Countdown: 61

I want to play football— Luther Maddy (@BigLu_561) June 29, 2014

And I want to watch you play football, Luther. I want to discuss and write about on-the-field things, not recruiting. However, as college football has grown to be a year-round sport, at least as far as the news cycle is concerned, recruiting news is what supplements the months when pads aren't cracking. That's not to say it is filler. Recruiting is the lifeblood of every program, it can't be ignored when trying to provide complete coverage of a team. Although, the details and minutia that go under the microscope relevant to the process seem to be shrinking.

Covering recruiting is both rewarding and tasking. I get inspired when I interview prospects. It's absurd that these, 15, 16, and 17 year olds balance some combination of a high school workload, football, personal training, 7-on-7 team, camp circuit, clinics, college visits, offseason sports, family, and personal life. That's a full plate. On the other hand, it's draining to read the negative reactions from fans when a kid makes his decision. Prospects and families aren't choosing to make one fan base happy and disappoint the rest. They are making a decision that they believe is in their best interest, for a variety of reasons. Regardless of the logic, it's their choice. I think folks lose site of that far too often.

For a site dedicated to coverage of a specific team, like this one, it's a boom-bust proposition. When things are going well on the recruiting trail, there's a happy, positive feel. To the contrary, tough sledding can make cynics of the best of us. Either way, the vibe is infectious.

Tech whiffing on Clelin Ferrell, Austin Clark, and Dee Fullwood has put Hokie Nation in a pessimistic state of mind. It's the end of June, it's not time to panic, but good news is overdue.

Luther Maddy was a 2-star prospect, late in the process offer, that wound up starting half of his freshman season (2011), then honed his skills as a disruptive three-technique tackle in 2012, was Tech's top d-lineman in tackles (55), tackles for loss (13.5), and sacks (6.5) in 2013, and is considered by pundits to be among the best, if not the best, defensive lineman in the ACC for 2014. Tech is notorious for finding diamonds in the rough and developing its talent. However, a fair follow-up is to conclude that more raw talent, plus Tech's outstanding player development, would yield better results on the field.

Tech's success transforming walk-ons and afterthoughts into studs seems to be an exception to the rule. Additionally, an analysis shows every national champion since 2005 has recruited more four- and five-star players (blue chips) than lesser-rated players over its four previous signing classes. Virginia Tech ranks 4th in the ACC from 2011-14 signing 19% blue chips, compared to FSU at 56%, Clemson at 43%, and Miami at 30%. Tech jumped 2% from 2011-12 to 2013-14.

Tech's ratio would be better if the program reached its goal to own the Commonwealth of Virginia in recruiting. According to the 247Sports Composite, Beamer Co. signed 1 (Corey Marshall) of a possible 8 blue chip Virginia prospects in 2011, 3 (Joel Caleb, Ken Ekanem, J.C. Coleman) of 7 in 2012, 3 (Holland Fisher, Wyatt Teller, Bucky Hodges) of 13 in 2013, and 2 of 10 (Raymon Minor, Travon McMillian) in 2014. The Hokies signed 23.7% of Virginia's blue chip prospects over the last four cycles. By comparison, Virginia signed 11 of 38 (28.9%).

Tech can clearly do better, but it's easy to overlook that the last two classes rank among the program's best even though they were inked during a staff overhaul.

Some have thrown in the towel on this class, but we're standing on the doorstep of July, and national signing day is in February. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm looking forward to forgetting about recruiting for a while and focussing on football.