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Chase Pine is telling Pitt reporters he is still committed to the Panthers.
Although, he did tell them he wouldn't make an official visit to Virginia Tech (and he did).
That sucks. Hopefully we can pull Carter and/or Ross then. Getting some stud MLBs has to be a priority next year besides RB.
When I can get off my iPad I'll try and embed it but he has been retweeting VT and Pitt stuff for a few days now.
Looks like he's recently followed Stroman and Ricky Walker....but the rest is a ton of Pitt stuff.
Haven't seen any VT stuff on his twitter. Seems to be all Pitt.
He retweeted Stromans tweet gif showing that hit in the LOLUVA game with the "4000 days and counting"
So he made a friend on his visit. His Twitter feed is nothing but Pitt love otherwise. Ship has sailed.
Wouldn't say "ship has sailed" because you know...'crootin. But it would be very surprising if he was a Hokie. More telling that on his twitter he is retweeting things to try and get #DamarToPitt who commits tonight.
Damar Hamlin is a bigger get for Pitt than Pine, they also have good shot with Keyshon Camp out of Florida. The Duzz making a mark in the burgh. If hey get those 2 and Pine they will have heck of a class.
Yea it would be a shocker if he flips but you never know.
He has said recently he was solid with Pitt, so I don't think there is any reason to get excited about that deal. That ship has sailed. Just sayin.
Thank you Joe for starting a new thread for February and reminding me that it's a new month and I need to write my rent check.
Oof my roommate hit me up for that this morning. Way to start up a week...
Don't forget that your landlord sold the property to me. Let me know if you need my address for your rent check.
You guys think we have any chance to flip Tomon Fox?
According to a 247 bolt (Free) where Belmar was interviewed, Tomon Fox is sitting down and talking with his parents this week. Was quoted as saying "Wish I had made it up to Blacksburg sooner." His decision is expected to be made on NSD. Might not know until the LOI is in.
Edit:
Appears Fox is thinking hard. Hope he has time to think it through which I think would lead to a flip to the good guys.
This late in the game I think you're correct. Hopefully some of the Hokies staff caught wind of his impression and are going after him.
I'm honestly impressed by how coach Fuente and his staff have been busting their humps to meet these players and get visits. He started off so late in the recruitment cycle and filled in for a legendary coach, those aren't easy shoes to fill and it can be off-putting to recruits. Future looks bright my friends
EDIT: Looks like he's really thinking this over. If we landed him I assume we'd still have room for Bailey
EDIT 2: Let this be a reminder to NOT tweet at recruits.
EDIT 3: This is why you don't tweet them
Agreed might be too late to the game for this one as well. Especially hard that we are in a dead period now, but I believe you can call players who you have sent NLI to, and I would believe Fox is getting one just in case.
All in all, Fuente and co. was putting into a very deep hole for this cycle and are doing a pretty good job of trying to dig themselves out, just might not have big enough shovels.
Again you're spot on. I think they made chicken salad this year (not from Beamer era issues but from a changing of the guard) and I think this level of effort earlier in the game is gonna win us some sought after talent.
Agreed. Some serious talent in the state for the 2017 cycle. Have to hope we aren't too far behind the ball there. A solid chance to bring some top tier talent.
We seem pretty high on some player's lists already. I'm excited to see how the coaching staff does the next few cycles. All I've been finding is praise from players and HS coaches
Absolutely. I have loved seeing the staff reach out to the younger guys over the last month. You would think with coming in 1-2 months until NSD that they would be scrapping just to reach 2016 guys but I love seeing the staff going ahead and laying the ground work for the upcoming years.
Jesus why do fans think they can talk to anyone like that?
Because they're self-entitled shits that are bandwagonning a winning team since they couldn't get into that school if they tried.
It's all good though they have the Caps, Pats, and Warriors to look forward too if these recruits don't sign with them
you spelled panthers wrong
Oh yea I forgot about the flood of "Panthers fans" that have shown up this year.
I was born in Winston-Salem and grew up in Charlotte, never have I seen us as a bandwagon team until this team and it's annoying. I now live in DC and everyone thinks I'm a tool for rocking my gear.
that's interesting. I've gotten the impression that DC is such a melting pot and overloaded with transplants that there wouldn't be much hostility towards other teams' fans...maybe just me though..I don't walk around in pro gear so I'm not subjected to the same scrutiny you probably get
I don't think most people here aren't used to Panthers fans. Hell it was only like 38% support in a poll 2 years ago in NC so it's not surprising that people question it here.
I earned this shit man I cheered for Chris Weinke
X(
I'm having flashbacks to Brent.
Oh dear Lord, that year suuuuuuucked. Win the first game ti give you hope and then proceed to kick you in the balls for the next 15 straight games because it would be fun. You knew it was bad when Rodney Peete was a desperate upgrade. Only thing that could have been worse would be to draft and start Jimmy Clausen. Nobody could potentially be that stupid, amirite?
But seriously though, I don't mind the bandwagon. Means the team has 'arrived'. My only hope is that they quickly become one of those teams that nationwide, everyone loves to hate, because you don't reach that status without kicking everyone's ass enough times to be hated.
... ain't that the truth. We all wondered what Marty Herney could possibly be thinking- but that was exceeded only by the stupidity of the Browns drafting Johnny Football
To be fair, I will always consider the drafting of Jimmy to be one of the best things to happen to the Panthers... Because if he didn't fall to the 2nd round where Hurney was salivating on using that first draft pick on him, there's absolutely no way we would have sucked enough in that 2010 season to be in a position to draft Cam #1.
Haha- yes, how true... a good glass half full view of what was a really pathetic situation. It felt like we were watching UVA football.
Remember when they franchise tagged the punter?
Ah memories....
Meh, the Panthers aren't alone in that sort of thing. It's pretty common to put the tag on a kicker or punter if you have the intent to sign a long term deal and you have no other need for the tag otherwise. I know the Ravens did it not long ago either.
The rest of that stuff was obviously a mess, except for 1st round draft picks.
That was a brand new account that just began tweeting. It may be someone trolling. I wouldn't put it past certain people to take sabotaging a program into their own hands.
Sorry, not seeing anywhere it is free. Would you link, please? {on Fox]
If you download the 247Sports Bolt app (Free in App Store for iPhone) then bolts are free on your phone.
https://n.rivals.com/news/road-to-nsd-five-who-could-flip
Dylan Powell got the dreaded Evan Watkins Crystal Ball to some other school than VT (Stanford.) It was expected that he would pick Stanford, his "dream school," after they offered little over a week ago.
Watkins is pretty dialed in to the VT coaching staff, generally he is a reflection of their internal barometer.
I saw Stanford flipped an o-lineman that was a Michigan commit. I hoped that might fill them at the position.
You, and Stanford especially, can never have too many OL
Yeah. Wishful thinking on my part
I really hope we can land Belmar and Bailey, flip Fox, and a hopefully land a few others. This isn't a show-stopper recruiting class but it is reflecting an adrenaline shot to our recently stagnant recruiting and landing some of these what-if guys will be a step in the right direction as we have missed out on so many guys we were in the top 2-3-4 with. Hopefully a solid turn around in the win column this season will help our 2017 recruiting keep moving in an even more positive direction.
Belmar is already committed to VT.
Aware of that, but we don't have the NLI yet.
There is no way Belmar flips, he is the one driving recruitment of Fox to VT
We are focusing on the wrong part here. It was moreso a comment on the picture of the 4 guys who Fuente took to the airport. I included him because he was one of the guys in the picture. Regardless, I don't think we will lose him, context might not make that clear. Belmar's name was the least important part of my comment.
According to ESPN.com Tyrell Pigrome picked Tulane, but 247Sports still has him as undecided...
Saw that his HS teammate picked Tulane, but haven't seen anything regarding Ty yet.
I wonder if that's a goof on ESPN's part. Pigrome's teammate, A.J. Walker, committed to Tulane yesterday, but as far as I know, Piggy was wrapping up his visits over the weekend and hasn't committed anywhere.
Maryland seems to be going after him hard. If he is set on playing QB, Maryland is probably his best bet since they have nothing at the position
Apparently Maryland got a QB this weekend....
http://247sports.com/Player/Max-Bortenschlager-75772
He retweeted his teammate's commitment to Tulane. May have mixed that up.
EDIT: and everyone responds at the same time!
A few folks in the know in Blacksburg think Fox is VT. But UNC folks thing he stays...so ..who the eff knows...I think he is VT. Ross is the one that I have not heard anything about....
Pigrome was at MD and then went up to Penn State the same day apparently....not sure what that means. Wiggins feels good about him coming to VT but MD is dying for him so we shall see.....
Because of the dead period Pigrome could only spend a few hours at Penn State and he doesn't have an offer to my knowledge
Belmar and Fox are very close friends beyond just typical teammates. I believe Fox is leaning VT and Bailey is pretty solid. D'Andre Plantin is also close with Belmar and Fox from HS days.
I don't know if Fox will announce before signing day or not though. I personally think Durr might be the next of the "Fuente Four" to commit this week but that's just a guess.
Disclaimer: Opinion. I am not a member of any recruiting service or message board other than TKP.
Fox is supposed to announce on national signing day.
And typically if you are making an announcement when you are already committed to a certain school, that usually means you end up signing with a different school.
That's not always the case. Some kids announce a signing day decision because they want their moment (good for them) and sometimes there one or two schools in the mix for some intrigue.
Yeah, literally after I posted it I remembered Mook had an announcement for solely the moment as well. It appears that Fox is basically down to two schools so I guess we'll see.
Thanks. Appreciate your info. I am very impressed with the staff's efforts post-snowpocalypse. Imo, this close-out says a lot about the recruiting possibilities.
FWIW bailey back in duval yesterday wearing all VT gear to school. a sign for the good guys!
wells who goes to the same school as bailey was rocking all UF gear. I think hes pretty solid to UF (not because of his choice of outfit) but I hope bailey is in his ear and he flips at the last min.
Got to like his last couple tweets.
:D
Haven't heard anything about Ross, even during his visit. Anything on this front?
Alex is set to talk with him today.
Saw Alex reaching out to a few. Looking forward to it.
You guys at TKP are the best, you know? Thanks for all you do!
Ross was sick all weekend so who knows if he enjoyed his visit. Hopefully Ford talked some sense into him since that was his host.
All my #sources are secondhand, so anything I'd purport to know? I don't "know". With that said: I feel like I have a fairly good idea defensively. Offensively, not so much.
