tech, Justin Fuente, and Vance Vice.
Comments
I recently spoke with Nester and Coach Dingess, much more on what he brings to the table soon.
The #sauce was you all along! The call came from inside the house!
Doo-bee-doo-be-doo!
Thank you, Joe!
I legit lol'd. Well done
BEEF DOT ORG
And then the big dogs came calling!
QB: Patterson 4*
RB: King 4*
WR: Payoute 4*
WR: Turner 4*
WR: Robinson 4*
TE: Mitchell 4*
OL: Dzansi 3*
OL: Hudson 4*
OL: Harris 3*
OL: Nester 4*
OL: Darrisaw 3*
DE: Procter 4*
DT: Pollard 3*
DT: Porcher 3*
DE: Garbutt 4*
LB: Hollifield 4*
LB: Rivers 4*
LB: Tisdale 4*
DB: Walker 4*
DB: Hunter 4*
DB: Connor 4*
DB: Webb 4*
Is this the part where the AAC coaches can't croot?
I like where this is going! Now we need to see them play at that level as a team and challenge for the top of the ACC.
By my analysis, that's a lot of stars.
We are all made of stars.
This is great on paper, but the coaches need to (1) develop these guys and (2) build depth so the team isn't fucked when these guys go pro/graduate/make a mistake.
But, it's been a rough year. I suppose we should take a moment to be optimistic and celebrate.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Those are a list of names largely at this point. Those 4 stars got steamrolled in every way imaginable by Pitts whatever stars.
Oh, so recruiting is NOT about stars now?
Recruiting may be about stars, it may not be- don't care. Recruiting is about fielding a competitive 85 man roster that does not disintegrate when 4 guys turn pro or get injured. It's about balance, it's about the product on the field. Nester is a great flip. I'm thrilled we have him.
4 guys? Edmunds NFL 1st round, Edmunds NFL 1st round, Alexander Grades/NFL, Settle NFL, Hill kicked off team, Reynolds felony arrest all of these were the unexpected departures
Then add Stroman, Moto and Facyson who times out then you bring in a JUCO CB to help with depth and he tears two ACL's and that's just one side of the ball. So yes few more than "4 guys".
leg, but
leg, but
that hurts
leg, but...
We don't do no turkey hamstrings, here.
leg, but...
you just sent me on a google search for the correct name of an avian leg muscle and I came up empty except for a paper I found called Muscle and tendon morphogenesis in the avian hind limb which referred to them as dorsal and ventral leg muscles which was less than satisfying.
I disagree. Every time I have eaten one, I have found them very tasty and filling.
As the great Bill Connelly says, coaching is about acquiring, developing, and deploying talent. Acquiring talent includes, but is not limited to, getting a few playmakers who are better than everyone else on the field. It also includes scouting guys who fit your system, getting guys at positions of need, and building depth. While I believe that Fuente is/will continue to improve recruiting, I'd be remiss if I failed to acknowledge that there were gaping holes at a variety of positions last year. Yes, part of it was out of his control, but DL depth was super thin before Hill got kicked off the team and before Tim declared for the draft. Neither of these incidents were unforeseeable, and it something Fuente & staff should've better prepared for.
My God, it's full of stars!
In all seriousness Vance Vice is doing an amazing job recruiting. Since a slow start for him he has done nothing but close out every lineman at the top of our board. I was critical of Vice early on and I take it back. If he keeps recruiting like this we are going to need to find him more dough or he may get grabbed by another program.
Double post
Extremely proud of VV. A lot of us (me included) were hard on him initially but he's continued to shut us up over the last couple of years and is showing that he might be the best assistant we have.
Fu also needs to get some credit here. Apparently he did a great job with Doug's family. Mr. Nester went from all OSU to all VT in a very short amount of time.
Plus, outside of Gundy he has the best hair in college football
Hell yeah fam. When was the last time in recent memory we flipped a blue chip recruit from a recruiting powerhouse?
