On Saturday, Justin Fuente coached his Memphis Tigers to 63-0 blowout over SMU. On Tuesday, he was out recruiting in the maroon and orange.
In a head-spinning turn for the new head Hokie, Fuente has begun to pound the pavement in earnest on the recruiting trail, as the new Tech staff attempts to shore up its 2016 class and lay the groundwork for 2017.
But Fuente hasn't been alone in those endeavors — not only have returning staff members Bud Foster, Torrian Gray and Charley Wiles started to pitch in, but the team is seeking permission for former Memphis assistants Holmon Wiggins and James Shibest to get in on the action as well.
According to team spokesman Pete Moris, the compliance staff has "asked the NCAA for relief," in order to allow the team to exceed its limit of nine assistant coaches, giving the new staffers the chance to start actively recruiting (under the arrangement, the incoming staff members could also observe practice, but not actually coach players).
In the meantime, Fuente and Foster have each hit the road, and begun reaching out to commits and recruits alike.
With the decommitments of several prominent 2016 commits, Fuente put a priority on building relationships with prospects already tied to Tech.
Among his first calls was 2016 OT Patrick Kearns of Rome, Ga.'s Darlington School. Kearns says he heard from Fuente Tuesday night, as he made it clear "they still wanted me there."
But he also had some news that was bit disappointing for Kearns — Fuente made it clear that his OL coach from Memphis, Vance Vice, would indeed be following him to Tech, in favor of fellow Georgian Stacy Searels.
"I was definitely sad to hear that, but I'm still going to be a Hokie for sure," Kearns said. "I'm excited to get to know Coach Vice when he comes to VT and play for him."
For whatever anxiety he harbors about the change to his future position coach, Kearns said he's fully on board with the chance to play in Fuente's vaunted spread offense.
"I know that he did really well at Memphis, I watched a few of their games this year, they had a great team and a great quarterback and he can develop quarterbacks," Kearns said. "The spread offense is something I'd want to play in, I think it works well."
Now he's searching for his chance to get back to Blacksburg and begin to connect with Vice, Fuente and the rest of the staff, though he hasn't set an exact date just yet.
"I'd like to go up there when they have the whole staff in place, so we may wait a little while and take a January official," Kearns said. "I'd like to see what kind of guy he is. I'm sure he's a really good guy, he seems like it and I want to talk with him, and have him learn about my personality and learn about his, that would be good, see if we click together and hopefully we do. I'm just excited about it, the future looks bright at Virginia Tech, definitely."
But more than anything, he admits to breathing a sigh of relief when the team made Frank Beamer's replacement official.
"I was definitely a little bit relieved because everybody was saying 'Well, it could be this guy or this guy' and I'm glad we hired somebody," Kearns said. "Now we'll just see what's gonna happen, and everything should be set in place pretty quickly. I'm excited."
DB Reggie Floyd of Manassas' Stonewall Jackson HS says he also got a phone call from Fuente Tuesday night as the new coach started to feel him out.
"We just talked, and he was just letting me know that he wanted to build a relationship and that he loved my film," Floyd said. "From the phone call, (it) sounded like he was a cool coach and from his past, he knows what he is doing with a program to bring it up."
Floyd said that they didn't talk about any further changes on the offensive staff, but he plans on visiting Tech in the near future to meet the new coaches.
Fuente also did his best to try and bring 2016 DB Myles Wolfolk of Upper Marlboro, Md.'s Wise HS back into the fold. After committing to Tech last December, Wolfolk flipped to North Carolina on Sunday, and he said Fuente gave him a ring Wednesday to introduce himself.
"(He) wanted to touch base with me from a new head coach standpoint of what he is planning to do with the program," Wolfolk said. "He is a very nice man and a great coach."
Wolfolk added that Fuente told him the defensive staff would stay intact, but that "he is bringing in his offensive guys." Even still, Wolfolk believes he "still feel(s) solid" about his new commitment.
"Overall, I just felt like it was the best fit for me, the perfect balance of not too close but not too far, academics, football, good coaching and networking, people I know there," Wolfolk said. "It just felt like the best place for me to be after I did all my research and looked over it all and sat down with my family and prayed about it, it just felt like where I needed to be."
Fuente's personal pleas aside, Wolfolk said his decision came down to his comfort with UNC defensive coordinator Gene Chizik and how he "brought North Carolina out of the drought," as well as his official visit to Chapel Hill in November, more than Tech's coaching change.
"Justin Fuente's a good coach, I did my research on him before I made the decision," Wolfolk said. "I guess the whole situation with Coach Beamer retiring made me open up my eyes a little bit more and re-open my recruiting, and when I saw other options, I guess I just felt like I saw a better opportunity at North Carolina."
2016 CB Troy Pride of Greer (S.C.) HS also decommitted in the wake of Beamer's retirement, and while he said "I feel like that's a solid hire" in regards to Fuente's ascension, he didn't respond to further requests for comment on the change.
2016 LB Tavante Beckett of Chesapeake's Indian River HS remains committed to Tech, but admitted that "(I don't know) right now how I feel" about Fuente's hiring.
