In a ceremony in front of family, friends and coaches at Oscar Smith High, blue-chip defensive end Josh Sweat verbally committed to the Florida State Seminoles over the Hokies.
Fans (or maybe just the zealots) and especially coaches knew the importance of landing Virginia's, and according to 247Sports, the nation's top prospect.
How important is Josh Sweat to #Hokies? Rumor has it all 9 VT assistants & Frank Beamer made an in home visit to Virginia Beach last week.— Hokies Journal (@HokiesJournal) December 10, 2014
Sweat to Florida State continues a negative trend of Beamer Co. being unable to close on its home state's elite talent and defensive linemen. Aside from Trevon Hill, Tech's missed on all of its top defensive end targets for the 2015 cycle; a position of great need for the Hokies this class. Last cycle Tech missed on Da'Shawn Hand (Alabama), another in-state defensive end and national No. 1 prospect.
Comments
Is it too late to have Stacy Searels recruiting Sweat. Stacy knows a thing or two about flipping committed recruits.
Actually, the insiders at 247sports credits Stinespring for that flip. Stinespring is supposedly very close to Clark's family. Stinespring was also heavily involved on Sweat's recruitment as well, so it's not like we were using the wrong people..
Hope this was from someone else and just a reaction .gif
Just your average Cowboy fan after losing to a shitty Redskins team.
Yep, reaction gif after the Cowboys lost to the Redskins this year. Full vid here.
Actual gifs of me in the office today:
I'm laughing and crying at the same time :) :(
another blow...hopefully there are still a few out there. I know a lot of these sites have us "warm" on some of the D-linemen but so far we don't have a good showing. We might need to get back to recruiting the best available and turning them into 4-5 stars
Lost Another potentally great player . Damn , NIGHTMARE . Will this S**t ever end.
It will end when we have a new coaching staff that can recruit playing the same game as everyone else
Don't know why you were downvoted just because people disagree with you and are living in wonderland, gave you an upvote to help you out even though you don't need them. I really believe we lost Sweat when we lost Dalton. You know the night when Beamer and Bud refused to do an in home visit and Fedora did one instead. We just do not recruit well and will have to live with the current state of recruiting until we at least get a new head coach that puts an emphasis on it.
Frank still thinks he can get away with only pulling 2 and 3 star kids. You could do that when there was no twitter/youtube/hudl to find under the radar kids (Engleberger & C. Moore)
We have to get a coach that wants to play the recruiting game. If not we are stuck in status quo.
I
There might actually be something to this. At VT, without Dalton, Sweat was going to be double teamed on nearly every play, and teams would go out of their way to take him out of the game. He wouldn't have been able to showcase his talents nearly as well here as he would have been able to do somewhere where teams have to respect everyone on the DL. Had we landed Dalton, Sweat would have had a guy to take some pressure off, but without him, he would have been on an island all game every game.
By his post history, I don't think Alum07 is advocating more in home visits. Rather, he's advocating toeing the line of the NCAA's recruiting rules. Take from that what you will.
I think it's because his implication is that we need a bigger pocketed bagman.
This is what you get when your bagman isn't Uncle Luke
I'l contribute 14 dollars. Will that help?
I did not down vote you, but to say that we land these guys with a different staff is quite the leap. We are still selling the recruit on the same facilities and the same history. The next coach does not magically give us the resume or resources of FSU or Alabama. I do agree that there is some disadvantage in having a coach who will retire in the next few years but a future where we land THOSE kinds of guys is far from certain.
We don't know if we land them with a new coach, but we sure as hell know we don't land them with the current ones.
I think in addition to the history, the brand presence of FSU or Alabama is just simply on another level than ours. Hopefully Whit can help make up some lost ground there. I'm not entirely sure Weaver appreciated the impact that marketing can have.
And by lost ground, you mean a decades old tradition of playing for and winning national titles?
I don't think we can compete with that until we do it, which helps us compete by landing recruits, which helps get more recruits....I'm just deprssed thinking about it
I was referring more to the marketing that is not directly related to the on-the-field product. We are definitely more limited by our historical bragging points. But what about everything else? If we can gain points there with minimal effort, why wouldn't we pursue it?
For example, have you seen the commercials for FSU during their games? The production quality is ridiculous. Yeah we have a horse on a treadmill, but it's hard to compete with Renegade.
Our production quality has improved a lot over the past 5 years or so and I understand that commercials like these are the university's general marketing, but the point is that we have to fight to keep Virginia Tech Football(tm) in the minds of Virginia's players.
And before somebody says "anyone who goes to a university because of a commercial is making a bad choice," I'm just using it as an example. Everything with a VT logo on it affects the general perception of the university (it's why IMO the Hokie track helmets should be banned forever).
EDIT: I just saw that VT is hiring a new Graduate Assistant for recruiting marketing.
Agreed , Hopefully that is sooner than later.
DLine recruiting is like living out the Sugar Bowl game to Michigan around half time. Interceptions and penalties and your thinking "This can't possibly go on any longer."
Honestly, I think the staff did everything they could... "Rumor has it all 9 VT assistants & Frank Beamer made an in home visit to Virginia Beach last week." What more can they do? We don't have the team FSU has right now so at least we were in the running...
Stop being logical. There is no place for reason and critical thinking here.... Knee jerk, chicken little reactions only.
Thanks! *sarcastica*
I like the effort, but I just feel like that seems a little desperate. I get that we probably were trying to play the "we're family" card, but a one on one "heart to heart" (If Jimbo has a heart) seems like a better way to wind down the recruiting process and make a High School kid feel comfortable rather than overwhelmed.
Stinespring and the Defensive staff visited Sweat last week. Beamer never had an in home with Sweat. Info per TSL and 247 mods.
i think the timing on frank's medical procedure was unfortunate here. i have to think frank + 9 assistants showing up last night instead of last week would have had a greater effect. big props to them for doing that though.
that says it all. our current staff/program can't even capitalize on an in state 5 * recruit..... so why not think about a change. Doesn't mean it has to happen tomorrow but another 2 years of this and we could be in bing trouble.
What we're doing now isn't working and it seems like it won't work because time and time we seem to get right there then they go the other way. As sad as it is but look at Joel Caleb a 4* recruit and he can't even break our 2 deep. why is that I have no idea but that doesn't look so good for the player/coaching staff.
what we are doing now isnt working.....
maybe not on offense... but how is it not working on defense? im as upset as the next guy about not getting sweat. it sucks. im tired of losing guys as well. but every year (and not just at VT) guys jump ship to join the NationalChamps (not just FSU the same happened when Bama won it) i dont think there is anything we could have done more to try and get him. i believe that what we have done recruiting wise on defense has been just fine and i also believe if we dont NOT recruit any Oline men at all for 3 years that with our 3 star offense and 3 star defense we would have been playing FSU in the ACC championship last week and beating them too. just my ipinion but this getting all bent out of shape stuff over recruits is for the birds. unless we are going to have ALL 5stars i dont think 1 is going to change everything on defense, offense is a different story.
great post! I agree defense is going ok but Bud's not going to be here forever. Also have to account for injuries, our DL depth this year was awful. Yeah one 5* player wouldn't have helped much but its definitely concerning that we can no longer close on top in state defensive players when we have a top 5 defense.