Pigrome seems to be generally trending to us, but Maryland still in it. Is there any traction to the notion that Rick Wells could follow Bailey to the good guys? Also looking for info on Tyree Rodgers, and hoping like hell we can snag one of these undecided OL (Powell, Pridgeon, even Dickerson).
And speaking of OL, can someone explain the Austin Cannon situation to me?
Thanks in advance - and thanks to the TKP brain trust for all their hard work.
Don't think we are in it at all for Pridgeon and/or Dickerson.
Austin Cannon was given a preferred walk-on position. Coaches were extremely impressed with him through the first week of winter workouts. 6'3" 300 lbs.
Figured - I would just feel so much better with one more OL.
Saw that Cannon is a load - maybe he'll end up being a dude. Here's hoping.
I actually think it is the opposite Rodgers/Durr/Ross/Fox are in the air although the former two are likely trending hokies offensively Pigrome seems to be the only realistic target left Wells and Powell seem like serious stretches
Not hearing much good news on Ross, and literally nothing on Rodgers (we have a thread dedicated to him but everyone there is still - STILL - talking about "trolls") but everything I've heard on Durr and Fox has been encouraging.
Re Wells - we have a WR-rich class so far (not even counting ATHs). He'd be the cherry on top of that group, but if we miss it wouldn't be the end of the world IMO. And yeah, Stanford is a tough school to beat esp if it's Powell's dream school. It would just be terrific to close on a big wish-list guy. Sets a nice precedent for the CJF Era. Thanks guys
Wells is solid with Florida after his visit this past weekend there according to Gator Country
Happy he ended up at Florida. From what I heard, at one point he wasn't a take for the Gators, then they missed on some prospects higher up on their board, and now they'll accept his LOI. Typical 'Crutin.
Rodgers cancelled his OV to Rutgers after his visit to Tech, seems like that means he is either committing to VT or sticking with ODU. Gotta think VT is in good shape here
I'm sure this has been talked about on her before, but what position is Rodgers projected to? 247 and Rivals have him as an athlete.
Offensive Weapon
DB
LB Riley Cole decommitted from Bama after they asked him to grey shirt a couple days ago. I see we haven't offered him, but we're still pretty thin at LB, right? Any chance he gets a look from the staff?
He got offered by Oklahoma right away
Our Riley just graduated. We could use another.
Has anyone done the math yet, how many open schollies do we have? I see we have 19 current commits including the 8 spring enrollees, is 11 our remaining limit?
Nobody knows, too many factors at play:
- early enrollees can count against last year. No idea how to figure out how many can count against last year.
- current players are transferring. More than Trey Edmunds. Maybe a lot more.
- current commits are greyshirting. Maybe as many as five.
- greyshirt players from last recruiting class (Hoyt, others?) have enrolled.
I really don't expect it will be a problem. We will likely have too few scholarship players this spring, not too many.
Wooo who other than Silas do you think is grey shirting? Maybe Clay Dean?
I believe Silas is prepping, not grey shirting.
http://www.thekeyplay.com/virginia-tech-football-recruiting/2016/01/1151...
End result is the same. Still don't see where we are going to get 4 other guys to greyshirt and/or prep, other than Dean and maybe Carter I guess, every other recruit has other P5 offers even Jackson
Not an issue in my mind. The numbers always work out.
I read this as "has anyone done the meth yet,..." and had to do a double-take
^dingdingdingdingdingdingding
VT Stanford and Iowa State.....expecting Stanford
I think it'll be Stanford as well. Not that it means anything, but he's followed quite a few Stanford commits in the past little bit. It may just mean that he made friends during his visit, but I would still definitely say Stanford. Hope to be surprised though!
EDIT: I didn't think about his announcement being at 8 PM his time. I was went to look at his twitter and didn't see anything.
I feel dumb for not realizing this. Thanks for posting that update.
Since it was so late last night, let me be the bearer of bad news. He ended up with Stanford.
Here is better than anywhere. Gobblertown is reporting that Virginia Tech has hired Matt Transue as Assistant Director of Player Personnel & Recruiting. Matt was formerly with the Memphis Redbirds, which is a St. Louis Cardinal's affiliate teams. Fuente had said there would be one recruiting staff member joining. They are also saying Ally La Rocque is joining as a football recruiting assistant, with her job focusing on logistics. As a reminder until Whit got here we practically had no recruiting support staff
Ally worked in Premium Seating Staff at Virginia Tech from August 2015 until January when she moved into her new role.
Yup and original info is straight from HokieSports.com: http://www.hokiesports.com/staff/#Football.
Ally La Rocque, Recruiting Assistant
Matt Transue, Assistant Director, Player Personnel/Recruiting
Steps in the right direction for staff growth. Joe as someone who has more exposure to the VT program do you see the staff growing even more in the next 12 months? Or this this the size it will be until revenue picks up?
We don't have the budget to have an Alabama, Ohio State or Texas sized support staff, but Babcock told Koma in his interview he would give Fuente time to evaluate his staff and would add positions Fuente deemed necessary.
Also, I believe there's diminishing returns when it comes to throwing more and more bodies at recruiting. The message, product, branding, and culture all have to be right too.
I agree. We don't necessarily need to have a staff as beefy as some other places, but I think these hires put us where we need to be, its at least in the right direction.
I'll say it. Whits the best hire Virginia Tech has made since Frank.
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/recaps/20160202aaa.html
Official announcement from VT about new staff.
Interesting acrticle with actual statistical breakdown of players' star ratings and team/player success
http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/signing-day-recruiting-r...
I thought the last point about how rankers are actually better than they used to be was particularly interesting.
Also a good one about how higher star rankings mean more for the defensive side of the ball - http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2016/2/1/10867816/nc...
Rankings are better than they used to be. But I feel like people miss the boat when they write these articles...Yes as a whole the system works, but nobody is looking at the system as a whole. They look at individual recruits or an individual class or an individual team.
People have not all of a sudden misunderstood statistics they just understand its not used in the same context as other statistical analysis. Its like if you were looking at global unemployment rates and then pulling out one particular individual from one individual country in one particular year and declaring that one person to be unemployed, or really its like dictating that persons entire life earnings based solely off their country of origin. It doesn't work that way, you may as well just flip a coin.
Don't get me wrong I like the ratings and I think they are meaningful, but they are subjective and aren't meant to be necessarily looked at as absolutes. They are endorsements, a pretty solid endorsement Id say, from people who have a really strong perspective of talent, especially across a particular years pool. But the context of it, any rating system that declares potential of a 17-18 year old kid is always going to have serious external factors and flaws, its just the nature of it.
I think Jarrod Hewitt is a perfect example, nationally maybe he doesn't fit into most teams schemes, but I think hes a huge get, and one name to watch for based off Bud's system. I think coaches look at kids, they see their attitudes and they see their potential of where they COULD be and ratings look more at kids of where they currently are.
Just my take. Thanks for the share; it is a good article, the data is well packaged and easy to digest. ..
Happy Signing Day yawllll.
Edit: So apparently today is in fact a Tuesday and not Wednesday - I was wondering why there was such little coverage...sighhh.
Because speculation is fun.
hm. doesn't look too good since that's a Pitt twitter..
That's the update on Pine that PghSportsNow posted. Not behind a paywall, hope thats within the rules, Joe!
Was just about to post. Keep in mind that he told PittGuru "H2P for life," earlier today. Could just be tired of answering the question.
As solid as he looks to Pitt on his twitter, just looks like a kid who conjured up some competition to raise the level of intrigue for NSD.
Good. Because, on a 10-scale, my level of intrigue was only at about 45. #thankschase
H2P is Hokies to Pros, right?
Things getting really interesting with Dominique Ross, probably 50-50 right but he appears to be trending to the good guys.
C'mon baby...
Dylan Powell has committed to Stanford.
No real surprise. Good luck to him.
Vance Vice has his work cut out for him. OL recruiting has to be a focus next year (with RB).
Former VT QB Andrew Ford is going to UMass
Good for him. Glad to see he landed on his feet.
3-hat Monty on signing day for Rick Wells. The Good Guys, Florida & USF
http://virginiatech.247sports.com/Bolt/Wells-to-pick-from-three-43360274
Not holding my breath.
It's just nice to know that he still thinks about us. Sigh.
Good news that he is making a decision instead of earlier reports that he had reaffirmed to Florida.
Likely just wants the attention
Two Crystal Balls in for Ty Pigrome to Maryland from two Maryland insiders. They must believe they have an edge, but this could go either way still.
Ahmed and Jeff believe everything a recruit tells them. They CB Yulee and Beckett to Maryland, said Lindsey Scott and Keandre Jones were locks.
No room to disagree. Their CB don't hold much traction, but figured I'd share.
Even if we miss out on some targets this cycle, I am not going to be too bummed. Fuente had 2 months and he has done a heck of a job in that time. I am looking forward to the 2017 cycle with all the talent we have. If we can improve on the field this fall, I think recruiting will pick up some too.
Seeing the chatter already from the 2017 recruits about VT is pretty nice as well. It always seemed like we waited for most of our recruits to be seniors before we made offers or started recruiting them in most cases. I like that we are getting ahead of the game and beating other programs to the punch in building a relationship and keeping it growing with the new staff members.
I think we've always worked hard on Sophomore and Juniors. What I'm seeing is that our new "brand" is interesting to the kids. Beamerball as a brand had become quite stale. A lot of these kids will make their decisions prior to Fuente ever coaching a VT game, so it will still be tough to compete with Bama and Clemson (like with Crosby out of Ocean Lakes) when Fuente selling what Sarah Palin would call "hopey-changey."
It's reasonable to see recruiting improvement this year, but I doubt we reach our optimum level until we show progress on the field.
Building on this, did we lose any recruits who were committed prior to Fuente's hiring? I know we lost the punter Long, but I think he committed to Fuente and then decommitted, yes?
I think it can't be overstated how big an accomplishment it was to keep every commit to the former regime in place. Especially kids like Josh Jackson, who by all appearances was committing to Lefty moreso than to Virginia Tech.
We lost Victor Greene and Myles Wolfolk.
Pretty sure Wolfolk decommitted before Fuente came. Greene was let go from my understanding
Victor Greene decommitted because his scholarship was not likely to be renewed with Fuente, Myles Wolfolk flipped to UNC, and Phillip Patterson decommitted but then recommitted a month later.
And I guess we didn't regain Troy Pride. He told TKP a few times he'd recommit to Tech as long as Torrian Gray was back, but he opted for Notre Dame. Really can't fault Fuente for it though. Honestly, I don't think we can fairly judge Fuente's recruiting prowess until the 2018 class. I hope to see an uptick in 2017, then real progress the following year.
