FLIP!Maryland just picked up a commitment from running back Ramon Brown, a former Virginia Tech commithttps://t.co/Qq35qOyZJc pic.twitter.com/YNWqxFcKhT— Adam Friedman (@RivalsFriedman) December 14, 2021
Running back Ramon Brown committed to Virginia Tech in July over teams like Penn State, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Maryland but those teams remained in touch with him. The Midlothian (Va.) Manchester star became a bigger target for other schools when Justin Fuente was relieved of his duties as head coach.
Brown hosted coaches from Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Maryland, and West Virginia for in-home visits this past week and used the final weekend before Signing Day to return to Blacksburg to learn more about new Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry and his staff.
After reflecting on that trip and continuing to have discussions over the last few days, Brown announced his decision to commit to Maryland.
Comments
Mega oof.
Sure didn't see that coming.
Good luck young man.
He'll need it... College Park- it'll get after ya
Fuck.
I keep telling myself to not get caught up in recruiting or looking at recruits. I keep telling myself that there's attrition, new staff, etc and don't worry about it this season.
It still sucks, but it is what it is. May he have a successful career except for days he plays against my teams.
Welp back to 10 RBs, depth chart getting thin /s
Maryland? The team in the dumpy part of a dumpy state whose ceiling is 5th in their conference? That Maryland?
Kids love Locksley.
Locksley is a guy that couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag, but can recruit with the best of them.
Mack Brown at UNC. That's why the whole notion that kids sign to a school and not coach(s) is laughable. When Fuente, Corn and Lecht got fired the relationships with coaches was gone for him and he went elesewhere, to someone he had relationship with.
Except your anecdote relies on a school coming off prolonged and potentially drastic sanctions.
Returning to form as a fairly substantial recruiting power, coinciding with his hiring.
Which doesn't really rule out the "institution" as a driving factor after all.
Why hasn't Maryland's recruiting gotten appreciably better under Locksley in a macro sense?
I think most, if not all, of these guys would have left or decommitted even if Fuente remained the head ball coach. It wasn't like he was stellar at keeping guys out of the portal. We just need to take it for what it is. Seems like it is par for the course when a new coach comes in. Maybe we'll see Brown come back if things don't work out at MD.
Ceiling is fifth in their division...best of luck to him
With Schiano turning things around at Rutgers that ceiling is soon to be 6th
Lol. Turning things around at Rutgers is going from dead last to next to dead last in the division.
They'll be just good enough to kick Maryland's shit in every year I promise. And no Indiana will be last
Did you see what Schiano did in his last tenure at Rutgers?
Yeah but that was in the Big Least. Hard to compete when your division has Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State. Fifth place finish at best most every year.
Yeah, in the Big East without VT, Miami & BC. It suddenly kicked in (sort of) in his 5th season as soon as those schools left.
That's being VERY generous regarding Maryland's ceiling. I've lived in the DC area for 36 years now, and UMD has been an irrelevant program for probably 33 of those years (Fridge had a few good seasons, then they fired him).
One day, these VA rb's will learn to stay home. Historically it doesn't work out snubbing VT, ask Laborn, or Slade or Ford.
Yes but also when was the last good VA back we've had? David Wilson was a decade ago.
Playing if's and but's here, any of those three would have had great careers at tech especially since we've been without a dynamic back since David Wilson (Herbert aside).
Honestly if we kept Loeffler/Beamer another season McMillian probably looks better as well (had 1,000+ season in Loeffler's last year and then had a 1,000 yd season the year after he left VT under Fuente). But at the end of the day he probably had relationships with our previous coaches, and once they were gone his best relationships were with the coaches up in Maryland. It's unfortunate but kind of comes with the territory with a coaching change.
And what has coming to VT done, shall we ask all 37 of our scholarship backs? Unfortunately they have made the right choice to not come here.
Maybe one day we will be able to actually develop our HB's
I know stars and numerical ratings aren't everything but all "37" of our scholly backs are mid 3*'s projects. The guys I mentioned have all been top 50 nationally ranked recruits that were more polished coming out of hs with higher ceilings.
Herbert was a transfer and we caught lightning in a bottle with him and it looks like Blackshear is a little of the same, but once again a transfer.