Dylan Rivers from PSU
I personally don't consider PSU a powerhouse in the same vein as OSU, FSU, or Bama, but I take your point.
We seem to consider them a powerhouse every time they flip someone from us, though. If it counts then, it counts now. :)
No, just big dawgs.
Knox Kadum from JMU *ducks
Dwayne Lawson from the U.
Scuttlebutt is with JJ and Hooker transferring he'll get the opportunity to compete for reps.
Start the day off right
Highest rated player in the class is a flip from a blue blood. How about that.
HOW BOUT DAH?!
Darwinism at its worst...
Rather, Darwinism not at work...
That would be correct too, but I the way I view it, Darwinism worked so well, humans evolved to be able to fend off many of the things that would have kept the population in check, such as malaria.
It also allowed humans to help those that definitely wouldn't have survived, like the Cash me Outside idiot, survive.
Thus Darwinism trumped itself through success.
Joke's on you (see climate change).
We defeated the little threats to survival, only to create the bigger threat.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong:
This is the highest rated OL recruit we have ever landed.
I believe you are correct. He'll be the highest rated OL recruit we've had since Vinston Painter.
Cool guy, Vinston. Did an assignment with him my sophomore year in a property management class run by Dr. Goss. That is the only story I have in my time at Tech interacting with any football players lol
I sure wish Fuente could recruit... /s
Does everybody feel a little bit better? I know I do.
This is gonna be a hell of a ride.
This is gonna be a hell of a ride.
I gotta be honest ... this ride has a lot more ups and downs than I prefer. I'm ready for us to get on whatever ride Clemson is on.
Check out a Clemson board during a game. They're just as angsty as us.
Bingo. They find ways to complain about any and everything.
That may be so but I'll take the "if we play like this in the national championship game we'll get our butts handed to us" angst over the "how long until Virginia Tech is a Tennessee-grade dumpster fire?" angst any day.
I like this a lot. Now we have a solid pitch to big time RB's. King is gonna love running behind this line
Same thought earlier this am.
Vice walking into the office today.
#BassFishingSchool#ItStartsNowBig, strong O-linmen are the path to great success. This will be the joy for whoever plays QB and RB! Not to.mention the receivers!
Now would be a good time for one of those Hokie Club emails.
Great news.
Looking back on the previous year, I think of the Devyn Ford 'miss' as the one event that started the landslide of bad luck (for lack of a better term) that resulted in the worst season for Virginia Tech in 25 years. Really hope that in another year, we can look back at flipping Doug Nester, and say this stopped the bleeding (or even started the turn around).
I blame it more on the fact that our locker room was shit and full of immaturity. I think we will look back at the team meeting as a changing point
This!
There must be a way to express that...
Oh, yeah...
#itstartsnow
it's tart snow!
OL: Dzansi 3*
OL: Hudson 4*
OL: Harris 3*
OL: Nester 4*
OL: Darrisaw 3*
And now consider this man will be running the Read Option behind that line
Man, this could be the start of something seriously fun.
If QP gets the job we're going to inverted veer the Coastal into dust.
That would mean not losing to suck ass programs like Pitt and GT... which every American should support!!
No reason to leave our International Hokies out of it.
The whole world can get behind it!
Yay International Hokies!!!
QUINCCYYYYYYYYY
Who's the Big Dog MFers!!!!
Welcome for Hokie Nation!!!
Who wants pancakes???
via GIPHY
Hold me closer, Tony Danza
Angela....
THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY... Pancakes for dayz?
WHERES THE BEEF?
On our bad ass Oline.
via GIPHY
Incredible work by Vice on the recruiting trail the last few years. Now it's time to develop these guys into maulers and road graders and start controlling the LOS. If we can turn these recruits into a dominant OL it will elevate our program. A great OL makes everyone look better.
Ah, good news. Who wants an OL recruit film review?
Preview
Appropriate. Flipping and Pancakes!
