Virginia Tech ran off the rails on the recruiting trail Wednesday afternoon when defensive end Tyjuan Garbutt announced his decommitment from the Hokies. The 4-star Riverbend HS product was previously the highest rated member of a Hokies' 2017 recruiting class already lacking in star power. Garbutt's decision to open his recruitment comes after a recent visit to Pittsburgh.
VT is still my leader!! pic.twitter.com/mLHejnxnv2— 4 (@tyjuangarbutt4) July 6, 2016
Let's overreact.
There is no way to sugarcoat this. Garbutt was the headliner for Tech's #STATEment17 efforts. As it currently stands according to the 247Sports Composite, Tech doesn't have a commitment from a top-20 Virginia recruit. The Hokies are No. 40 nationally (Virginia is No. 35). Garbutt's departure also leaves Tech without a defensive end commitment this cycle; a position of need again this year due to misses in classes past.
Justin Fuente has made it clear he recruits based off of staff evaluations, not star rankings. I respect the due diligence and agree with the approach. However, given that Tech offered Garbutt last June and pushed hard for his commitment, there's no doubt he was a blue-chipper in Hokies' eyes. He's just happens to be a 4-star recruit too.
Of the top 20 recruits in Virginia, all but three report a Virginia Tech offer. Offers are fluid and transition from committable to non-committable and vice versa as national signing day approaches. Therefore, round 17/20 to 75%. Virginia Tech has offered three-quarters of the Commonwealth's top 20 recruits and is zero-for. For a program that's emphasized recruiting Virginia as its top priority, well, Frank can best summarize the result.
Let's provide a rational response too.
It's July. National signing day is seven months away.
Fuente built his staff around coaches adept at teaching on the field, not recruiting off it. Tech can't boast an ace recruiter among its assistants. Although, the Hokies do have proven tacticians in command on both sides of the ball flanked by position coaches intimately familiar with the schemes Tech will employ.
At the moment, that strategy is not paying off on the recruiting front. Keep in mind, it was a long-term plan out of the gates, and Fuente hasn't coached his first game in maroon and orange. (If a spring game is played, but is not broadcast on ESPN3, does it constitute a game?) The Head Hokie may not be the savvy salesman who can overflow the cash register by pushing sand in the dessert. However, Fuente may be able to bundle on-the-field results to market and sell his vision. Time will tell.
Again, it's July. National signing day is seven months away.
Excuses are intolerable.
"See, I've always been the type of person where, if I give somebody my word, I give somebody my word," Garbutt told The Key Play after he committed to Virginia Tech in February. "My commitment is my commitment, and I committed to Blacksburg, the Hokies and Virginia Tech."
"I already told (Fuente) 'We're going to get Virginia Tech back to national contenders,'" Garbutt added. "I said I'm gonna help recruit all the best players around me. A couple players follow me and we talk on Twitter, some of the best players in the state, and some players in my area also. I'm trying to make it well known that Virginia Tech is going to rise and we're ready to get back to where we once were: a top-25 team."
Read all the quotes from Garbutt after his commitment to the Hokies and come away perplexed. Garbutt went from actively recruiting for Virginia Tech, to not being a member of its 2017 class in less than five months.
This is seemingly the scuttlebutt associated with Garbutt's U-turn.
So.... High School Coaches telling players where they should attend college. Damn! That's still happening. SMH— Dwight Vick (@vick757) July 6, 2016
Whether true or false, unfortunately that is recruiting. Tech's charge is to overcome any obstacles and obtain a signature on national signing day. It will be a tall order to now sign Garbutt, and would go against the national norm of ultimately inking a former (de)commitment.
Comments
This is a fuck.
Instead of writing for three hours I should have just published this.
It took you three hours to write this??!! /s
There was a lot of crying time before writing each sentence...
I, for one, enjoyed your slightly more in depth take on the situation.
No way to sugarcoat this. This is bad, and while you can explain and attribute a bit of the underwhelming recruiting class last year to the new coaching hires, at this point you should be seeing some efforts in recruiting start to pay off with the new coaches and it just isn't happening, and in fact now we just lost the one key building block we did have. Yes, we can say let's wait to see how the team performs on the field this year and see if that plays if recruiting wise, but that puts a ton of pressure to play at a high level right now, and that's a very, very tall order for a roster thin on depth with holes at a couple key positions like DE.
