Discuss and share any recruiting topics for June 2023 that don't warrant their own threads. Commits and decommits warrant their own threads.
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[3] Pry Marve 2024
[4] We must ride on the wings of the Pry-beast
Comments
There are some indications we may be on track to pick up transfer OT Clayton Frady from Gardner Webb. Tim Thomas tweet was the first thing I saw hinting at it.
Bring in the beef, we need depth on oline
Visiting this weekend - 2 Charlotte area recruits
Quentin Reddish
DB, Charlotte Independence HS
https://247sports.com/player/quentin-reddish-46138409/
Biggest competition - NC State
Keenan Jackson
WR, Matthews Weddington
https://247sports.com/player/keenan-jackson-46130732/
Biggest Competition- Don't sleep on Duke but UNC getting the last visit is concerning.
NC is loaded with WR the next two classes. VT needs to cash in on a couple
Our roster should look very inviting to WR recruits. The only challenges are upperclassmen, wide open highway to playing time.
We also pulled some good ones in the class of '23 though -- Chance Fitzgerald (4*) and Ayden Green (high 3*)
and we need about 6 more like that to really feel good about the chances that we have a 5WR depth chart with P5 talent.
Our roster will only look very inviting if we have an OL that can protect the QB and subsequently a QB who can get them the ball.
VT hasn't put those things together very well in 35+ years I've been closely following VT football.
Update: Jackson is going to take all of his visits and then decide at the end of June. Order of Visits
1. VT - Completed
2. NC State - Completed
3. Duke - Up next
4. UNC - Following week
Decision time for tomorrow. Think it will be UNC
Makes sense with the way things are trending for white, Adams, and Wiggins
If Taylor joined those three that's the best receiver class in the country
Final 3 for Josiah McLaurin
6' 180 lbs WR/Ath
Class of 24
3 🌟 Rivals
Not ranked on 247
I will be VERY pissed off if we lose him to ECU.
Clinton High School product. ECU is right down the road. The Dark Horses are known to have some talent from time to time. Can't remember the last P5 that came out of that school though.
Yeah, these little schools here in Eastern NC have really good players (or ones that are great developmental prospects) on an annual basis. The last one from Clinton was:
Mohamed Kaba who ended up at USCe.
EDIT: And it's not so much ECU beating us (if they do) as much as it is Coach Houston doing what he does - out kicking his coverage on the recruiting trail.
I have no inside information, but with some of the big fish that we are looking good with after last weekend, I'm not sure if his offer is committable.
Unrated LB from FL
https://247sports.com/player/julian-mendez-46141317/
Pry signal is up!
DB out of NC
Quentin Reddish
Y'all want a encore?👀
It would help my Sunday blues trying to prep for work tomorrow! Momentum is always great.
Clayton Frady, OL from Gardner Webb transfers to the good guys.
We get an OL transfer and no comments? Position of need and hopefully he helps. This get the run game going and give whichever QB more than 2 seconds to throw.
Try here -- He has his own page
It's a message board. Speculation is more fun than reality.
1 more open scholarship left
Reddish already recruiting Mo Schmo via twitters
Woah, are those orange Hokie stone arm sleeves? And if so, is this the first time we've seen them?
I think so.... and 18 years old 6'05, 280- wow, yes please
He has the size, but he'll take some time to develop. North Cross pretty much plays against JV teams. He looks really raw in a lot of his film.
Hmmm, interesting. He doesn't look unathletic for a guy his size and age. But looks can be deceiving...
Raw doesn't mean unathletic. Raw is usually from technique. Happens with OL who are just bigger and stronger than everyone they play and they can toss the other kids around without needing good hand placement, form, feet, etc.
Yes, but the correlation between the two is really high. How often do you see a skilled but unathletic OL HS recruit?
And for that matter, how many OL coming out of HS aren't "raw"? Some, but not many. Particularly in the pond VT fishes in.
Leg for the edit
After re-reading, I realized you'd have to be a mind-reader to know what I meant in my brain and what I wrote were the same thing.
To be fair, all those highly skilled unathletic HS players aren't being recruited because they can only play at the HS level because of the skills. I worked with a guy that was a fairly good guard in high school that he got some attention but he just wasn't fast enough, he just let the athletic guys run themselves out of the play.
Good thing his first name isn't Josef amirite-we don't take just any Joe Schmo
jimmies and schmos >> Xs and Os
87 rated WR from King George, we are in his Top 3 and leading after his OV per a pay walled article on vtscoop
If I'm reading twitters correctly, has a coaching relationship with Roc Carmichael?
Just scored 2 CB's for Wiggins on 247 from Brian Dohn and Evan Watkins...looking good 🙏🏻
Nice! I like our Chanzes
Woah woah woah. Let's not Wigg out quite yet.
Tall, rangy kid with really good ball skills who doesn't seem to mind physicality. His route running, as is true with most high school kids, will need to be polished up quite a bit. But I do think this is a great pickup if we can land him.
King George represent!
Yes sir, Little Booby Tales!
via GIPHY
So this kid starts at left tackle. Clements at right tackle. Moore bros at center and left guard.
Just need someone to step up and take that RG spot. Hanson ain't it...
if this guy ends up at tackle (and not at guard), I expect they slide Chaplin inside to guard instead. Seems like they consider him one of the best 5 at minimum.
So from left to right...Frady, Chaplin, Moore, Moore, Clements. I like the starting 5. It does highlight the absolute lack of depth however. Don't want to say what I am really thinking, but here's to good health all around!!!
Still, a little deeper than last year! Hanson and Schick at least gives us some solid fill-in guys, plus hopefully some of the younger guys can start to chip in this year too.
I think we have an okayish (I mean, can it be worse than 2022??) 7/8 man rotation possibly there if you throw Meadows into the mix as well.
yes, it absolutely can. Every time I think there's no way our offense (or some component of it) could be any worse, it proves me wrong.
I recently read a book about the collapse of Venezuela. One of the all time great book titles:
Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse
Yousef Mugharbil is now walking on at NC State after leaving Colorado. Unbelievable.
dang i remember really wanting him a few classes ago
Wait, he went to UF, transferred to CO in January, and is now walking on at NC State??
Yup, lots of kids realizing the grass isnt greener at CU
Depends on what kind of grass you're talking about amirite
Keylen Adams is announcing July 13...we NEED to land him.
https://247sports.com/player/keylen-adams-46103155/
Primary recruiter at Alabama is Holmon Wiggins.
Supposedly SC is the leader
I was going to say, don't sleep on USCe. They have been Recruiting extremely well and Shane has been able to pull good players from all along the East Coast.
Yeah, it's a pretty bad indictment on Pry's concept/vision if he isnt winning on the field or in recruiting.
Signing day for the 24 class is my Earliest Evaluation time point -- a lot can happen between now and then and that cuts both ways
We really need to win a few we aren't supposed to and have an overachieving season badly to show we are getting the program back where it needs to be. Desperately need some momentum. I'm just worried we aren't going to be able to turn things around on the field fast enough to change perception.
Agree...I think '25 is my break-even as far as Recruiting goes. Understanding what an utter mess Recruiting under Fuente was and having a pretty putrid on-field product was gonna make '24 difficult.
That being said, I was really hoping that we would be able to land at least one of Peyton Lewis, Kahoun, or Cole...all guys literally playing in our Backyard. That hope is looking increasingly fleeting at this point. If we not only don't land any of them but are also losing out on our "2nd level" prospects, my concern for Pry's recruiting prowess is going to start rising significantly.
Tech just offered a class of 26 OT/DE out of Loudoun County. He's 6'6" and 246 lbs as a freshman. We are his first D1 offer per his twitter.
https://www.hudl.com/profile/17923521/Carter-Scruggs
https://twitter.com/carter__scruggs?s=21&t=WjcH_gvH9EmiqN9YijA_MQ
Most importantly, I know his mom and she's a Hokie.
Be sure to say hi
Hey funny man...come on down to SC and say that. /s/s/s/s
I don't know his stance on turkey bacon, but I'll find out and pass that info on to the coaching staff.
