Virginia Tech football has hired Old Dominion offensive pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach Zohn Burden as the Hokies new wide receivers coach. This is according to the Virginian-Pilot's Harry Minium.
Burden was to announce the move to ODU players this morning at a team meeting, sources said.
Burden was interviewed ten days ago in Blacksburg, then went back on the road recruiting for the Monarchs while Tech interviewed other candidates. Sources at Tech said a decision to hire Burden was made over the weekend.
On January 18, news broke that Aaron Moorehead, Tech's former wide receivers coach, would be joining Kevin Sumlin's staff at Texas A&M.
Burden reportedly formally interviewed at Tech on Friday (Jan. 23) after reported informal meet-and-great conversations with Scot Loeffler and Stacey Searels on Wednesday and Thursday (Jan. 21, Jan. 22, respectively).
In a recent interview with BeamerBall.com, Frank Beamer spoke about Moorehead's hire, "We had him on our radar and rolled the dice on him when he was a G.A. at Stanford because we thought he was a diamond in the rough."
This time around, Beamer hired a coach who has a few more bullet points on his resume. Zohn's coaching history is as follows:
2012 - 2014: Old Dominion University - Wide Receivers
2011: University of Richmond - Wide Receivers
2007 - 2010: Old Dominion University - Defensive Backs
2006: Fork Union Military Academy - Wide Receivers/Defensive Backs
Zohn is definitely more seasoned than Moorehead at the time of hiring, but that doesn't guarantee he will have the same success recruiting and coaching.
For this hire to be great Zohn will have to, among other things, mesh with the Hokies current offensive staff, understand/execute its vision, recruit like a beast and continue to develop Tech's young receiving corps.
It's wait and see on those first two objectives, and there's no historical data to draw a conclusion or speculate with.
As far as recruiting is concerned, Zohn, who will turn 31-years-old this February, primarily recruits Virginia Beach, Richmond and Atlanta (Clayton, Dekalb, Fulton) for ODU as well as Fork Union and Georgia Military. Burden is a Virginia Beach native and graduated from Salem High School. He's leveraged those 757 connections to become one of ODU's best recruiters.
He was the primary recruiter for 11 of the 27 players who have either enrolled at ODU or are committed to sign on Feb. 4. The top three players slated to sign in February, as rated by 247Sports, were primarily recruited by Burden.
He's among Conference USA's top recruiters according to 247Sports, and he's beaten Power 5 schools like Virginia, Duke, Wisconsin and West Virginia for the commitments of Virginia Beach recruits.
Quincy Watts, a 3-star prospect and highest rated recruited in ODU's 2015 class according to the 247Sports Composite, said, "Coach Burden didn't treat me like a recruit, he treated me like I was part of the family," after he committed to ODU over Virginia. That's a snug fit with Virginia Tech football's family ideology.
Even though Moorehead's recruiting territories were Washington D.C., Maryland along with spot assignments in the Midwest (think Indianapolis), Burden's recruiting experience and connections set up for success in the 757 as well as Richmond. Either Tech will put him out of his element in Moorehead's old turf, or reshuffle the staff's recruiting assignments. The latter is more logical, and Beamer Co. will have to develop a strategy to build on the positive momentum Moorehead created in D.C. and Maryland.
The million dollar question: can Burden be an effective wide receiver coach at Virginia Tech?
Old Dominion threw for 292.5 yards per game in 2015 (No. 16 nationally), and The Monarchs receiving production from cfbstats.com is below.
| Name | Yr | Pos | G | Rec. | Yards | Avg. | TD | Rec./G | Yards/G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Vaughan | SR | WR | 12 | 63 | 1019 | 16.17 | 12 | 5.3 | 84.9 |
| 2 | Zach Pascal | SO | WR | 12 | 59 | 743 | 12.59 | 7 | 4.9 | 61.9 |
| 3 | David Washington | SO | QB | 12 | 47 | 599 | 12.74 | 4 | 3.9 | 49.9 |
| 4 | Melvin Vaughn | SO | WR | 12 | 30 | 315 | 10.50 | 3 | 2.5 | 26.3 |
| 5 | Nick England | SO | WR | 11 | 12 | 177 | 14.75 | 1 | 1.1 | 16.1 |
| 6 | Ray Lawry | FR | RB | 12 | 17 | 155 | 9.12 | 0 | 1.4 | 12.9 |
| 7 | Gerard Johnson | SO | RB | 11 | 24 | 149 | 6.21 | 0 | 2.2 | 13.5 |
| 8 | Marques Little | FR | WR | 12 | 11 | 138 | 12.55 | 3 | 0.9 | 11.5 |
| 9 | Jonathan Duhart | FR | WR | 12 | 7 | 127 | 18.14 | 0 | 0.6 | 10.6 |
| 10 | Vincent Lowe | FR | WR | 10 | 14 | 69 | 4.93 | 0 | 1.4 | 6.9 |
| 11 | Cam Boyd | SR | RB | 12 | 5 | 17 | 3.40 | 0 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| 12 | Taylor Heinicke | SR | QB | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2.00 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Antonio Vaughan's thousand-yard season probably caught your eye, but look closer at David Washington. Yes, he's listed as a quarterback. ODU Bleed Blue has an explanation.