Meanwhile, 2016 LB and VT commit Victor Greene of Spotsylvania's Courtland HS was thrilled to hear the news that Foster would be staying on — he said "that's a key piece to the organization, in my opinion," an unsurprising view given the coordinator's role as Greene's lead recruiter — but he's less sure about how to feel about Fuente.
"Mainly, I just hope he can continue the history of the program and keep the spirit at Tech," Greene said.
2016 WR Samuel Denmark of Hanahan (S.C.) HS had a much more positive response to the news.
"(I) can't wait to meet him and be a part of his offense," Denmark said.
That response was echoed by one of the few uncommitted prospects left on Tech's board for the 2016 class.
"I was so happy when Coach Fuente was hired," said 2016 DT Jarrod Hewitt of Venice (Fla.) HS. "Knowing the rest of the staff was staying was the best news I could have heard."
In particular, Hewitt was glad to learn that Wiles, his main recruiter, would be sticking around, and he's planning to talk to him soon. Furthermore, he says he remains on track to take an official visit to Blacksburg on Jan. 29 and meet the incoming staffers.
The retention of the defensive staff also has some key juniors still interested in the Hokies.
"Coach Foster and Wiles are staying and (those are) the only coaches I need," said 2017 DE Tyjuan Garbutt of Fredericksburg's Riverbend HS.
DE Jake Lawler of Charlotte's South Mecklenburg HS is also excited that his potential future position coach is staying in the fold, but is especially keen that Foster will remain at Tech.
"I think it's great," Lawler said. "He knows defense like the back of his hand and he's a really down to earth guy."
But both also have plenty of praise for Fuente. Lawler said his early research on Fuente was extremely positive, making him a "great successor" to Beamer that's left him "looking forward to see what he does with the program."
Garbutt holds much the same attitude.
"I think it's a great move, he's a great offensive mind that restructured a poor Memphis program into a great one," Garbutt said.
By contrast, 2017 CB Madison Cone of Kernersville, N.C.'s East Forsyth HS is withholding his judgement on Fuente for the moment.
"I don't know much about him, I have some research to do," Cone said.
"But his area recruiter, Wiles, gave him a call Thursday night to reassure him.
"He's excited about the new coach," Cone said. "He wants me to come up soon so I can meet all the new people."
But Cone's impressions of the program are still largely positive. He's fresh off a visit to Blacksburg for the Hokies' final home game against UNC, and he predicts he won't soon forget Beamer's final game in Lane Stadium.
"It's definitely one that I'll be able to say a year down the line when they talk about that game, I can say I was there and tell my kids I was there," Cone said. "It was a great experience. I was hoping at the end when they went to overtime they would pull it out, but sadly Carolina pulled away. But all in all, it was a great experience and a great time."
Cone adds that the sight of the players carrying Beamer off the field, even following the heartbreaking loss, made the afternoon particularly memorable.
"It was just one of those surreal moments, watching them carry him off the field, it was definitely high emotion," Cone said. "My coach that I went with that day, he's actually a second generation Hokie, so he was pretty emotional with it, and all the people who have been here for his 29 years. Watching the players carry him off the field, it was definitely a moment I'll never forget."
The junior is unsure of when he'll return to Tech, but does expect to have plenty more chances to does some in-person research on Fuente.
"They're still high on my list, and I look forward to visiting them more and more times as my process goes on," Cone said.
Comments
It almost seems like an unfair advantage to have one set of coaches coaching and one set recruiting. Guess that is the nature of the beast, get after them recruiticorns...
At best, it offsets some of the problems with the coaching change.
Overall, the instability hurts a lot more than having an extra staff for two weeks.
Gotta respect the man for diving right in. Would love to hear about some positive recruiting trends.
Also in honor of our new hire I will be starting andy dalton on my fantasy team this week.
You weren't starting him before? He's been doing pretty well.
I also have aaron rogers. Actually just picked him up.
Wow, what an article - I ate that up!
Lots of great stuff - Foster and Fuente hot on the trail. I am getting the sense that Fuente may even be rejuvenating/reinvigorating Foster. Foster is only human, and things DID seem to be getting stale. I can see how Fuente's enthusiasm could take Foster up to an even higher notch.
Great work getting all the recruit's reactions. It appears to me that we had some quality character guys decommit. I have no problem with decommits, given the circumstances, and they are handling themselves with class and maturity not often seen in teenagers. Best of luck to them, too.
Interesting point about Foster, I completely agree with you. Sometimes people need outside influences to keep the internal fires burning hot.
I'm a little sad about the decommitments, but hopefully Fuente will get some good players to flip to us.
Regardless of the actual academic reputation that UNC has, I will always shake my head when I see athletes say that the academics they provide influenced their decision. Sounds like a lot of uncertainty still though. Few recruits sounded sure of their decision except those who went somewhere else.
That quote from Wolfolk also stuck out to me.
While I'm obviously biased to VT, I don't begrudge any 17-18 year old making decisions they think are best for their future. But pointing out UNC's academics as an athlete is particularly, uh... interesting? Especially given the investigation revealing consistent academic fraud within the program.
That being said, I've got zero ill will towards the kid and hope he finds the best situation for himself.