87 Rated CB out of NC
https://247sports.com/player/deuce-walker-46118001/
Kind of surprised at the top 8 there. 87 rated CB and that list looks pretty pedestrian. Would have thought there would be some more high-up programs. We have been in the past, but down now. And certainly Coastal Carolina has had some good recent years, but still not in a top conference. 5' 10" and 160 is pretty slight. Is that hampering him in some way? I wouldn't think so.
you were so close
Sorry, I'm guessing that was a joke or what I wrote had as (unintended) "phrasing" type issue, but I can't figure it out :-).
is his size hampering his recruitment in some way? probably
I actually wondered if there were academic concerns, but saw Navy on his feed. Can't imagine the Naval Academy would be targeting someone if there were any serious academic issues, so that should not be it.
"Aren't you a little short to be a cornerback?"
I see what you did there.
Rome wasn't built in a day of course, but that offer list is not how you get back to the ACC Champ game.
Sadly, that is probably an offer list we could legitimately compete for the recruit.
https://247sports.com/player/jaden-smith-46136607/
Strong offer list
Michigan
Supposed to have OV here on Friday and announcing on Monday?
Normally, I would feel good about having the last visit, but announcing commitment date before the OV here makes one think he has already made up his mind.
Definitely has a multiple high-level P5 offers for an unranked player...though he's listed as a Safety film shows him mostly playing downhill near the LOS. Think he would possibly be looked at as a WILL in Pry's system.
We made the top-7 for Marcellus Barnes last month, composite 4* DB from Chattanooga. he'll be on campus for an OV this weekend
https://247sports.com/player/marcellus-barnes-jr-46138198/
Ole Miss
FSU
Georgia
Miss St
VT
Mich St
Baylor
That's quite the assortment of schools. You've got UGa, which, if it's a real offer, I don't know how you could ever say no to. Then you've got SEC level (Ole Miss, Miss St, FSU) and then regional powerhouses with relatively recent success (MSU, Baylor). Then you've got us. If the coaches pull this off, that's a huge recruiting win for them, but I am not super hopeful.
Given you only get 5 OVs, gotta imagine we're in the top 5 more than the top-7 -- but it's really curious because there are some notable absences from the offer list which you might expect to see based on the region -- all the carolina P5s in both ACC and SEC (minus wake), Tennessee, UK, etc
edit: there is an On3 article that discusses his current top 2 but i don't subscribe so idk what it says. OVs already happened or planned for Sparty, VT, and Baylor
I thought new NCAA rule allows unlimited OVs?
you're right, i missed that bit of news a couple months ago... it goes into effect July 1
Schools are still limited to hosting something like 50 or 60 OV's. So if a prospect is taking an OV somewhere you know the offer is legit.
Is that an ncaa rule, is that just a financial/personnel limitation?
NCAA rule. Schools can only host 56 official visits.
The UGA offer is probably legit until someone higher on their board commits and he gets processed. I'd love to be in that situation but fortunately it's not something we've really ever had to do with recruits
The UGA offer might be real- until smart runs the final numbers
89 Rated Edge from MD
https://247sports.com/player/dominic-nichols-46129726/
Shane might speak very fondly of us and love the school, but a the end of the day he is and will continue to be a giant pain in our recruiting ass.
Absolutely -- i wish he was not in our region. I know his potential candidacy as VT head coach was such a lightning rod, but there is definitely a universe where he was the one to come in after fuente and build us back to prominence.
he's got more to sell than we do, and he's always been a detailed recruiter- always been prepared.
89 Rated LB from TN
https://247sports.com/player/elijah-groves-46140878/
If he could just take a step back and think about it, he might land on the right choice.
P.s. I love this dude's graphic. Give me more content that looks like it's out of an early 2000's vidya game.
If I were committing, I'd go with the format from a Topps baseball card out of a bazooka pack.
Good choice. I would do something NBA jam style.
Homage has a whole series of tshirts that are amazing. I hope they do a Tech series at some point.
Ahhh.., good times. Let's get it going again. Support Coach Pry.
Alright, I'm in Townie. Here's some love from NE ohio.
Interesting Top 6 for a guy with that 247 rating. By the lack of a composite score, seems like maybe he's a late bloomer?
Just got his rating from 247
87 Rated ATH from Woodbridge, VA
https://247sports.com/player/kameron-courtney-46139617/
Underrated prospect IMO. Not the biggest guy but gives me Greg Stroman vibes. Has that phone booth agility, could see him being a big time PR/KR. Best athlete on the best team in VA, need to land guys like this for perception alone.
Yes please
Looking at the teams we are competing with, if we want him and cannot land him I really hope he ends up at Indiana and not any of those other nausea-inducing places. At least Penn State is not on the list.
Who we getting??
Yes
Remember when I said this? Yeah...
Jenkins?
This is the shit I come here for.
It's the four horsemen 😤
Man 4 commits from the same OV weekend would be so fun
Who committed? I'm pretty sure Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, Arn Anderson and Rick flair are out of eligibility for ncaa
Keylen Adams is the only target in 247 scheduled commits and his scheduled date isn't until next month
Chris Cole was there this weekend 😏 🤫
Gabe Williams as well
Gabriel Williams, Andrew Hanchuk, and Peter Gonzalez plus a wild card?
EDIT:
Williams - check
Hanchuk - check
2 for 4, 3 for 4 if you count Lynch as my wild card
OT Lynch is another popular name being thrown around
TSL just released a paywall article on MoSchmo. Could be a preview of his commitment, article description says he's trying to commit at the end of the month.
I think the four commitments are from the OVs this weekend. Lynch (solid 3 star OT) , gabe Williams (4 star LB), hanchuck (3 star DL project), and one other (maybe WR Gonzalez? (High 3 star WR)) are the rumors floating around on the 24/7 board. EW said one is announcing tonight but so far no names have been confirmed.
Or Wille Rodriguez Tight end from Kentucky
Or him. Also, Williams just got a prediction to VT on rivals
He got 3 CB's from 247 last night
Mason Wade got two CBs to Duke over the weekend
EDIT: Wade to Duke as of Tuesday. Not sure how big a miss this is. He seemed like a sure thing under Rudolph, but maybe was deemphasized by Crook or didn't feel as comfortable with Crook.
LET'S GO
HOKIES!!
Gabe Williams is a big recruiting win
Huge win for Pry and the Hokies. Sounds like more on the way.
a four-star!!!!!
SIGNAL IS UP
Andrew hanchuk commitment thread fam
Lol literally in the time it took to find the gif...
Is this a "drink" scenario? It's pretty early where I am. Haha
Forever and always, yes
ok, so who was at camp that has a dog for a school mascot?
CB in this Morning for Marcellus Barnes. Composite 4* corner. #7 player in TN. Great offer list as well.
Believe he's top 150 in On3, which I'm not sure if that factors into 247s composite or not?
It does. It's the reason he's a composite 4 star on 247 cause Rivals and ESPN hasn't rated him yet
Gabe Williams been puttin in work
My mans been tweetin EVERYONE
Croots can tweet at croots...
Saw that our average '24 recruit is 6'2" (and at 5' 10", Belfort is definitely bringing that average down) - Who knows if these recruits will pan out, but if nothing else, we should have P5 size again (for the first time in a half decade).
Jaden Smith indeed committed to Michigan
https://twitter.com/jadensmith200/status/1668304779028705297
https://twitter.com/On3Recruits/status/1668304093859786771?s=20
What's this on3 I'm suddenly seeing everyone talking about with recruits.
Newest recruiting service, started in summer 21. The guy launched rivals and sold it to yahoo, launched 247 and sold it to cbs, and now has launched on3 -- the site itself has some interesting bits to it, allowing players to upload film like hudl etc. Also they hired a lot of big names in the crootin industry for evaluation and social media
https://www.on3.com/news/on3-com-well-positioned-to-become-preeminent-so...