I think this is fair. I have to believe that if we see an improvement on the field that will yield positive results on the recruiting trail.
2017 Ocean Lakes 4-star DT Eric Crosby released an early top five in no particular order.
Go'On Clemson get outchyea, Go'ON GIT!
I dont like the thought of them having a strong foothold in the 757, Florida State already has been pushing in.
We have to get the turkey emoji out there, even some of the coaches don't use it.
Some tough company we're going up against.
Well, we play Tennessee next year, Clemson in the ACCCG, and Bama in the NCG. I see us beating 3/4 this coming year and we beat NCState last year. Easy get for us. /s
If this happened I would explode
Yeesh... this 2016 recruiting year is a brutal one for us. I know we're going to pick up a quality kid or three but for the most part, this likely isn't going to go down as one of our best years. I just hope its not too big a step backwards, though all the recruiting hits we've had in recent years should be able to help.
Don't get me wrong, all the faith in the world that we're going to be playing and recruiting at a high level down the line, but this definitely feels like a bit of a step backwards after the hop skip and jump forwards with the Fuente hire.
Sure, but imagine how bad it would be if Beamer didn't retire. We have a really good shot with guys like Tomon Fox, Dominique Ross, Coney Durr, Eron Carter, JaQuan Bailey, Tyree Rodgers, Ty Pigrome, and possibly guys like Chase Pine and Rick Wells. Comparing us to where we were a couple months ago, we appear to be in a much better position than most Tech fans expected us to be at NSD.
There were always late positive surprises under Beamer and there's no reason to think there wouldn't have been any this year.
Recruiting under Beamer was trending down this year, no reason to believe it would not have continued to do so until NSD.
People say that every year. But if it makes you somehow feel better, have at it.
Thanks for the permission.
He had 2 months to win the guys we had and to reach out to anyone else left. Beamer stepping down is a big deal because no one knew what coaches were going to remain. Those are the guys building the relationship with these kids. In the time that we're figuring out our staff these kids, rightfully so, are going to be looking around as a backup plan and sometimes they find a different path. To me this whole cycle is just "whatever happens, happens." The step back is completely to be expected.
It's all good though this step backwards is part of the process. I think Joe's comment earlier is really on point.
2016: Eh...
2017: Let's see what we can do
2018: The real first test
Absolutely, and I fully agree. I know bringing in a top class this year would have been too much to ask, but man, definitely seems like we're getting slapped around pretty decently right now. I mean, I remember when Fedora got hired at UNC and they didn't really miss a beat recruiting-wise, and right now, it just seems like we quickly resigned to the fact that this was essentially a burned class.
And I kind of disagree with 2017. We are not in a position where we can afford 2 bad classes in a row. That happened in 2010 and 2011 and eventually cost Frank Beamer his job. Next year, our recruiting must find its way or we're in for some long years down the line.
I guess what I'm most concerned with is that we didn't really see any changes defensively on our coaching staff, and yet some of our biggest areas of need on that side of the ball aren't really going to be addressed this year. LB is in a dire spot, where we need talent and depth, and we are seemingly missing out left and right. That worries me, because that staff didn't change.
The thing I see with 2017 is yes we should absolutely see an improvement but again these guys have a lot on their plate having JUST been hired. Frank had been there for years, been to the NC, set up a nice streak of 10 win seasons, had a bowl streak, AND was the top of the list in wins. I mean no disrespect to Frank but we should have been landing recruits.
I do think your concern is well warranted. I too am worried that we are taking a step back but I truly believe it'll all go the way we hope.
That's not actually correct as far as Fedora not missing a beat.
According to 247 UNC's recruiting classes have been:
Since Clemson is kind of seen as the prototype right now, let's look at Dabo Swinney's recruiting rankings before and after he started (and keep in mind, he was already on the staff, so he didn't have to deal with building all new relationships)
2007: 17
2008: 10
2009: 31 (Dabo's first class)
2010: 28
2011: 10
...
2016: 9
I think this kind of speaks for itself, even for a guy who is seen as a top recruiter and who elevated his school, his first class was a large drop-off from the previous regime (I can only imagine how nervous Clemson fans were at this point), his second class fared barely any better, and ever since class #3 they've been roughly top 10. I think we're fine.
Well put, and obviously there are plenty of other teams/coaches that have followed that same trend...
However it's this kind of trend that scares me. Obviously here in TKP community we have more educated, rational fans but I'm nervous about how the average fans are going to react. More specifically I'm very nervous as to how the fanbase is going to react if combined with a lower than average recruiting class we don't see improvement in year one. Given the massive amount of question marks going into this coming year I could see a 5 win season just as easy as I could see an 8-9 win season. I hate to even talk like this but how will people react if we start the season with a 2 1/2 score loss to a very good UT team and then struggle through some close games to conclude a 5 win season? This definitely falls on the low end of my expectations (6-7 wins is probably more rational) but I cringe to think of the reactions from the fanbase if this very plausible scenario materializes.
With the amount of talent this team has I would be very disappointed in a 5 win season. But I don't think the fanbases opinion really matters all that much, only Whit's does.
While I agree and would be disappointed if this happened, with basically the same amount of talent this year we were only a few plays away from 5 wins on one side and 7-8 on the other.
And these 29-30th ranked recruits made them in to a top fifteen program from 2012-2014, then a national finalist this year... soooooo recruiting rankings, they'll get after ya.
I think this is an excellent example of framing data (from a small sample) to make a point. You excluded the two previous years top 20 classes and the two years after of top classes. Also that 2010 class had Nuk Hopkins and Tay Bryant, the 2011 class had Stephone Anthony (probably Bud's most heartbreaking miss in his opinion) 5*, Tony Steward 5*, Sammy Watkins 5*, and Mike Bellamy 5*. Soooooo they were definitely landing big time recruits and almost immediately. It's damn near impossible not to correlate Clemson's recruiting surge and overall increase in talent level with their rise.
via GIPHY
Fuente will have to show that he can develop the talent he gets. If he can overachieve with what he has then the more coveted recruits will take note and join. It would be interesting to see how first-time P5 coaches have done with their first recruiting classes compared to what Fuente has done this year.
Regardless of how things pan out tomorrow, I think it's huge that Fuente was able to land Evans and Moore out of the JUCO ranks and get them enrolled early. I think both will end up starting next year. We need to establish a little more depth on the OL and with the receivers, but I honestly felt like we were one good QB away from having a potentially great offense next season. Having such a great QB competition in the spring is going to help us tremendously.
Getting the WRs to enroll early will help a ton too.
I don't think it is a step backwards, just maybe not a step forwards. We appear on paper to have satisfied the need at WR with a heck of a haul there. We snagged some OL which is always nice. We needed some LBs which has been a miss thus far but could possibly change. We reloaded the cupboard with QBs and grabbed a very good looking CB.
We had some misses but I think our success in other areas even out to neutral. If we finish strong we could be in much better shape and next year hopefully we start on the upswing when the staff has a full year.
THIS THIS THIS.
Wow, the swings of emotion! Not sure what specifically spurred the pity party above, but let's tap the brakes a liiiittle bit.
We have THREE 4-star QBs on campus. A stack of RBs. An Isaiah, a Cam, and a Bucky, with a lot more WR talent incoming (or already in). An OL that is on the upswing (need to continue that trend obviously, and the loss of Clark is a bummer).
Clearly LB is an issue - so the staff is pounding LBs/OLBs/WDEs to try and bolster us there.
But we're getting after it. Couldn't be prouder of this staff, given the time limitations. And I couldn't be prouder to be a Hokie...
All while the sky is falling.
The current word on Ross is it is extremely close.
#sauces near to him say he'll be sticking or that he's a VT lean.
It would not only be awesome to flip him and Fox because they are outstanding prospects, but stealing them away from UNC would make it that much more sweeter.
I'd give one year of Joe's life if Ross would flip. Did I tell you I hate Carolina?
As opposed to sticking with UNC, which would be that much more sweater.
~UNC football grad
~UNC Professor, Class for kids who can't read good and want to learn how to do other stuff good too.
I see you're giving them the benefit of the doubt in knowing how to log into a word processor and use it.
Bold strategy
It was written on the notepad in their IPhone and tweeted to the professor
...with 5% battery
Ha! Not even! I copied text from the post above me and pasted it into Google Translate from English to Swahili.
I'd be pumped if we got Pigrome, Fox, and Ross. We especially need guys like Fox and Ross to add some talent at DE and LB.
Flipping Fox and Ross is not only good for the defense from a generic recruiting standpoint but flipping those guys from UNC would be huge as a signal. Think of it as a financial signal, regardless of the reasons, it's a negative signal for a company to not pay dividends if they have been doing so consistently. Flipping two recruits from UNC would be a positive signal for other recruits to notice. I think it would have a great intangible effect on recruiting moving forward.
Thinking that Pigrome will choose Maryland because they are offering him a shot at QB, VT isn't for obvious reasons.
Honestly, I dont blame him. Hes one that I wont be super upset if we miss, I think he honestly should go at least try for QB, he looked really good in his Senior year tape. I mean dont get me wrong Id love to have him, but he might get underutilized here at QB.
Agree. He'd be a nice guy to throw into Fuente's offense though.
Right now I want the DE and LB that are UNC commits. We need help at both positions.
Yep, the dreaded CB landslide has already started happening. Looks like they have sold him on being their savior at QB. Pine's twitter is basically a Pitt bulletin board at this point, so looks grim on that front too. My gut feeling is Ross and Fox end up sticking with UNC as well. I think Durr and Bailey will be Hokies, though.
I was hoping for an early surprise today, I guess all these guys want their day in the spotlight tomorrow.
Expecting 4 new names tomorrow to add to our current commit list. Pretty decent pull overall for Fuente, he came in got kids to re open their eyes and recruiting to give VT a look.
Spring Ball is inching closer and I'm hoping there will be tons more coverage for that than past years.
My 4- Wells Bailey Durr and Rodgers
Carter, Durr, Bailey, Rodgers are the four names I'm assuming you're alluding to.
Give us some names please.
pretty bold prediction adding Wells but not Carter
Carter seemed to be 100% once he got offered so I left him off.
Jaquan Bailey repping VT at school today. Looks like Rick Wells was too.
Good sign Wells was, be surprised still if he picks us
My thought is Wells is just wearing some gear he picked up this weekend. Rumors on Bailey committing seem to be true though. Hope we aren't being mislead.
I think a lot of people would be shcoked if Bailey didn't sign with us
Agreed. Bailey is trying to get Wells to follow suit.