If those high rated VA backs would have stayed home I think our offense would have been much more dynamic especially considering our OL has been one of the brught spots over the last 5ish years. I'm sure Cornball would've still found a way to screw it up though.
There is no data that suggest they'd have done anything for tech seeing how they've done nothing at their respective schools. Slade in two years never ran for more than 300 yards behind a penn state oline. The same is true with devyn ford. McMillan scratched a thousand yards yes one season with us and left knowing there was going to be a committee approach. I agree w/ the statement about Herb. But these mid tier backs we have signed out of highschool have done about as much as the 4 star backs we wanted. ✨Nada✨
There is no data to suggest they'd have boosted our offense or even have better personal numbers. Laborn is sort of in the same boat. Evaluations are either ass or they just were not as good as advertised.
Moving on to blackshear we have seen this story before. Tech player breaks out mid season. Said player shows promise. Next season said player fails to progress. Or tech player has hood spring. Fails to translate on field. Tech player starts off strong. Then disappears. I love Malachi but I'm not sold because of point just given. We loved King. Same story as a back. We love Hunter although not a HB was One of the highest rated recruits in program history. Aside from legal issues and injuries he's never lived up to his rating even in spring ball or camps. Again whether it's horrible evaluations or lack of development nothing suggest that they should come to tech the only thing they have "learned" is that tech is running in place and at least if they go elsewhere nd be unproductive they can at least get exposure on tv. Maybe get better development as far as measurable or intangibles. They would come to tech just to graduate w/ the same chicken legs they came in with.
Also those "37" backs are about .867 at the very best.
Nice poke at the username btw lol
Just a minor counterpoint - PSU's offensive line and offensive tactics have been atrocious since Moorhead, Barkley, and McSorley left. The fact that Ford and Slade didn't and haven't produced there isn't just because of them.
Yes I understand that after looking at their oline ranking as 118 this past season. Saquan played with slade behind the same line but then again as I type this he was an entirely different animal. he also didn't have much of the same problem if I'm not mistaken nor did the qb. It wasn't as bad as it is currently as well so there is also that. That being said if you are what you are advertised to be you should have more than 250-270 yards per in two years. There's a reason that they don't start as all games or get the carries you'd think they'd get. And if I'm incorrect on that then so be it I'll wear that but they honestly wouldn't have done much better here either outside of last years oline which fell apart due to Vance and his rotation of linemen according according to Doug Nester.
But my original point is just because they commit and choose to go elsewhere shouldn't be looked at as a "snub" or something that they'll "learn" from just because they chose a program they believe puts them in the best position to succeed. The recruits we've had that have succeeded arguably may have been better off elsewhere hence tayvion Nester BPT etc. it may be an unpopular opinion but I believe players like Tre could have thrived more elsewhere. Dax as well could probably be killing it in another program.
Nice username bro ;)
Well I certainly didn't think Maryland was in the cards
Even more of a reason to pound Maryland into the earth. Locksley is a shit coach but an ace recruiter. Disappointing but is what it is new coach I get it I guess the guys 14-49 for fucks sake what do people see in that team?
not gonna fault CBP but this hurts
lol good fucking luck with that one
Yeah I just don't get the UMD deal. I mean I get that locksley is apparently a great recruiter but your still playing at the bottom of the B1G and are in no way in the running for a shot at that conf. title.
Oh well.
But the campus and surrounding area is so gorgeous /s
I will think of him as a Terp, and then no more.
Our bagmen need to step it up
Quick - to the Bagmobile!
Welp... here we go. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss?
That's a mighty steep cliff you're standing on
Meh. The question mark was intentional. We'll see what happens. But Pry will succeed or fail on his ability to recruit to Blacksburg. And we just lost our most promising recruit to the Twerps.
Are we really going to judge someone's recruiting ability based on, what, 2 weeks worth of work, and without an offensive staff even in place yet?
No but the fact that he flipped to Maryland is a real head scratcher. So many thoughts...
Is it though? Locksley can recruit, it's a proven fact. It's also a proven fact he is a BAD head coach. I don't think teenage kids care about winning the way older fans care about winning.
For the record, I think it's a mistake on Brown's part. But it's not necessarily surprising given the coaching change.