Man I hope this kid
comes to his senseschanges his mind.Google maps has the trip from his hometown to Blacksburg as the exact same mileage as to Chapel Hill (284).
Riiight. Are we talking about the same UNC? Is there another UNC in Chapel Hill that actually gives out degrees to athletes that are worth a damn?
Yes, you can play football there. Chances are, you'll be playing for a lot less than you would at Tech, once you factor in post season bans and loss of bowl practices. Going to bowls isover rated anyway.
I will bet good money that he will have a completely new coaching staff before he graduates. There's a reason names like Fedora and Chizik were floated for all the HC openings this year: no one expects them to stay at UNC.
I can't fault him this. He'll have connections at all sorts of schools once the coaching staff disperses to universities not under the NCAA cloud. He'll have tons of options when he's looking to transfer.
Yeah I highly doubt Chizik is at UNC for more than next year. I'm sure he'll get either another DC position at a bigger football school or a HC position somewhere. I don't see Fedora there more than a few more years either. If he keeps the momentum he has gotten at UNC up he'll be a name people will be going after for a HC as well.
It's too bad Fedora hasn't been offered something better this year. I think this is the highest his stock will be at UNC. The Coastal just got significantly more difficult and if he loses Chizik this year he'll be back to 7 wins next year in a hurry.
Who knows, he might be getting the USCe job
"Word on the street" from parents and players at UNC is that Chizik is perfectly content being a coordinator there for some time. He is in his element, he feels that he is thriving, he has complete control over the defense and has no desire to be a head guy (at the moment).
When I heard this, it definitely made me realize that he will indeed be at UNC for a bit and that will continue to be a really good thing for the Tarheels.
FWIW
disclaimer: I have absolutely no data to back this up
is it just me, or is this the kind of thing lots of coaches say right before they bolt?
Yea he was already rumored to be expressing interested in the UCF job, I don't buy that he will stick around for more than another season he can get paid double in the SEC
What coach tells people he is ready to leave a job at the first offer of a different job?
TimeCop
Jeff Jagodzinski
Yea I have to say that when it comes to players, recruits, and parents most any coach is going to say this no matter what the actual situation is. Basically I take this with a huge grain of salt.
I think you are absolutely correct. These types of things are always spoken in that venue... However, lets think about what is going on in the coaching world in relation to who Chizik (the head football coach) actually is...
He is a great defensive coordinator, no one would argue that.
Outside of the one "outlier" year at Auburn, he has been a less than average head coach.
If he were close to being on his way out (and worthy of a HC job), I would think that he would, at the very least, be mentioned in relation to one of the many openings in the CFB world.
All that to say, I don't put a ton of stock in "the word on the street" either. But I also don't expect him to be out the door after next year. That means UNC will continue to be a thorn in the flesh as it relates to VT recruiting.
My read on that could be totally wrong. Just my two cents...
Bama looking for a DC? Chizik knows the area......
Here's one reason some kids might like going to school in Chapel Hill: The Mullet Family
Yeah, I took his statement more as saying "I was going to decommit from VT regardless of who the next coach was going to be, and most likely would decommit even if Beamer was still there"
I had this conversation the other day with my roommate. I actually feel kind of bad for the kids that are committing to UNC right now. I'm sure their coaches are pitching them that nothing bad is going to happen to the football program. It's the only way I can fathom a kid wanting to go there in its current situation. I hope for nothing but the best for those kids but I doubt their future is what is being pitched to them.
The NCAA seems to a) take forever, and b) go more lenient than one might ever guess.
The UNC offenses seem to cut at the core of NCAA sports, however, so you'd think they'd come down hard.
Then again, the NCAA is generally toothless.
So who knows?
It's interesting to speculate what will happen at UNC based on the reputation the NCAA has in dealing with bad situations. IMO logic dictates they should be penalized pretty damn harshly but as you said the NCAA is way more lenient than they should be at times. So who really knows what will happen? I read something the other day that said this mess would have already been handled but UNC threw it's Women's Basketball team "under the bus" to keep the sanctions away for another academic year. Is there any validity to that?
The North Carolina Athletic Association will probably be lenient with their darling UNC. Especially with UNC grad and commissioner of the All Carolina Conference, John Swofford, in their corner. I've heard that they are going to have women's basketball take the fall for most of this, if any sanctions do come down, to protect men's basketball and football.
Seems to me that they should all get sanctions, since they all did the crime.
That would be hard to sell since both men's bball and football are explicitly mentioned in the NOA.
In addition, I get vibes that the NCAA is almost taking a stance that, "this is an academic issue, not an athletic one so we will leave it to the University to manage the situation".
The stance leaves me dumbfounded but that may be the state of things in college athletics.
It should leave you dumbfounded, since they broke NCAA rules, not just academic ones.
The NCAA needs to enforce their rules.
If the NCAA wants any leg to stand on with their position of "students first, athletes second," they have to come down on UNC hard. This was a series of actions over two decades in which the athletic department actively undermined the academic integrity of the university (and of course, the academic side was complicit and is on probation for it). There is nothing more severe than that, in my opinion. Miami had some egregious offenses, but all basically came down to improper benefits to some degree. No one was giving out fake degrees at Miami. Well, that we can prove...