Overall, my mood was a little more reserved a couple days ago, but I think this thread could be a little more confidant than its been today. UNC commits are both realistic shots. Coin toss. Big things coming for this staff.
Harbraughs first class was was ranked 37th. And despite the complaining about Frank's recruiting the 2014 and 2015 class did do a decent job of restocking offensive talent
I hope the UF fans are going nuts though seeing him wear that.
Honestly from my reading of their boards, most assumed he wasn't a take until recently after they had missed out on other higher targets
I guess my question in response to that would be:
"Rick, would you rather be a jewel of VT's 2016 Class, or UF's Consolation Prize?"
JaQuan, you can tell Rick I said that
Could someone translate this for the over 30 crowd?
"Let's see what the lick read tomorrow" is basically "let's see what's good tomorrow." Which combining the caption with the video seems like Bailey saying to Wells that he should commit to VT as well (assuming Bailey will commit).
I hate crootin' damn it my feelings can only take so much. I'd be stoked if we got them both.
What the lick read tomorrow? Is that French?
We are getting played.
By Bailey? No. Rick Wells is one that we have a slight chance with but he might just be wearing the VT apparel to support Bailey. Or because he needs to do the laundry. Whatever reason Wells has for wearing VT apparel, we won't know until NLI's are faxed in
My mouth is currently full of crow, no worries over here
Not so fast, my friend.
My guess as well, unfortunately.
Definitely not getting played by Bailey. Possibly Wells though.
I hope your right.
Yeah, sleeping tonight is not going to be easy.
Like Christmas Eve, only in the morning you find out that your parents are either miracle workers or dicks.
It's here. National
SingingSigning Day is upon us. Joe will there be one official thread or will each signing get their own thread? Will you or someone else on TKP staff be starting them? Just want to make sure today doesn't get too gluttered with duplicate threads.Edit: what song are we signing first?
It's here. National Singing Day is upon us. Let's all rejoice with a choral rendition of Sandman. (Couldn't resist. ;-)
The hills are alive.....
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
I hope we get we thong song, the measurables are awesome.
My feeling is Hopple. Bet he's up early. My not-so-learned impression is that he is like Gallo - not so highly touted, but somebody who wants to be a Hokie.
Are they streaming the announcement for the kids down in Florida?
The school has put together some pretty cool media to go out over Twitter.
Social media involvement and the graphics have been so much better over the last couple of years.
What's next, a hologram in your living room, or is that already being done?
My high school physics teacher was a Tech grad in ME. He took us to see Dr. Arp's baby respirator and a a hologram the ME Department had. Way back about 1975.
To think we could have been using that hologram as a recruiting tool way back then. Imagine a player seeing himself as a hologram with a photoshopped Hokie uniform on. Oh what could have/can still be.
Was photoshop around in 1975? What would the watch it on? /s
Nothing was photoshopped in 1975 to my knowledge. I'm just imagining. But the hologram was there, at Tech, in the ME Dept. But don't ask what the image was that we saw.
Happy to see some of the staff starting to use the Turkey emoji now if we could get that program wide. That chicken really annoys me for some reason.
You should see Notre Dame's NSD announcements:
Damn. They do a nice job. But, Coach Kelley...off what 1970s VW Beetle car seat cover did you get that jacket?
He signed with UF
Fox and Ross are the two I want! I hate UNCheat!
Both just signed with UNC...
Damn thought at least one of them would flip. Hope they enjoy their time their, just hate that their DC will be gone soon.
I saw that Ross did. Haven't seen Fox
We're not getting Bailey either.
So much for the massive VT love on Twitter.
IOWA STATE?!
They offered him and his twin brother.
Surprised with Bailey. Being with his brother was more important it seems.
Bailey to Iowa State????
Got one..finally.
EDIT: Oops. This was supposed to be the tweet indicated we flipped Tyree Rodgers.
He trolled us so hard.
We may never know the whole story, I like to believe people aren't inherently evil. What if late last night his mom came to him and said "I can't afford to go see both of you play in different states, I need you to go together so I can see both my sons play college ball." I am probably naive in this case, but I just can't imagine a kid posting all of this VT stuff for as long as he did knowing full well he would not be picking us.
I believe we offered a spot as a preferred walk-on. The thought of two free educations instead one probably was the real reason.
According to 247, Josh Bailey did not have an offer from VT. It is pretty simple, either the VT coaching staff didn't think they needed Josh as part of getting Jaquan, or they didn't think Jaquan was worth a second scholarship slot with the addition of offering Josh. I am fine with the latter if that is how they evaluated Jaquan, but if they didn't see the writing on the wall that they "needed" to offer Josh in order to get the prize they really wanted/needed then that was a failure on their part. I am betting they took the mentality that Jaquan was a good player and at a need position but that they weren't going to over extend to get him.
Then every P5 school but Iowa State failed. With a limited number of scholarships to give you cant give one to someone who can not contribute.
Agreed.
Huh? How did every school but ISU fail?
Iowa State was the only one to offer Josh. Everyone else just wanted his brother.
As a couple of us predicted last night. it wa sjust too overt. These guys like to have some fun with this process.
They like to have fun and get seen. Instagram likes and Twitter followers are validation for 17 and 18 year old kids now. Sad times.
And tweeting recruits and getting a like back or a retweet is apparently validation for many adults. Equally sad times.
Today's message brought to you by "DON'T TWEET RECRUITS."
Well that explains that.
Rodgers is a Hokie.
Joining Sam and Bucky.
Well guys (and girls), what's everyone's Valentine's Day plans this year?
There's a new Rom-Com I mentioned to the missus coming out then - Deadpool.
I figured the best way to get Bailey was a package with his brother. Damn
Like I said we were getting played. Wearing the Tech gear and posting videos the day before signing day, leading everyone to believe that they were going to commit to Virginia Tech is not the kind of players we want anyway. We use to wonder if we were going to get any new 4 star players on signing day. No huge loss here, this does not hurt like Joshua Sweat did. Give Fuente some time to turn things around. We got some good players from Virginia and in particular the 757. Go Hokies!!!
Any time you don't get a player who you expend a lot of resources on, it hurts. It doesn't matter if it is 5* or a 3*, if you spend money and time on them, you want them.
True, how do you think Fuente feels right now. He spent the time to get to know these kids and then they do that? That's kind of a heartless thing to do when you think about it that way. But that's what the kids do these days I guess.
Yeah. I can't blame the dude for sticking with his family but I can blame the dude for being a major troll. It's really only disappointing to me for that reason.
The damage was done. Its going to take some time for Fuente to rebuild the brand.
People have extremely short memories when it comes to college football. We landed the number 1 juco QB in the nation...a couple kids dont pick us in the few weeks the staff had to make an impact and all of a sudden its a train wreck ha. I think well be okay. Not many coaches are able to make huge impacts on hires with quick turnarounds. I thought he did a completely underrated job of keeping and enrolling all the early commitments.
Nothing 10 wins can't fix.
Boy do people go off the deep end on this day. Already seen 2 people on Twitter questioning Fuente and saying next year in recruiting is his name or break year, I mean come on.
Seriously...the guy did a great job grabbing a couple of new kids, flips and recommits. Sorry we didn't get everyone on our list...but damn he hasn't even held his first practice yet!
(Not aimed at you...the Twitterverse)
Ha Id love a collage of the tweets from today and match them up with the tweets after the spring game ...its funny how opposite the sentiment is.
National Signing Day = Well finish last in the ACC maybe even get kicked out of the ACC
Spring Game = I really love how our second string is going to develop from playing time, but I just hope the coaches can keep the first string engaged on the sidelines in the second half of every game.
Seriously, we could get all walk ons and if we win, I don't give a damn. It's great to sign big names but at the end of the day the score board is what matters.
Clemson and Alabama probably didn't have a bunch of walk-ons playing in the title game.
I know, I'm going out on a limb here.
Little white receiver for Clemson, Hunter Renfrow, had two TD's in the first half, both caught on Alabama freshman 5* Minkah Fitzpatrick
He also had a 5* elite QB throwing passes to him while being blocked by a bunch of 4* OL with 4* TEs and WRs taking the pressure off.
When you have a stacked roster like that, a walkon here or there isn't the worst thing. When you have a roster made up of recruiting classes like our current one... That's when you turn into a LOLUVa type of disaster
Your comments will be at the top of my Post Signing Day / Post Spring Game Collage
I can not wait to see your spring game optimism. Cheer up, our class is no way near a disaster. Keep your eyes open. Top Juco QB. Solid Freshman QB, ton of receivers. Its not the best class, but lets keep the pitchforks in the shed for at least another year or two before we start calling for heads...
We had a defense last year that could not stop the run because of issues at LB. Our #1 need going into this offseason was to get better at LB. Our defensive coaching staff did not change. We didn't address this need.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with what we're doing offensively, but I am very concerned for the short term future of the defense, because right now, it doesn't look pretty.
Just a thought, but no LB that we could have signed this year would make us better at that position this Fall. It's more important that the players in those positions improve for the short term future. Long term, yes, it needs addressed, but we would not be playing any true Freshman at LB.
We didn't address the need at linebacker?
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/2016recruits/carter_eron.html
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/2016recruits/belmar_emmanuel.html
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/2016recruits/beckett_tavante.html
A 2* and 2 mid 3*s
You'll have to excuse me if I am not jumping over the moon with that fantastic haul
I don't focus on the stars quite as much when it comes to our defensive players, but at the end of the day the staff targeted a bunch of defenders who went elsewhere. Those are misses. I can't say we filled our need at LB or DE when there were committable offers out to several other LBs and DEs.
Agred. I mean we got bodies for LB, and hopefully one of them pans out, but you're really stretching if you're trying to call this class a fix for that spot.
There's a lot of defensive talent in Virginia for the 2017 class. We must hit on multiple. But yeah, this current class feels like a defensive version of our 2010 offensive haul.
I don't think anyone's calling it a fix, but there's clearly a narrative among some that basically we're getting nothing. This isn't a world-beating class by most metrics, but we're pulling in some kids that should fit roles that we need. It's the beginning of a reconstruction project, and it's not as if the staff has a blind eye to the problems.
We will score points moving forward. More of them, and more consistently. Bud Foster is no longer tasked with winning games on defense.
Not AT ALL saying that we can ease off the throttle re defensive players, but it cannot be discounted how much more effective a defense can be when they're not worried that the next big play they give up will lose their team the game. Last couple years? That was Every. Single. Week.
You're excused, but to say we didn't address the need is something that can't be answered until we see some of these guys on the field. It may not be the 5* guy we'd all love to see but we've done fairly well over the years with 2* and 3* linebackers. We certainly missed on some this year but that happens.
