2016 CB Troy Pride Stresses He's "Very Much Committed" to the Hokies, Despite Some Big Visits

Since committing to the Hokies in late February, 2016 CB Troy Pride has been a traveling man.

After making the lengthy trip from his home in Greer, S.C. to Blacksburg for a Junior Day, Pride has taken a variety of visits to other interested schools.

In March, he stopped by UNC. In April, he took in South Carolina. In June, he swung by Kentucky, and in July, he returned to Virginia Tech for the team's big barbecue for recruits.

Most recently, Pride has taken a look at some even more prominent programs. He's fresh off an official visit to Notre Dame to see the Fighting Irish play USC last weekend, and he made appearances at Clemson and Tennessee to catch games on the first two weekends of October.

It's a packed schedule that has some of Tech's coaching staff a bit worried about the strength of Pride's commitment to the Hokies. Pride admits that he's gotten an earful from Bud Foster in the past about his decision, even if his primary recruiter has been more relaxed about the whole process.

"Coach (Torrian) Gray has expressed for me that it's best for me to do what I need to do to make the right decision for me, but I've gotten the feeling from Coach Beamer and Coach Foster that they really don't want me taking more visits," Pride said. "He's actually called me before and said 'why do you need take visits if you're committed to us?'"

Pride acknowledges that he understands that consternation, but is placing his focus on following Gray's advice at this point.

"They've expressed their feelings about what's going on, but Coach Gray really just pretty much told me, 'do what's best for you, do your thing so you know where exactly where you want to go, and if that's here, then that's here, but if it's somewhere else, it's somewhere else,'" Pride said. "He's really been just really cool through the process and he's really let me be who I am."

So while he insists he's "still very much committed" to the Hokies at this point, Pride is also doing his best to survey his other options.

When Notre Dame offered Pride back in June, he knew he wanted to get a chance to visit South Bend, and he called his first visit to campus a "phenomenal" one.

"It was my first official visit with my family, all of us going at the same time, it was really good," Pride said. "The campus was nice. I expected it to be bigger, but it was even better because it was kind of more close knit and there was a lot of stuff in one small area, so you could kind of access everything. The commute around campus was about five or 10 minutes, so that was good. Just seeing it wouldn't too overwhelming for me."

The Irish's matchup with the Trojans also provided Pride with a good chance to experience the atmosphere under the gaze of "Touchdown Jesus."

"It's a great rivalry, one of the greatest in the nation, so it was a great game to go to, and they came out with a win, which made it even better because everyone was happy," Pride said.

Pride was also eager to get a better look at Tennessee after they extended him an offer in August. When Pride headed down to Knoxville on Oct. 10, he got the chance to catch another thrilling match when the Volunteers bested Georgia 38-31.

"I got a chance to see them go out there and work and have a great game and they got the win as well, so it looks like I'm kind of a good luck charm for teams so far, going to games they can win," Pride said.

Pride noted that visit was unofficial and more "spur of the moment," given Tennessee's proximity to his hometown. Accordingly, he didn't get an especially thorough tour of campus, but he still noted some similarities to South Bend.

"I know Tennessee football is the real deal, they had great facilities, pretty similar to Notre Dame," Pride said. "Campus was a lot bigger, but at the same time the way that they did stuff and the things that they had were very similar. It was a great game at Rocky Top."

Pride says he doesn't have any more visits planned in the near future, but he has one school left on his wishlist: Virginia Tech.

"I want to get up to Virginia Tech and see their game day atmosphere, and how they prepare for that, because I haven't been up there for a game," Pride said. "I've been up for a Junior Day and for the barbeque, but I haven't got the chance to see them go up against someone so I've got to check that out."

He was set to get his first look at a Lane Stadium crowd when Ohio State came to town in August, but his coach took issue with the thought of him missing a weekday practice.

"We had a game that week and my coach pretty much said 'if you don't practice, you don't play' so I had to go finish that game, and that was eventually a good game for me, so it turned out pretty well," Pride said.

Now, Pride is targeting Tech's final home game on Nov. 21 against UNC for a visit. But if another conflict keeps him home once more, he admits it's "no stress" and he'll "definitely try to get to campus pretty soon" whether the Hokies are playing or not.

Even without catching a game in person, Pride has kept his eye on how Tech's performed this season. With young players like Adonis Alexander, Mook Reynolds and Terrell Edmunds getting a chance to shine in the secondary early due to some key injuries, Pride says he's definitely taken notice of the trend.

"That's very encouraging for me, and I definitely like to see that," Pride said. "But at the same time, the mindset I have coming in to any place is I want to play as early as possible regardless of what's going and regardless of what's happening. I want to play regardless. I understand if there are injuries and stuff, but I want to play even if there weren't injuries, I want to get on the field, even if everybody's there."

However, Pride's focus on the team's performance has hardly yielded only positive signs about the program. The Hokies' 3-4 record has the calls for Frank Beamer's job growing ever louder, and Pride admits that he hears them too.

"I feel like that factors in because I don't want to be left out with a coaching staff that really didn't recruit me or want me as much," Pride said. "But at the same time, as long as Coach Gray's there and he's holding it down on D-block, then I feel like I'll be secure."

Pride seems quite enamored with his would-be position coach, noting that he just spoke with Gray on Sunday and the pair talks "pretty frequently" these days.

"Coach Gray is still the man," Pride said. "He's the one who offered me, he's the one who stuck his neck out for me, so I definitely respect him and appreciate him."

Indeed, it was Gray's "boldness" that Pride cited as a major factor in his decision in the immediate aftermath of his commitment, making it clear that he valued the Hokies for taking a chance on him and offering before any other program would.

That would seem to be a major factor in Pride's loyalty to Virginia Tech, even as he gets a chance to evaluate the merits of programs that only expressed interest in him in the last few months.

"They were great visits, and my family and I need to sit down and talk about this past visit, but I'm still very much committed," Pride said. "The visits are just for me to see the campus and everything...I wouldn't say it takes me away from Virginia Tech, it's just for my reference and my understanding so I can see what they have to offer."

Pride hopes to end this exploratory process in the next months, as he attempts to strike a tricky balance between respecting the Hokies and thoroughly investigating his full array of college options.

"I'm hoping to wind it down right after the season, maybe a December type deal because I definitely don't want to be running around stringing teams along like that," Pride said. "I want to be solid and know exactly where I want to go. If that means taking 10 visits, I'll take 10 visits. If it's taking one more, I'll take one more. There's no set number, but I want to finish to where I'm not going all the way until signing day and trying to make it dramatic."