I wonder how Wolfolk will feel when Chizik leaves UNC?
After next year Chizik will be gone, well before Wolfolk gets a chance to touch the field.
...for UVA
Please UVA can't even find a coach to even come on campus to interview... London for one more year is looking better and better by the day!!!
Look for Chizik to head out west!!
Best Chizik Video ever... apologize about the quality.
You said "campus" but I think you meant "grounds" /s
May my ass be lit of fire by a water hose before I ever call their campus "grounds"
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His answer is garbage
I like Chizik - well Bud aint leaving so nothing changed there.
just say you wanna go to UNC and skip classes.
This is a little uncalled for. These are 17/18 year old kids making a big decision, then talking to total strangers about it.
I'm offended that you are offended.
And I am offended at your offense of my offense. This seems like a fair compromise.
I think sometimes these recruits are giving their own version of coachspeak. Think about things that mattered most to you when you were 17. Then think whether or not you would want to state those feelings publicly. That's my rationale for why some of the reasons you hear from recruits, regardless of who they pick, leave us scratching our head. Here's to hoping Fuente can win these young guys over and salvage a recruiting class that is somewhat underwhelming currently.
I knew a lot of guys that went to JMU purely because girls out number the guys. They never talked about academics or the campus. So yea these 17 year olds I'm sure have their own "motives."
That and recruits are called by a lot of people asking questions. I wouldn't answer so forthrightly either. would get old to do that 20+ times
Crazy that its the DB's who are the most apprehensive.
Oh you know how fickle those DB's and WR's are.. stereotypes have to come from somewhere. Still like our option compared against anyone else though
Wolfolk on UNC: "Overall, I just felt like it was the best fit for me, the perfect balance of not too close but not too far, academics, football, good coaching and networking, people I know there,"
Academics?!? Really?
ill drink to that! im slow on the trigger this morning!
I know I know these are all just 17 and 18 yr olds being swooned like the prettiest girls in the school... but it is hard sometimes to hold my tongue...
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Overall, I just felt like it was the best fit for me, the perfect balance of not too close but not too far, academics, football, good coaching and networking, people I know there," Wolfolk said
Holman Wiggins tweeted out he did his first in home visit, so that waiver must have come through.
On iPad so can't embed, because twitter hasn't figured out people use mobile Twitter a lot or something.
https://twitter.com/holmonwiggins/status/672615110360305664
His hashtag is great though
Read that hashtag and this came to mind..
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definitely rooting for the pheasant on that one.
Is breaking your bow worth the price of the pheasant? Not sure he thought that one through
Phrasing.jpg
The way the hashtag is set up looks like it's hunting season and he's out hunting / shooting hokies.
Possibly, but in a fun, Elmer Fudd sort of way.
What game is his banner picture from? I've never seen an orange effect pulled off that well before.
I was told by another TKP poster that picture comes from Ohio State game
Looks like OSU with the orange pom poms they handed out.
I can't believe that recruits are still putting " academics" and " North Carolina " in the same sentence. Wolfolk did not honestly do a full research.
18 year old boys...
It's scary that these creatures are allowed to go to war. I'd give them at least a couple more years to marinate.
The only thing that made sense to me at 18 years old was my love of girls in spandex, girls in short skirts, girls in every capacity known to man... oh and football season.
What 18 year old boy do you know makes rational decisions based on anything past their nose?
this is why you need good HS coaches, involved parents, and stand up college coaches to help guide these young men to make good decisions until their brains can outpace their libidos
Does that ever happen?
UNC and UVA are very similar in that they both think they are the best school in the country. Kids go down there and they blow all this Carolina blue smoke up their tail about that fancy UNC degree you'll have hanging on your wall, and no matter of research can sway them. It comes down to that name on the piece of paper, not the actual educational experience they will be receiving.
This is so true. I know of a lot of UNC and UVA grads working for Hokie grads. I also know a lot of Hokie grads that get high profile jobs over those guys as well.
My Step Brother (who has no ties to either university) has told me recently that he's hired about an equal number of Hoos and Hokies and he says that without a doubt Hokies outperform Hoos on a consistent basis. He sounded both surprised and impressed when he told me that. Hokies are just more well prepared for work and they tend to have a better attitude towards the job and people in general. His words, not mine.
Of course, none of this comes as much of a surprise to us but I wanted to share some real feedback from an unbiased perspective.
I've worked with a lot of engineers from different schools, and I've never been "impressed" with any UVA engineers. I'm not saying they're bad, just not impressive.
Not surprising: MIT engineers definitely live up to the hype
I don't think he was referring to engineers. He's in marketing...
Way back, when I was in both undergrad and grad business school at Tech we entered team marketing competitions against other university business programs, and Pamplin kicked Darden's ass every time I can remember.
I go to medical school at UNC and out of the 5 students in my class that won a prestigious research fellowship, 3 of us are Hokies... Oh and none of us are UNC grads. Just saying.
Like our walk-on basketball player who went to UNC for Med school? Can't think of his name....