Any opinion on recruiting ratings between these 2? I've still been trusting 247's ratings because they've proven to be better than most other services but ON3 seems to be making a big push. Most of the guys we get seem to have an elevated ranking there, so I wanna like it. But for consistency sake I've been defaulting to 247
I like the composite personally, just because it accounts for thoughts from multiple recruiting services. Also, I view recruiting through a 'macro' lens - I don't really follow or evaluate individual players - I'm more interested in each team's trends. And I think the composite is good enough and most accessible.
Def interested in hearing others' opinions thought
I think it's most interesting when you see a big discrepancy between the different services reflected in the composite
So what I do is take 247 and On3 scores and make a composite score out of that. I don't like Rivals or ESPN recruiting services that much😂
I wish I was good enough at something to keep creating the same thing and selling it off to major companies
They're also the most forward thinking option out there for NIL information. They make NIL projections that they break into roster value (eg; payment for being on team X) and marketability (traditional endorsements).
Linky Link
Edit: Here's Ali Jenning's as an example - his 'NIL value' is $171k.
They're slowly (or rapidly, from some people's POV) overtaking 247 as the premier recruiting service. Which isn't surprising considering Shannon "Lucky" Terry was the same guy who did this at Rivals, and now 247. He took some of the best 247 people with him from the outset, and has continued to snipe the top talent from 247 for individual teams. Guys like Rusty Mansell and Tim Watts, widely believed to be among, if not THE best team-based insiders in the industry have recently moved over after contract expirations. However, 247, sold to CBS was left in much better shape than Rivals imo, so they will likely remain a strong presence in the industry.
You don't need that On 3 when you just need to read through the Recruiting Thread on TKP. My crystal ball accuracy on NC recruits is approaching Phil Steele levels.
So you'll say it's the most accurate and cherry pick year to year results? 😃
Pry signal just went up - Was for OT Aidan Lynch
Following Lynch's announcement, Alex Jones posted this:
Gabriel Williams been putting in some work for us and he's kind of entertaining from the stuff that's hitting my feed.
I think he deleted another one that said "Coach Pry put up the signal already, we're tired of waiting" a few minutes before this one
Williams Twitter account starting to border on erotica.
Yall want another 4 star👀😤😎
Mondo
Boner
Pry signal is up again wow
I'm starting to think he can flat out recruit
I haven't been this pumped up about our recruiting in YEARS
Brb gonna forensically look at time stamps on these tweets are we getting a 5th one?
Barnes committed at 7, Belfort Tweeted at 7:02, G Williams at 7:09, Glenwood at like 7:12
Was the last one supposed to be at 8? If so looks like we got another
Yeah, it looks like one more is coming from the Twee leaves
Hey you know what be crazy. If we got another one tonight
It's past 8 now and I've been refreshing Twitter for the last 16 minutes!!!
Serious question. Assuming we can hang on to these guys and pull a few more, is this the recruiting bump that a new staff should be getting? Like I know last year was not necessarily what we wanted overall, but I saw somewhere that Gabriel Williams was our highest recruit since like 2019.
No. This is straight effort from Pry and the coaches. This making a plan, enacting that plan, and having the ability to make the plan work.
I think it's a little bit of Talent wants to play with talent bump too. Getting Gabe in the boat and this early is huge cause other good recruits are gonna be like. Oh they really building something there
No - 'new recruiting bump' is typically in the first season. I'd consider this 'fixing things.' Essentially, we're 'regressing' (or progressing) to the mean (for VT).
I remember looking at coaches a while back and not seeing bumps as much as raises in the 2nd year, I know Mack Brown was one coach like that. In modern recruiting it was hard finding first year bumps but easy to see and year raise the bar which makes sense with how early schools engage with recruits.
So I guess what I'm saying is that i agree and this might be better than a bump it is what the what the staff is capable of now that they've mended some of the relationships with high school coaches and had a couple years of talking with the recruits.
GABE WILLIAMS SIGNAL IS UP
the vibes he's giving off seem to indicate a big fish
this kid ain't even played his senior season yet and is already vying for "face of the program" status
this last weekend may go down as one of the most important moments in the Pry Era
Recruiting like he gets commission. I love it
in NIL age, maybe he kinda does
Wondering if it could be flipping Obinna Onwuka??
he tweeted 12 minutes ago celebrating a new WVU commit and talking about how they werent done... OV scheduled at tech for 6/23 tho
https://247sports.com/player/obinna-onwuka-46138526/
True just saw KJ Flowe's commitment :/
What are the odds that Neal Brown survives the season? The few WVU fans I have talked to have not been happy with him.
while i intuitively know you're using figurative language to describe whether or not he retains his job, those mountaineer fans are ornery enough to kill a man....
I don't see how he does. I thought it was a great hire at the time, but it's failed. Maybe that's more because of WVU's B12 problem, but either way, Neal Brown ain't the answer.
And now there is this:
Big 12 Coach: WVU looks like a MAC team
What did the MAC do to deserve that kind of crap?
We might not want to throw stones if you know what I mean.
Oh I know, reading that comment gave me flashbacks. Just highlighting how hot that seat is.
I think you're right at least about gabe williams trying to get onwuka to flip -- but nothing other than one commit's tweets to go off that i know of
Just when I finally have come to terms with the SUCK they pull me right back in!
I feel like we've all got recruiting PTSD, just hope this sticks and we break the cycle on this class
Three decades of never missing a bowl game...
Ngl, this one has a little Dee Davis vibe to it....
This is definitely super cringy, but in the age of NIL, followers mean opportunity as a promotional outlet that these athletes want to capitalize in the short amount of time they have in college.
If these kids really wanted they could be jerking around multiple schools until signing day to maximize followers. These guys at least got in the boat relatively early.
This is just a function of the process for most high rated recruits these days.
Spot on - because collectives cannot use money as a recruiting endorsement, they have to speak in terms of 'possibilities'. So they probably say something like "If you are a starter at Position A, and you have X social media followers, you can expect to get $Y/year"
True, hadnt considered that angle
I've just come to embrace it and realize the whole "student-athlete" term was a false narrative concocted by the NCAA, conferences, and universities to keep from sharing profits and categorizing players as a class of employees. Maybe it's true at the FCS level and lower, but big DI P5 athletics is and always has been essentially minor league teams owned and operated by universities. I think the next logical steps forward are true revenue sharing, collective bargaining, and contracts for players.
Well, he is now at 6,140 followers, so well done Hokie Nation!
Uh oh! Its been longer than 4 hours....
I think I've got a problem. Going to the Dr.........
He was just featured on the VT4L podcast. Seems like a great Hokie. He's only 16. but already has leadership skills. He wants to get VT 2024 recruiting ranking into top 10, so I guess we'll see what magic he, Davi, and the rest of the crew can make.
So who wants to write the recap for this crazy recruiting day?
So we got another high 3 star or 4 star on the way?
So we had a late Bowen signal last night after the Barnes commit and Gabe Williams has been hinting all day. Wiggins commits on July 6th so that's prob too far away. Think we have another silent between now and then?
Gabe's also alluded to some flips coming. Not sure if he's blowing smoke or if they're foreal, the WVU commit seems to be pretty committed there (but has an OV with us the 23rd)
What about Nichols? He's CB'd to Michigan, from Maryland, similar ranking to Onwuka
I'd bet on a flip!
I can enjoy a good flip.
Would you, could you, bet a blue chip?
Willie
Any new 'cruitin news? I need another 4 star fix today
Composite 4* DE from 757
https://247sports.com/player/gerard-johnson-46132137/
Haven't heard much of his recruitment. Does he have ties to UVA that makes them the frontrunner?
idk man i just saw the tweet. his OV to tech is scheduled for next weekend tho
edit: peep the on3 link -- i really really like these since they show the on3 composite and also the way each individual service has rated the player vs just their own in-house and composite. in this case, on3 has him #130 nationally, #1 in va, and 92-rated.
https://www.on3.com/db/gerard-johnson-152542/
That's some good cruitin news. Pry needs to land him.
Looks like he's been to both schools twice, but has yet to go on his official to Tech. Tech also offered him first.