Burden also has had some success when it comes to player development. Just look at David Washington who was converted from QB to WR in the offseason. By year's end, he was arguably the best receiver on the team. Zach Pascal, Antonio Vaughan and Larry Pinkard are other big names who have thrived under the coaching of Burden.
Being able to transition a quarterback into ODU's third leading receiver in receptions, yards and touchdowns is an encouraging sign for Burden's player development skills. Ultimately, his coaching ability in Blacksburg will be judged on whether or not he can keep Isaiah Ford, Cam Phillips and Bucky Hodges on an NFL-like trajectory.
My three criteria for this hire would have been: young, can recruit and coach well. On paper Zohn fits the bill, but ultimately time will tell how good or bad this hire was for Virginia Tech.
Comments
Sounds like a solid hire. As you said, time will tell if that comes to fruition. Regardless, welcome to Hokie Nation, Coach Burden!
As far as recruiting the 757 goes, I'm psyched about this hire.
I just hope he meshes well with our current receiving corps. Ford and Phillips could surpass Boykin and Coale, they just have to stay on track.
I'm optimistic about Burden's recruiting ability. If he can pull 3* guys to ODU, then I think he'll do well pulling more highly rated recruits to Tech.
OT: His birthday is next Friday.
well I think our new WR coach will certainly have quite a Burden to bear when it comes to filling AMo's shoes, but I like the hire.
Follow me on down to Blacksburg
You 3, 4, and 5-stars
We'll run go's and slants and hitches
And titles will be ours
And from the sounds of it, Beamer didn't even need to make an in home visit to pick this guy up. Outstanding!
I hereby nominate "Beasts of Burden" to be the new nickname of the WR corps
Seconded. Motion carries unanimously.
Well done - Speedy also!!
This gif is well used, but it fits so well.
Don't know how it will play with the 17 year olds being recruited, but I like it.
He has a daughter named Zaria and a son named Zamir. That.is.awesome.
More like Z'awesome!
If you guys want to see what ODU thinks about this as they wake up follow it here:
http://csnbbs.com/thread-724223-page-5.html
Also I propose we call the WR Corps the Beasts of Burden now.
Damnit Alum beat me to it. Upvote for you sir, great minds.
I am really impressed with the ODU fanbase. They seem like a pretty classy bunch.
Minus a few "Chokies" references, yes.
Some of the people on bleed blue site seem to have "false illusions of grandeur" or are on some medication, anyway welcome coach.
Who is this dream? It takes quite a woman to make a pantsuit sexy
Hear hear!!!!
Evangeline Lilly
Tauriel the ginger elf goddess! I knew she looked familiar.
and she was the main chick on Lost
Definitely some good news for a Monday Morning....
As I have said repeatedly for the last few weeks, you can not judge this hire until we know what the staff has planned for continuity of recruiting in DC, Baltimore, and the Midwest (offensive line targets in 2015.) Getting better in the 757 doesn't mean anything when the 757 isn't producing depth of skill position/OL talent.
I agree, we can't judge the recruiting aspect just yet. But we are still getting one hell of a position coach who will give it his all in whatever recruiting territory he is assigned.
I'm just glad we got a guy who, when you read his resume, the thing that sticks out the most is how well he recruits. Whether that means we're recruiting in the 757 or nationwide, its good to have a guy come in who can do it and is known for how well he can do it.
I think he will be a very good position coach. But, when you look at how 2016 recruiting is progressing, you need a dynamic figure in DC/Baltimore.
Was Moorehead our man in that area? I can't keep it straight.
Yes
Or I could have read the article...
Doesn't Torrian also have strong ties to Baltimore?
I never really thought Moorehead was the man for any specific region. He just went out, found talent, and brought it here, regardless of location.
Think AMO's region was DC and Maryland as well as midwest from his connections from what I remember.
Correct. AMO had Washington DC (Bud has Fairfax County and other parts of Northern Virginia) and Maryland, which includes a ton of private schools that produce very well coached football talent. AMO also had Indiana and Illinois.
I'd like to see Burden and Stinespring in the 757, and Gray work more in Maryland, D.C. and NOVA. I don't know how well connected Gray is there, but he's arguably Tech's best recruiter, and recruiting the DMV is just as important as the 757.
Don't think Gray has any connection to DMV area but agreed he definitely is the best recruiter. I think that might stretch Gray pretty thin though with his recruiting in FL and GA as well.
Think you have to see what Cornell Brown can do in the DMV area, might still have some connections from his time winning a Super Bowl with the Ravens. Might have to start really tag teaming that area with all the competition there.