Christian Beyer
Yeah, he's a first year - I'm a fourth year, but I've seen Christian around.
When did we start talking about UVA?
Take note, wahoos.
when are you allowed to use the term "first year?" when finishing your program means people have to call you doctor.
On that MIT note:
Many people I work with are Navy nukes. Several institutions offer us a bevy of credit towards a fairly "associates" sounding bachelor "technology" degree, which is great but typically not something you brag about to a room half full of people with the same degree.
Years ago, one of our most pompous asses was introducing himself to the class and announced that he had attended the "prestigious Renssalear Polytechnic Institute; also known as RPI".
One of our borderline-Asperger's core hydraulic engineers was next, quickly said "Hi, I'm Paul, I attended MIT, also known as... MIT", and sat back down.
Apparently, pants were peed.
My dad's been Engineering for 30+ years, with no UVA/Tech connection outside of his children.
My sister is a UVA Engineering grad, albeit in a vastly different field.
He'll tell anyone and everyone that he'll never hire a UVA engineer
Or maybe he did and those are the academics he is looking for. . .
You really cant knock a kid for going to a school to play football for academic purposes. Let's not kid ourselves, UNC is still a top 30 school academically. Academic perception is important, its why UVA has been able to recruit so well even though their team has been a trainwreck. Not to say VT is a slouch, were clearly the best school. Period. End (ill miss that about Loeffler #sadface)
That being said, I like what Fuente is about, anyone who says "I care more about the next 40 years than the next 4 years for these men" has got to perk some moms ears. Add that to his academic reputation and graduation rate at Memphis and I think its something that will continue the "Beamer" Way for Virginia Tech.
Not knocking him for wanting to go to a school for academics, but let's not pretend he's going to Stanford here. As long as the dark cloud of scandal, academic probation, and possible NCAA violations hang over Chapel Hill, the word "academics" does not describe a positive feature of UNC. They still have their historical perception, but that isn't the image of today.
I thought I read somewhere that the UNC could loose some accreditation. That's a pretty gigantic hit to any school's academics. Not sure if it still has legs though.
UNC is currently under the harshest probation possible short of actual loss of accreditation. I linked an article a long time ago, but it is actually significant news for their administration.
I'm sorry, but any ranking that continues to have UNC as a top whatever school academically after their gaucheries is bullshit.
I gave this comment a leg specifically for the use of the word "gaucheries".
how is it that every student and alumni isn't up in arms about this? They basically cheapened the value of their degrees
I know some alumni that are pissed. A good friend of mine has a graduate degree from UNC, one he worked very hard for. To see the reputation of UNC be tarnished in this way made him very angry. He got a fundraising phone call from the school and he told them UNC wouldn't get a dime from him until the mess was cleaned up.
Good for him!
Funny addition to that story: the poor undergrad in the call center got a lesson that night, too. My friend got a Ph.D. at UNC. After refusing to give a donation, the undergrad literally said to him, "bro, do you know how they pay all those grad students?" Number 1: do not address someone you're soliciting for money as "bro." Number 2: know what the hell you're talking about. My friend proceeded to educate the young man about grant funding structures and how grad students are actually paid, and how grad students are actually responsible for generating much of the data that brings in those grants. Reading his account of the conversation was absolutely comical.
Haha..wow.
While some alumni are pissed, living in Raleigh and working with a lot of them, believe me when I say most of them are convinced academic fraud happens everywhere, and they were just unfairly singled out.
I'm happy that the 4* DEs are pretty stoked! I think with this new fervor with recruiting we can start landing these players. Either way I really believe Fuente will get the right new Hokies and I'm excited for the upcoming seasons
I feel good about recruiting moving forward. Spread offense will attract talent, Fuente is young and could be here for a long time, removing the coach stability pitch that has been used against us as Beamer got older. Foster, Wiles, TG sticking around is also excellent for the aforementioned reason.
Don't want to Be a Hokie, leaves room for someone who does. Maybe think he is a little afraid of competition as well. Some of these DBs decomits make me scratch my head since the coaches are still in place that they where going to play for pre Fuente. So maybe they where never really onboard but just waiting on a better offer in their mind, example the Pride kid. He has been wavering ever since he verbaled. Got tired of hearing it personally. Plenty of room for Fuente and staff to get some top kids on board who are talented as well AND REALLY WANT TO BE HOKIES.
that's kind of like saying a guy is a perfectly good salesman if he only sells to people who already wanted his product anyway. I know you have to give up on a kid at some point, but it is the job of recruiters to approach kids who don't want to be hokies and sell them on the program until they change their minds.
This is true. But, there are also die hard Chevy guys that will never ever buy a Ford. You have to know when to cut bait and focus on the ones that can be sold. With that said, sounds like all the ones mentioned in this article would still fall under the category of potential successes.
I think the assistants limit was part of the reason that the Cornell Brown news came so fast, they were trying to get that number as low as possible to make the NCAA exemption a little easier.
On another note, sorry Liberty, but I hope the Hokies hang half a hundred on you in the first Fuente football game to really grab the 2017 class' attention.