While 4 and 5 star guys are great to get, I'm not going to get too wrapped up in the star ratings. These guys could end up being players.
We aren't going to get top prospects right now because the VT brand is stale. We need to become more exciting to watch and hopefully Fuente will bring some style to the field on Saturdays. It might take a year or two, but I think it will happen.
I think the fact that the UNC kids were thinking about coming to VT after Fuente has been here for a couple of months is a good sign. He now has a full year to build relationships with next year's class and hopefully that will be more productive.
Well said!
Joe alluded to this else-where. On such a short time-frame we couldn't realistically expect a huge up-tick in recruiting success. Next year should be a better year but 2018 is going to really be the year that we can judge our recruiting on. I think it is only fair to give Fuente a little time (2 full cycles minimum) before evaluating his recruiting prowess. I do believe that winning on Saturdays will have the greatest impact on recruiting in the near future. Hopefully a fresh offense will help this team get over the hump that we've been stuck on for the last 3 or 4 years.
Right. In addition, these recruits have watched a bad VT product for the entire that they were in HS.
I do believe that winning on Saturdays will have the greatest impact on recruiting in the near future.
This times 1000. If we see success on the field we will see success on the recruiting trail. We have a coach and staff that pride themselves in their ability to develop talent in house and hopefully they can do just that. If they can manage to have a couple of successful seasons with the talent that is already here, break even in recruiting for a couple years and manage to compete for the ACC Championship by the end of year 2, our recruiting should see a sizable uptick.
This actually isn't true. I'm pretty sure that the amount of revenue increase the Athletic Department sees from donations will have the greatest impact in recruiting. Wins matter very little compared to money.
eh...I think you have to win to get the money flowing TBH. People want to watch a team that is fun to watch and wins games. Win games in an exciting fashion and you'll get more butts in seats. That's a bump in revenue. Get more butts in seats and more bandwagon fans and you'll start to sell more merchandise. That's another bump in revenue. By winning you become a household name and a commodity that people want to pay money to associate with. That will help recruiting. So you're right, more revenue in the system will help but I think we have to start playing an attractive brand of football and winning games to get that ball rolling.
If winning is that important, the $$ would have been flowing into VT's athletic program coffers during the 10 win streak, no?
It doesn't hurt, but the impact of winning alone is relatively small. As is having a "sexy" offense... these days who doesn't have a sexy offense?
Virginia Tech until hopefully this season
I'm willing to bet we have more money flowing into the Athletic Department now than we did before Frank the reins. He won games and made this program much more powerful than it was. To get to the next level we need to win a Championship or two. So winning games helped to get this program to where it is. We never would have been able to haul in a guy like Fuente if it wasn't for Frank winning a bunch of games starting in the 90s. Winning is important.
And, by the way,
BC
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!
The #1 factor in recruiting is athletic program financial resources. Coaches and offensive systems, etc are very minor factors in the long term. Winning certainly helps improve the balance sheet but there's a lot more to donations and revenues than simply winning a few more games.
What is an example of how spending money would help VT recruiting?
What are we proposing to do now that we do not have funding for?
It not spending money per se on anything in particular. Look at the dozen schools with highest avg star ratings since the ratings began. Then look at the largest athletic program budgets. The correlation between the two is very strong.
Financial resources are a reflection of the breadth and depth of the support of the local and regional media, fan base, alumni, and businesses for the program...which in turn drives local , regional, and national perception of a program...which in turn drives recruiting.
But winning is very strong. And good recruiting coaches. And tradition. And girls or academics (but only both at Texas).
Recruiting is an onion. Sure, more money would obviously be better, but I really doubt it is more important than winning. Maybe if you have more money, you hire better assistant coaches who can recruit....but we just hired a new staff and we didn't seek great recruiting assistants.
We are adding staff. We seemingly bring in everyone kid we want who wants to come on official visits. We seem to be performing a sufficient amount of in-home and in-school visits. We have great food. I'm not seeing where money is that big of a deal to VT right now.
We need to win. We need a coaching staff that is better built for recruiting....or we should just take our 25-35 best class in the country and be really good at player development.
For me money needs to be spent on, in no particular order : updating Merryman FULLY, changing (edit)North end zone to permanent structure, updating Lane stadium facilities bathrooms/snack bars etc, updating Casell, team tractor trailer and team branded buses, hiring more staffers to get better at social media, media in general, better live stream etc, anything else that coach Fuente and Buzz feel would help their teams.
The South Endzone is a permanent structure and nearly every game has empty seats up there. Why change anything about the stadium if we can't even fill it up?
He probably meant North EZ.
I did I still get them all jumbled around.
kinda OT, but I know from experience (and im sure a lot of you can attest to this) that whenever I got a ticket for South Endzone, I just got a copy of West or North ticket from somebody already sitting there, and squeezed into that section.
Attendance has been down due to lack of winning and is a result for the upper part of South endzone being empty sometimes, but its also the students just moving to a different section
Yeah, I get that. My point is just that there's no point in expanding Lane Stadium when it sells out for maybe 1 game a season. Until our fans return to Blacksburg consistently and we start winning consistently, bringing in more money, Lane should stay just how it is.
They don't need to expand keep the same footprint just make it not bleachers, it looks cheap.
I agree with this. Concrete, Hokie Stone on the exterior (facing the practice field), etc. will make that section of the stadium look great. It doesn't need to be the same size as the south EZ.
Yeah. But I would argue that you have to win to get an uptick in donations. So wins matter a pretty good deal if you consider that they are tied directly to donations.
Winning doesn't hurt - and it almost certainly doesn't happen without winning. But it's Pollyanna to think that if VT just wins, the $$ will come. For VT to truly compete at the highest levels in football, an "uptick" is largely meaningless. The athletic budget needs to sustainably increase by 50% ($30M-$40M)...RIGHT NOW.
A few 10 win seasons simply isn't going to do that. Hell, twenty 10 win seasons probably doesn't do it. Whit's job is to try to pull it off in conjunction with a winning program. Given VT's relatively location, lack of massively wealthy benefactors, mid-sized alumni base, and diluted political/fiscal clout due to sharing the state with UVA, it is a very steep hill to climb.
IMO, Sands' apparent vision of a significantly larger student population is the most important long term step that never gets mentioned. It would increase the alumni base, broaden and deepen the connections to VT locally, regionally & nationally, and would force UVA to either do the same (and give up its elite, exclusive pretensions) or resign itself to 2nd tier athletic status in the state (and perhaps in other ways as well).
I think this is a chicken and egg issue. I know that winning 10 games a year doesn't automatically equal lots of money flowing into the program. But right now the only thing the coaches can control is how the players are coached and how they play the game. A good coach will get a team to play together as a team and win. Winning will make Whit's job of selling the product and making money a whole lot easier.
Ultimately you're right that we don't need wins to make money. We need Whit to make money. But my argument is that if we can start winning 10 games a season again and get fans excited about the football program it will be a much less daunting task for Whit to bring in the $$$$.
It is exponentially more difficult to sell a crappy product than a quality one. We as fans want to be on the same level as Alabama. You're expecting Whit to sell a Ford Fiesta to a market looking for a Jaguar F Type. It will be a lot easier to sell a vehicle to that market which much more closely resembles what that market wants. We need to start producing Ford GTs in order to sell to that market. That will be a whole lot easier than selling the Fiesta.
My point is that the fastest and most effective way to make money will be significantly aided by winning games. You start putting a product out there that people want to consume and you won't have to work as hard to sell it. No, wins don't equate to cash flow, but they certainly will help Whit market the product. Winning games is only part of the equation but it's the most visible part and should be the easiest to control.
No, more wins are probably necessary to raise more money. But a few more wins alone will have a minimal impact on the ability of the program to sustainably compete on the levels of the top tier teams.
Yes, it's a chicken and egg question...which is why Whit Babcock (and Sands) has a very difficult job taking VT to the next level and why fans are delusional if they think a few more wins are going to make VT and Blacksburg an appreciably more attractive destination for elite recruits.
I would say winning is most, if not all, everything.
At the end of the day, VT football is a product. People want to pay for a good product on the field. Good/Improving product = more butts in the seats. More butts in the seats = more revenue for VT department. More money for VT Department = Better facilities/coaches which usually results better recruiting.
More butts in the seats are a pimple on a gnats ass (pun not intended) in terms of the dollars needed to compete at the highest levels of college athletics. Just do the math.
If VT sells an additional 5,000 seats per game (and remember the number of seats to sell is finite unless VT adds seats), that's maybe an extra $1.5M-$2.0M. VT needs about a $30-$40 million increase in its budget to really compete with the big boys on a regular basis. Right now, HokieClub donations are about $15 million. So that means VT needs HokieClub donations to nearly triple - now and going forward. Even the potential addition of an ACC Network would still leave VT way short of competing with the schools with $100M+ athletic budgets (and growing at larger nominal values than VT) that mostly dominate the top tier of college football and football recruiting.
Fans are thinking way too small. Some winning seasons and a cool offense in and of themselves are not going to make that happen. Something much bigger is needed.
What's the background on this $30/$40M you are throwing around? Who are the "Big Boys" we are going to catch with this amount of money? Is it even possible for us to gain that much in budget? Have other schools increased their giving to such an extent in the past?
My intuition is that revenues don't change much for any school. We are where we are, we need to do what we can do with that amount of money. And I'm sure our revenues are comparable to a school or schools who are performing better in football and across the board.
Edit: Looking at USA Today's NCAA Finances page
VT has $73M in revenue, $69M in expenditures, 42nd in the country
$40M more in expenditures would put us at $110M, comparable to OSU ($113M), OU ($113M), UF ($110M), PSU ($117M), UT ($106M), Minnesota ($106M -- biggest enrollment in the country), It would put us in the top 10-15. I don't understand how that should be a realistic goal.
Realistic goals? UVA ($87M), Ole Miss ($73M), UNC ($83M), Clemson ($73M)
So, why are we talking about $40M more in revenue? Shouldn't we focus on what Ole Miss and Clemson are doing in football and UVA and UNC are doing across the board and learn to spend what we have better?
Wait how does Minnesota have the biggest enrollment? I'm pretty sure anOSU, UCF and ASU if not more have bigger enrollments.
Heck, I thought Rutgers had one of the biggest enrollments at over 100K.
That's what you took out of that?
You can visually enter "one of the" in front of that statement if you wish. I think it was main campus, Minnesota and UT Austin are near the top. Some of the other schools have multiple branches, like PSU does. I'm not sure about OSU. Anyway, in case anyone didn't know, Minnesota is a huge school, 63k students. That was my point.
