At 6'6" and 215 pounds, Drake DeIuliis knows he doesn't look the typical tight end to take the field for the Hokies. Luckily, that's just what Tech's coaching staff is counting on.
The Charlotte's Providence HS product committed to the Hokies on April 22, and he told The Key Play that one of the most important factors in that decision was what he heard from Justin Fuente and the rest of the coaches about the unorthodox way they see him fitting into the new offense.
"I'm not going to be one of those guys gaining 50 pounds, playing at 280, blocking the entire game, and when the coaches told me how important the position was and how versatile it would be, it really struck home with me," DeIuliis said.
Indeed, instead of trying to beef up his blocking skills, he's hoping to follow in the footsteps of another tight end that's played all over the field for the Hokies.
"They're going to use a lot of tight ends, two to three almost every down, they said, and they compared me more to Bucky Hodges," DeIuliis said. "I'll play out in the slot, out wide, H-back, pretty much just a very versatile player, which is awesome, I love to do it. It was an awesome decision to be in that offense in a few years."
But DeIuliis didn't simply take these assurances from the Hokies on faith — he got a chance to see how Fuente's new offense would work in person with a visit to Blacksburg in early April.
"I actually got to see a practice for the first time since I hadn't seen one before, and they're doing a great job," DeIuliis said. "It's a high-intensity practice and I loved it."
He noted that TEs coach James Shibest's energetic style was a big reason that practice seemed so intense.
"He's very hands on, he's not scared to tell you his mind, and he cares about his players a lot," DeIuliis said. "He's just good at being a coach, he knows when to yell and when not to yell, and he's great at what he does. He's very energetic and his voice carries well, he knows what he's doing. Just a very special man."
DeIuliis got a chance to sit down for lunch with both Shibest and Fuente after practice wrapped up, and said he came away with the sense that they were both "great people."
Once DeIuliis returned home and started mulling over his options, he said he kept coming back to that visit, thinking about how close he felt with both coaches.
"I thought about it for a while, I debated between them and South Carolina, and it came down to just family values in the coaches and the relationship they've instilled in me over a period of time," DeIuliis said. "So then I talked to my family, prayed about it for a while, and just gave the coaches a call."
He dialed up Shibest and Fuente to let them know the good news, and it seems they took it pretty well.
"Coach Shibest just about jumped out of his chair he told me and Coach Fuente was the same," DeIuliis said. "It was an awesome decision, I'm very happy I did it."
Now, he's itching to get back to Blacksburg for good, since he thinks Southwestern Virginia is already starting to feel like home.
"I just felt over time, the last few times I've been there, it feels like the closest thing to home in college, the fan base there, the coaches, the staff, everything about the university has those traits that I'm looking for," DeIuliis said. "It's just a special place that I'd love to be able to call home."
However, he'll have to wait a little bit yet before he can join the Hokie family for good, as he isn't planning on enrolling early even though he made his commitment so early in the cycle.
"The coaches are really big on me finishing out my senior year playing basketball so I'm going to do that, and once that's over, it's over and I'm ready to be a Hokie football player," DeIuliis said.
Yet he's still planning on taking a few more trips to Tech to tide himself over between now and next summer. He was originally thinking of heading to the spring game until he realized he had a camp that weekend, but he thinks a summer visit is definitely in order.
"I'd love to get down there in a couple weeks or a month or two, I'll talk to my parents and get a date set," DeIuliis said. "I want to get back down there as much as possible before I come down there for good."
Comments
Nice, very excited for the Techno Bowl Numbers we are going to be trying to put up. He may not want to bulk to too much but at 6'6 and only 215 he better spend a little time in our world famous dining halls or he will not make it through very many games against some of the D's we play.
TECHNO!!!
I don't know about anyone else, but if I were 6'6"/ 215 and 17/18 years old, and someone wanted to change things...
Is it just me, and the fact that we are in the dead period between spring and fall football, but we seem to be pulling in a lot more recruits than normal. Curious if anyone has the numbers as to the number of commits Fuente and company has compared to the same time the previous couple of years. Plus I like that we are reaching a little further out in the country for players.