I wouldn't expect to score 50 in Fuente's first game. Settin' yourself up for disappointment IMO
I don't expect it, but I can hope for it. I don't think its crazy to think that Virginia Tech could score 50 on a team like Liberty, we should be a few classes above them in terms of talent.
I live near the school and graduated from there. There is a possibility that no matter who was coaching that a high point total could happen. LU is losing some key guys this year and it could be rough sledding next year. I could be wrong though.
I think it would be awesome to score 50. I don't think it'll happen. New scheme. New face at QB. New coaches trying to get used to players for the first time and Vice versa. This is the first game situation these coaches will be in with these players. There are bound to be hiccups. It's fortunate we have a tune-up game before the Battle at Bristol.
I also think the offense will be really vanilla for a few reasons. 1) Don't want to overwhelm the players. Get them used to the basics early and often. 2) We shouldn't have to do anything special to beat Liberty. We have way more talent. 3) Don't want to show UT too many looks. I would expect some trickery and unseen formations in the UT game. With an extremely inexperienced offense playing in their second game of a new regime we'll need all the help we can get to beat Tennessee.
All that being said, this team dropped 50+ on Purdue last year...so I guess it could happen. Only time will tell. I won't be upset or calling for Fuente's head if we win an ugly game in the neighborhood of 20-3. It's the first game in a new system and there will be growing pains. We're not going to turn into a prolific offensive team over night. I won't be surprised if it doesn't even happen in 2016. I wouldn't start expecting to see high point totals in our games until 2017 at the earliest. I'll be extremely pleasantly surprised if I'm wrong.
I don't think it will take to long to get a three touchdown lead, just run it up the gut on them. Then we can practice some basic formation and work on discipline. I'm not saying 50 points but this one could be over by the mid of the second quarter if we really wanted it to be based of the knowledge of the Liberty team coming in next year.
If they want to impress some recruits, beat Tennessee.
can't stop watching the neck rolls
(And this is not a knock on Angie Harmon. More like showing that even attractive people have bad angles sometime)
wow...thanks for pointing that out. Now I can't unsee that.
I saw Angie Harmon in person and she is stunning....must just be a bad angle.
I wonder if some of the DB decommits are because of how well our young DBs started playing towards the end of the season. Maybe the path to the field is looking a lot tougher, then when they first committed. Fuller's injury and Reavis's departure got the young guys some valuable experience. Alexander in particular looks poised to be starting the next 3 years.
Alexander, Edmunds, Stroman, and Mook all have bright futures in our secondary.
I don't think so Clark and Fuller will only be here for one more year max. I am impressed with How Alexander, Strohman, Edmunds have improved this year
Fix that for you.
This made me realize that we haven't heard a lot about Mook this year.
He played a decent amount. Played in every game and started 2 games. Not hearing his name that much could be seen as a good thing.
I didn't notice Mook in a lot of man coverage situations, but where he stood out to me was in run support. Dude can tackle!
I don't recall seeing him play much in the last couple of games, though.
He was definitely on the field during the UVA game. Almost positive he was there in the 4th quarter which means Bud reallt trusts him.
Nah, I don't think stud recruits really believe they will be beat out.
The last 5 years should show that if anything, depth at DB has been problematic and that we've had a ton of injuries at that position.
Exum, Faycson, both Fullers, Michael Cole, have all been taken out of significant playing time. I look at what we have right now and think, oh shit.
I don't really understand how some recruits are skeptical of a new head coach hire. The program has been fairly average for 3-4 years now, and we bring in some new young blood and respected offensive coaches while keeping the defensive coaches and tradition. If I were a recruit on either side of the ball, I'd be ecstatic, even though I would miss Beamer as well.
Seriously.
I get that Beamer is a legend, but this is an upgrade on the offensive and special teams side, and the defensive side is the same.
The odds of success overall just went up.
Plus, Beamer isn't completely gone....he'll be there in his admin position. Considering the type person he is, I'm sure he'd open his door for grandfatherly advice to players in search of it.
Things look really bad with Dickerson
Why?
Probably because he visited Auburn and FSU in the last week.
Definitely a challenge for the new staff.
He just announced his top 3 and we were not one of those three schools, he also hasn't set a date for an official visit to VT.
Ouch.
This was published November 1st by Steve Wiltfong on 247 (free) right after Beamer's announcement. It's been known for a while that it's down to FSU and Auburn.
Link: What's Potentially Next for Hokies Recruiting
I'd say he got it right regarding the state of VT recruiting.
This is clearly something that needs to be fixed in a big way.
The article contradicts itself in order to try to make a point. How is it that the ratings have remained consistent, yet the recent mediocrity is due to losing high profile players?
The mediocrity has little to due with losing 1 or 2 high profile players...it mostly has to do with whiffing in 2011 & 2012 with the classes that the recruiting services rated as normal for VT. And that was compounded by the injury bug that mostly eluded VT for many years being particularly bad at key positions and/or key players the last 3 years. But those things don't make for good copy.
While VT has done an OK job with recruiting overall, they've done this with highly-rated three star players while whiffing badly on some of the highly-rated players in Virginia. Those players are highly-rated because they're considered "game changers", would have filled positions of need at VT, and some publicly stated they were VT leans. So while VT has been consistent with overall recruiting rankings, they've failed regarding some particular impact players that might have reasonably been expected to enroll at VT.