Is it the end of the world? No, but it puts a ton of weight on results this season, which isn't exactly an ideal situation for a brand new coaching staff trying to replace a legend. I have faith they can do it, but if things don't go perfectly, you have to wonder if we haven't set ourselves up for this thing to blow up in our faces.
In the end is the sum of the parts that matter most. If Fuente's offensive scheme requires 100% commitment every play (even if the player is not getting the ball in said play), then we want players who buy into the system... You know... Is not commitment phobic?! Honestly this doesn't bother me one bit. Let's start winning again and regain our lost luster then we can lament over losing top talent.
Disagree that 2016 was underwhelming. Repost of post 2016 signing day post...
...looking at offers, a lot of these guys were underrated IMHO. Not sure how guys like Denmark, Diablo, Moore, Kumah, Jimmie Taylor, etc are not 4* per Rivals. So, really could have been a class of seven 4* and three 3/4* out of 21.
Point being this is a much better class than at first glance. Just too much emphasis/ diappointment being placed on inability to 'flip' guys.
Evans - Missouri, Texas; #1 JC QB- 4*
Jackson- Boston College, Navy, Northwestern, Oregon State, Utah and West Virginia (#4 player in Mich)- High 3*
Moore OL- Auburn, Mississippi State, Georgia, Cincinnati 4*
Hoyt OL- BYU, Pittsburgh, Virginia
TJ Jackson OL- NC State
Kearns OL- California, Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, NC State, Syracuse- High 3/4*
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- High 3/4*
Kumah WR- Kentucky, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Tennessee- 4*
Diablo WR- Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, South Carolina and Tennessee- 4*
Denmark WR- Clemson, North Carolina, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Virginia- 4*
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 High 3*
Ladler DB- Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State- 4*
Quillen DB- Georgia, NC State High 3*
Taylor DE- Duke, ECU, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, NC State, Tennessee- 4*
Hewitt DT- Purdue, Rutgers, Colorado State, Iowa State (2 time Fla 7A all-state)
All of our guys are underrated until they don't do anything on the field and then they were rated just fine. Diablo was the only one you list that could have pushed for a 4th star IMO. Last year's class was not good.
You could say that about any recruiting class. The only way to judge a class is 4 years (maybe 3 in some cases) after the fact. If you are talking about stars, they okay. But arguing about how well a class performs before they even put on a uniform is just being a NATT (or a PATT)....and we all know which side of the fence you reside. ;-)
yeah we don't need that 247 pissing match over here.
The side that saw this coming 7 months ago.
^^^This, man. 2016 class was by no means a disappointment. It could've deteriorated to nothing with the poachers in full-force and Fuente only having 2 months to keep it together and add a top-flight QB recruit, a JUCO OL with SEC offers, and the fight for Patterson, Denmark (who had Muschamp in his living room), and Deablo.
Jimmie Taylor is a 6'4'' DE with a Jim Harbaugh Michigan offer.... He's from out-of-state so he isn't as well known to many fans perhaps, but Foster seemed pretty stoked about him on signing day. We have talent in waiting at DT, and haven't even seen how Darius Fullwood or Trevon Hill will develop at DE (both 4-stars on atleast one service) will develop by the time Garbutt would've even gotten to campus or seen the field. (Plus Gaines) Remember that we got a commitment from 4-star DE Melvin Keihn and he transferred to UMD after a few weeks of practice. It isn't like there is a black-hole on the trenches like there was a few years ago. We still don't know what we have because these guys were injured and/or freshmen while we had 2 veterans manning their post.
The 2015/2016 classes combined mesh pretty well as far as addressing positions of need and we addressed a lot of deficiencies. Garbutt wouldn't have seen the field right away so it's not like there's no time to address concerns. This sucks but the off-season timing is the main reason everyone is in a tailspin right now imo
Keihn was a 4 star LB that got moved to DE because we had no depth there. Fullwood is more likely to play DT than anything for us as well. Hope you are right on Hill and Gaines seems to even be ahead of him if he can get his head on straight. I don't see jimmie taylor fitting into our DE scheme either more likely to slide inside.
I don't think garbutt would have seen the field right away either as he looked extremely raw, but he had the size/athleticism that we covet at the DE spot.