Exactly this! Winning is not #1 for these kids any more. They all "think" they're good enough to go pro, so it's about going where they have the best chance to go pro, what most need to think about is the rest that the school has to offer because chances are 70 of those 80 kids or more will never go pro. They need more realists in their ear, instead of money grabbing parents and "friends". What they don't know at such an early age is those people influencing you and pushing you the wrong direction aren't gonna be there to help you when that way they pushed you don't work out.
Definitely judging him on his handling of the offensive staff. I don't think Ramon is a huge loss. We have other backs. What we do need is a serviceable quarterback out of the portal and that is going to make or break us
but....we don't have a running back coach, or an offensive line coach...and he's never met out OC. even if we do have a RB coach and OL coach lined, he has never met them as well.
we can start judging pry's recruiting after next year's class.
This is a different mistake than any of Fuente's. He hired an oc that won't leave his job until January. Once he's on board maybe we'll start rolling, but one of the tradeoffs is this offensive class won't know who their coaches are until like a week from late signing day.
Also screw Meyer and his shitty Jags
We still don't know if having the OC now would make any difference.
If it did, wouldn't it have made sense for Brown to just delay his decision until regular signing day?
I'm assuming he is signing with MD tomorrow.
Not gonna lie -- Brown flipping isn't what disappoints me. It's him flipping to Maryland that does.
I'd be more ok with this if he had flipped to SC.
I mean it would definitely make a difference, idk if we would keep him in particular, but it would definitely help us lock up/recruit other offensive players
i am glad it wasn't penn st.
also, i get we are supposed to wish these kids luck, and have no hard feelings...but what are the chances he actually finishes his college career at maryland? it wouldn't surprise me if we were talking to him next year at this time in the portal
That won't be happening, he burnt his bridge to the ground on the way out.
reactionary, petty, and shortsighted lol
eh, i don't know. i am sure our staff expected to lose a few recruits, it always happens with coaching changes.
i would be more inclined to agree with you if this was ford, or laborn, or slade...guys that our staff had been developing relationships with for a long time. but our current staff just met him, and he's never met our OC...and we don't have a RB coach. i think if he enters the portal eventually, and we have a need for RB, we would be willing to contact him.
I don't see it that way.
I understand how confusing this transition likely was for kids making life decisions.
Though I wish he'd stayed, if we need him and he's available later, this is the LAST thing I'd hold a grudge over.
Do you have inside knowledge that Brown burnt the bridge, or are you assuming he did?
Yikes that's tough for him. Very unpopular opinion but I actually like Bryce Duke's film better
Highlights on HUDL are supposed to look good.
My knock on Bryce is the competition he went up against outside 2 or 3 schools. There's a clip where the DT doesn't even look like he hit puberty.
But he's got speed. Real speed. I like his vision, and he can make the first man miss.
Dang. I thought this guy was a Hokie through and through.
Any chance we can flip Pettaway now?
Really surprised that we had the last visit and couldn't seal the deal. What gives?
Are we now destined to be the Marylands, NC States, etc of college football? The glory days weren't that long ago. I just can't see a road back unless the top VA kids take pride in the state's premier program and come in mass.
I understand losing players to Clemson or Bama, but Maryland? Ouch!
We've had a brand new coach for 2 weeks and only 2 offensive staff announced. You can't say our program is dead or dying. It's a freaking coaching change. Pry hired recruiters, but 2 weeks with a recruit can't make up for 6 months worth of relationships that other schools probably had.
I do wonder if this is at all related to Brown's tweet about not being cocky.
Like, did our coaching staff call him out or something? Dis our coaches think he wouldn't be a good fit with the culture they are trying to build? I suppose it is possible Pry didn't try to convince him to stay in the fold.
You all sometimes look into tweets too much. Those are simple song lyrics that weren't directed to any program or their staff.
Someone on twitter said they wanted him to play defense
Someone on twitter said their dog told them the pope faked the moon landings.
Someone's dog was tweeting from the moon
I don't understand this. I also don't understand teenagers.
Disappointing for sure but would you rather have Fuente, Corn and Brown?
We have a true freshman in Thomas and a RS-So in King, so we are good for a while .... I SAID WE ARE GOOD!
We good, we good, we good....
A decent QB from the Transfer Portal wouldn't be the worst thing, either.
Live look at the staff pitching the QB coach to prospective transfer portal QBs.