I think it's more important to have an overall quality to the recruiting class (See VT vs UVa -- UVa sometimes gets good ratings, but they also have some lower-rated three start and even two star players, where VT often has a lot of pretty highly-rated three star players), but getting those impact players also makes a difference.
Just look at the results on the field, as they are affected by recruiting misses in positions of need. The misses on the O-Line and linebackers were eventually reflected on the field.
I think this is what the article is saying, and they're right about it.
Yes, but VT's miss rate on elite recruits and the positions at which it has missed is largely unchanged.
The root cause of the slide is not missing on 1 or 2 "game-changers" - a misnomer because other than perhaps QB, there really is no such thing as one individual player being a "game-changer". Everyone seems to only notice the guys VT doesn't get and conveniently forget that Kendall Fuller was an elite recruit - a "game changer" if you will. Yet when he played in every game last year...7-6. When not healthy and missing almost the entire season this year...likely 7-6.
The root cause is that the number of players (in '11 & '12 in particular) who were expected to be solid or better performers that simply did not pan out at all was quite high. If those classes each get 3 or 4 more contributors, VT is likely still the program to beat in the Coastal division.
The root cause of the slide is not missing on 1 or 2 "game-changers" - a misnomer because other than perhaps QB, there really is no such thing as one individual player being a "game-changer".
If those classes each get 3 or 4 more contributors, VT is likely still the program to beat in the Coastal division.
These two points contradict each other. The second statement is basically what the article is arguing. Elite players do make a difference. They're not the only factor, but they are a factor. You can be a pretty good team with good coaching, but if you want a championship team, you're going to need the best coaching AND the best players.
Whiffing on 3-4 really good players does make a difference, unless you can find 3-4 other good players to replace them with. It's going to be difficult to win the ACC Coastal if the other teams in the ACC Coastal are consistently out-recruiting you.
The entire concept of the NFL draft, and all those millions paid to the best players (even if some of them don't pan out) means that there are a lot of people think that a few really good players can make a difference in results.
Nitpick: per common recruiting parlance, "game-changer" and "contributor" mean very different things, so his argument is not contradictory. A game-changer is a 5* kid, immediate impact and top talent. A contributor is a 3* kid, expected to populate the 2-deep and play a role. We whiffed big-time at the contributor level for a while, hence a cobbled-together offense, O-line, etc.
Feel free to nitpick. Your point is well-taken.
VT has done great with the 3* kids. Even the top-rated 3* kids. I still think that some of those 4-and-5 star kids would have made a difference. Losing Fuller and Brewer this year made a difference. They're both game-changer type guys. When you're playing the better teams, and playing them close, you need those kinds of guys.
If I had to pick between team cohesion and highly-rated players, I'd pick team cohesion. If I had to pick between highly-rated players that our coaches want, and settling for their second-choice, I'd rather get the players our coaches want.
If Carolina and Miami are getting higher-rated players AND have good coaching, they're going to be the teams to beat in the ACC Coastal.
I think we'll see a difference going forward. Whit did a great job with this hire.
That's his point though, the drop off isn't because we stopped getting elite players, it's because we had two classes (2010 and 2011) with almost no contributors. We've done great with 3* kids in the past, but when you don't do that for two years, the team is in a world of hurt for 4 seasons. Most of the starters right now are freshmen and sophomores (or transfers) playing over juniors/seniors, illustrating how poorly those recruiting classes went.
There are some freshmen and sophomores starting, but the younger guys who win starting positions are generally higher-rated recruits. Kendall Fuller, Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips were very well-regarded recruits with multiple offers.
People can argue about the accuracy of the recruiting ratings, and some players don't work out, but the fact is that recruiting does matter, and getting better players (however you assess that) is reflected in the results on the field.
Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips were not elite recruits.
They were the borderline 3*/4* solid recruits that VT has historically thrived on (and will likely always rely on) -- and are precisely the type of recruits that VT whiffed on in 2010/2011.
Yep, we need to hammer down on those contributors. There is no magic formula for the elite recruits, but the most consistent draw is winning. So, from a time management standpoint, we must focus the recruiting efforts on the 3-4 star guys until we have something we can sell the 5 star guys.
Any context to justify this?
He just announced his top 3 and we were not one of those three schools, he also hasn't set a date for an official visit to VT.
you really only have to respond to one of the comments. Everyone can still see it
dickerson and searels were very very close.. i'm expecting he ends up at Auburn
The thing that we all know is that we need to win the big recruits instate, and start landing more in a wider out of state region. To win the in-state kids and keep them from leaving for FSU, Bama and the like we need to be winning and be an attractive system. I think Fuente brings that, and we all believe Fuente Foster aka Fuesterball is gonna be something special.