I am seeing a lot of improvement on the offensive side but we got that way because we didn't land good talent 3 years ago.. is the defense a couple years away from this same downfall? I hope not.
We have a sum total of four DEs in the program. That is, at best, unbelievably shameful and a great reflection of failure. If either Dadi or Ek goes down, our DL goes with them.
so who did we miss on? (not counting 5 stars) your telling me we couldnt get any 3 stars either to come play DE here? or basically any at all? missing on sweat wouldnt have magically solved our DE depth issues by adding one person. obviously those misses would be from 2 or 3 years ago not this class because we didnt have the desired depth this year.
Melvin Kiehn is a DE and Cory Marshall could always move back to DE if needed. Now that we have Maddy, Baron, Williams, Walker, Sobczak, Mihota and then Settle and Whitehead coming in...we are deep at DT.
Or we could just move Sam Rogers to DE. He can do anything...
Defensively, we're looking at a much, much different result this year if we had sustained any significant injuries to our DL. We are paper thin at those positions, and the incoming class isn't really going to help with that. Any injury and we're not in a good spot at all with a major glaring weakness to our defensive front.
Maddy
Have you seen Caleb try and pass block?!?!
yeah i have its a train wreck. just find it sad that we couldn't find a position for him and stick to it until its too late. Started at WR then RB then back to WR then to RB and now he's not even on special teams.
Not saying he would be a HOF wr at VT but just suck that we actually got a 4* player and he is basically a water boy/practice champion.
Depending on the recruiting service there are approximately 25 five star players per year. These recruits will be courted by the best teams across the nation, regardless of distance. The insistence that we must keep these recruits in state is ludicrous. When the defending champions come calling along with other teams with that pedigree where would you want to go? We are not one of the most prestigious teams in the country so we must rely on building teams with under the radar recruits that fit our system and the occasional five star that has dreamed of coming to tech.
Of the 32 5-star players according to 247 last year 15 stayed in-state to a team with a national pedigree, 14 went out of state to a team with national pedigree, and 3 stayed in state to a team without strong pedigree. Of those three one went to up-and-coming Kentucky and we know about the shady dealings that brought two to UVA. Of the 13 that went out of state 8 had a national power in state. If USC, Texas, LSU and others can't keep five star talent in state why should we?
because those schools you named can go to other states and pick 5* players.
LSU, USC and Texas had some nice in state pulls last year..
LSU- 5* RB and 5* WR
USC- 5*DB and 5* WR 4* WR
Texas- two 4* WR 4* RB and 4* QB
we signed 8 4* kids last year and a bunch from OOS...
the topic was 5* players and VT just isn't getting any of them.. Fuller was as close to a gimme as possible.
I have no idea why people have that mentality around here. I mean kids stayed "local" to be around family. Nowadays you don't need to be within a few hours of them to stay really well in touch. You have Facebook, Skype, cell phones, etc. Plus with how popular CFB has become you can watch literally any game in the country anywhere so your family can watch you play in VA if you go to USC.
That was the major draw we used to keep kids in state, now that's largely irrelevant.
I completely, 100% disagree with you. That post doesn't explain how UVa picks up 5*s each year. That doesn't explain how Duke got some of the best players from Virginia to play with them. That doesn't explain how UNC consistently gets a better class than us when they're a basketball school.
We have been a regular Top 20 team from 1999 to 2011. There aren't many schools who can say the same thing. We have the pedigree. Sure, we're not Texas or LSU calibre, but we sure as hell are better than UVA and Duke however they're still overshadowing us with instate recruiting.
The thinking that you have to be a national power to get good recruits is a flawed one. It's not true at all. What is true is that the VT staff is complete crap at recruiting and has been for a while. It's a hard pill to swallow, but Sweat is just another data point in a long list of lost recruits which we theoretically should have got.
I think there are a few other factors here.
One might be able to suggest something in the case of both UVA and Duke: Parents may be totally enthralled with the idea that their sons could get a higher level of education than the parents ever dreamed they could, and that could go a long way to helping make the player's decision. Both schools are pretty close, so VA parents could travel to either one. In both cases, the coaches can sell players on the opportunity to help build something where nothing existed before (i.e. football at Duke, men at LOLUVA, etc).
Not saying this is certainly the case, but it could contribute. I know every time I see someone get an offer to go to Stanford the adult in me is thinking JUST GO TO STANFORD ALREADY IT'S THE BEST DECISION YOU CAN MAKE.
Having said all that, I think UNC is a...strange...case. I think we've seen recently that the program isn't 100% on the up and up. That may contribute to recruiting, maybe in a big way. Just conjecture here.
We just have a really bad closer for a head man and a pretty mediocre recruiting staff compared to most any other P5 school. Mystery solved!
People want to go to Duke because they have a better coach and offense than we do. Virginia and UNC because their head men are competent recruiters. Bet Fedora would have used his in-home if they made the Josh Sweat top 5 sweepstakes.
I bet Fedora wasn't recovering from throat surgery in that scenario
Frank had more than just this week to go visit the young man in his home.
The athletes that committed to duke are from briar woods and Benedictine, well known college prep schools. It is not a stretch to say that going to an elite academic school like duke was a lifelong goal and it just happened that they are top in-state recruits in VA.
I like what horse said about Stanford. If Cornell, Stanford, or NC State were offering me scholarships I wouldn't be attending Virginia Tech. What happens on the field is just one factor in a major life decision for these kids.
As they say on Sesame Street, one of these things is not like the others
Horticulture/Landscape Architecture major. State has one of the best hort programs in the nation.
Briar Woods is a public Loudoun County School.
With 60% college placement.
Frank Beamer didn't make the visit to Josh Sweat last week. Apparently it seems Frank Beamer never made an in-home visit.
http://www.dailypress.com/sports/colleges/acc-all-access-blog/dp-spt-osc...
Hard to close a deal when your closer never shows up
Do any media types ask Frank about things like this? I'd be curious to know why he wouldn't do an in-home with the state's (and nations) top recruit. It certainly seems like something that puts us behind the eight ball. I could easily see another coach like Jimbo completely use it against us too. "Oh Frank hasn't made it to see you? I've taken a break from prepping for our playoff game to fly up here and tell you how important you are to what we are doing."
As much as I hate to admit it, if I'm an 18 year old kid that sounds powerfully tempting.