Zohn recruits the ATL for ODU, keep him going there also?
I should hope so. We need more of a Hokie presence down here.
I like the idea of Cornell showing up to a Maryland recruit's house wearing a Ravens Super Bowl ring.
We need Cornell to step up and be our guy in DC/MD/Pa.
Think might have to try out Cornell Brown in Northern VA now with Zohn on board in the 757 along with Stiney.
Dream is when Beamer decides to retire Pep Hamilton comes and VT owns the DMV area.
Getting better in the 757 does mean something. I agree we need to expand out of state, but being able to get 5 star players like sweat and Blanding from there speaks to recruits nationally. Elite recruits flock together and the 757 is the best shot to open that door. We can rack up 3/4 star players oos, but the perception of getting elite players has to start somewhere
Right. It's pretty well established that we need to expand our recruiting footprint, but I don't think that alone will solve our problems. I think we need both an expanded radar AND improvement in our own back yard. We can't live and die by the 757, but we MUST be able to recruit it.
In the big scheme of things I am not sure how much this hire matters, given the short time he'll be here. We'll be served well if he can keep developing receivers and hold down his recruiting regions, until the next guy takes over.
I am judging this hire based purely on Zohn's merit. He can recruit. He can coach. He seemed to be our first pick. Win. Good job Frank Beamer and co.
Now Bryan Stinespring can hopefully work his magic - I believe he will.
Any salary info yet?
Speaking of salary, has Texas AM every released salary information on Moorehead.
Benefits package rumored to include a fat stack of Hardee's thickburger coupons.
If he knows anything about Blacksburg, then he should settle for no less than burgers from here:
http://www.mikesgrillblacksburg.com/
All opposing DB coaches...KNEEL BEFORE ZOHN!
Love it.
Also a chance to mention, I love that he has experience coaching DBs. He understand the passing game on both sides of the ball. That can't hurt.
That will make the offseason and preseason match ups even more intriguing.
Isn't it Moorehead?
Yes it is. I need an editor more than most. What's most impressive is that I used both Moorhead and Moorehead.
A few decades back, it'd probably be unthinkable for a Keydet to join the staff at Tech. Go Hokies and welcome aboard, Zohn!
you dont mess with the Zohn. great hire welcome aboard. Burden lifted.
Minor nitpick is that I wished he had a few years of NFL experience.
pretty soon we will have all the recruits in the 757 and Zohn can put the poachers to sleep.
Exactly my first thought about this. Not knowing a darn thing about the guy besides what I read on here so far.
Point: ODU tries to improve 757 recruiting by hosting a HS camp with PSU staff attending.
Counter-point: We take (one of) their greatest recruiter(s).
This is a very interesting hire. The combination of Michael Brewer's experience with the Air Raid at Texas Tech and Burden's experience at ODU should prove to be a good match. I'm intrigued to see how Loeffler will incorporate those concepts into the passing game.
Since Zohn Burden was Passing Game Coordinator I hope Scot takes that into account and let's Zohn bounce some ideas off of him to let us be a bit more consistent in the passing game.
I like the fact that he is good at recruiting in the 757 area....however his lack of experience at a legitimate P-5 school worries me.
Moorhead had pretty much no coaching or recruiting experience anywhere, and that seemed to work out alright.
I'm inclined to think this will turn out to be a good hire.
I like the fact that this guy has only been apart of Hokie Nation for like two hours and he already changed his twitter handle to @CoachBurdenVT
I like how some said this is going to hurt UVA more than it is ODU.
ODU's press release: http://www.odusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31100&ATCLID=209872516
Teaching Skills!
Does this mean our receivers will be Zohn blocking on outside runs?
I wonder how much Zohn Read we will see.
I also like how he was on the first coaching staff of ODU when they restarted their program. I think building a team from the ground-up gives a coach unique and invalueble experience.
Zohn and Stiney in the 757 and everyone else everywhere else. Seems like we sink 80% of our recruiting efforts I to the 757 to only get 20% of our worthwhile recruits. Yeah I just dropped some Pareto in a football thread.
I like this man. I like him a lot.
oh man... this is great. I see great things coming from this hire
That actually gave me chills.
I'm not incredibly familiar with how our recruiting regions are divided up among our coaches but does Burden solely have the 757? That's the gist I'm getting from most of his tweets.
I don't think we've gotten an official decision on how the territories will be divided up, but given Burden's connections in the area and our need to reassert ourselves there, it's fair to assume it will be a focus area for him.
I asked this at recruit night this week and the official decisions haven't been made yet. Stiney did indicate though that he thinks that the region is important enough where they need all the presence they can get, so it seemed as if they could both work the area.
Cool! Thanks for the info. Stiney is a great recruiter. If he and Burden work that area, I have hope that things could be on the upswing.
Agreed, though I hope that one of the two (if not someone else) maintains the recruiting foothold AMo started to establish in my neck of the woods.