Keihn got moved to DE because he wasn't a P5 LB. Unfortunately he wasn't a P5 DE either.
He was never even really given the chance to prove that because our depth was so bad, JMO.
Let's see what happens at UMd...my guess is the same. Not really an OLB, not really a DE.
Seems like a solid class to me. Those are some pretty good schools we beat out.
Honestly, it sounds like this kid just wants to take all his officials and have some fun. I read the point that he may be swayed to Pitt, or he could be swayed to any other school. But that's up to Fuente to close and ensure he arrives in Blacksburg.
Until there is an early signing period, or open signing rules, that has equality for both schools and recruits this is always going to happen. Because recruits are kids. And even though he said all the right words he is still a kid and has every right to back off a non-binding commitment that will shape his entire future for whatever reason he wants to. Why get butthurt over it? And why get so worried about the program that is in its first summer, before its first season and actual game? Rome was not built in a day. Even in the modern era of college football.
Fuente needs to focus on spreading his message, closing on the best class he can and then win. And make some splashes in his first season. open some eyes. And when he does that, and VT is back in the annual hunt, then and only then..... this shit will still happen. Because its recruiting and they are kids.
The cupboards were left bare and the shelves need to be restocked. It ain't happening in one recruiting cycle, especially during the summer of the first season.
So in the immortal and indistinguishable words of Mr Freeze:
I agree with every word you said, except for one.
"Butthurt" just bothers me. Why did that ever become a thing?
that's so Leonard. jk... isn't that what the kids say these days?
Plus 1 for that meme. That is how I feel walking into First Down on game day.
It's from Workaholics FYI.
That phrase has been around long before workaholics. It's a 4chan thing.
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/butthurt
Personally, I don't feel like the staff capitalized on recruiting during the height of the winning seasons from '04-'07 which led to cupboard emptying of '08-Present. It does cause me to wonder about the true effectiveness of Stiney's ability in that area as well. Yes, he was relatable, but looking back, it feels like there was a flip side to that coin.
Is possible when Fuente heard he took a visit to Pitt, he asked him why are you committed if you are still looking? Wasn't this something Fuente said in the past? I'm sure people will correct me if I'm wrong.
he went to pitt for a 7 on 7 tournament/match something of that nature.
It is not like we can afford to have Saban's tough love and say "have fun" to one of his 5* that decommitted recently. We have been having good luck with Florida players that want to play in Blacksburg. Time to focus more on UFaT (University of Florida at Tech). I believe many of those 3*'s down there would be 4*'s up here. I hope Garbutt comes back but we cannot continue to always be the bridesmaid and not the bride. That is not to say Fuente doesn't see this. However, if we are stocked with some of the best talent then there will be no need to have to mitigate a deficit in talent with scheme. Being able to enact good play calling is what Fuente does and he has proven it at TCU and Memphis. I have seen a few 4*'s fizzle from VA recently and some 5*'s that went to UVA.
This is one of the most rational posts I have seen in regards to recruiting on this site in a long time. Kudos.
Wait a 17 year old changed his mind?! Let me put on my shocked face! Plenty of fish in the sea, no need to panic. Fuente is probably going to swing and miss for a few years until he proves he can do something at Tech, just the nature of the business...
I agree. A 17 yr old's commitment is not something I hold too strongly to. He still could re-commit, is we'do have him. Beamer proved you can build a strong program with less rated plaster aLloyd being committed to the program. Unlike UVA getting a bunch of egotistical rated athletes. We've seen 12 yrs of how this works out...
Joe, great perspective. I think you summed up pretty much how I feel. When I saw Alex's post yesterday, I let out an audible "WHAT?" because I thought Garbutt was as solid as they come.
And this is where I'm on complete recruiting burnout. This is the state of the college football world right now; even a kid that seems solid can have moments of doubt. And I can't blame him since it's such a huge decision. I know we, as (most of us) grown adults, have come to learn that a person's word is important, but that's simply not relevant to football recruiting, because coaches, handlers, etc. hold all the power and in the process, the recruit is largely a pawn in many ways. The college coach needs to fill up his team, and can pull an offer at any time for any reason (including "I have no reason"), so players jump quickly into commitments. Handlers, trainers, HS coaches, etc. steer kids in different directions because they have nothing to lose and may be trying to use a kid to get in good with a college coach for his own personal gain. It's a sad state. So until NSD, commitments are nice, but my enthusiasm is tempered. I like it when talented young players commit to VT because I love my school and my team with an intensity that is hard to describe. But I no longer really get a rush when I see the new commitments; it's come to "that's nice, let's see if it sticks." Sad, but true.