So the question is how does Fuente get in recruits to ensure we start winning and hopefully in style like his Memphis team was. And I think this is one of the most exciting things from my perspective. This guy knows how to recruit. And by that I mean, he knows how to evaluate the 2 and 3 star kids and pick out the gems. We all want those crazy 5 stars but its gonna take Fuente plugging some holes with overlooked talent to get to the point where those 5 stars are wanting to all come to the burg. And fortunately on top of his evaluation skills, Fuente and staff bring in new territory. We are no longer limited to the few diamonds int he rough in VA. He seems to have the inroads for those in OK, TX, TN and elsewhere which means it hopefully will be easier for the Hokies to become a complete team for once. A team that looks great, except for depth at WR... except for LBs... except for young DEs... except for etc, etc.
So excited about that. I can't wait to see the team roster over the next couple years and see 5 to 10 kids from middle america to combine with VA and our normal pipeline talent.
I think I like fonteball better that fuesterball.
don't really disagree but in my logic the HC name must go before the coordinators name.
Only problem I have with "Fuesterball" is that it sounds like "fester," which...ew.
agree. makes me think of this guy as well
but HC should come first. still a working title for now. Looking for something better.
JustBudBall?
Oh, yeah, I remember that.
Still don't understand Greenberg's firing, but oddly, I think VT will ultimately be better off.
I gave him more letters...lol.
Bustinballs should be a thing too.
I don't like either of them...
Let us not give into temptation...for we know the value of individual achievement in team sports as well...Instead we'll be the Shi-best-damn-team on the field when we play special teams, play Fuenteball with Vice-Squad running point to score, and Fosterball on defense...we all love watching the Wiles-and-Grazies...and after-all, Fosterball is Australian for give me the damn ball...
I love it, but that's gonna be a monster to get out when I'm at the bottom of my bottle of Bourbon
CJF was in Winston-Salem to talk to Divine Deablo on Wednesday. I was surprised he came down here so quickly--figured he would spend the entire week in the Commonwealth.
That's awesome.
I would say he is trying to make sure the commits we already have are locked down before going after commits to other schools or uncommitted recruits
I think I share the sentiment with many others that the wins and an offense that is putting up bigger numbers/getting lots of skill players involved is going to sell itself for our offensive recruiting, and the winning will help sell those defensive players we have been whiffing on too. Kids like to win, its an undeniable attraction.
Rumor Lon'trelle Miller might be ready to commit.
How he doesn't have an offer. Maybe Preferred Walk-On?
http://247sports.com/Recruitment/LonTrelle-Miller-90795/RecruitInterests
Since when did not having an offer stop kids from declaring?
lol
Edit: Sorry, I know I'm not supposed to do that.
HUDL
A few offers but currently listed as a Boise State commit...
247 Page Here
Edit: A quick scroll shows Boise State is the 3rd team he's committed to out of his 7 offers...
That is quite a few JUCO offers out right now. Paging Choppin Wood, didn't you say the ACC limits numbers of JUCO kids per year? So what happens when more than number of JUCO kids commit?
I had the same question but as I was starting to google it I couldn't help but to notice the very deep questions that others have had about football and I felt compelled to share...
Well.....I am waiting.
What does a football player do if he has to poop??
Ask Adam Lane, former Florida RB
To Lane's credit, he crapped himself against ECU.
We have multitudes of players who have crapped themselves against ECU since 2007.
As far as I can tell the only restrictions are on JUCO's that aren't academic qualifiers. If they JUCO for other reasons then there is no limit.
I didn't see any mention of Fuente placing a call to Drew Harris....
No need to call him...He's already enrolled...I have a cousin that has a couple of friends who know a guy that has chemistry with him. He'll be the lead back this year for sure.
I am glad they have chemistry together.....sounds like they will be happy together. (not judging)
Sapulpa, Oklahoma RB 6'1" 220 lbs currently committed to SMU.
Hudl Highlights
6'1" 220 lbs.
That is exactly the same size as Drew Harris...he will fill in nicely until Drew can get his grades together.
wrong.. Drew was only 210 jeeze get your ish together/S
Are you quoting his weight when he committed to VT or his weight when he committed to the Brooklyn JUCO or at UMASS?
The real question we should be asking, does drew Harris actually exist?
Drew-ception?
(And no, my name is not Drew...)
Hard to get anything from his Hudl highlights. Competition seems lacking. I guess if Chad Morris wants him, that's a good thing.
A few excerpts from an article I remembered reading a few months back as Memphis began their run.
Just 35 at the time of his hire, Fuente had spent the previous five seasons at TCU first as its running backs coach (2007-08) and then its co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach ('09-11). After watching his previous team surge up the Mountain West standings and realign into the Big 12, Fuente wanted to apply the same methods in Memphis and build a turnaround on relationships and what he calls a "factory-worker" mentality. "We wanted to identify with the blue-collar, roll-your-sleeves-up [personality]," Fuente says. "We're not into the fancy wine, women and song and moon and stars that you see in college football."
But in early January, the coach landed Jacob Karam, a transfer from Texas Tech. Still, he wasn't ready to stop putting out feelers for potential talent. "We are the program that's got to look underneath the rocks," Fuente says.
This sounds familiar. Entire article here
Haven't seen this yet, but seems another UF commit (JaQuan Bailey) is in the sites of Fuente:
http://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/372607#comment-372607
Drink, have one for me since I'm about to take my math final in an hour.