I think the numbers are similar. We have 9 commits right now and I feel like under Beamer it was usually between 10-15 commits heading into the fall with 10 or so more committing between fall and signing day. This is just my impression through watching commits over the years, sorry I don't have numbers. TKP is covering commits and potential commits much more than in previous years which might give you that impression. Also, I think if you want some of the big fish out there you have to wait until closer to signing day/Army All-American game when lots of top recruit have their announcements.
I think it's just you.
Maybe one or two more this year at this time, but I think the number of offers, early commits - and decommits - are up in general everywhere.
Let's see if I can actually answer your question. We've currently got 9 verbal commits as of 5/9/16. So here are the number of verbal commits we have had by May 9 in previous recruiting cycles. (remember, this will be May 9 of the previous year, meaning for the 2016 cycle, it's the number of verbal commits by May 9,2015)
2016: 5
2015: 4
2014: 6
2013: 12
2012: 8
2011: 2
2010: 6
2009: 1
2008: 3
2007: 0
So it's not just you. Having 9 verbal commits at this point is ahead of the curve, and the second most verbals we have had by this point in the last decade.
Coah Fuente is definitely build an offense of his choosing and I'm excited about it. I hope he is also going to secure some solid O-linemen to fit the new scheme. Can't wait 'til football season
Those will be HUGE shoes to fill !
What really puts these interviews over the top is the added bonus the offensive kids discuss their role in Fuente's offense. The coaches have been mum on specifics to the media, and it's shed some light on what we might expect this fall.
Do we know how to pronounce this guys' name yet? It seems to come up each thread with him; not sure if I've missed it by now.
I believe it's pronounced Drake, as in DRAYK.
It's pronounced "Kevin"
Damn. I've been reading it DRAKKY this whole time.
Thanks NerdmaGeek!
Are you sure it's not Dray-Kee? I'm happy he's committed. He looks to be a good Bucky 2.0
I'm calling him Double D for the duration of his collegiate career.
I'm gonna exit stage left before I get my self in trouble with your comment.
via GIPHY
"Hunny, I was just trying to find gifs for this football player we call Double-D..."
i have no idea how to even begin to pronounce his last name, so i submit we change it to 'delicious', and add 'cakes' (even though I'm team pie) and therefore we get "Drakes Delicious Cakes"
Can we just call him DeeDee?
The "two to three tight ends every down" comment is really interesting. Assuming that includes an H-Back, perhaps the move away from 4 receivers is going to be more of a permanent situation to get more big bodies on the field who can block linebackers and catch passes. Would make sense considering how integral the RunPassOptions seem to be from the early previews we've gotten from French&co
BENCH Ford and Phillips. Packaged RPO's with 5 tight end sets. 3 h backs, we cut all our runningbacks, we don't need them, runs done by h-backs. Rotate all 4 QB's every drive/or situationally. Heavy TE jet sweep game.
Next stop? CFP championship game.
I won many national championships on NCAA Football for the PlayStation with a base I-formation with 3 tight ends.
I ran an ace bunch formation with backup linemen formation subbed as three of the receivers so that it was essentially 8 linemen across the line and usually at least two of them ran up field to block like the wr are designed to. 10+ ypc easy.
That's brilliant! Absolutely brilliant.
So I'm assuming the first question he was asked was: Hey there Deiuliis, what's it like in Fuente's offense?
welp. now that's stuck in my head. thanks
You're 1000 yards from greatness?
tonight he looks so pretty
So Fuente has found the replacement for Bucky's roll before we even get to see what Bucky's role is. That, my friends, is salesmanship.
One the best selling pieces of sushi at Poor Billy's.
Yeah, and if you can eat all 14 feet of it, you get your picture on the wall.
Sam Rogers adds a new picture up there every week.
..........I could probably eat 14 feet of sushi.........
Yeah sure he's a good tight end...but how well can he throw the ball....?
So you're a Bruins fan?
Lol I didn't even see that until later
The second time I saw the gif I saw a green blip in the corner. Took a few more views to actually figure out what it said.
+1 and would give you more legs if i could.
We wouldn't have even signed him if he couldn't pass.
Duh.
If he couldn't pass he'd have to settle for UNC
I thought everyone at UNC passed? Isn't that their selling point?
We recruit kids who pass.
UNC "develops" those less able.