GTFOH! I can see not picking us, but fucking Maryland? Really? Campus is mediocre at best and college park is a fucking dump. Wow! I'll never understand 17-18 yr olds.
Also, don't they burn their own campus for winning and losing?
And throw rocks at police horses while flipping cars.
Life as a VT fan
Maryland?????
Honestly though RB is not a position of need out of HS or in the Portal. There are more than enough quality RBs out there in the future. Good OL, scheme, and QB are much more important to our success than Ramon Brown.
This is a much bigger loss than just a guy that is or isn't a position of immediate need though. This is a big-time recruit in the state of Virginia; we HAVE to start landing these guys. We've got a coach now that has VA and VT connections and we've got to start get these guys playing for us and change the narrative around our program. This is a big-time loss.
Yup. Shit like this is bigger than "just one recruit." Dabo was able to overcome "Clemsoning," will Pry be able to overcome "Hokie-ing?"
While I agree with pretty much everything you've said, I do think it is hard to pin this one much on the current Staff.
I'm sure not having a clear Offensive Staff or RB coach had a significant amount of influence on Brown looking elsewhere. At the same time, trying to throw together an entire Offensive Staff in 2 weeks simply in an attempt to appease recruits seems like a potential pathway to Cornelson 2.0.
Early Signing Day is a garbage idea that forces these sorts of decisions on schools and kids. It clearly benefits the Blue Blood programs who have massively inflated Recruiting budgets and can start scouting these kids as soon as they hit puberty.
I think Pry has the right mindset to improve our Recruiting significantly but it's gonna take at least 1-2 cycles to see real results.
This is laughable. We have a brand new staff. Most times when you change coaches in the ESD era your classes are absolute dogshit. This one isn't and one RB won't change that. We have to start landing VA guys but ITS A BRAND NEW STAFF. We can start freaking out next year about positions that are more important. And we just got Benji, so it looks like there is some positive momentum.
The only reason a lot of these guys go where they go is so that they can have the best shot in the NFL. If I committed because of a certain coach and find out he's leaving before I sign, I'd nope right the hell to my second choice.
I'm still excited about Kenji Christian. If this kid just committed to the Cornography Crew then I will say nothing else. King, Thomas, Christian, Black, Blackshear, and Gary should be a good group of RB's under a capable coaching staff. Yeah it sucks but given the coaching change and the fact that we don't have all of our offense coaches yet it's kind of expected.
CBP gonna be puttin' a VT defense on the field like the '85 Bears. We don't need no stinkin' offense.
With what all-ACC Defensive Linemen will we be doing that with? Or is the assumption that Pry and his staff will be making the tackles? I know Marve is like the youngest DC in P5 now but I doubt that's a winning strategy.
Walter Payton would like a word...
Oof it hurts, but not quite as bad as watching Khalan Laborn pull up in that Lamborghini that time lol. Or maybe I'm just numb to the pain of losing out on good RBs now.
That one didn't hurt that bad imo. It was hilariously out in the open pay to play and he looked like such a doucher with the lambo. I don't think he would've fit the tech culture
🤣 good luck
Are people seriously flipping on Pry because a guy he didn't recruit flipped to a school where the entire staff isn't flipping over?
Y'all need to step back from the ledge.
I don't think a whole lot of people are doing that.
This seems to be more of a WTF moment.
Let's not pretend for a moment that coaches from other teams didn't see the Fuente exit as an opportunity to poach our recruiting class.
I don't doubt that we'll remember this when we poach some of their recruits in the coming years, and I think we should make it a point to target Maryland and D.C, in addition to Virginia and North Carolina.
Yeah. Nobody's flipping. It's just a bad look to lose recruits to a punchline program like Maryland. Pry needs to change that.
Agreed.
Sorry chief when you post this:
Then two days later flip and say "respect my decision"....nah...I respect the fact that you're free to make your own decision...but that's as far as it goes.
Best of luck, won't think about ya again
"Respect my decision" feels like the new "it is what it is". Good grief.
More like "I'll shoot myself in the leg if I want to".
With that being said
Please no interviews
Respect my decision
Screenshot from the Notes app
Every one of these messages are all the same, like mad libs where they insert [University name] and [Head coach].