He didn't visit Jalen Dalton either FWIW neither did Bud. Fedora was there though. Imagine that. So I am guessing Settle won't get a in home visit from Beamer either.
no surprise, at all
Something has got to change if we want to land the big fish because whatever we're selling, they aint buying. We have got to bring in some talent if we want to be a relevant program on the national level. Beating LOLUVA 11 times in a row is cute, but winning big games consistently and competing with the biggest programs is far more important.
This one stings. Damn.
Guess we can hope for a magical season, but I think we are going to be grinding out games against ACC also rans for the next couple years
Can't say its surprising though. They haven't lost in 2 years, defending national champs, in the inagural playoffs. We had to beat UVA on the last day of the season to be bowl eligible after ending a 0-0 game against Wake.
But, hey, Military Bowl!
Come the decade mark of this century, there is a requirement to have had 3 brothers come here already and go on to play in the NFL for a 5* recruit to commit.
Is it too early to start drinking?
See above for your answer.
Nope
Do 5* recruits commit to VT?
We have a coach that's going to retire in the next two years. Kinda hard to recruit that way. It's kinda hard for us to recruit normally. But when you are 95% sure the head coach won't be around when the kid finishes his eligibility (or even in this case, when he's draft eligible), then it's damn near impossible.
I'm going to go shut my eyes and open them in 2019. By then, we should have figured this out.
Which kind of begs the question, why wait until then.
Believe me, I am in no way a proponent of Frank being forced out, nor do I think the decision of one recruit should precipitate that.
But lets say I am an unbiased observer rather than an obsessed Hokie fan. Would it not be the logical question to ask "If the fact that Beamer will retire within the next few years means a couple of medicore at best seasons until he does go, and potentially several more after that if recruiting suffers to an extent awaiting his exit, why wait until then?"
Well, for one, to find a proper replacement.
I've said all along that Beamer staying isn't as dependent on making a bowl game or beating UVA to me. It's how he is able to finish the recruiting class. That's the sign that he can successful transition the program.
And we got our answer today. One kid shouldn't determine a coaches fate, but this is a pretty clear data point.
One kid? If you want to use this line of reasoning, use
Josh Sweat (2015 FSU)
Jalen Dalton (2015 UNC)
Clelin Ferrell (2015 Clemson)
Darvin Taylor (2015 FSU)
Darrel Taylor (2015 Tennessee)
Da'Shawn Hand (2014 Alabama)
Derrick Nnadi (2014 FSU)
Andrew Brown (2014 DT)
Jeremiah Clarke (2014 UNC)
Jaylyn Holmes (2014 Ohio State)
and maybe Settle and others.
I know that we have gotten some DL recruits from in-state that were top-15 or so (Ricky Walker last year, trevon Hill this year), but that's 10 top-10 or 12 recruits (according to 247) just within the state of Virginia in the last 2 recruiting cycles that were defensive lineman that we have lost out on (not counting Settle).
I know we're losing out to often great powerhouse schools (FSU, Bama, anOSU), but come on. These guys are in our backyard. That's a really tough way to recruit if you're Virginia Tech. You are going to have a very hard time going into FSU's, Bama's, or Ohio State's backyards and pull recruits. I'm not saying we're going to be as good as they are, but this is a lot of DL recruits to lose out on in your own state(4-6 of which we were "top choices" on at the end).
Just perusing 247's class rankings for the state of VA, 2012 looks like our last really good in-house recruiting year. 10-12 of the top-20 in-state. We've either gotta focus on more breadth for the VT brand and get it out there more, or depth in our own state. It kinda seems like we're in-between or trying to do both, and I'm not sure VT has the chops/finances/brand name to do that.
Idk how to fix it. I'm just trying to notice trends about recruiting in-state vs. out of state talent.
See my post above, you have to be a national power to pull 5 star recruits.
Most of the guys on that list are 4-star recruits. I know the likes of FSU, Bama, anOSU, etc will pull away those (often) class-making 5-star talents, just because that's the way it is.
Losing out on 7-8 4-star DLmen in the last 2 years in-state is still hard to swallow.
Here's hoping Ricky Walker, Nigel Williams, Ken Ekanem, Trevon Hill, and Dadi Nicholas prove the rankings wrong.
You mean, like how UVa pulled in 2 Top 10 recruits last year?
Or how Duke has pulled 2 of the top-5 recruits in VA next year already?
It certainly appears to me that we have more pull with out of state recruits these days than in -state. Fuller, Ford, Phillips, Shai, etc....
serious consideration from McKenzie, Tolliver, etc...
Jeremiah Clarke on this list is a bit unfair. There was no chance he was going anywhere but UNC. His mom (my 3rd grade teacher) and the rest of his family are Tar Heels. As soon as they came calling it was pretty much a done deal.
wouldn't it be nice if we could take out jeremiah clarke + UNC and insert Josh Sweat and VT in that statement
It is interesting how quickly people pull out the "he was from NC, and he was always going to go to UNC" when Clarke or Dalton are brought up, but the second we start talking about Hand or Sweat we start saying how impossible it is to recruit our own state because so many others want these kids. Quite the double standard.
Clarke is from NOVA which is why he's on the in-state list.
To JUGS point, I think that Sweat's mom liked VT when they started recruiting him, while Jeremiah was wearing UNC shirts in kindergarten and my mom and his mom used to talk UNC basketball whenever they saw each other. Replacing it with Nnadi makes sense though, I think that one was a worse miss.
I just included every one on the list. You can make individual cases for people and why we missed on them (and I'm not saying that this list isn't full of good-to-great excuses), but when looked at as a whole...it's a LOT of DL talent.
The coach on his way out/not many year left may have something to do with it, but I believe it's mostly to do with how our programs are on polar opposites. We're trending downward more and more each year, while they're winning championships and playing on the big stage every weekend. Can't fault a kid for ditching a home state program for a better opportunity.
Not to beat a dead horse, but this all started years ago. We had a viable team on the field, but we failed to capitalize (or even maintain) on that momentum in the recruiting game for whatever reason. The cupboard became more bare by the year and now we're trying really hard to catch up. However, our selling points aren't very attractive when you compare it to some other programs. The 757 isn't a secret anymore, and now we're becoming a small fish in a pretty big pond.
Steve Spurrier has a Top 10 class this year.
valid point.
Steve Spurrier has had better teams playing better overall competition the past few years as well.
FIRE LOEFFLER
Lol
IT'S ALL HIS FAULT
*JERKS KNEE*
This certainly falls in the category of normal faulting.
Turkey Leg for geoscience reference! Whoop! How I don't miss Derring Hall
I don't know. This seemed more like a fully dipped-slip fault to me.
Even when I don't get my hopes up I get my heart broken
There is just something about crying over these 18 yr olds that just doesn't seem right. But my heart still hurts :'-(
Between this and Lester, I'm done for the day.