🤷
I like this...as the great philosopher Ricky Bobby once said: If you ain't first you're last
Related question - what's the deal with UVA recruiting? Is Elliott landing anyone? Feels like this is the first time we've gone head to head with them, and it was much more common in the Beamer/Mike London era.
I read somewhere that UVA has no more OVs this month. I have no idea what Elliot's recruiting looks like, I can barely keep up with ours, but if they really don't have anymore OVs that doesn't sound like it bodes well for their '24 class.
You can click the UVA icon in the above On3 link and it takes you to their class. Seven commits (four this month) with avg rating of 85.
They got that one guy we wanted last year, Kamren Robinson, but other than that they haven't got anyone who we really were going after
#7 player in the state. Was expected to commit to Michigan but maybe that offer became non-committable?
https://247sports.com/player/mekhai-white-46117012/
https://www.on3.com/db/mekhai-white-147072/
looks like he cancelled his upcoming OV to Arkansas after visiting UMD. My guess is probably Terps, but if he still takes na OV with us that could be a good sign.
same high school as chanz wiggins btw
perfect we'll take them both
Feels like King George has never been good to VT. Hope this recruitment turns it around
Anybody have a list of who is visiting this weekend?
247 doesn't have anything listed. The athletics page says we have a 7on7 and big man challenge on Saturday. Idk how involved the staff is with that event.
https://247sports.com/college/virginia-tech/Season/2024-Football/Visits/
If you follow the link in the tweet, it actually has us at 23; also good for #3 in the ACC
On the boundary corner podcast, Gabe Williams said we have one coming that will take us into the top 15.
Unfortunately, a lot of his audio didn't work. So, you miss most of the first part of his segment.
The recruiting staff owes that dude a coke.
Shit, Williams is recruiting like it is his job. He is on a mission.
He can do my job if he wants. Does he know anything about data governance?
That's the area I work in for the mortgage corporation I've been at for 30 years now. Never had any real "training" or classes in it, so I don't know all the "technical terms" but I've done ok-my boss tells me I KNOW the things I need to and that's good enough for me. Having done almost all the various jobs in the company over the years, I have a fairly unique and broad knowledge of the business terms and also know the history of how our company has done things and how that has changed over time. The pure IT folks only know variables as 'widgets" --not how they relate to each other in the real world.
Our "motto" is that we endeavor to ensure that all the required data is present, accurate, and consistent across all our systems.
That's pretty much the mission, for sure. It's easier said than done in many organizations though.
If Pry and Co can get us a top 15 class in his 2nd full recruiting class... give that guy a raise and an extension on the spot. That would be our best class if the modern recruiting era.
That said, I don't think it will happen, and I will be absolutely shocked (and happy) if it does.
I'll edit/clarify: extensions and raises should be driven by both market conditions and performance. If we were to land a top 15 classes, and have good enough on field results to warrant pry getting interest from other schools, we should reward him
But I think my general point stands: top 15 classes are basically unheard of at VT. You don't want to lose a guy who can do that.
No.
Yes.
Am I the only one expressing concern at this? I'm all for being excited about Pry, but a raise an an extension at this point is premature. It just seems like it's too similar to a raise and an extension after taking a team to the ACC Championship after a coach's first year. I'm feeling a little gun shy about raising/extending a coach that early in his career. Let him show some track record in both recruiting AND on the field first, please.
I wouldn't get too worried. On field results are the final measure, regardless. But recruiting is a key part of said result, and its genuinely nice to see some recruiting wins. But we need to keep them in order to translate them into on field W's. (insert 'fingers crossed' emoji)
I'm of the belief that the most important thing a head coach can do is recruit. There's other stuff - shmoozing with donors, managing program image, creating culture, etc, but recruiting/roster management is the #1 most important thing because it has the largest impact on game day results.
If Pry were to sign the best recruiting class in VT history (or at least since we landed Kevin Jones), we should reward him.
I mean recruiting is kind of a prerequisite to compete at the highest levels. Want to win conf titles these days you have to have it. On the flip side it guarantees you nothing if the culture, schemes and in game decision making sucks. If it did Butch Jones would have an SEC title
"a prerequisite but not a guarantee" is the best, most succinct way of describing recruiting's place in cfb
I'm of the belief that very, very few coaches appreciably affect recruiting relative to a program's historic recruiting level. And when they do, it's usually accompanied by some other factor changing like an influx of big money or a unique personality (see Colorado).
Even though it's still very early, if you look at the above list of the current top 25, almost all of the top 18 are entirely predictable. The only outliers are South Carolina and Arkansas - and they are both riding SEC money. Colorado has the Deion factor.
The glass window around number 17/18 is really hard to crack - and the difference between the low-mid 20s and, say, the low-mid 40s is small enough that just one or two extra hits or misses in a class can easily flip those rankings in hindsight. And that comes from good/bad coaching player development. And some plain old good/bad luck.
But lots of coaches appreciably affect a program's performance on the field - positively and negative.
So, IMO, the most important thing a coach can do is establish and maintain a well-run program top to bottom.
You make a very strong argument, especially in a 12 team playoff era
Do you think bar1990 is secretly Whit Babcock? Because if he isn't, then I don't think he can give Pry a raise or extension.
Confirming that I am not Whit Babcock, sorry to disappoint. Nor am I wealthy enough to have any sway whatsoever in the athletic dept
Pry's contract runs through '25. you don't want him being a lame duck going into that year for recruiting purposes. we're hopefully successful enough to extend him by the offseason after '24 season. For him to earn the extension a year early, top-15 class in December has to come with a clear step forward this season for the offense and improved consistency for 4q from the defense
Doesn't Pry have a bonus built into his contract for landing a recruiting class of certain rank?
Yeah, I don't really see top 15 as realistic. I would see being top 25/top 30 for this year's class as a huge success. We have a lot of momentum right now, but there's a long way to go until signing day, and guys we want will inevitably go elsewhere.
I also too really like Pry and love his cultural fit and what he is trying to build. But we need to see some on the field success before anyone talks raise/extension. I know we weren't very talented last year, but the coaching was very rocky at times last year and there were some major adjustments going on IMO. Was by far the worst VT season in over 30 years, and a historically bad offense by any metric.
He's got a great plan, great vision, but we need to see him execute it on the field. A big surprise year this season with a manageable schedule would do wonders in building momentum and perception.
Just for fun I added one of the top 5 players in the nation to our recruiting class in the 24/7 class calculator and we still didn't break the top 15 lol we were just outside of it though.
I was wondering what it would take. Thanks for doing the math.
Just repeating what he said. Could be he's optimistic. Could be it's multiple people. There have been lots of hints at two flips and a potential other recruit.
Edit: I've had a lot of car time today. So, I've been taking in podcasts. Another one mentioned more commits in two days. And that podcast was published in the last day.
Well, that two days thing didn't happen. Thanks podcast... got my hopes up.
He is on the hype train and the hype train does not stop for logic, math, or realism.
If you add Cole, Wiggins, and Obinna, we are solidly in the top.... Just saying....
So... we're getting a few top 5 players?
I think 5 is a good target for # of croots in top 5
That's cool and all, love to hear it. But not gonna lie I'm getting Josh Sweat, Tyleik Williams vibes from the coverage of his recruitment (zero sauces just a feeling). Hopefully some of the other big time recruits in this class can sway him towards the good guys
Just so weird/lazy that they chose a picture of Marve in his old FSU gear
Cut em some slack he's only been in Blacksburg for a year and a half. Probably not many pics in VT gear yet
Ssss/
I go with lazy or poor understanding of the actual players, coaches and schools.
Hear me out. Cole commits to Marve thinking he's committing to FSU, so we get big dogged by ourselves. Cole enrolls to VT and maybe he's slightly colorblind so the uniforms look close enough. He stays, we win a natty
I love sunshine, apple pie, and each and every one of you on here. I do. I love the Hokies and Pry. Cole is not coming here.
The point isn't that we are going to land him; it's that the staff is actually making an all out effort.