What makes this all that much funnier is the fact that in the tweet he just posted no more than 2-3 days ago he was wearing the outfit they've been using for the Signing Day videos
OK I will ask the question. When Mack Brown took over at UNC and suddenly had croots knocking down UNC's doors, it was explained by many as "New Coach Excitement/Push/Honeymoon/Boost". Supposedly this was good for a year or two and we saw it at multiple schools hiring new coaches. So now that VT has a new staff and excitement, where is OUR recruiting boost? This isn't a drop-off by any means, but we should have landed this guy. Then again, the fact he chose Maryland indicates he makes bad decisions so maybe we dodged a bullet here.
Had this same thought lol how the tables have turned
2019 Mack was Hired UNC signed a decent class that was ranked worse than the 2018 class but it wasn't notably better until 2020 when they signed a top 15 class.
Most coaches first year classes are pretty bad and contribute less because of scheme changes. We've already signed more 4* than the past few cycles in this class we're going to be fine
Thanks for the leg work! Makes me feel more encouraged
UNC's recruiting class for 2019 was 30th nationally. 10 spots lower than the year prior under fedora.
Our class is currently ranked 26...
A lot that can change in a short period of time, but things are looking good all things considered.
I asked the same question when Fuente was hired....
Where was the recruiting boost.
I have to think the lack of OC hitting the recruiting trail right now isn't helping.....
Don't worry. Next year, if there's no recruiting boost it will be rationalized away then too.
To reiterate the comment above you.
UNC's recruiting class for 2019 was 30th nationally. 10 spots lower than the year prior under fedora.
Our class is currently ranked 26...
The facts don't bear out that we are rationalizing away a dip in recruiting.
Look at Iowa State's recruiting the year they got their new coach (a little before Fuente). ExplodedStrike that. My memory is fooling me.
it really didn't
here are Iowa State's recruiting class ranks by year, going backward from present (2021 class): 59, 46, 46, 55, 52, 55, 64, 59, 63, 67, 59
Guess I'm misremembering something...
Ha
consider also that this class on its own as it currently stands represents a significant boost relative to the last two classes
True. But the 2 years prior to this one set the bar pretty low. Hoping we can finish this year as strong as possible, but I'm much more interested in how recruiting for the next class goes with the new staff all in place and the chance to really sell their vision than anything that happens this year. Hoping for real strength in the next few years to set us up for a bright future.
Going from crapping your diaper to crapping your pants is representative of change more so than improvement.
it might be a little too on the nose to say that tech's historical recruiting is "Crapping your pants", but if this class winds up in the mid-20s, it's in line with our historical average and represents a big time improvement over the disaster 2020 class and the relatively-poor-at-best 2021 class
Agreed. It blows my mind that people can't put a class ranking in the 20s into proper historical context for tech.
If we can pull that off in a year where we don't have an offensive staff in place, our outlook looks pretty good in all honest opinion
Looking back over the past decade of crapping our pants, I don't see any T. Taylors, D. Halls, K. Fullers, D. Wilsons, R. Williams, Adibis, K. Jones', etc...
i do see a lot of classes ranked in the mid-20s nationally 🤷♂️ including the classes with Tyrod (2007, 26th), David Wilson (2009, 25th), Hall & Adibi (2003, 27th). The Hall & Jones class (2001) was 16th, the Kendall Fuller class (2013) was 21st, the Ryan williams class (2008) was 18th.
I think the point being made is stars matter.
Higher the ****'s, the higher the probability that they will pan out to be contributors. Someone on this site has documented that very well.
Some of those skill players elevated the program's image as well. Having a great average score is important, but having a few people that are stars to attract positive attention makes a difference.
I don't think anyone is going to argue with the way you put this.
But that's a far cry from "crapping our pants".
Fuente managed to attract some talent to VT. Seems to me his bigger downfall was not retaining some of it.
It's almost like VT's reputation is in the toilet right now, and that's not going to change overnight.
For people to expect us to change coaches and sign a top 20 class is optimistic at best, positively delusional at worst.
I don't think it's that bad, but our coaches have some work to do to get the program back to where we think it should be.
And recruiting is going to be key to that.
I think it's really bad. We've had multiple national articles highlighting how dysfunctional the lockerroom was during the last regime, so many of our talented players left in a way it felt like they couldn't get out fast enough, etc.