I'm a Cubs fan so no complaining on my end. I thought that may have been a good omen.
I'm with ya...not a good 24 hours for us Hokie and Red Sox fans.
Yeah, I've been thinking today would be awesome or awful.
Jon Lester is now playing for Joe Maddon. Seriously. That's happening. It's almost.....almost....as bad as signing with the Yankees.
But just to be super serial, this is honestly therapeutic since a very clear pattern has been established with this caliber of recruit. Takes the drama and heartache away when you know your program has bumped into a glass ceiling. I'll be chillin' next recruiting cycle.
Please teach me not to care. I keep trying, and keep failing at that. It just sucks to see all this Virginia talent going elsewhere. All I see is "what could have beens".
Just looking at what this place could be, which I know sucks. I have to good fortune to see the new athletic facilities being built and seeing the seeds of what I believe to be a talented and passionate athletic department being sown. Knowing that a talented and ambitious coach like Buzz Williams saw that here, I know in the not too distant future someone, perhaps already inside the program (hint: Bud Foster) may see that same potential when the old guard finally passes. They'll see the talent in the region and the facilities they have and have a vision of greatness that can be realized.
I have faith when I see Lane crowded and rowdy for a cold, bitter UVA game after a 6-6 season. Things will change and change for the better, and Whit will personally dust off that trophy case one day.
Good for Josh. But do these kids not think FSU will have a down year soon as well?
The way they're recruiting, not anytime soon
FSU ain't gonna have a down year for a long, long time. They just reload, and they're in the ACC...
They're getting stronger while the rest of the conference is falling back
We are basically back in the 90s, and its going to be extremely difficult for anyone to stop it.
That's just silly. They never stopped recruiting well, and had multiple down years. Everybody ebbs and flows.
Alabama says no
Doubt their down year looks anything like our team this year.
I retract this:
Can someone throw me a leg...maybe that will make me feel better
groveling for legs = new low
but...your signature
I just ate two turkey legs so I feel better.
Where does this put our 2016 defense? Assuming Kendall and Ken are talented enough to declare early, we will be pretty empty
We need to close with Settle and Gains. I'm not holding my breath on those 2 after Hand, Nnadi, and lastly Sweat.
Gaines isn't a big time prospect like those 3 so we should get him.
Speedy recovery to Sweat at FSU. VT still has Bud Foster to develop under radar recruit to dominant DL. Lets hope VT defeats FSU in the ACC championship AGAIN in the future. GO HOKIES.
Yep, and we'll just continue with mediocrity under Beamer. 10 win seasons, bowl game ass beatings, and remaining as an ultimate "pretender" instead of a "contender". *waits for downvotes*
No down votes from me when history speaks the truth
Looking at history, good defense has never been Hokies weaknesses. In todays college football, you sometimes have to outscore your opponents when the defense does enough to keep game close. GT scored more points against FSU than they did against VT but FSU was able to win the game because of their offense.
I don't know who Oscar Smith was, but I hate him.
Apparently he was a portly, TE-sized QB that was pissed over being moved to TE.
Was it Boone that was pissed about being moved to TE, or Boone's HS coaches that were pissed that he got moved to TE?
I don't want to post a gif. I don't want to see anything funny. I don't want to think about recruiting anymore. Dammit....
13-0 vs. 6-6
CFB Playoffs vs. Military Bowl
Jimbo Fisher (49) vs. Frank Beamer (68)
Defending National Champs vs. ...blown out in Sunbowl
...I could go on.
If I'm being honest and I try to look at this without my affiliation to VT...I'd pick FSU too.
Our programs are on different planets right now.
And it hurts me to type/think that, trust me, but I'm not shocked by his decision.
The problem is, we were never on their planet. By all means we had every opportunity in the world to rise up to the level at which they are now in the mid-2000s, but the coaches reigned it back in and never expanded upon their efforts, being content with the way things were, and before we knew it, the rest of the college football world blew us by.
We haven't been better than their best, but our program has been better than theirs at times, even recently.
Our ceiling is much lower, and considering their pedigree/location etc. it may always be.
I'll always be bitter about how our quarterbacks never really get better while they're here. Tyrod was a Heisman-level talent, and at times it seemed like he succeeded in inspite of the coaching.
I don't know if the coaches got content or not, but it definitely feel like some opportunities were left on the table.
That being said competing with FSU in recruiting will always be tough. Did any Hokies go the OSU game and see their facilities? They were insane. I haven't been to Tallahassee, but I'd imagine they're better than ours by miles too.
Just a thought, because you raise an interesting point here, Alum07:
How much do you think Jim Weaver may have played a role in the "content with the way things were" culture?
They've pretty much always been on different planets. Getting top recruits to pick VT over one of the blue bloods is always going to be tough.
This. At the end of the day, we will always struggle when competing with national programs for these guys because (insert long list of on-the-field accomplishments, historical accomplishments, and, in the case of FSU, better weather, here). College football success overall and recruiting especially is a vicious cycle and rarely does a school suddenly start landing consensus 5-star guys.
The staff worked their tails off for him just like they did for Hand. Tough but expected.
But really FSU's list is not that long. They were in the same boat before Bowden as Tech was before beamer and the separation is only about a decade. They played 4 quarters in 1999 and we did not. We have flirted with the Natty championship twice since then and so have they. Saying FSU is on another planet from VT due to their pedigree is a HUGE overstatement.
We flirted then hid in the closet. FSU picked the trophy up and took the damn thing home and followed it up with 12 more wins and 6 5* recruits. oh and they have three 4* bordlerine 5* QB's on their knees FSU I would say is SEC material and we're like a MAC material.. based off this year.
Nope.
It's really not.
3 Heisman trophy winners for FSU, including one on the current roster. We may have flirted with an NC but we haven't won any and they've won 3.
Look at their recruiting classes compared to us over the last few years, I don't really feel like looking them all up but I'm sure there is a stark contrast.
They're 23-12 against us, including a 12 game win streak from 1975-2007.
Please don't make me continue to prove my point, it's depressing.
In 1999 prior to the National Championship Game, the only thing separating Virginia Tech from Florida State was the 1993 FSU National Title with Charlie Batch. In fact, even with FSU's title, Virginia Tech came out of that game looking like a more promising team going into 2000, because we had the far superior talent at QB, our defense was just as stout as anything anyone could throw at us, and the recruiting boom from the Sugar Bowl appearance should have carried us through.
It didn't. Recruiting-wise, we never truly capitalized on that 1999 run. We should have amped up our efforts to 11, because we were a scalding hot commodity, but instead, we were immediately met with rumors that our coach was about to bolt to greener pastures because he nor his staff was getting the kind of financial compensation a coaching staff of their caliber deserved.