I stared at this wayyyy too long
I watched this far, far longer than I care to admit looking for the loop.
.......................................THERE!
Just curious, Vice is killing it on the recruiting trail, but is the way that he teaches his lineman to play still a concern as you had previously mentioned?
Yes
I was going to give you a leg because I would like to see another of your excellent film reviews, but I am partial to your comment score as it is, i.e., 69.
So cool that you guys are both 69-ing
.
wait
Da fuq!? Gah dang!
Well, somebody went and ruined your beautiful comment score, so I felt compelled to give you a leg after all.
So where is the film review already? ( Obviously, only said in jest. Fine wine and good analysis take time. )
Vice Squad Delivers!
This is a top story the Four Letter home page.
Big dogs!
#44 definitely got his shit wrecked a split second after this pic was snapped.
This man's an absolute unit!
LET'S GO!
That's a suboptimal size difference for the team in blue.
This would make for at least a mildly entertaining "caption this" post.
Oh Lawd he comin'!
Assuming he's already in the two deep:
Ts: 1220 lbs
Dzansi 315
Darrisaw 295
Jackson 333
Culver 277
Gs: 1200 lbs
L Smith 313
Tenuta 285
Nester 320
Harris 282
Cs: 613 lbs
Hoyt 308
T Smith 305
Others: 1159 lbs
Kane 281
Hanson 296
Hudson 292
Pritchard 290
Overall: 4192 lbs, 3033 in 2 deep
r/theydidthemath
M-O-O-N spells pancake
Nester flipping to the good guys made the ESPN "Top Headlines", which is good. VT can use all the positive press it can get.
Didn't he say he was committing today at 5pm? Did he just want to get it out of the way?
Just said 5
So the reason why I knew yesterday that he was committing to us is a funny story.
It was about noon, and one of my Marshall friends texted me asking for a favor. I asked what was up, and she said that she needed to borrow a VT shirt for tomorrow because a student that she tutors at Spring Valley High School is going to be signing there tomorrow. Well, for whatever reason (probably because I was coming off a four-day bender), I couldn't put two and two together on the spot and realize that she was talking about Doug Nester. I told her of course and went on with my day. Then five minutes later I realized "Oh shit, she's talking about Doug Nester."
She told me that what might have done it for him was the fact that they offered his teammate a PWO spot.
I really hope this kid also commits to Tech. Lots of kid players, walk on and scholarship players alike, have come out of SV. I could see him being a Sam Rogers, Steven Peoples, or CJ Carroll easily. Air Force just offered him a full ride, but now that Nester is officially going to Tech, I think it's very possible we see this kid coming to Blacksburg.
Haven't watched tape but impressive accolades
He runs a 4.59 40 and is 5'9" which is what I think is keeping a lot of schools from pulling the trigger. Air Force offered him a full ride, but they run an option offense. He also has PWO spots at Marshall and WVU I believe, but WVU currently has zero SV kids on their team, and I think Marshall only has 1 despite being in his backyard if that tells you how hard Marshall recruits the state of WV in football. I ultimately think he follows Nester to Tech.
He is the best "football player" on his team and in the state. His size does hold him back. Slot guy likely and should be able to play special teams.
He has about the same speed as Grimsley it looks like. Definitely not as fast as Dejuan Ellis though. He'd most likely be used in the slot and on special team like you said if he came here, so those two would be who he'd compete with for playing time.
Now I know why Savoy transferred.
Smart move by staff.
Jwillhokiealum sauces.
I kind of wonder if this is how crystal ball predictions are made. Someone asks someone else for a t-shirt for someone else's signing day, and it gets leaked to 247.
Great story. Plus, it is always good to see guys on the team pulling others in with them.
That is one built-up Mack truck. Glad he's on our side of the ball.
Did somebody say "flip"??
Wow that's a big dog
Nester was interviewed on local TV tonight about his decision: "I grew up loving Ohio State. It was hard to tell them no, but I'm glad I made the right decision". Let that sink in.
I love it.