A lot of bridges were burned the last 5 years. It's not gonna change overnight. But this is a good class, and hopefully a building block.
When regimes change, there are always going to be players with a higher allegiance to the old guard, they are naturally going to resent change. And we tried a hybrid approach, by retaining Bud's defense. Don't get me wrong, Fuente didn't handle it very well, but transitioning from the legendary Beamer was always going to have it's challenges. Fuente got started on the wrong foot and never recovered.
Let me know when we get favorable national media. I get the sense they're always trying to protect the old guard, and I'm not sure most of them include Virginia Tech in that club.
I don't expect this transition to be nearly as challenging as the Beamer one was. No coaches have been entrenched for thirty years. No players are hanging out with unrealistic expectations from a bygone era. There will be some challenges, but the expectations would have to be different at this point.
I'm not sure what bridges you're talking about, but I do think Pry is very personable, so if anyone can fix relationships, he can.
Talk to recruits and coaches it's not THAT bad but it's legit ridiculous. I live in the 757 grew up out here cousin nd friends have played for tech and other programs. It's been wonky for awhile even before the recent drop of
We have sent some guys to the NFL in the last decade, and have some decent recruits in THIS CLASS. Fuente seemed to be able to sign some decent players, even if he didn't manage to retain them very well.
Most of us here recognize the need for good recruiting. All things considered, we're having a good day.
So maybe let go of some of the negativity.
Serenity now.
Not just to the league, but we've had first round picks inside the past decade (the Edmunds brothers come readily to mind). Him listing some good players and ignoring the really good ones we've had inside the past 10 years is just him selling himself his own narrative.
What other programs did we beat out for the Edmundii? Both were great players but neither was highly contested as a recruit iirc. Tim Settle was a top 100 guy and fisher and hunter. Only settle worked out. None of those guys were stars to build a class around and elevate the program as a whole. The goal of moving on from Beamer was to surpass his accomplishments, not merely to try and match them (which hasn't really happened yet either).
Of course a new regime will need some runway to get things going. I'm just a little disappointed that there aren't any immediately obvious signs that Pry can close on elite recruits. Because yes, I believe that's one of the things VT needs to change the narrative about the program. And I think the clock is ticking on his ability to do so because recruiting is mostly marketing and closing is the most immediately obvious accomplishment. Maybe that is unreasonable, but it's still disappointing either way.
There's a difference in closing on a recruit that you recruited and had a relationship with for months and coming in, having 2 weeks to try to keep ALL of the recruits, and not even have your full staff ironed out. I think Pry keeping as many recruits as he did is a better indicator of his ability to close than the two that left. And that doesn't even count the two Pry was able to flip from our rivals, what, a couple days before ESD and get those in state kids to come to the good guys.
You are correct that your take is unreasonable.
He's been here for 2 weeks.
point of contention... the goal with replacing Beamer was to get back to winning 10+ games per season and playing for ACC titles instead of having .500 conference records and going 7-6 year after year. It is the same reason Fuente was replaced.
it's only disappointing because it's unreasonable. transitional class gonna be around top-30 with all said and done. losing a few recruits stings but looking to this class for ANY indication of this staff's recruiting/closing ability is hilariously shortsighted at best and done in bad-faith at worst.
if anything, Pry's relationship and trust in JC Price to retain him on staff prevented this class from being another one in the high-40s or mid-50s. Teams made strong runs at some of our guys due to the coaching transition -- some flipped (Orji, Brown, Martin, Jones), but other important players reaffirmed their commitment and stuck with us (Farrell, Givens, Johnson, Gosnell, Delane) even though teams were pushing them to flip.
I forgot all of those guys were in the same consensus #1 class of what year?
20 something nostalgia?
Brent Pry is a career assistant.
Mack Brown won a national championship.
Do the math
Everyone is a career assistant until they're hired for their first HC job.
...yes? And? My point was in relation to the "recruiting bump".
I think CBP was a good and potentially great hire. But "Brent Pry" doesn't bring the instant recruiting flash of "National Championship Winning Coach Mac Brown". And that's fine! I think people expecting a huge, first year (really, first MONTH) recruiting bump are being unrealistic. CBP has a long road ahead of him reestablishing us as a football brand, and I think people need to realize this isn't going to be an overnight thing to us being back to winning ACC championships and being in the national conversation.