I'm also sad to see so many people jumping on Fuente and Co. It's his first season for crying out loud, and he's never actually taken the field with the Hokies. This transition was going to be tough, and yet it's unanimously agreed amongst the prognosticators that we hired the best possible coach we could have. He's got a bit of rope, at least for me. This whole "he can't recruit" narrative is unthinkable to me. He clearly got buy-in from a bunch of kids that went from basically the Bad News Bears to a nationally ranked team, so he can sell something. Recruiting is a multi-faceted thing, and no one coach has the magic answer. It's comfort, team structure/system, academics, personality, parents, outside influences, prestige of a program, and more. No one factor seems to matter more than another. We're going to have some ups and downs until Fuente and Co. prove it on the field. VT has been down for a few years. We're respected but not revered or feared like we used to be. College football is cyclical, and we'll rise again. That's not to say anyone should be satisfied with failure or stagnation, but for a first offseason, I can't fault anyone on the staff just yet.
Think the bigger issue is people are tired of seeing Bud and Charley constantly miss out on recruits. They're not new they should be able to sell "Blacksburg" the surroundings and the defensive game plan. The defensive depth chart is pretty poor and full of unknowns which for a p5 school shouldn't be the case.
Yeah we have a new sheriff in town but he should close the deals and sell the program as a whole. However if Bud and Charley can't even sell a recruit while being the position coach Fuente is pretty much SOL.
Fuente was in a tough spot and wanted to keep some familiarity with keeping Bud and Charley, but if that side of the ball continues to recruit poor and struggles on the field then you have to cut ties and search for new. Have to take it year by year and work it out.
Did Bud not just put together back to back top 5 defenses in '13 and 14'? One down year in '15, which was average at worst, and its time to consider replacing him? Do you know how many programs would kill for Foster? We certainly aren't making a better hire than him
To be fair we heard how many programs would kill to have Bryan Stinespring or Cornell on their staffs as well. I know BF is in another category and would definitely find another P5 job, but I don't think he'd land at a blue blood or school of that caliber anymore.
btw we had the 4th ranked defense in '13, 21st in '14 and 44th in '15.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2014/leader/national/team/defense/split01/catego...
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/feidef2014
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaadef2014
Splitting hairs but the 2014 was exceptional as well. A far cry from "continuing struggles" on field.
Mark Richt would hire Bud Foster at Miami tomorrow if he could.
Oh yes he would, and VT fans would not like the result...
one down year and its looking very likely that 16 could also be a down year.. then lets go to the recruiting board and look at all the defensive talent in the state of VA that Bud and Charley have whiffed on in the last 4 years. The main point is if recruiting doesn't pick up then those top 5 defenses go back to middle of the pack defenses real quickly.
19th in Def. S&P+ in 2012
3rd in Def. S&P+ in 2013
10th in Def. S&P+ in 2014
40th in Def. S&P+ in 2015
35 Sacks in 2012
39 Sacks in 2013
48 Sacks in 2014
26 Sacks in 2015
That's a huge drop from 2014 to 2015 in both categories.. one that doesn't paint a good picture about VT's defense.
Of course theres a drop after two elite defenses. But I'll easily bet on a top 30 defense next year, which should be more than enough with Fuente's potential on offense
Yes he did, but those defenses consisted of talent that were brought in by recruiters who aren't here anymore.
You need a combination of both, you need recruiters and coaches. You need guys who can go out and secure high end talent, and you need coaches who can take that talent and develop it into a great player. The worry is that right now we have a coaching staff which seems to be purely focused on development and not recruiting, and its not exactly an unjustified position to take.
I think you're overestimating the recruiting that led up to those defenses. Kendall is the only true difference. Dadi and Maddy were nobodies. Outside of that, I don't see a big difference between Ken, Facyson and Marshall and our replacements in Trevon, Mook and big Tim.