No I'm just shocked by that number for their budget and their enrollment. I agree with you that there is no way with current Tech enrollment, conference allotment etc VT will never double their budget. I'd like to see the Hokie Club double membership but that's the only goal I have for increasing money.
you're missing the point. Where do you think we should get the extra money? HokieClub? Fine, but winning drives donations to that too.
The thing about our defensive slump, is 100% perception. We had a down year last year.
We ranked 3rd defensive efficiency the year before. 4th the year before that. We dont have as much of a defensive issue as we have a fan perception issue. If we have another down year next year, I could see concern.
Have you forgotten that a soph & Jr MLB and a soph Sam are returning? Players do improve, ya know...it's the nature of college football where the entire roster turns over the course of 5 years.
Some guys act like the team is starting from scratch and these unproven 18 yr olds are going to be the foundation of the starting lineup in 6 months...
Not saying an upswing in recruiting isn't necessary for us to take a step forward as a program because I absolutely believe that. Just responding to a comment with an answer. If you saw my other comment on this thread I talked about how Clemson's upswing in recruiting is absolutely a huge reason why they have risen into such national relevance.
I'm not saying that I don't want to sign great 4 and 5 star players. I'm saying let the play on the field dictate how we respond to CJF. He's taking a lot of flack for a class he barely had any time to recruit. Let's see how he does with what he has.
It's easy as hell to take what I said and bend it. I distinctly said, if we won with all walk ons, I'd still be happy. If we won a Natty with all walk ons would you be upset?
Agreed. After the snow weekend I felt like we should just be happy with the guys we have, and it was over. I let myself get excited for Signing Day, and now that's the only disappointment.
The guys we got already honestly were what made this class for me. Mostly just wanted the Hokies to get some love on NSD and a flip or two to put a stamp on the positive advances in recruiting. Either way, these 3-4 last minute guys don't drastically change the trajectory of this program. Stings a little, but this team got better.
100% agree. This class won't be the most flashy but I think it will be an important one especially with the kids who are already enrolled.
Yeah but always having people say they like someone else better than us always hurts no matter what....of course we're all biased so there is that.
Are we still waiting on anyone? Either guys we expect to sign or guys we might flip?
Dean, Hewitt, and Jackson are verbals.
Pigrome, Pine, Durr, and Carter still in the mix (to varying degrees).
Pigrome just signed with MD.
With Maryland needed a QB badly the writing on the wall was there.
Exactly, this one as much of a talent I think the kid could be, didnt seem to hurt as bad.
I feel like I could see him at Tech getting buried in the depth chart or not finding a home like Joel Caleb.
Im no evaluater, by any means, but I think he should have tried for QB somewhere, I saw flashes of Tyrod,
Crap
Pine, Carter, Pigrome, and Durr.
Yes, Clay Dean, Jarrot Hewitt and TJ Jackson all committed but no letter yet and LB Carter has yet to decide.
I'm going to bookmark this page so I will remember next year to not get too excited before NSD. You just can't believe everything you read from a kid.
Fuente isn't the aw shucks!!! kind of guy, he is not gonna waste any time moping about one recruit from Florida. Good coaches will be a little ticked off for a short period of time, move on, and lead his team forward. Recruiting is won by the results on the field.
Pigrome to Maryland. No big surprise there
Hewitt is in.
This is macro, but it's worth watching. Fuente can't be judged by literally a few weeks of recruiting these kids, but at the same time, the staff construction was clearly not focused on recruiting. We could have brought in a Beatty or West or (my choice) John Papuchis from UNC and we didn't (or couldn't). We decided it was better to have unproven recruiters who Fuente trusted to run his offense. Maybe those guys become good recruiters, because every good recruiter on a staff was once unproven.
On the defensive side, I've been of the opinion that it was Frank's age that was keeping us from closing well the last few years but we still have the same glaring criticism we have had for 15 years about how Foster's defense prepares kids for the NFL. Wiles is a hit/miss recruiter. We need to see how Scott fits in. There is a very real chance that our problems going back to Stephone Anthony about closing elite talent on defense will persist (and Virginia is loaded with elite defensive talent next year).
Fuente has built his reputation on finding guys that fit his system and/or being great at player development. But that still takes some time, we likely won't reach our optimum offensive performance in 2016. Another recruiting season will come and go basically this summer, Fuente will be selling potential and not results. I don't know what you can take from the results of today, but there should be an appreciation that recruiting under the new staff is still a concern.
Very well said; I totally agree.
This. I'm not one of the crazies calling for Fuente's job after two months. But recruiting will not be this staff's strong suit. Fuente is known as a great evaluator and developer of talent, and we are going to have to rely on his ability to build a team from the ground up into a winner with that formula.
We flat out missed head to head with a lot of recruits that we had a chance to flip. Iowa State has a brand new staff as well, and we could not close against a team selling the same message in potential. There's no way to spin that. The JUCO guys were huge, but Fuente had previous connections with them for a while now, and he won't be able to rely on JUCO guys at VT as much as he did at Memphis. Fuente and his new staff may become great recruiters over time, but they have a ways to go, and he will have to do what he does best to build a winning team and sell it.
My biggest concern is that we may have taken on the offensive equivalent Foster's defensive staff: great talent evaluation and development for a system that works, but an inability to recruit and close on elite talent. You're flat out going to have to recruit with the big boys in this day and age of college football if you want to be elite. Time will tell if we can get there. We need to win this year, badly.
We did not have room to offer a quid pro quo scholarship. The kid wanted to play with his brother. There's not much we can do about that.
If we knew that was what it would take to get him. and did not want to/have room to take his brother, why did we spend so much time and effort on recruiting him? That just seems like spending precious resources on a losing battle.
I honestly don't know how much time and effort we spent on him. He showed up pretty late in the game. I have no problem with the staff trying to bring in talent and emphasize a kid's own success. Ultimately, if family matters prevail, so be it. If it cost us time with someone else we could have had, then it's a loss, but that's the kind of thing we'll never know.
It's possible that he told the staff that he didn't have to play with his brother in college and then mom and dad came in and had a say in it last minute. Nothing wrong with that.
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell is a terrific recruiter.
I do agree it's tough to overcome wanting to play with your twin brother (it's a limited resource and Tech couldn't conjure up a triplet), but it's the staff's job to find the pitch/angle that works, sell it, and get the signature. Bailey playing with his brother is important because in all likelihood Campbell made it important to him and his family.
Iowa State could sell Bailey playing with his brother though, we couldn't because we didn't offer his brother.
Iowa State offered a kid with NO OTHER P5 offers to get his brother. Iowa State did that because they have been horrible in football for some time. They can just bring that kid in to sit on the sidelines to get his star brother.
You have a good point. But I disagree with a couple of sentences in there. I don't think we flat out missed on kids we could have flipped. The fact that we even had these kids reconsidering their original commitments is a good sign. With no results to show on the field yet, as you said about Bailey's recruitment, we have to pitch potential. Also with Bailey to Iowa State, that has more to do with his brother than anything. Sure, we didn't close on him but it wasn't for lack of effort or recruiting skill. Especially considering the kid flat out said not even two weeks ago that he was pretty sold on Tennessee and named them his leader. It just came down to him wanting to be with his brother and the only opportunity for that to happen was at Iowa State.
Looking at the "misses" in the last week, each is defensible:
Powell got an offer from his dream school
Wells, Fox and Ross honored their original commitment but were clearly impressed by VT
Pigrome was offered a chance to play QB at UMD
Bailey was offered a chance to play with his brother
Wallace got an offer from Ohio State (and Clemson and Michigan St)
All of those are defensible loses. But good recruiting staffs win some of those. Again, my concerns over recruiting aren't about today, they are about the macro staff construction and seeming dependence on player development over recruiting. That's the angle we have chosen. Then you better be good at player development.
And don't expect that we are going to become Clemson as a recruiting staff in two years. That does not seem to be our blueprint.
Every Single Iota Of This. ^^^^^
A huge issue that tends to get downplayed when brought up on any VT site.
Seriously? That angle is literally beaten to death it seems.
Perception is reality. EVERYONE has this point locked and loaded re Foster. As VT fans we dismiss it. And that only fuels the fire for everyone else.
Worst part is the problem only applies up front. TG puts kids in the League like it's his job.
Bottom line... we just got our ass kicked on the recruiting trail, and we cannot allow it to continue for much longer. I want to give Fuente a pass, but I'm really concerned for the whiff on defense this year when we have GLARING holes, most noticeably at LB that we have absolutely failed to address, as we need talent and depth. Our defensive coaches did not change this year and our defensive recruiting seemingly fell off a cliff.
Not good
How much is Fuente to blame when most of the misses on signing day have been on defense with the staff that has been here all along?
A valid point, our defensive staff really didn't change and we seem to be having a down year recruiting defense
Next year will be big on defensive recruiting.
LB, DE, and RB look like the biggest needs to me for the 17 class.
OL. We got Moore and two projects this year. Hopple and Jackson are a few years away.
I wasn't worried about DE when it looked like we would certainly get Bailey and maybe get Fox. So, yeah, now I'm worried about DE again.
Laborn has to be the #1 prospect on our board. I keep hearing how we are behind for 2017 recruits. That's disconcerting considering the VA top 10 may be be half full of 5* players.
We are actually in good shape with Laborn. He is probably the first "true" test of the new staff trying to keep a top player(s) in state. Believe he is visiting this weekend or soon.
"We are actually in good shape with Laborn."
Must not have a twin brother.
Not calling bullshit on your assessment. Just saying it's a loooooong time to NSD17
And that probably isn't a bad thing.
Why?
If we're in great shape with him now, what possible good would a year of other offers and thinking about it do? Wouldn't you sign him now if you could? (#extremehypotheticals hahaha)
Maybe I'm just reading your comment wrong.
Because generally speaking, we have a lot of relationships but in state and out of state to build up other than Laborn.
So I was reading it wrong. Thought you were talking about Laborn specifically. If it were up to me, we'd sign him today. Didn't realize you were thinking macro re 'crootin in general.
I'm really happy Fuente was jumpstarting the 2017 recruiting efforts before this class was finished, as well as hosting a recruiting event I believe this coming weekend. We absolutely have to do so some damage in VA this year. Big guys - Laborn, Ewell, Hunter, Vilain, Crosby, and others that are big time recruits. I think building solid relationships with them early, as well as being able to win this upcoming year, will go a long way. BTW, does anyone know what position Hunter projects at in college? I always see him listed as a QB/Safety/Athlete.