And in a way, we never capitalized on the Tyrod years. 2010 and 2011 should have been recruiting booms for us, with the undefeated in conference play year and the nationally hyped Boise game, and the BCS Auto-bid in 2011. Both teams were ranked Top 10 at one point. Our recruiting efforts those 2 years combined? One single 4* player.
If you look back at those 2010 and 2011 classes, that to me is the most damning evidence of the staff, and frankly Beamers acceptance of their poor performance. Both of those years Virginia Tech was way up on the national radar and we have nothing to show for them, in terms of big wins or big recruits.
Home state vs 500 miles away. There was a time when that was an important factor, and it may still be with some kids, but it seems to matter less every year.
It wouldn't matter to me, personally.
I'd go to the best program where I felt the most comfortable.
But I was 5'8" 150 in high school sooooo you can imagine how many people were recruiting me.
Your right, college athletics is a business now. It used to be a regional pride thing. I remember growing up and every kid would argue over which OH St player they would "be" during backyard games. A win for OSU was a win for me. If an in state kid got an OSU offer it was like gold and a done deal. That pride has been dead for a decade. Nobody cares to represent their state to the nation. Couple this with the Lebron James "if you can't beat them, join them" effect, and college football becomes about the show and not representing your college. VT is just as good of a choice as FSU (better on the educational front), the biggest difference lies in the quality of player that steps on campus. I like college sports for the pride and quit watching the NBA and NFL because of the business.
VT better get used to that bridesmaid dress
FSU
Hokies
I can't stop laughing at this. Coworkers are staring. Bravo.
To be fair, that is some sweet chest hair.
I would've picked UGA or OSU out of those five because of all the problems FSU is facing
Doubt anything happens to FSU, and Sweat probably knows that.
Not to mention, I'm sure Jimbo told him that they're going to be fine.
Why would you think the "problems FSU is facing" would be a deterrent? The message I have taken away from FSU's recent events is that everyone there, from the president of the university to the campus police, considers their football players to be above the law. I can imagine a football recruit sees that sort of impunity as a draw.
I just ran outside my office, locked myself in my car, and screamed.
I don't blame you. You're having a rough day. You need a drink come 5:00.
A full glass of bourbon may do the day good.
Same as it ever was Hokies, don't be too sad. We knew deep down we wouldn't close.
I miss college football before Rivals and 24/7.
I didn't know who the player was or where they were from, just that they wanted to be Hokies. It was nice then.
Ah...Nostalgia.
Yep, it masked our ineptitude well..
Not really. It actually made you more excited about the team rather than who MAY become part of the team.
I just tell myself its out of my control.....move on...Next man up.
But then i feel like this....
Dammit. I just don't know what to say. I just want to give up on recruiting forever. I feel like the smart well-raised but average looking kid in high school watching all the pretty girls date the brainless jerks because they have a flashy car and get away with breaking the rules.
Maybe Sweat will pull a Chris Clarke and change his mind before he needs to enroll in Jan?
Come to think of it, Xavier Burke would be a great DE , if TE doesnt work out.
Yeah, the back up, back up plan to the backup plan is to get another LB like Alexander and move Edmunds to TE and Burke to DE.
If we didn't need him on the OL, I'd say move Teller back to the DL and get him into DE shape.
But he's gonna be a great OLman for us
OK, guys, it's really time for a reality check. Did anyone really think that Sweat would pick us over FSU. Would you if you were in his shoes? Would you pick a high profile team that recently won a National Championship and offers plenty of exposure or our team that has barely broken even the past 3 years and seems to be on a downhill slide? Sorry, but his allegiance to the state of Virginia is not that strong. I am as avid a Hokie fan as the next guy, but until we can at least play for the ACC championship on a regular basis, we will continue to lose the high profile recruits.
It wasn't that long ago... or maybe it was :-/
Tyrod Taylor picks the Hokies over the defending National Champions University of Florida
Macho Harris picks the Hokies over defending National Champions USC
a whole slew of people picked ole miss over bama a couple years ago.....
Yes I did, I believed the line about wanting a great family atmosphere and being close to home. I thought our defensive style was a perfect fit. I thought our successes during the visits and the defenses reputation would sell itself to an in-state kid. I thought the stars we had all of the things he said he wanted.
Don't forget Oscar Smith. He would have had 3 or 4 former teammates at Tech.
He might owe them money and figures to bail on the debt.
VT recruiting makes me feel like I'm watching Jim Johnson try and close a game last year
Until today I was kinda hoping for a FSU repeat, for sake of ACC perception.....Now I hope the ducks drop 100 on them and Jameis cries like the baby that he is.
Tough day for sure, but we'll get this ship righted. With this coach or the next....
Go hokies
We have to beat their a$$ on the field. Plain and simple.
Yep, capitalize on the once every 7 years we play them scheduling
Somebody call Buzz, he knows a thing or two about flipping commits.
And Buzz alone is reason enough to blow up the "recruits won't come to Blacksburg" myth. He took over an abysmal basketball program and immediately brought in a Top 20 class. Then, for the next season, he's doing it again. And he's doing this at historically one of the absolute worst programs in basketball.
Kids will come to VT if we get the right guy in charge.
This is a really good point.
Our football program is light years ahead of our basketball program in terms of pedigree, facilities etc. etc. and Buzz is pulling in guys we wouldn't have sniffed before.
Turning around a basketball program is a lot less difficult and the cross sports analogies aren't perfect but still, the right head coach and we could do wonders.
But we need top 5 or lightning in a bottle to get where you are wanting to go.
Edit: where we are wanting to go...didn't mean you
Basketball is different from Football. The mentalities of the players is different. Since you only have to play 1 year of college Bball to go pro, the coach is the most important thing. If they are really good enough to go pro after that year, whether Blacksburg is a good fit or not is less important. But if you gotta be there at least three years, then where you are is just as important as the coach.
Kids are getting to VT. We currently have a top-30 class for 2015 for FOOTBALL.
Also, Buzz can sell them on playing in the SEC conference of basketball (Duke, UNC, Syracuse, etc). Players know that they can have a far greater impact on a teams success in basketball versus football, thus less worry about going to a historically-losing school. I am very excited about Buzz, but hes still not pulling kids that are considering Duke or Kentucky.
No, but he is pulling in kids who are considering the likes of UConn. And given a few years to show what he can do, do not be surprised if we start landing some of the legitimate big fish in basketball.
We should have had back to back top-15 classes with all of the in-state talent available. The last couple of years have been some of the most talent rich years Virginia has produced, and we whiffed.
Crazy thing. We recruited and continue to recruit the best players in the country
0 recruits in the class last year were from Virginia
Is going national the problem? Is the Virginia talent good enough that we should double down on instate recruiting to keep the guys at home?