You would not believe the amount of money, resources, hours, work we put in for DeShawn Hand and Clellin Ferrell. Unreal amount of work - countless. I see this playing out the same way- Pry and Co. do a tireless, outstanding, and hard fought job, and in the end Cole goes to Georgia or Clemson. They can offer what VT can, PLUS a big time winning program and much more proven recent NFL pipeline.
TL;DR - the excitement is less about landing Cole, and more about seeing evidence of a competent coaching staff.
ftfy - but yeah, you right
Agree with all of this. Let's hope Pry's "closing" process is more effective than the late Beamer years
Yeah, Fu would have never gone after a Devon Hunter or anyone like that. Nice to see we have coaches trying to land the big dogs again.
Wait...
Okay, Devyn Ford and Devon Hunter. So was 2017 the last time we were a finalist for a high-four-star/five-star?
Nester was a .95 in 2019
My point was more to make a joke about the revisionist history going on in this thread. "Fu would have never put this level of work in...", etc. That's just goofy to say.
If Pry landed a consensus top 50 prospect that was being recruited by all the top dogs in the nation, some of y'all would be saying how much things are changing, how Fu could have never pulled that off, etc...
Fu landed 8 four-stars in a single class guys. And now we're acting like Pry has already proven he's a better recruiter because we've got 2 in two years? And that Fu was trash/never put in the work? That's just not true.
Haven't multiple HS coaches across the Commonwealth stated that Tech personnel hadn't stepped foot through their doors in years until Pry took over?
Weren't there rumors that Loren Johnson himself was actively pushing kids to go elsewhere?
Pry may not be a better recruiter, but he's certainly making a concerted effort to improve our standing within the Commonwealth and the greater Mid-Atlantic region. And he's doing it very publicly. The previous regime may have been doing the same but we didn't see it so we have no way of knowing.
Yes - it's been reported ad nauseam
I personally have not heard this one
IMO the undeniable thing is that Pry has a clear recruiting strategy. TBD if it works, but we're seeing consistent incremental improvement each year so far.
I know hindsight is crystal clear, but you would be hard pressed to find a WORSE P5 level recruiter as a head coach than Justin Fuente- given the circumstances. Cutcliffe and Clawson out-recruited him at small basketball schools. He did a terrible job in that area which is why he was fired. I'll venture to say that Pry will be a more effective recruiter than Fuente was simply by being himself. Cant do worse.
Clay Helton at USC and Bryan Harsen at Auburn are absolutely in the conversation.
Fuente would have killed for any of their classes.
Helton's 2020 class was worse than Fuente's lowest ranked class, and USC is a hell of a lot easier to recruit than VA.
Harsin's two recruiting classes were the only Auburn classes outside of the top 15 since the year Tuberville was fired. And remember - Harsin got axed after just 2 seasons. Fuente burned down recruiting over the course of 6 years. If Harsin got 6 years, his classes would be worse (relative to a typical Auburn class) than Fuente's would be relative to VT.
Regardless, all three coaches were incapable of constructing and executing on an actual recruiting strategy.
OK - I put this together a while back, but look at our offensive roster in 2020:
QB: Hooker (no explanation needed, Lions draft pick this yr)
RB: Herbert & Blackshear (Herbert is an elite talent and tearing it up for the Bears; Blackshear also in the NFL).
TE: James Mitchell (great talent, 5th round pick).
WR: Turner & Robinson (both very talented receivers; Robinson having a good year at UK).
OT: Darrisaw (FIRST round pick, quickly becoming one of the best LTs in the NFL) and Tenuta (6th round draft pick) and Nester (tearing it up at WVU right now).
OG: Smith (6th round pick) and Hudson (At louisville now, future NFL draft pick).
C: Hoffman (high-level college player, believe he is on a practice squad somewhere).
You wanna go through all the P5 coaches that couldn't recruit / put that kind of an offensive roster together? Most would kill for that kind of talent. And that's just the team from one season.
I know it's fun to bash Fu and say he just sucked at everything he ever did here, but there's also reality.
How did he do coaching that team? and why did half of them bolt out of here when they had the chance? Also he didn't recruit Hoffman, Herbert or Blackshear out of high school which was the topic at hand.
holy goal post relocation, batman
You said:
So jmgreen4 responded with a list of good recruits that Fuente managed to land, which other coaches with worse recruiting success would have loved to land. That seems like a pretty good example of how there are, actually worse recruiters than Fuente.
A normal response to this would be to maybe say "yes, you are just proving Brian's point about how he managed some top end talent, but did not sufficiently support them, which still shows a lack of recruiting chops." or you could respond with "oh yea, I forgot about them, my bad."
Instead, you decide it's not really about recruiting, it's about how he coaches who he recruits. Every comment above has the caveat "I know Fuente was a shit coach overall..." or some variant of that. It doesn't need to be re-established. If you want to talk recruiting, talk recruiting. Don't change your point just because someone else rebuts it.
This entire thread is missing something. Fuente may or may not have been involved in recruiting, and may or may not have helped to land some decent talent. But CORNELSEN was "coaching" them and that is the real problem. It always was the real problem. I'm fairly certain that if Fuente had fired Cornelsen and replaced him with a competent OC after the 2018 season he would have not only saved his own career, but likely turned around the trajectory of the VT football program as a whole. Fuente wanted to be a CEO type of HC and the one thing you can't fuck up if you want to be a good CEO type HC is the one thing he fucked up. He failed, miserably, to surround himself with coaches who not only knew what they were doing, but did their job really well.
I think Fuente is a good offensive mind. My impression is that he sort of took that for granted and maybe thought that his buddy could learn that from him (through osmosis, or something?) but didn't realize that it takes real talent and skill to be good at what he was good at. Talent and skill that Cornelsen plainly doesn't possess.
Fuente wasn't a bad HC because he couldn't recruit (though, that was part of the problem). Fuente was a bad HC because he decided he wanted to be hands-off and he didn't do enough to put capable people in the hands-on roles.
You didn't read my last sentence on that post
Recruiting is more than just recruiting out of high school - and has been increasingly so for almost 10 years now. More cherry-picking with an "out of high school" caveat doesn't refute Hokie07ME's general point, it accentuates it.
I forgot about the Doug Nester flip from OSU, which was pretty monumental.
I'll admit that I am victim to (a) recency bias and (b) personal perception/bias, but to that end:
I've always maintained that the Devyn Ford miss was the turning point in the Fuente era. It just felt (there I go, using that word again) like we were in the lead and we lost it. And it felt like we never again had recruiting momentum (until recently).
Fu and his staff were absolutely shit talked by UNC, Clemson, Penn State staffs. They were toxic in Virginia, especially. The ODU debacle that should have cost Fu his job did irreparable damage in the 757. Do you think kids want to play for a school that gives up 700 yards in a high school stadium with port-o-johns? in the era where their ego's are such they get pissed when they don't get "likes" on social? sure it was "one" loss. Name me a Dabo Swinney loss like that? Name me a mack brown loss like that? Name me a James Franlkin loss like that? Did franklin travel to Villanova and get his ass kicked in a 20K seat stadium? We were a joke for a period of time, and recruiting reflected that. We are also part of arguably Dukes most impressive ACC win ever. Any they have been in the ACC a long time.
Franklin went to Philly and lost to Temple.
Sure did. Temple beat them- fact. Temple had 317 total yards, were in the AAC at the time and had been in division 1A for 50 years and it was a competitive game in an NFL stadium- full of Penn State fans, btw. Also of note- there were not PSU players fighting on the sidelines, cursing out coaches, and multiple fights in the PSU locker room afterwards. Also of note- Penn State has a sterling reputation in Pennsylvania recruiting circles built over 60 years of unmatched success that withstood a child rape scandal. Franklin losing a competitive game and not being embarrassed by a very good Temple team under Matt Rhule is not the same scenario as Fuente getting his ass whooped at ODU- on any level.
I feel this exact same way...after the whole Devyn Ford thing, it's just all changed around the football program and Fuente. Once that happened we started hearing all these things and additionally the on-field result took a nosedive. I really look at that moment as a turning point, whether we knew it or not at the time.
