I'd love to do a fully researched post about this but, work + toddler means I don't quite have the time. However, I'm curious everyone's opinion as I have been thinking about this with portal season upon us. Would you prefer Virginia Tech to pursue G5 players who outplayed their school/recruiting ranking and are looking to move up or would you prefer highly touted 4*/5* players that are looking to drop down from an Alabama/Clemson/OSU type of school because they maybe weren't quite good enough or got passed over. I know everyone's circumstance would be a little different and maybe in the end there is no preference, just go get the players that fit VT the best but I'm curious at a macro/50,000 foot view what the preferences would be.
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I'd definitely prefer underhyped G5 players to over hyped blue blood players. Their time at their initial school is a tryout in my eyes. Would you rather hire the candidate from a challenging situation who has lots of excuses for failing or a candidate who wasn't even given an interview at the top firm but made the most of whatever job he could land?
A mix of both. When hiring, I try to get a mix of backgrounds. Give me the ivy leaguer who worked at Google and Amazon, and the state school candidate that has worked at a bunch of startups. Both can bring unique and valuable outlooks on a situation.
That's fair. I have a lot of biases here given bad experiences with people who swung for the job with the big boys first and washed out. Whereas I started with small firms and worked my way to a bigger one and find that most people here don't have the perspective to appreciate the extra resources and make the best use of them
But is it always washing out? Like say there would be a guy who was waiting his time, is a serviceable backup to a first round pick at Alabama, then they recruit a guy who will likely be the number 1 pick at the position. He didn't exactly fail, he's just not as good as the guys who they had, but could be a starter at almost any other school. Granted, that won't always be the case, there are guys who likely didn't pan out and didn't even se reps as a backup. I think it depends on the circumstances in most cases.
I am of similar thoughts to this depending on position and coaching situation. If the coaches are stable at the P5 and say an Olinemen transfers because of playing time then can he really play at that level? There are 5 spots. I would be weary of them. But just like recruiting, you have to vet every one so that's on Pry's staff to do.
I feel like there are two sides to this way of thinking. On one hand, you may be able to find some hardened, proven players out of the G5 pool. However, my fear is you run into a situation like we have with Jaden Blue, Grant Wells, Justus Reed, etc. Taking nothing away from those guys, but as we can tell, it doesn't always translate. I feel like finding the G5 guys that can play at this level is much more difficult in terms of evaluation! Personally, I would love to see us attack the P5 portal hard and get as many of those "play right now" pieces as we can.
Just chiming in to say that I mostly agree but that Justus Reed was a great transfer find for us and had 6.5 sacks in his year with us.
I don't think it matters.
IMO, the more interesting question is do we target someone who is (a) younger, needs to be coached up a bit, and has 3 years eligibility or (b) an established player who can contribute and start immediately, but only has one year of eligibility left?
I think we shoot for a mix depending on position group. The WR room could use some immediate contributors who could also be leaders. The OL room could use a mix of both. In the secondary, I think we afford to take a couple developmental guys.
I just want guys that have talent and want to play here.
I don't think there is a simple, best answer to this. Not to sound cliche but the truth is, as a Program VT should be looking for guys that best fit into the systems they are trying to run.
And likely the "best" players to fit them are going to be a mix of G5 and P5 players.
Its really like Re-recruiting...there are tons of variables--talent level, motivation, attitude issues all have to be considered and you have at best a couple weeks to make judgment on all of that.
If you look at VT's recent Portal history, it says about the same---mixed bag...
-Best successes:
*Khalil Herbert - lightly recruited out of HS, transfer from another P5 due to coaching change/looking for better Program
*R. Blackshear - similar story, slightly better HS ranking, left bad P5 program
*D. Hazelton - significant contributor, from G5 school, eventually portalled back out
-Mixed picture:
*J. Williams: high-rated recruit from premier Program, was a significant contributor but was not a the dominant DL force many were hoping for, left for NFL with remaining eligibility and was not drafted
*R. Willis: another P5 tx, tons of arm talent, mixed success at VT, seemingly much more success since leaving VT
*Burmeister: High-rated from top-end P5 Program, had mixed VT career, now playing WR at G5 level
*J. Blue: gaudy numbers at G5 level, struggled to make an impact in '22
*C. Hodge: similar picture to Blue, limited somewhat by injury, had handful of catches total at VT.