We're a blue collar school, we're gonna get blue collar players. Since we can't seem to compete with the big name brands maybe we really should focus on the local guys.
I don't think Buzz is going after the one-and-dones that UK or Duke can chase. He's said before he doesn't like playing freshman, which he's been forced into doing this year. He wants to build teams, and maybe go after a top 10 recruit every couple years to enhance what he has. The thing is, Buzz gets exactly what he wants, Beamer has not.
I agree that Buzz doesn't go after the 5-star, one-and-done guys. But, I am saying that it would be as hard for him to get them as it is for Frank to get the football equivalent. I am a basketball guy first and I am super-pumped about what he is bringing to the program. The reason it's so exciting is because it is such a stark improvement from his predecessors. I agree that it is possible to improve from Frank, but I am less excited about that change versus basketball because it will not be as certain of an improvement in the various aspects of the program and could cause us to drop off even more. I was on the fence but leaned towards making coaching changes at the end of this season. I also believe that it is more likely than not that we will not pull in the elite guys as a result of that change, at least not initially. Agreed though, we are not getting them now under Frank.
Even my feed was sad...
The sad thing is, if he chose us we would be celebrating it until the start of next season. At FSU this has probably barely blipped the radar and their fans are probably skeptical of his chances of making an immediate impact with the knee injury and the guys in front of him.
Thought the exact same thing. Hokies fans would be celebrating for weeks, starting post-OSU riots, and going apes while FSU fans barely blink when they hear they got another 5 star recruit. Between this decision and finals...can I just enjoy Christmas and forget about life for a few weeks???
Here is a comment from a FSU fan I know:
"Throw another five-star recruit on the commit list for Florida State. This morning defensive end Josh Sweat committed to FSU."
Hurts me to read it.
I know the feeling. My boss is a Florida state alum. He walks in my office from a meeting and says:
"So, who got him? I was in a meeting"
I responded with, "FSU of course."
He acted surprised and then went on to say "I like VT and Beamer, but I am glad Sweet chose us".
I said.."Sweet, huh? Try Sweat."
He says "Yeah, Sweat"... Walks out smirking.
Recruiting is my pancakes
my review of this gif? 5/5 stars
I am moving on to the denial stages:
Whatever, he looks skinny in that pic and I question his work ethic. I mean he said he wanted to play somewhere there is a superstar defense around him. Sounds like he doesn't want to work hard. Why not tie the other teams OL's hands behind their back for you too, Josh?!? I would rather have a team full of Sam Rogers types any day. (sobbing)
Holy shit I just checked and the sky is definitely NOT falling.
I'm already seeing a lot of blame on coaching. FSU is not all That different from us in terms of systems. Blacksburg just isn't a real sexy destination at this point. Try to remember being 18 for a second and tell me where you would go if every top team in the country is blowing smoke up your ass. Remember that most of the things we might list as pros for VT may not be high on an 18 year old's list.
Winning cures everything. The damn funny thing about that is, everybody is trying to win. We have to find a way to get back to acc champ football, then the recruiting will improve some. But I don't think this school has all the external factors needed to be a perrenial top 10 recruiting program.
on the flip side, a school like ole miss pulled in a #1 class while being absolutely terrible for decades. LOLUVA tricks a couple top flight kids per year. clemson at one point sucked but then started to get talent and now they're in a good spot. you don't always have to win to recruit well.
it's a chicken or the egg thing, though. even when we won 10+ games per year, we were missing on top targets. it just doesn't seem like we have enough coaches that can close.
meh. it probably comes down to relationships more than anything. and in some cases, and I'm not saying this one or any specific case, $100 handshakes help too. that "i'm a bag man" piece was a pretty tough thing to read. and again, in now way, shape, or form am i saying that's the case here.
Both Clemson and Ole Miss had new-ish coaches. Recruits could feel the upswing and potential. I think they're sensing downward movement here.
Recruiting is different down south...new ESPN slogan
The coaching question I struggle with most is when does Beamer's uncertain future start hurting enough to justify him needing to go for the betterment of the program? I'm not on that bandwagon yet, but its coming soon.
Good luck to him at FSU. I hope he gets as much of an education as you can at FSU only UL is ranked lower in the ACC.
I am sad that he didn't come here but Bud and Charlie will find or develop other star players.
As much as this stings, our defense hasn't been a problem in a long time. With Sweat we may have had potential to be a top 5 defense, but I'm confident we are still a top 10 defense regardless. What we need improvement in is offense. If the defense keeps performing the same we'll be fine. What tech needs is a top 50 offense, and while sweat would have been great, he can't help with that. Everyone try to keep your heads up and Go Hokies!
Isn't the argument, though, that current success reflects past recruiting, and future success depends on current recruiting? The defense hasn't been a problem YET, but if we continue to miss on the the top recruits it's just a matter of time before the defense gets weak.
So, I get that one you get past the 5* recruits, the rating system is pretty nebulous. I'm assuming that when people rank entire classes, they use average star rating over the whole class and compare with the rest of the nation. Can someone with access to the stats look at our average star rating and class ranks over the last 15 years (or however many years that is available)? I'm curious as to whether, even though we're missing the blue chip recruits, our average star rating is staying the same. I guess that would mean we are hitting on the middle to upper level talent. I suspect that we are not, which would be more important than hitting on one blue chip.... or something like that. At least that would make me feel better about whiffing on all of these VA 5*s.
Without any real numbers yet... But Beamer recruits 'unknown' players that are 3.3 on average. Higher lately but mostly 3 stars a few 2 stars and the rare 5 star (Tyrod/Kendell).
The bigger picture is what's required to win the big game and championships. Look at the last 2 years of
Alabama
FSU
Oregon
Ohio state
Past years
Auburn
ND
FSU
ALABAMA
You might be surprised if you looked at OSU's classes - lots of 4* but really not that many 5* guys are signed year in and year out - nothing like Bama. Maybe that will change next year but they were successful with a lot of 4* guys which I think is realistic for VT as well.
We've been in the 22-25 range the past few years. Prior to that we were all over the map, as high as 15 and as low as 45ish.
I got to say, he made a smart choice. At FSU, he is all but guaranteed to make the playoffs at least once there. He will win ACC championships. Here, he might win the Coastal, maybe.
I wish some of these recruits had the same attitude as Buzz, where they could take pride in being the catalyst that brought a struggling but storied program back to the top. A top recruit choosing a school already there and just joining the party seems... wimpy to me. I respect Sweat as a person and do not bad mouth high schoolers for choosing other universities, but I don't respect his decision at all. It's taking the easy way out.
hmm a good chance at winning National Title in 4 years and 4 ACC rings or maybe winning the coastal and getting into the Military Bowl/ Mid Tier bowl 4 years in a row.
dumb decision right/sarcastica
Buzz can take a risk like that because he can easily find another place to coach, these kids have 1 maybe 2 (transfer out ) chances at finding the right school and making into the NFL... and even then its tough
also helps buzz is receiving a good amount of $$
Yes, we all know that's the draw of going to a school like FSU. Thanks for pointing that out. I definitely didn't know that already. You missed the point of my post.