On the topic of Brown, how many more disappointing years is it going to take before he's on the hot seat?
I can't see him coaching for more than a few more years. His demeanor on the sidelines indicate someone who'd rather be sitting in a recliner at home. His comments to the media after they spiraled out of the top 10 to me showed someone who's not too thrilled to be where they're at. Does UNC regress once he retires? I don't know. They don't seem bought in to football. They're having some success (recruiting) now, but I don't see a full on commitment like I do other peer programs.
This comment seems to hit target. I mean.... that face .... it tells a lot:
I love a good Mack Frown gif.
It's like if you tumble dried William Shatner.
Bummer, but not unexpected with a coaching change. Maryland might be unexpected, but I cannot blame anyone for switching. Not worried about next year as I have low expectations. It's all about getting the right players who want to be here in Pry's system so we can get set up for 2023 and beyond. Got to think long-term rebuild.
Losing Brown and (probably) Orji hurts.
But, can you blame them? As of right now we have all of one offensive coach, who doesn't even have a formal position. The *rumored* OC has an incredibly thin resume, and isn't even a part of the program yet.
I know that I wouldn't want to commit to a program with this many question marks on that side of the ball right now.
it's almost like these new coaches looked at our depth chart and thought maybe stocking up on running backs isn't a huge priority
With any luck, we'll focus on evaluating and being more selective in the future, and maybe won't have to have ALL the running backs in order to move forward.
Word is that UMD offered Brown's brother too (which I don't believe was being recruited much in P5) which is definitely a Locksley move but we also have to consider that Zohn is there and has a huge motivation to negative recruit against us and most likely did. Picturing ZB's conversation.....15 running backs, none get hot, no O-staff in place etc. I want recruits that want to be Hokies. I would also imagine they through NIL $ at him/them.
The idea of Zohn negatively recruiting our recent history of running back production makes me laugh.
So he was committed to us while CBP was at Penn State.
Now he's flipped to Maryland once CBP has come to Tech.
Logical conclusion: He fears Brent Pry. 🙃
Thinking about this more... with the beef we're bringing in on the O-line, one of our current 57 RBs will ball out. Blackshear had an excellent end of the season and Malachi seemed to be playing well too. If Brown wants to go to the ugly confines of College Park in the worst state in the country versus the clean mountain air of Blacksburg, by all means...
Beefing up the O-line and lots of running backs you say? Time to hire Jeff Monken to come run triple option offense!
Did he actually sign today or is he "committed" to UMD in the meantime and will confirm his choices on normal signing day?
Signed today.
Are we sure about this? 247 just shows him as "Hard Commit".
UMD's NSD web page has him on there
https://admin.umterps.com/signingday/football/football/8/
Damn those uniforms are UGLY!
Fuck Maryland. Go Hokies!
Also, fuck Pat Narduzzi
Both in state P5 programs just changed coaching staffs, I think I would have just waited to sign until Feb and taken the time to see how things played out here and at uva.
Kind of telling that he wasn't planning on coming here period
Lots of smoke around the potential that Maryland had coordinated with a bunch of recruits to fake commit to schools with intent to flip on signing day. South Carolina had a kid (Jaishawn Barham) commit to them last week only to have the high school coach tell Shayne 10 mins later that he planned to flip to Maryland on signing day only to surely enough have it happen.
I would not at all be shocked to find out the same situation played out here with Brown. Follows the same pattern.
College football is the weirdest sport.
Remember to grease the wheels regularly as a part of a well oiled college football program.
Saw Barham news earlier today and had to do a double take since it seemed like just yesterday he committed to Shane and co. I could've sworn Locksley and his group were choir angels in their pursuit of recruits.
Conspiracy theories are fun so I guess we can wait and see if it is corroborated in the future.
And mirrors
I guess whatever it takes for Maryland to feel relevant. The only thing Locksley will ever win is signing day. Dude cannot coach a lick.
They are 6-6 this year, he's had 4 years under Saban, and had their top WRs not been injured against Iowa, could have won 8 games this year.
They have a decent chance of beating us in a couple of weeks.
Not sure what the purpose of that would be
Same reason why kids do big elaborate announcement videos... attention. Not saying all forms are as bad as the intentional flip, but sometimes these guys just want another reason to be talked about.