I don't think anyone is knocking his ability to coach, but we've struggled for years in getting the best D talent in VA. You have to question why. When Beamer announced his retirement, obviously Bud was on the list and the common thing I read was his recruiting ability was questionable. Other than Settle , what top tier D talent have we brought in from our home state ? The fact that our best LB since Adibi/Hall was a walkon, while giving Tyler credit, also shows that there was a lack of talent. I am not for letting Foster go, but we do have to figure out why the best D talent in our hotbeds doesn't come here and figure out what to do about it.
I think the beginning of the Fuente era is going to look a lot like the rise of the Beamer era in the fact that he won't pull in the 4-5* guys, but will turn the 2-3* into all ACC caliber players.
Bud can't recruit. No doubt about that. I just can't picture a scenario where we get someone to put better results on the field
I think your perception may change if this season goes as I expect it to on defense.
The best talent usually goes to the best teams. That is why we recruit like a mid-level team - we have played like one for as long as most of the current recruits have followed college football. Great defensive teams, reputation, and defensive coaches get us into a lot of defensive top 5's, but if we want to get the top talent we have to prove we can get into the big games. We finally have a believable plan to get there to sell, and it helped with recruiting last year. Show it on the field and it will help even more this year.
so when we were a top 10 team we recruited like it I assume? Last year's class was the worst recruiting wise in the last 5 years.
When we were a top 10 team we recruited like a top 10 team in the limited area Frank wanted us to recruit in (Virginia). Separate issue now behind us, but yes, we were better at keeping in-state players in state when were in the national discussion than we are now. It would be nice to find out what we can do as a top 10 team who tries to recruit nationally, like Clemson now.
we've never recruited like a top 10 team anywhere.
Following our best season -
We also got 4 out of the top 5 in 2005 following a top ten finish.
I like hearing this. Suggests that winning a lot helps. Hopefully we can start doing that again.
doesn't make it a top 10 class, which is what you said.
think it was 2012 or something but we landed about 3 of the top 5 as well between joel caleb, Holland fisher and trey Edmunds. Definitely wasn't coming off of a good season.
he qualified it as "top 10 team IN THE AREA WE WERE RECRUITING" so, yeah, I would say we recruited Virginia like a top 10 team. The problem was that we didn't recruit the rest of the country that way, like other top 10 teams do, so we ended up with a top 20 class in those years instead of a top 10 class.
We were 11-3 in 2011.
12-2.
It was a catch.
I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.
Ok I'm mad too.
I wasn't aware of the comments he'd made after committing.
Makes this especially surprising.
Well that's a kick in the nuts to start Thursday.
I only have a comment for Pitt:
Ohh hokie football..How much l love not closing on recruits. IF he commints to Pitt, I don't think our coaching turnover will be a great excuse.
Since it hasn't already been said, I'll go ahead and say it: garBUTTS.
But seriously, making fun of a recruits name? Please, we're above that. Now, if he signs with Pitt and he's sitting on their sideline/on the field for them, it's fair game.
Considering the use of "Butts" around here as a term of exasperation or frustration, it was simply an easy way to express the same while being a little playful. Pretty sure this kid has endured worse while growing up; I doubt my one lame, smartass portmanteau/comment is going to be what sends him into therapy, regardless of what sideline he's on.
I'll repeat my usual comment on recruiting news:
I don't care what these kids do until they are wearing maroon and orange at practices, because until then they aren't Hokies. Go Hokies!
I don't want to start rumors but after he posted this, he plugged his phone in with a Pitt branded charge cord...
Actually, what had happened was Garbutt's phone needed to be charged and the only person in the room with a charger was the Pitt coach. So the coach told Garbutt that the only way he can use the charger is to make this announcement and decommit from VT.
The things kids do these days for a full battery...
Of course, then someone offer him a VT charger then we will be back to being all good again!
I'm all on board with the "these are still High School kids and they can change their minds at any time" thing. I also get that they want to take all of their official visits, because why not. But then why verbally commit at all if you aren't 100%? That's the thing that I don't get about recruits lately. It seems to me that there would have to be something to sway you towards another school in particular, in which case just announce your new commitment. Of course if there is some news you found out about the school you're currently committed to and have changed your mind, then it makes sense to "re-open" your recruitment. This isn't directed toward Tyjuan Garbutt btw, just in general. With that being said, they of course can do whatever they want since it's their process and their future that they have to worry about. Just trying to think about it logically...
How I feel about it.