Mostly WRs and mostly couldn't play dead in a western. Blanket 4 stars without scouting, development or fit for system is how you get fired.
This is what happened in hoops with Tyler Nickel. That strong relationship from HS can really pay off with how the transfer portal is in the current landscape of college sports.
Excellent example.
I think it's understated how important this point can be. With the portal, coming up second or third on a recruiting target can pay off dividends down the road, if they are not happy with their first choice.
Is he were a 5 star I would agree with you, but this staff is showing 4 star ability right now, I am going to hold on to hope
Obligatory hope gif:
Fred johnson to USCe, high 3* lb out of tidewater (maury)
https://247sports.com/player/fred-johnson-46140637/
https://www.on3.com/db/fred-johnson-158195/
I remember seeing this name as a recruit in 2024 of Dynasty mode in NCAA Football 14 and thinking the developers were lazy.
Did this recruit ever take an OV to tech? From 247 it doesn't look like it. Interesting enough, 247 reports he recently received an offer from USCe too
Dont think he took an OV. Got an offer from usce in june, took an OV, and quickly committed. We offered him back in March
Y'all got any more of them 'croots?
Depends on who you ask 😂
Well its another big official visit weekend so maybe
I appreciate you Primus 🤘
We're sitting on as many as 51 silent commits, by my last count 😂
Sounds like we were told some fibs about who's in the boat and who's not already (unless anyone commits between now and this recruiting weekend).
Gotta feel good about Wiggins, but his commitment is still a couple weeks today. I'm interested to see if we get any commits between now and then, if we do it's likely guys taking their OV next weekend
Might not be fibs.
Certainly feel like bad information, intentional or not. But who can truly read the psyches of 16- and 17-year old youths?
Yuts
Based on my fading memories of the teenage mind: "Sex, money, sex, honor, sex, reputation, sex and sex"
Drinking and looking cool is in there for sure, but maybe that falls under reputation. Otherwise pretty spot on
Is that really so different than the post-teenage mind?
teenagers are reportedly having less sex than past generations, so maybe put some minecraft in your list
.
Peter Gonzalez making his decision tomorrow https://247sports.com/Article/Peter-Gonzalez-Virginia-Tech-Penn-State-Ni...
6 CBs to Penn State, plus they had the last OV with him. Would be a great win to beat PSU for him.
I only see 3 of them, but most importantly Evan W cb'd him to PSU earlier today. Probably not our guy.
There's better receivers left on the board
True but Taylor's probably staying in state. You think we have a shot at Adams?
If we can get momentum during this weekend visit then we'll have a hell of a chance
Chanz has a visit to Maryland this weekend. Just hoping they don't change his mind based of previous CB predictions.
Too many subthreads and replies up above to know which one to actually reply to. You're all missing something really important imo. It got danced around with recruiting strategy and cornelsen etc etc
Fuente - not inherently bad at recruiting (though the French/Devyn Ford/Kabuki story is damning). Put together some good classes on paper.
Fuente - did not know how to run a modern P5 recruiting operation. And fwiw, neither did Frank. Things did not modernize. Chuck Cantor leaving for a big raise at UF absolutely tanked an entire recruiting class, and they panicked by putting all eggs in tx2vt basket for 2021. One person leaving should not mean your remaining staff has no idea of the big board or who else to maybe go after.
There's very clearly a Cantor Era and a Post-Cantor era of recruiting under Fuente. The "recency bias" was the post-Cantor era which saw a commitment from exactly ONE high 4*, and unfortunately Covid killed his Spring Game OV and he subsequently Dee-committed
Fuente recruited numbers, but didn't recruit to build a roster. Even his successes didn't build a team.
I don't inherently disagree but "recruiting to build a roster" is really just one pillar of many that support the entirety of the concept of "roster management", which Fuente was poor at. I dont think the good recruiting classes under Fuente were indicative of not being able to recruit to build a roster -- but he had trouble developing and retaining 4* talent, so a lot of the 4*s he brought in never had a chance to be a cohesive roster... and then by the time he pivoted to "we're gonna be the best developmental program in america", it was too late.
What? So you're saying that recruiting 10 running backs a year isn't a good strategy? I mean you can never have too many, right?
We had too many RBs on the roster and still didnt find an NFL talent until Herbert came in from the portal lol
From freaking Kansas when they were still trash
A lot of that developmental language was bizarre. Like, yes that is certainly the program that we have to be as even in our prime we weren't landing too many top 50 prospects but we barely developed anyone. Players kept getting past on the depth chart and we somehow kept getting worse.
I know Devyns dad but never heard the Kabuki story: what was that?
tldr is that French saw Devyn Ford on a visit with Tech staff at Kabuki (or sakura???) and Fuente appeared totally detached and disengaged while Bud was doing all of the heavy lifting personality and interaction wise
edit: omg i found French's original comments about it years ago and quinn carroll was there too..... (it was kabuki)
https://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/948043#comment-948043 (#ad, join TKPC for fun tidbits like this)
I like this take and think it's a reasonable way of thinking. However, I think Fuente's biggest issue, one related directly to recruiting, was that he had no idea how to manage a roster. That may have been his biggest weakness.
This is interesting to me because he's the QB (2025 QB Cutter Woods) at the cross town rival of my HS. His school, Westside High School, also won the big 7 on 7 tournament VT hosted last weekend.
Link to Article
Also offered WR teammate 2024 Jimmar Boston.
And we continue to find recruits with the sickest names.
Edit: Hopefully he's Cuttin Woods by the jug.
Superb young man and family.
Legit 6'3" with more potential growth.
Lives about 30 minutes from Clemson...
Willie Rodriguez to Kentucky. Peter Gonzalez commits tonight, most likely Penn State. Where are our commits??
Weekend hasn't even started yet. Patience young grasshopper.
Zahir Rainer (Minnesota commit) just showed up for an OV this weekend.
*eyes emoji*
Between the language in some of his tweets and the fact he's visiting VT this weekend, the Minn board thinks he's gone. Hopefully the good guys get a commit from him this weekend.
What tweets? I'm only seeing pro Minn tweets? Not denying the fact we could flip him just don't see the tweets you're referencing!
I'm paraphrasing but there were rumors that he wasn't 100% or going to visit somewhere else so he said something to the effect of "Minnesota is my top school right now and i don't have any visits that I know of." It was pro Minnesota but you can read between the lines alittle. Plus, it's deleted now so that's a big red flag for them too. Probably why you didn't see it lol
Definitely not all the way "in the boat"
So he's 800% committed
The numbers check out.
Looks like he might be a Hokie 😉
The signals were out last night. Haven't dug enough to see who it is. But, seems like the big weekend is off to a good start.
It continues a pipeline we have with the high school
You oughta Noah we're gonna be springing for joy soon
Am I right in thinking he'll likely be playing linebacker?
https://247sports.com/college/virginia-tech/article/virginia-tech-footba...
Yeah. I'm figuring it's Jenkins, Rainer, and a 25 lineman, if I'm reading tea leaves correctly. That last one might be iffy, and I might be sleep deprived.
Im thinking a defensive end
Would they fit it with the population of Rock Ridge?
I'd take Byerson or Johnson. Both have to add weight before contributing but they are explosive, long and play for VA schools that regularly produce power-5 prospects. Bring 'em in Pry!
Watkins put a crystal ball flip on Rainer at 10 am (I'm guessing EST. Some sites will show me central, others don't)
https://twitter.com/SonsofSatVT/status/1672686527481286657?t=GIjZmjT-oKW...
I'd let Pry take over grill duties at my own cookout with full confidence.
That's the highest praise known to mankind.
Maybe take it down a step and just trust him to pack your cooler for the fishing trip?
I mean look at the guy he looks like he can grill the perfect burger
The polar opposite of Lincoln Riley's dry ass brisket
Fantastic responses to the OT (original tweet):
Anybody know or can sus what kind of bike is in the OT?
The New Balance comment also me
Whole lot of tweeting going on today, not a whole lot of actual news. Surely I'm missing something?