Also, you can still get to the NFL without winning rings and titles. See UVA.
soo what's your point?
Can't get to the NFL in Bud Foster's defense... not a stab on him but it doesn't work in the nfl.. well at least for DL/LB
also helps being on a winning team and winning post season awards. the fact that mario williams won first team ACC over Dadi is a joke.
I think its more that we have won despite not having NFL defensive ends more than our system doesn't produce.
what have we won that a team like FSU or Bama hasn't one upped us? The last big thing we won other than an ACC title was a chic-fil-a bowl in 09 and a Orange Bowl vs Cincy in 08..
Poor word choice on my part. I meant our defense has been great despite having NFL talent at ends. Its not the system's fault the players aren't all NFL caliber.
gotcha!!!
Jason Worilds, Darryl Tapp, and James Anderson say hi. To say nothing of the guys that have left the league already.
If you said DT, I might have agreed with you. We've discussed before how DTs in Foster's system don't usually have as much success at the pro level.
Worilds is our only recent DE and he plays OLB in the NFL not DE.. Anderson and Tapp got drafted in 06 so they're not really relevant/show promise for Dline kids
Well, that is a factor with some of the top recruits. It's just that doesn't work for a defensive player and our team. The defense is always good and championship caliber. The offense holds us back. Even if Sweat would have been on of those guys he wouldn't make a difference to the overall team since he doesn't play offense. And the pattern of playing your ass off, doing everything you can and more, then the other side of the ball throwing the game after you gave them every opportunity would be frustrating.
Yeah, that's a good point. I can imagine a defensive recruit cringing after watching the WF game.
Everyone watching that game cringed.
Well, almost everyone:
I laughed, then I stopped laughing because this statement is more than just a joke, then I gave you a leg.
It's one guy. I'm not sweating it. And, no... that's not a pun. No joking here.
Florida State has a problem on defense. I hope Sweat was watching the ACCCG. FSU's D line was getting OWNED by GT. The Hokie D line was getting together for cocktails and snacks in the GT backfield pretty much all day against the Jackets.
As long as we have Coach Bud, and Wiles, we'll do what we always do. Take the scraps, make scrap salad... and make that shit taste delicious.
Fuck the Noles, and UVa too.
(Ok, that last bit about UVa was irrelevant, but really, fuck those guys too.)
Except its not just one guy.
Its Hand, its Nnadi, its Dalton, and now its Sweat. Our region is pumping out elite talent right now and we're whiffing on the whole lot. Sweat going to FSU today is just another spoke on the wheel.
The NC triad is not far geographically, but I wouldn't consider it our area. In the triad, WF and UNC are it. That's where those kids want to go. Dalton committing to VT should have been much more considered a UNC epic failure, than a VT win.
Not trashing your whole argument, just pointing out specifics on Dalton.
You're focusing on the trees and missing the forest.
Yeah, we can single any of these kids out and make an excuse as to why they didn't come here. But when you look at the whole, you cannot ignore the fact we are plain whiffing on a super ripe pool of elite talent in our region right now. That in itself is unacceptable. The last elite talent we got from the commonwealth was...... Tyrod? (i'm asking cause I'm actually not sure on this one)
Tyrod was absolutely an elite talent.
If only 5 star is considered elite, then no... only Kendal since Tyrod.
But there are really only 4 or 5 schools that are going to haul in 5 star guys on a regular basis. FSU is one of those schools.
And Kendal is actually from Maryland
Need to put a border around Virginia and keep FSU out, they have more than enough 5* in Florida. And bama came up here and took 3 in the past 2 yrs. Maybe VT needs to start taking some hot cheerleaders on the visits.
That avatar has got to go ..... Far, far away.
Like it or not, that just isn't happening. When the big boys of college football come calling, we're going to lose those more often than not. Why any self-respecting safety would go play for UVA instead of Bud and Torrian, on the other hand, is beyond me.
No.
Neaux
HELL YEAH! SCRAP SALAD FOR EVERYONE!
As they say down here in GA, you can't make chicken salad with chicken shit.
really surprised no one has posted this yet...
if you ain't 1st you're last..
I mean... yay?
Doesn't really matter how far away you were when you aren't picked. All that matters in recruiting is how well you can close.
i see what you're saying.
but i think this is more of a good god, we weren't even close...
If I'm reading that right, does he mean that the #2 school wasn't even part of the top 5 he had?
that's the way i read it.
I think it's more of a 1a vs 1b argument. He could have just as easily came here.
lol i guess this tweet is just a Rorschach test for me and i'm seeing the worst things possible.
I think it's more he said he picked the school he wanted to go to and that's it. From what I've heard he was very careful with revealing anything about his recruitment process. Probably hummed and hawed about which one to pick and then chose FSU and the rest are now irrelevant. It's not like you fill out 1-5 and then you get paired with a school
perhaps you're right. norm wood should re-think his phrasing.
Hmmmmm sounds like he still isn't secure deep down with his decision.
GIVE ME THAT FLIP!
Unless Sweat was going to play oline, I think the sun will still rise tomorrow, guys.
The future is still bright.
When it comes to recruiting. Bburg isn't sexy (ok, it's sexy to me). Beamer isn't sexy (again, to me). Winning a lot with a shot at early playing time is sexy. Just win the game. Don't lose to wake late in the season with no TDs scored. Don't get blown out by miami at home in primetime (D.Johnson is still running). Stop GT from going down the field and kicking a last second FG. Could have been a different season. I know that argument goes both ways. Remember all the hype with recruits after winning at Ohio State. We had LSU commits looking at us and actually thinking about it...
Just win, baby.
Last I checked we have Teller, Rogers, Bucky, McLaughlin, I. Ford, Cam, Shai (please God, please), Marshawn, Trey, JC, Stanford, Klein, all coming back next year. Plus Brewer...which can't hurt, right?...to compete with Ford/Durkin. That's a (still young) but pretty darn good cast of characters all with game experience. And hopefully Austin Clark is ready to play and enrolling early gives him a shot (who knows) and deshawn could be a freakin monster for us. Hoping Parker Osterloh gets himself in position to play more at 6'8 327...is he still hurt?
If they would just put stroman at kick off returns, he could be a freakin game changer for us next year.
Just win the game. Recruiting will take care of itself.
It doesn't matter as good as 1 player is we can't possibly put the notion out that he was gonna be a program changer.. We still have great players going to VT right now and this recruiting class, we will be just fine next year, and when Sweat is playing left bench for the Criminoles next year I'm just gonna be laughing
Left bench made me laugh. Have a leg. But what happened with all your sources? Didn't you say it was a lock? Maybe it was but he changed after the visit from Dumbo?