Likely Safety.
Eron Carter in the house
Holy jeez are you looking at his profile?
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/2016recruits/carter_eron.html
That's football, wrestling, and track. Can't wait to see him in action.
If you haven't, WATCH THIS KID'S TAPE. Could contribute immediately on ST.
Not a sexy get for us on paper, But Carter's gonna be a meaningful player for us down the road. Truly believe that.
Eron Carter on VT's ticker!
Looks like we got Eron Carter
And a Turkey Emoji sighting. Solid work CJF.
Jackson is signed too as of 9:44.
T.J. Jackson now on the ticker!
Don't know who runs the AllMaroonUni Twitter account but Jesus, they need to chill.
Yeah he is ripping Fuente & Co. hard. Already calling for recruiting reform.
Pretty sure we're less than 24 hours removed from the announcement of 4 additional recruiting staff... but yeah, sure, let's just keep going on about how we need more change in recruiting as if nothing's happening.
People tend to only pay attention to whats happening at the surface
It's a "what have you done for me lately" business and right now it's "what have you done for me since breakfast".
yeah, that guy is gonna blow an o-ring
his best tweet in the last few weeks.
I made the mistake of reading his tweets.
I now have stage 4 cancer
A clown that's been banned from TKP for doing a ton of clown things. No real need to give his childishness exposure on TKP. (Not meant to you, but for others embedding his dumbass tweets.)
Isn't this guy Hokie#s, a particularly disturbed young individual.
No Hokie5284 has his own twitter account, and still has a deep, deep hatred for TKP (for no apparent reason.)
Not sure you can be a Hokie and hate TKP. I think those things are mutually exclusive :)
Let's all keep in mind that we won't be landing top 10-15 recruiting classes until we start winning. If we start winning lots of football games, these NSD's will become much more fun. Let's see what happens.
Pine stuck with Pitt.
Sigh.
Frustrating
Thats how it goes in recruiting. Grow some balls and stop whining like a little itch. Support what we have until we get what we want. Walls are built one brick at a time. Take your panties off and put your big boy pants on. Gobblers dont cry!!! The staff has worked their butts off, but you cant make a kid sign at gun point. Geesh dude you sound like you went to UVA!!! Man up. We have holes and so do you. Helps us plug ours by plugging yours #somepeoplerolluptheirsleeves #otherscomplain
I think the concern is missing at positions of need. Positions need depth in case of injuries, but also to help allow players to develop. Obviously can't blame the recruits because they need to do what's best for them. VT isn't the right fit for everyone.
Looking forward to progress on both the recruiting trail and the field next year.
Note: Progress isn't always measured in wins and star ratings. Those will come with other things.
Wow, you must be soooome therapist. Nice pep talk.
jreynolds06 descends from the heavens to drop some sense in this thread.
Love having you here.
Why would we ever talk sense in a thread about 'crootin????
Glad you and your family are part of Hokie Nation. Need more Hokies with this attitude.
yeah, that just happened. you've just been truth tackled sucka, reynolds style.
No surprise, but it is frustrating considering he said he would prefer to play TE in college. Either that's a complete lie, or we couldn't convince him to do something he wanted to do in the first place. Which would be incredibly bad.
Yeah, wouldn't buy into those comments at all. He is a LB and will play LB in college and probably be a good one.
Not a surprise.
The chance that he tortures us at Pitt is pretty freaking high, isn't it?
He needs to get on the field first. Then, he'll get run over by Laborn.
Me trying to figure out if this is all just a dream.
Not talking bad about our staff at all because of the time frame allowed for them...but can today get any worse? High hopes for this class has quickly deminished. I know we will be better than last year for sure with at least Evans or Lawson leading our offense but man...I was hoping for at least 2 flips.
Well, we technically could still flip Durr and that would make two (Rodgers.)
Durr will stay with Minnesota.
Never mind then haha.
Minnesota currently has a better recruiting class on Rivals than we do.
Today was a disaster, and the blame lies with the former staff.
We kept half of that former staff. If we are handing out blame, a lot of it lies at those coaches feet.
Don't forget though, it's a crime that we gave those coaches a pay cut...
There's a lot of chatter among the 'insiders' among other boards about just how bad it was recruiting wise pre-Fuente, and that includes the defensive staff.
It's a rebuilding process and Fuente has his work cut out for him.
We just have to focus on the good work he did on Ross, Fox and Simms in the last month. We were non-entities in their recruiting before Fuente (I don't include Pine, I think he was just fucking with us and I don't appreciate it.)
Fuente is a smart guy and a dogged worker. He will get it figured out. Let's put 40 on UT and get everyone's attention again.
Lots of talk that Durr is sticking with Minnesota. His old high school teammate has been in his ear nonstop supposedly.
Do we know what time he's supposed to sign?
I saw 12:30, but not sure if that's EST or CST.
CST.
1:30 ET.
I'm not going to question the negative emotions here today and I'm certainly not calling anyone out... I definitely share the sentiment of "wow, we sure missed today". However "you dance with the one you brought". All of these young men are Hokies, these are young men who decided to study at and suit up for Virginia Tech. These are the young men that we will be paying to watch over the next few years, so let's show them a little bit of love.
Let's make sure we are supportive of these guys while we are voicing our concerns about the recruiting struggles in Blacksburg.
Thank you. I think some people need to step back from the ledge. Our defensive cupboard is by no means bare. Give this staff some time, sheesh.
Am I the only one who thinks Tremaine Edwards has serious potential, and I keep feeling like one of these days Raymon Minor is going to come on, and I hope Sean Huelskamp can come back with the same praises he received pre-injury.
I just guarantee, you can take this comment to the bank...post spring game buzz will be off the charts.
I'm not gonna express concern with the recruiting problems, rather just say that you can't deny that today was disappointing. After that basketball choke last night and getting trolled by more than a few recruits, today has been tough so far. Hopefully it'll be a small bump in the road. Biggest key will be winning a good amount of games next season.
Since I'm bored, here are the signee offers per Hokie Sports. Bolded big boy offers (subject to debate)
Edit- given the state of the program over the past 4 years, this looks fine to me.
Evans QB- Missouri, Texas; #1 JC QB
Jackson QB- Boston College, Navy, Northwestern, Oregon State, Utah and West Virginia (#4 player in Mich)
Moore OL- Auburn, Mississippi State, Georgia, Cincinnati
Hoyt OL- BYU, Pittsburgh, Virginia
TJ Jackson OL- NC State
Kearns OL- California, Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, NC State, Syracuse
Hopple OL- Pittsburgh, Virginia, Wake Forest, West Virginia
Dzansi OL- Temple, Hampton, Rhode Island (edit: Vice mentioned he is a slam dunk champion at Hylton and runs a 4.9)
Patterson WR- North Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest
Kumah WR- Kentucky, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Tennessee
Diablo WR- Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, South Carolina and Tennessee
Denmark WR- Clemson, North Carolina, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Virginia
Rodgers ATH- Temple, Rutgers, NC State, Old Dominion (#23 player in NJ)
Eron Carter LB- Air Force, Army, UCF (wrestler, track ath, 3.9 gpa)
Bellmar LB- Colorado State, Missouri, Syracuse, Virginia
Beckett LB- Maryland, Rutgers, East Carolina, Indiana, Wisconsin
Floyd DB- North Carolina, Wake Forest, and West Virginia
Ladler DB- Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State
Quillen DB- Georgia, NC State
Taylor DE- Duke, ECU, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, NC State, Tennessee
Hewitt DT- Purdue, Rutgers, Colorado State, Iowa State (2 time Fla 7A all-state)
Well, those are better recruits than Fuente ever had at Memphis. And he beat Ole Miss and was a top 25 program.
This doesn't fit the narrative!!!!! #Fuentedeathtrain
When you see that Virginia isn't bolded
Speaking of UVA, I just looked at their signees/commits on 247 and I don't think a single one held an offer from us.
Meanwhile, UVA offered Deablo, Kumah, Patterson, Taylor, Hopple, and Belmar.
They have the 59th ranked class. We're at 41.
I get that this is comparing ourselves to garbage. But it's always a cozy feeling seeing that we're doing better than them.
but we don't have a trophy case full of Natty's. We will never be as good as them!!!
/s
Guys, is it okay to say that we are LLLLOADED at WR? Because we are loaded at WR.
Great post, some of these folks need to chill out. This program has been in decline (but hanging on) for 3-4 years. If we hired Nick Saban he couldn't have done any better with this years class in the 6 weeks JF had.
The recruiting decline started when Jim Cavanaugh was retired. It will take time to get the state back which is the key. We have been totally irrelevant since he left and 2017 may not be much better.
Today proves that one man doesn't change a school's recruiting success overnight. The sky is dropping rain today but it is not falling. It will take a couple of years to make a difference on the recruiting trail and it takes the whole program to make the difference. The key is to maximize what we have and the barometer for success will change going forward. Don't let today's "misses" cast a cloud on the optimism this program should have right now.
Day 1. Fuente Hired
Day 2. THIS GUY CANT RECRUIT, WE HAVENT LANDED A SINGLE RECRUIT AND WE AINT WON NO GAMES FIRE HIM
Sadly this started as a joke, 2 months later on NSD.... yea just going to leave that there
I don't want to be rude but man there are some serious Debbie Downers here. I know we want top recruiting classes but look at all the good college coaches record for when they first arrived and their first year recruiting classes. Wins = attention, attention = big name players visiting, big name players visiting = commitments. Plus high recruiting classes don't always mean wins (ref Miami the last decade, they haven't even gone to an ACCCG yet). Calm down folks and lets see what the man and company can do come Spring Game/First Game of next season.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!
Seems we have lots of folks who think actual recruiting success is directly in line with their NCAA ' VT dynasty on PS-whatever and gets the #1 class and wins the NC every year.
I'm pretty pleased with a lot of the guys who signed. Much-wanted changes are coming on offense which is going to directly impact the success of the D. Not every guy in this class is going to make an immediate impact, but we have a pretty solid track record of turning 2-3* guys who other programs looked over and made them studs. Did we miss on a few, yea. But that's the reality of recruiting, ain't gonna sign every kid that's offered.
It's obvious CJF believes in being a huge part of the recruiting process and not just showing up towards the end to try and seal the deal. CJF planted seeds in A LOT of guys' minds and made it known that serious (positive) changes are on the horizon at VT! 1+ month into his tenure and so many on here have a serious case of butthurt. R-E-L-A-X
A late Crystal Ball flip from the Gophers 247 insider to VT for Durr.
4 in the last 10 minutes now....