The suspense is brutal
This is where I'm at too. The tweet storms are phenomenal when there seems to be actual traction being publicized (commits, flips/decommits from other places, getting a highly rated player in on an important OV weekend etc) -- but so far it's just tweets
Will Wilson, 2025 QB out of SC committed to NC State over VT, SC and a whole bunch of other P5 offers.
The PP signal is up
Also
Think I just found my new code phrase for "let's have a date night"
I dunno, "business is business" seems a little drab for such uses.
👀👀
That Jones tweet is totally a FLIP signal!
Just happened to tag four recruits that were there this weekend, along with the committed recruits. Evan said we are getting four. Did he give it away?
I'll allow it
Edit - meant to be responding to USAF
Would love the Rainer flip. Son of a former UVA draftee, Wali Rainer.
Guys. found something that is interesting. So on rivals for Keylen Adams. Adam Friedman one of the main Analysts over there put in a CB for Adams to tech at 9 am this morning 👀
That kind of commitment would match the hype level coming out of Gabe William's twitter right now.
Virtually identical ranking, but Adams is from Va and he plays a position where it is easier to contribute early.
Commitment Set of July 13 (at least that's the consensus takeaway):
The convos going on between recruits on Twitter look promising, including a few responses to this tweet.
Yeah I don't expect that to change but makes me think the Analyst heard something good about the visit and that's why he put in a prediction for Tech. Tomorrow starts the dead period but USCJr still gonna push so we gotta defend for 17 days
"You can't evaluate this class without including the 10-15 silent commits Pry has in his back pocket."- Recruiting commentators
Patience. This next couple of weeks could be some of the best recruiting wise in a long time
"This next couple of weeks could be some of the best recruiting wise in a long time"
Please tell me you have some inside information on this.
Hope you're right. Very quiet compared to 2 weekends ago
Cant evaluate this class until signing day, and even then we probably cant evaluate it at least until spring 2026 and theyve had two years in the program
We can evaluate this class without it being done and never seeing the field because we are in the doldrums of the offseason.
yes we can but also we shouldn't because it's pointless ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Well that just described a vast majority of message board content
Never change
i don't really plan to fwiw. My default stance
tamperstempers runaway hype train mania and unruly mob anger alike. i much prefer taking a cautiously optimistic long view as the default stance (too soon to tell, but i hope it works out) rather than always be primed to react negatively and immediately (this isn't good enough!!!!).i've been on record as saying "early returns" on Pry are after the '24 class signs. In many ways the '24 class is make or break for Pry -- these are the proof of concept for recruiting players. whiff after whiff on high priority targets, a wave of late flips away from the hokies, etc would be pretty damning. Landing a top-20ish class off the field with clear improvements on the field would be a great step in the right direction.
But the '24 class in a vacuum can't be judged in vacuum just like the '19 class couldn't be. We were all excited for the '19 class, and by Spring 2021 a lot of those players had transferred or proven ineffective.
A chump after my own heart
Since early signing day is in December, wouldn't those signing on ESD be part of the '23 class?
no
Really cool to see the program with some momentum on the recruiting front. Between the hype surrounding this past weekend and a few weeks back with the 4 commits in a short time period, it feels like we are fighting hard to build this program back.
Honestly, we really shouldn't be too surprised that Pry is starting to get the recruiting wheels moving here. This is the same guy that dunked our head in the toilet and took our lunch money while he was at Penn St, so what we are seeing now really should have been the expectation.
They put this together again and we can burn everything that happened from the moment Fuente was fired to now.
FTFY.
Meh, depending on how things go from here, it is beginning to look like there was a lot of internal bullshit that Pry had to deal with last year that put a delay on how long the actual rebuild could get underway, so we might need to burn last season as well
Well, if we get back on track and winning games, no one's really going to care what happened under Pry before that. Do that well enough and no one will care about what Fuente did, either.
Do it all really, really well and it'll be "Frank who?"
*puts pitchfork away*
Agreed. I've been pretty confident that Pry would elevate recruiting here from the start, but it's particularly cool to see the momentum building and some results to boot.
imo still a long long way to go to say that recruiting is "elevated" -- even getting a single class back into the mid-20s for an overall rank is going to feel like a major elevation, but it's just a course correction from the tail end of Fuente's nosedive back to where we were recruiting historically. If we somehow crack into the high teens/low-20s rankings-wise and stay there, that is major progress.
Honestly, if we can routinely build out classes in the 20s but that includes routinely bolstering up the OL and DL, that alone will put us in a better spot than we've been since the mid 2000s. Right now we look to be heavily emphasizing on winning in the trenches, which is absolutely a winning strategy.
yeah absolutely -- classes in the mid 20s will be huge relative to the last 4 classes, especially given a) transfer portal can help to add talent at the top to supplement a roster and b) the classes under pry have raised the talent floor. building from the trenches with functional depth throughout the roster is a big change over what we've seen, especially on the 2022 roster.
Yeah I'm fully bought into the recruiting strategy and blueprint Pry and Co. have laid out. Love seeing such a targeted emphasis on VA/DMV and our six-hour radius footprint. Seeing a ton of guys from VA, MD, PA, TN, NC, SC etc. is great with obviously dipping into GA/FL some as well as spot recruiting elsewhere as needed. But that has to be the focal point and I think we've done a great job rebuilding relationships there. If momentum keeps going our way, this 2024 class could be a very special class. Just need to follow that up with progress on the field and keep the snowball rolling.
Agreed. Even if we just hang around in the high 20s we'll be better off than we have been in years. I was really surprised when I checked old VT classes on 247 and Frank had managed to pull in top-30 classes each of his last 4 years he coached. Pretty crazy because those classes are ranked higher than our '24 class currently stands (#34) and '24 seems like a huge jump from recent classes!
CB for 4* Gerard Johnson in from Brian Dohn after his OV this weekend
2024 might end up with a respectable blue-chip ratio. Still a long ways away, but encouraging.
Really hope we land this kid.
it's down to us and UVA, he took is OV there at the beginning of june and his OV to us this past weekend. to get a CB after our visit is encouraging to me. plus idk why anyone would go to uva over us but there is a chance i am a little biased.
Hydrate or hangover >>> ⚡ hydrate 💦💦💦
By my count if we get all of the recruits we have a good shot with we're sitting at 18 commits in mid July with a ton more on the board. No #sauces but gotta think Pry will continue to load up on good high school talent within the radius to establish those pipelines/recruiting reputation and further flip the roster. I definitely see a path to a 30 man class of extremely solid talent almost all from inside the footprint, and a heavy emphasis on VA NC and MD. (Unless someone with sources would say differently).
I know they changed the rules during/after covid, but I don't think we can sign 30 HS kids in one class.
Would prob mean some lower ones get processed out if the case or PWO offer instead, no?
I wouldn't say 30. I say around 23
Got another rivals prediction for Adams on Rivals 👀
Not only that it was a flip from baby Beamer to the good guys
Tim Sullivan put in 3 predictions in for Rivals today. One for Wiggins one for White and one for Adams 👀🔥
White and Adams offer list is outstanding. That would be a huge win.
I know Wiggins list might not be the best but from what I seen of him he's pretty damn good as well
Just snatching one from UVA would be great.
Wiggins has seemed like one of the main VA recruits the coaching staff identified early as a priority recruit. Of course there are others like Adams and Cole but Wiggins felt like the one where the effort and his ranking meant he was a must get.
Arch Manning is transferring to Blacksburg!?!?!?
Fleetwood Mac getting back together again?
I should delete mine, this is better
I was looking for just a FM gif initially, lol
Just watched Lindsay Buckingham play "Never Going Back Again" dude can flat play a guitar.
Had tickets to see him in Roanoke back in October last year but he got sick and cancelled. :(
Very underrated guitar player and all-around musician.
Solid player, but has a trash tone stemming from his obsession with a novelty guitar. Sort of like Johnny Winter. His tone with the firebird was much better than the later stuff.
Never Going Back Again is ridiculously hard to play. Travis picking on steroids x 10.