I like your spirit, but if Sweat gets that knee fixed, he's not playing "left bench" for anybody. He'll be on the field immediately. He's amazing.
There's really no need to take a shot at him. Chances are he will be logging minutes on their DL just like Nnadi did this year. Kid can play and by all accounts has handled his recruiting is a mature and classy way, I'd expect us to do the same.
I'm done with recruiting. I don't care about it anymore. If we get guys, great. If we don't oh well we'll still field a good defense. Dadi and Ken are tearing it up at DE. When they are gone some others will fill that role. But I'm not getting my hopes up for some kid to come play at a mediocre program.
Well, I was going to say lets show him what he missed out on when he visits Blacksburg as part of the visiting team, and then I checked the future schedule to see when that would actually be... 2023?!?!?! WTF Swofford!?!?!?!
Maybe next December in Charlotte? We have as good of a shot as anyone else in the Coastal.
don't mean to be a downer but I LOL'd at this.. Duke, GT, Miami and Pitt 4 teams with capable offense's that can score points week in week out.
You know what made me LOL? The very real possibility that every team in the Coastal could end the season 4-4.
Coastal Chaos BABY!!!! we're technically like the SEC West.. Amrite?
This shit is typical and expected. You can't fault an 18 yoa kid wanting to go to the defending National Champions! Their roster is stacked for years to come....but you know what, we have a pretty decent roster right now as well that is loaded with young talent. Here's an idea....lets get a fucking offense that scores points and maybe we will get lucky with a top recruit one day! I mean really, who would want to come to a team with an offense that cant score points! This my friends is what recruiting is all about....you know the old saying, build it and they will come.....well in college football its, win and they will come!
And folks lets just face the facts......Settle won't be coming here either! This my friends is a sad day for VT Football and I think it might get worse before it gets better! The only thing that will change these types of things from happening is to win football games....PERIOD!!!!!! These high profile recruits want the "lime light"...they want to play in the "prime time games"!
I aint sad. Never gonna be. Not over this.
And for the record 25% of VT's games were Prime time (OSt, 2 Thursday nights, and black Friday).
Me watching the live stream today as his mom was revealing her sweatshirt. Thought for sure with her doing the reveal it would be the good guys.
my face as well...
my stream finished loading right when she was taking off the jacket. :(
Are you sure you were watching the Sweat announcement?
i mean, there was definitely some sweating in whatever i was watching.
Something else to consider (and maybe this is just me rationalizing to myself that this isn't exactly a bad thing) - Sweat is recovering from a torn ACL that happened just a few months ago. Looking back at yesterdays news about Facyson and how our medical staff is struggling with keeping players healthy and getting injured players back to full health, is this really a bad thing that a player that already has had a major football injury isn't coming here? If he had chosen us, what are the odds that he never fully recovers, or even re-injures the ACL and our med staff can't fix it. At least this leaves a scholarship open that could be taken by a healthy player...
again... its a stretch...
a big stretch.. and great in comes another 3* player that will switch from DT to OG and then to DE /sarcastica
I expected as much (dont get me wrong I tried my best to have faith and believe) but these coaches wont ever get us 5 stars like Sweat. We just dont have the program for it
Why are we surprised ? Has Bud (not Frank) ever gotten a great DL prospect? And the kids that come out of his D, are they drafted very often or very highly? Worilds is the only DE I can name in the pros -and he plays OLB now. No offense to guys like Gayle, but their lack of success at the next level as much to do with us not getting these guys as anything else. I'd expect us to do well with DB recruits -we've shown we can train you for the next level (and Bud's D lets you show if you can play back there ), but DL ?
I think this is more often due to the fact that we have undersized guys we have trained for the position and an excellent scheme that lets them shine. You can't coach height and there is a give and take with weight and speed. I think Ekanem may change the pattern, but Dadi looks like OLB in a 3-4, which is very typical for college DE. I think both Mingo from LSU and Jones from UGA were the top college DEs in the draft and both were drafted to play OLB, not a bad thing by any means that this happens to VT DEs. Bud Foster can teach a kid how to play DL at an NFL level but can't teach them to typical NFL size. I think everyone knows, Bud does a lot with little.
He sure does, that's why we hoped to see him do a lot with a lot.
Oh well, I want guys that want to be Hokies on the team. Not guys that need to be wooed. Hopefully we've started rebuilding a program that'll make the top level recruits want to join in.
First. Slamming a post you do not read = bad form
Replacing Beamer is Whit's job and I'm glad it is not mine. At this point we need the best AVAILABLE head coach we can get. That may very well be Frank Beamer for 2015. The search for our next head coach hopefully started months ago. No one deserves to leave when they want.
Final Note. Frank will always be a God in my house!
I feel you Charlie Brown:
Ehh he's 18. I would want to go to a place that can win championships and have girls sunbathing all year round too
And this is why I am drinking tonight.
PSA: There are full games of the 1999 season on youtube. I don't care how sad it is, I'm watching them
1999 game against BC - opening drive, 89 yard drive (all on the ground), ~2:30 in length, 3 pass plays called (1 attempted & incomplete, 2 scrambles by Vick), and all running plays were right up the freaking middle.
... man things have changed a lot
So many games went like that in the 90s. We had these big hoss O-linemen and as the game went on the holes for our running game got bigger and bigger. Man I miss that.
We got Trevon Hill who is also a beast, kind of like Dadi Nicolas to Mario Edwards, Edwards is just a big name at FSU, we all know Dadi is the better DE. I think the same here, I like our DC better than theirs and I know we still need depth, I know we are sick of not getting big names, but this has always been the deal. We were young and inexperienced this year.
Miami always has 5 stars and ESPN 300 recruits and they have been down for a while, they beat us good this year, but this year was an exception. They aren't what they were and they have prime location and get top guys. So I feel no worries.
Now we do have Austin Clark who I am excited about and he was more of a need than Sweat this year. Positive things are happening, we just don't realize it yet...
Trevon is really, really good. Really hope he makes it to Tech.
So we really can't have nice things.
So FSU's defensive ends coach, Sal Sunseri, just left the Noles to join the Oakland Raiders staff. Sweat has previously said that he is pretty close with Sunseri and that he was a major reason why he picked FSU. I wonder if the door just opened back up a crack? Probably not since FSU immediately hired Florida's Brad Lawing to take Sunseri's place, but I can still hope, right?
Considering he's already enrolled at FSU, he would have to sit out 2 seasons to play for Virginia Tech..
He was supposed to enroll this January. Same with Dalton. No chance there.
It seems that the ship has sailed on flipping any recruits outside of Chazmyn Turner.
Lawing is a tremendous hire by FSU.