EVERYONE'S TROLLING!!! AHHHHHHH
/s
Guys, lets all Settle down and try not to Sweat the smal...Wait, forget I said anything
Have to Hand it to you, that was a good one. Next thing I know, you're going to tell me you drive A Ford into work everyday.
Not this again... bring out the memes/gifs
Enrollee interviews on Hokie Sports Live.... Divine Diablo and J Evans are pretty awesome
The whole show Hokie sports is putting on is impressive.
I cant seem to get through my work firewall to see the video.
Can someone politely give me a real time verbatim transcript of what people are saying. Id also like detailed description of what you are seeing, Id like your words to make me feel like Im watching it in real time?
Jerod Evans is a leader for sure. Not interested in competing with his treammates, but wants to get everyone together. Impressive kid.
Josh Jackson- very impressive, well spoken.
Divine Diablo has a Magic Johnson smile, outgoing, well spoken kid.
Wiggins said Sam Denmark can fly. Denmark said he won So Car 100m last year.
I love it...
Now all I need to know to feel like Im in the room is, what color shirt is John Laser wearing?
Its beautiful...all of it, I can really see it...
what a team effort.
When did they start making pixelated shirts?
That's some well-fucking-done TKP right there. BWAHAHAHA
I've watched a couple school signing days that were, to put it politely, less than spectacular. Really glad to see VT is putting some money and glamor into the production. That kind of stuff matters more than you'd think
Where is the link to watch? All I can find are old videos.
http://www.hokiesports.com/videos/#!/videos/all/B0bmk3eToOP9222jCG2gPJaI...
That's where I was before. page has a video of "national women in sports day"
try going to hokiesports.com and then at the bottom of the page under "Today's Live Events" you can click on the "Watch On HokieXtra" under the Singing Day Live box.
Found it thanks, I was just opening my already opened from days ago tap for Hokiesports it was on the opening page. Thanks for the help.
Lord willing, etc. , etc... Hokie fans are going to be pleased with Deablo. Raised well, and he's a man on the field. Tabor's QB just didn't have the arm to toss him the ball downfield much. Coaches did everything they could to get him the ball in space... which is a really good idea.
I think a lot of people on here are confusing what is being said in here right now. I don't think I have seen anyone in here openly question Fuente or freak out over his abilities based on this class. I think a lot of people are concerned that we have a defensive staff that largely did not change, with the biggest weight on their shoulders recruiting-wise lifted (the uncertainty on Frank's future and as such their long term stability in jeopardy) and yet we're seeing a defensive class that is lagging behind what we're used to seeing in recent years.
I didn't expect a great class this year. I knew it was going to be a struggle to really turn things around with a coach who was just hired, but I didn't expect the defensive recruiting to fall off like this. Getting long term stability finalized should have been a boost to them on the recruiting trail, and yet it didn't pan out. I don't know how you can't be a bit concerned about the recruiting abilities of the guys who remained on staff after seeing this class play out.
The good thing is, offensively, things haven't looked this bright in a very long time for us. Hopefully we'll be able to score enough points going forward to mask some of the recruiting issues we're seeing defensively until we can get that phase of the process turned around as well.
That uncertainty was still on their shoulders for the vast majority of this recruiting cycle. Expecting them to come from behind and overtake stable coaching staffs, that have been in these kids' ears since the beginning, in the final stretch was folly.
People aren't confused, they just think you're overreacting. Sure "the biggest weight" may have been lifted, but that was never going to pay immediate dividends. The people signing today are the ones they've been talking to for the past 2 years or so, you can't undo all of that in 2 months. Or, even more difficult, the people signing today have had us on their radar for only the past 2 months, in which case we were in a severe disadvantage already. It's ok to not be thrilled, but acting like this signing day tells us anything we didn't know a week ago is misguided.
CBs are flipping to VTech for Durr.
At 87% now
Fuente interview on ESPN2 at 1:40. Will anyone be able to capture and post the segment? I'll be in a meeting.
Put up the Bill-Signal!
UPDATE: CJF gave boilerplate "we're excited" coachspeak. Basically got on the horn w the WWL to fill a "new HC on his first class w new school" slot in their coverage. Whole thing took about 90 seconds. You missed nothing
Here's something I saw that made me smile:
AWESOME
Should make the bar free too. We need to get those 757 coaches good and liquored up to guarantee they send their stud players to Blacksburg.
While I agree, don't think they can do that for the public school employees.
I don't know how big of a turnout it would be, but since it doesn't look like a monthly event, it shouldn't cost that much to cover the refreshment and drinks. It does feel a little strange that it's going to be a cash bar.
If it's a "clinic," why is there a bar at all?
Clinic then social hour?
+1. That is just outstanding. Thank you for sharing.
I'll let everyone know what I think of this recruiting class in 3 years.
but I wanna bitch about it now!!
/s
What is the news with Clay Dean? He hasn't signed as far as I can tell.
Edit: Whoops. My bad guys for the old tweet. I don't use twitter that much and had no idea you can "pin" tweets to your profile.
That's a tweet from December
welp. whoops
Tweet is from December
Regardless of my mistake he still signed with Minnesota today
Think the 1:30 announcement means 2:30 Blacksburg-time. Kid is from LA, which is CST.
Nevermind --see below
On to 2017
hahaha woo!!! Keep em comin!
Should we tell him?
He's finally snapped. Best to let this one go.
Recruitment shell shock is a nasty thing
Complete sarcasm. It was a lot more tasteful than what I originally had typed so I went with it.
I know brother. i was just having a laugh on a rough day.
Well, other than largely being a swift kick in the sack, I think this 2016 taught me at least 2 things:
1) Fuente has a significantly bigger rebuilding project than myself and I'm sure many others wanted to admit. VT's brand as a Recruiting Entity is definitely in need of some repair. I know he had extremely limited time, but I had high hopes that he could pull in a few more impact players but in the end, we really weren't able to "flip" but one player. In days past, dropping recruits to Minn and ISU would have been unheard of.
2) More particularly, the Defensive Recruiting needs SERIOUS attention. Whether its Foster or Wiles (or more likely a combo of both) the talent and depth in the Front 7 needs to be upgraded significantly. We pulled 3 LB (though missed on most of our other targets) but only got 1 DE, which makes zero sense to me.
I think its really funny to read how our defensive recruiters are dumpster fires...
and then read how great they were only one year earlier...
2015 Signing Day Thread
Edit: and this by no means is any slight on your comment directly, I probably should have put it down at the bottom, but I figured this was as good of a place as any. It is really funny though to read the difference this year from last, I guess its just how some things #settle out.
I would argue that last year they were given lots of recruiting heat as well between losses of Taylor, Sweat, and Dalton. Then Hand and Nnadi the year before...
I think people have noticed the lack of results for a few years now. Let's pray that Fuente is the bringer of change.
We should all read 1985Hokie's post above. Looking at stars is a mistake. Look at the offer list. The kids we got are really a good/solid class. We addressed some (major) areas of need.
For All Black Uni tweeter guy (feel free to send this to him): look at our recruiting class before Fuente's hiring. Look at it after. Yes, we didn't flip many at the last minute...but guess what those kids weren't even considering us under old management.
We will see progress on the field and recruiting. Let's let CJF coach his first practice, game and recruiting cycle before we get out the pitchforks.
To expand and maybe clarify on comment above. First, I agree with you that its way too early to judge CJF as a recruiter, its simply not fair at this point.
What does plague me though is we only replaced essentially 1/2 our staff. And you point out above that many of the last minute attempts at "flips" weren't even looking at VT prior to Fuente arriving. Most of these guys were Defensive players. The question that is burning at me is why weren't our Defensive coaches looking at and reaching out to THEM??? Prior to CJF that is.
The staff apparently saw enough in these guys to offer them but didn't recruit them heavily until they were already committed elsewhere. This is what concerns me going forward....can the D-staff step up their recruiting level???
Pure speculation on my part, but I think under CFB the D staff was allowed to get complacent and comfortable. I think the injection of new leadership has re-motivated them. Remember that Fuente re-interviewed all the staff that was retained and made the decision on his own. Certainly he had input from Bud, but I'm sure he made a huge emphasis on recruiting.
Completely agree with your comments on the D staff. However I recall reading where CJF told Bud O would a priority this year. Plus we have no idea how recruiting was directed/handled under CFB. Guess I'm saying IMHO they get a pass/reset as well.
I think you mean All Maroon??
I think the big issue that account seems to have is:
A- Temper Issue
B- lack of accountability on the defensive staff that has been here and their lack of recruiting/ablility to bring in the proper kids. Easy to blame Fuente and Beamer because they're the HC but position coaches are just as important for these kids too. What ever we're doing on the defensive side to recruit kids needs to be overhauled completely because its not selling very well
Sooooo, Clay Dean? What happened to him, did the fax machine break at his high school?
Likely walking on.
(sort of) Bright Side: Rashan Gary went to Crazytown, er, Ann Arbor. Not Clemson.
So, we won't have to face him in the ACCCG. #optimism
You have to figure there will be a few more JUCO's next season, should also have a larger class next season. Time to build back to a top program again.
Maybe not larger, less seniors next year.
I'm expecting a lot of attrition so don't just count on the seniors
I have a Facebook friend who is a UT fan. He just said that UT stole a hard commit from Tech today. I can't think of who he may be talking about. Any ideas?
Devante Brooks was an early VT lean (If I had a nickel every time I heard that) but committed to the Vols in January of 2015. Latrell Williams showed interest to the Hokies, but committed to Miami. Latrell flipped from Miami to Tenn. today.
Not sure who he is talking about.
He was thinking of Latrell Williams. He clearly didn't know what he was talking, like I assumed when I saw his post.
I think he's talking about Del Usions. Yea, we're really going to miss that guy.
Yeah. That didn't happen. Everyone who was committed, stayed committed.
No one stole any recruits from us. We convinced a couple players to come to the good guys that were committed elsewhere. That's a solid day for coach that's only two months on the job. While I expect much better results next year, I'm okay with today's outcome. Drink a beer ladies and gents; today could have went far, far worse.
And, sadly, it did, Danny Boy
Yeah pretty much a ho hum class as expected, with most of the top guys already on campus. Of course it will really take a few years to see what we have other than the JC who will either contribute or at least add depth. I really hope to see improvement in next years class though as a sign of things to come.
Are there any decent uncommitted players out that we can go after? We grabbed Kline after the signing period a few years back. I would think some of the guys that "lost" their scholarships from schools right before the deadline may still be looking around to land somewhere.
Welcome Chase Mummau to Hokie Nation. My guess is walking on?
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3340011/chase-mummau