And he sings while playing it.
They are true! I am going to pound bourbon tonight.
In celebration?
No, the rumor is that I am going to be drinking heavily and it is true. Toddlers...
This is just more internet speculation on Pry's
hogJohnson, isn't it?Davi Belfort ranking dropped again. Love the recruiting services updating ratings off season and I can't imagine he's going to many eval camps right now.
Odd with his offer list too. Bama, UGA, UF, FSU, Miami, TAMU, Michigan, MSU, PSU. Tenn, Oregon. Those are the highlights but odd to see him an .85 on 247 with that list.
Eh... Not sure many of those are committable, and he's short. The good part is that the staff believes in him (and prioritized him), which is enough for me.
I certainly wasn't expecting him to drop, but barring and insane senior year + probably a very notable camp performance I didn't have much belief that his rating would go up.
My thought as well. I know Saban has minimum heights/weights for recruits at every position. Don't see him or kirby offering him for this reason.
Another thought is he's technically only a junior; he reclassified iirc so maybe he'll grow more by the time he's ready to contribute
And also maybe the fact that he hasnt grown (yet?) means the potential is a little lower. Ratings for 15-16 year olds are wild and based a lotttt on projection
Bryce Young would like a word
Bryce young had an inch and 10 lbs on Davi (per their 247 Recruiting profiles). I don't know exactly what Saban's recruiting minimums are for QB, but I've read about it, and he draws a hard line in the sand for minimum heights/weights at every position.
So, as suggested above, it's very possible that Saban said 'you have an offer conditional on growing an inch and adding 10lb s'
Bryce Young is 5'10 NOW, I don't care what his Rivals profile said when he came out of high school, and anyone in the business of scouting/recruiting would've known meeting in person that he was nowhere near 6 feet. I don't know Belforts exact size and whether it has been similarly exaggerated but the idea of a minimum height/weight for position is ludicrous unless Young is just the lone exception.
Exceptions could be made for certain positions like WR or QB but I have hard time believing Saban wouldn't stick to size minimums for a position like DT or DE, maybe even LB, based on the defense they run and the size of the players they would eventually play and practice against.
You can call it ludicrous, but there's a whole chapter on it here (good read btw), and it's been documented online too (here, here, just google 'Saban Critical Factors')
I'm sure there are general guidelines. But not hard and fast rules. Sorry Mike Vick you aren't tall enough. And as has been mentioned projecting the final height/weight of a 13-15 year old kid(many of these kids start getting recruited very early) by the time he's 18-19 can be a difficult guessing game.
I mean Saban can be critical because he is choosing between a top 5 player at each position in every class. Could Saban have won with Doug Flutie, sure but Bernie Kosar would have been just as good for a team I the title hunt.
The fact that Belfort was on Saban's list means 1 thing, he showed something on tape that made some one from Bama say were should get in touch with him cause he's pretty good.
Here's a screenshot from the book I mentioned above. The critical factors are non-negotiable.
Exactly - this is when the non-committable offer comes into play. Someone undersized (like Davi) will get offer IF he grows.
True. My youngest son went from 5-11", 240 to 6-4", 220 from fall of his junior year to fall of his senior year in high school. And, I topped out at 6', so I can see where projecting how he's look by the time he got to college would be difficult.
I know some services in the past liked to drop committed recruits so that they can keep the uncommitted recruits higher for more drama and viewership. The idea is fewer people care about a high 3* than a 4* so you witch the two and now you have a 4* recruits thay people are tracking more, which means more views of the site.
Exactly
Summer is eval season. Everybody is at camps nearly every weekend since fall camp hasnt started yet. This is the time when scouts can actually see a lot of recruits in person. This is the time for rankings to really start moving before solidifying late in the fall.
The rumor that I had heard for this afternoon seems to have been pushed back until Saturday
Evan Watkins agrees. CB for Johnson.
Still good vibes on this one right?
Yup!
If On3 ratings and predictions hold, our 4*s would look something like:
DE: Gerard Johnson
LB: Chris Cole
LB Gabriel Williams
CB Marcellus Barnes
That would go a long way in revamping the defense.
My crude projections of possible commits the next 2/3 weeks (doesn't include Cole) would land us at 17th on 247 based on where everyone is ranked as of today....
Bring it!
Bud would be loving it if we could follow that 2024 defensive haul with a 2025 4* haul of:
DE Ari Watford
DE Cortez Harris
DT Caleb Williams
LB Brett Clatterbaugh
CB Terrance Edwards
That would be 3 of 4 DL positions, 3 LB positions, and both corners being 4* recruits
And Faheem Delane
On3 has us in 3rd place
I thought Cole was leaning to staying in Florida? He would be a big get
Cole's from Salem?
My bad, newborn in the house brain is mush. I meant I thought he was leaning towards going out of state?
More importantly than recruiting - congrats on the young one.
Appreciate it one day I will rediscover a full night's sleep, one day
In about 18 years when your kids start attending VT
Just keep telling yourself that.
I think Tech has really got in a good spot for his recruitment. Still gonna be tough but a couple months ago we weren't anywhere close to being in it
Noah Jenkins announcing his commitment at 4pm today
edit: just realized this tweet includes reference to Brent Pry's hog
Would be a nice proof of concept for message resonating on kids staying in VA -- PSU been feasting here for a while and USCe is on the rise. really good recruiters at both those schools
Maybe a wave of Hokies tomorrow? Noah and Gerad Johnson. Anyone else??
Noah is committing this afternoon (the tweet says tomorrow, but it was sent out yesterday)...but maybe a weekend long wave
On Noah's twitter feed like
I'm waiting on a flood of news on his commitment...
Unfortunately looks like Makai Byerson is trending to WVU per On3 predictions
FWIW, this is the type of kid I imagine we could keep pushing through signing day - the odds Neal Brown is out after this year are probably 50/50
I think Brown is going to be the odds on favorite on the first to be fired this season. I don't see 4 wins on WVU's schedule and they could be 1-5 in their 1st 6 games. Most have WVU's schedule as hardest in the Big 12. No way is Brown making it out of October still employed.
Agreed. He was a meh hire to begin with, and hasn't done anything - except beat VT twice, of course. A regular Brad Brownell.
The money is there when the AD is ready so I agree they'll pull the trigger as soon as some one thinks they should.
There are some great quarterback whisperers, people used to recruiting in the Appalachian region and that are experts at fine-tuning and getting the minutiae right. Hopefully WVa can pick some of them up.
WV coaching has had a lot of big names attached to it. It will be interesting to see who they get but if they start paying money for larger staffs and get some of those good high school coaches as analysts they have a chance to bounce back.
* >90%
If we get Johnson, we've probably only got one more spot for an end (already got Dandy as well). Already got a couple more we're looking at I believe. And can put the full court press on Byerson or Obinna after Brown
The Pry signal is up!
Makai Byerson to WVU confirmed
https://247sports.com/college/west-virginia/article/makai-byerson-commit...
Stinks, could be a difference maker on the DL. Hope we stay on him through signing day
Hopefully our staff does because the chance of a coaching at WVU this fall is extremely high. If I was a WVU fan (puke...) I would write down all "commits" in pencil this year.
So....800% committed, then
Schmo to Pitt, think he was pretty low on our list. Really hope we can get Toliver and Howerton now
And what happened to Wake? Thought that was a done deal at one time? Weird deal but whats not these days. Best to him
Yeah, several months ago, he was down to VT vs. WF and was supposedly on the verge of a decision.
From a VT perspective, the change in OL Coach seems to have had an effect on his priority as a prospect.
What happened to WF and how Pitt and Miami entered the picture is unclear. Weird is definitely an apt term.
OL rise quickly on teams' boards when they miss on their first several targets. I remember hearing we backed off after he was interested initially. I think he would've been a solid take as the 5th OL in our class, but if the staff has two or more solid guys they think they can get I'm 100% cool with it
Web Davidson is another Olineman on the board
This thread is taking forever to load. Any chance we could get a new one soon?
Tomorrow is a new month :)