So, long and short, my opinion on the Portal is that it is still largely a crapshoot, albeit with slightly more information than Recruiting straight out of High School. That is why I am largely skeptical about the ability of VT (and similar) Programs to "build" from the Portal. A successful Program largely should be using the Portal to fill holes or add depth at certain positions.
This team has enough holes on it that we can take a bunch of transfers and still only be filling holes instead of building from the portal.
And one other thing: In a world where recruiting doesn't have a whole lot of hidden gems any more, recruiting transfers with 3+ years of eligibility left may be a good way to boost otherwise mediocre recruiting classes without destroying the upperclassmen/underclassmen roster balance too much.
Blue is tough one. I'm sure the tragic passing of his father right after he joined the team contributed to his season. Hopefully he's able to work through that (as much as one can) and have a breakthrough season this year.
I don't think any team can 'build' from the portal. I expect that the two programs who were most active in the portal last year - USC and Ole Miss - will be significantly less active this year. The defending national champion didn't take a single player out of the portal last year, despite having (I think?) the most draft picks of any team every (please correct me if I'm wrong about this)?
I believe Blue is out of eligibility.
Can you elaborate on your comment about Ryan Willis having "seemingly much more success since leaving VT"
Ryan Willis graduated from VT, went undrafted, spent one season in the NFL on/off the Bears practice squad, and now plays in the XFL.
He hardly played the 2nd Half of his Sr. season, not only didn't get drafted but didn't even get a UFA deal.
He played in that bizarre Spring League, was extremely successful, won MVP, and signed to the Practice Squad of an NFL team.
Point being, after his time at VT, he wasn't seen as having enough value to even bring into a Camp, but after working with a real O.C. and QB coach, he had success and found his way (albeit briefly) into the NFL. And he is still playing professional Football currently.
The talent was there...the coaching was not.
I'm looking for depth and contribution. If the player can contribute --whether it's 20-30 snaps a game or a full time starter--or push the current talent to be better, we've improved our roster.
Veteran players with at least 2 years of game film would be prime targets who can leverage their experience to contribute.
No particular preference, but if they are G5, I just want evidence that they played well against the better competition.
The more eligibility, the better too. I am still hopeful that Pry can improve our H.S. recruiting, but I want those kids redshirting so that they are ready in a year or two.
It's different evaluations.
For G5, is the player outplaying their competition and does he have the drive, physical features, and ability to play at an upper P5 level? We've seen in our basketball transfers, some G5 upward movement has been really successful (Aluma, Mutts and Cattoor) and some struggle despite expectations (Murphy). We've seen struggles from our football players too in Blue (although there were mixed results in his G5 history).
For the P5 player, the question of why their transferring is important. If it's related to a negative mentality or a miscalculation at the HS recruit stage, then that's not a good transfer recruit. If it's related to a misfit in scheme, being passed over by elite 5-star underclassmen, or just a difference in opinions, and the player is a fit and willing to put in the work to redeem himself at VT, then that's a take. For example, Jordan Williams worked hard and was definitely an overall improvement to the 2-deep on the line and started several games. I would consider Williams a success for VT and similar gets would be great in this round of the portal.
To me it's like the professional world, the college accolades and rankings only get your first job, after that it's more about what have you done lately. Big recruit rankings get a player to a big program, but what they do there is what I want them selected on. Did they improve their size and strength? Did they put forth the effort when they saw snaps? Did they move up the depth chart as spots opened up? If they made sides and were simply beat out by better players, take them, if the languished in the two deep and didn't make the most of limited opportunities, leave them.