A lot of it has to do with the fact that they are young, showered with attention, and don't want to disappoint anyone. It's very similar to sales, one tactic is to endear yourself to someone to the point where the buyer legitimately feels like they would be betraying the seller to not give them what they want. They commit, love it, but when they realize the step they have made once they are removed from the situation, they pull back from their commitment. I feel for these kids I really do. It's a pretty dirty, sometimes sleazy business. I really think we have some of the best guys out there on our campus but still, lines are quite frequently walked when it comes to recruitment.
he says VT is still his leader...so we got that going.
via GIPHY
Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Don't let it getya down Naitch. Just remember...
The Nature Boy and I are "No Pants Protesting" until Garbutt re-commits!
via GIPHY
I usually pull out this gif when the Rangers win a playoff series, because the same thing happens in my home.
These Macho Man gifs are absolute gold.
MADNESS. GET IT!
I'm not freaking out, but I'm not entirely sure what to say about this class. When we get blue chippers combined with great coaching, we won ACC championships (Tyrod, RMFW, DW, LT3 just to name a few). When teams get a lot of blue chippers with great coaching, they win national championships.
I wish I believed in the "recruit to the system", but it hasn't worked for GT without blue chippers either. There's few places for recruits to fly "under the radar". UVA got more 5* recruits than us in the last few years. ISU is winning recruiting battles over us. I'm just not entirely sure what the heck is going on. We used to claim that teams were winning recruiting battles b/c the coach was new and could sell a "vision". Why are we unable to do that?
via GIPHY
Mass Hysteria!
Yep, its the offseason...
correct
Still one of the greatest movie lines ever...
HEYOOOOOO
via GIPHY
18 year olds break up. It's what they do. This isn't over. No rings on fingers until February.
I hope to get rings in January, personally.
Yea I think most of our recruiting success (or possibly lack there of) this year is going to hinge on our performance and the W/L column in the Fall. These kids are having every other coach recruiting them telling them that VT is in a rebuild and at best wont be solid again for 3-4 years. Especially when it comes to some of the 4*'s left in VA that we're going after like Hunter, Capehart, and Garbutt I think our only real chance is to beat the predictions on the season (ie. 8 to probably at least 9 wins)
There is no better recruiting tool than lots of W's
First of all, I agree that it is disappointing that Garbutt de-committed, but has anyone who is posting negative comments actually been in a position of being recruited? Many years ago, I was a decent soccer player in VA and was recruited by a few D1, but mostly D2 and D3 schools. My junior and senior year were crazy because of the recruiting headache. I was trying to enjoy my last few years of high school and focus on school, soccer, family, friends, etc. I had coaches calling me every day and every game felt like it had to be my best because of the scouts watching. I'm not saying that I know what it is like for these young men because I was not nearly the athlete that they are and of course D1 college football recruiting is I'm sure a lot more overwhelming than women's soccer, but even before the days of the explosion of social media, the recruitment process was stressful. We are asking these athletes to make a big life changing decision about their future when they are only 17/18 years old. I don't think this is a reflection on Fuente and staff, but rather a reflection on what college sports have turned into.
That's a good post. Thank you for sharing.
I am diassapointed, for I have but only one turkey leg to give. Appreciate you sharing close to first-hand perspective.
We all know you got some hidden turkey legs laying around somewhere
psh, says the guy who wrote the code for the website, amirite?
yep, I bet Joe could just slip on over that database of turkey legs and give her a +1000000 legs if he really felt like it, but turns out he's all talk...
(checks leg count, sees it reset to zero...dammit)
Stop...you're making too much sense.
VT football sucks, Fuente sucks, we'll never be good, etc. etc.
via GIPHY
Thank you for the great reality check. Very apt for the time of the year where hopes run high and fears run higher.
You can't get mad at some kid for trying to figure out what he wants. When I was trying to decide where I wanted to go to school, I changed my mind at least 10 times. At one point, I was 100% confident that I was going to apply early decision to a small school in PA. Then I changed my mind. It wasn't because my friends/family were trying to influence my choice, I just genuinely didn't know what I wanted.
I imagine the decision would have been 100 times more difficult if I had my parents pushing one way, a coach pushing another way, friends pushing a third way, and 7 different fan bases talking about me on the internet.
...And this is why I (try to) avoid paying attention to recruiting until NSD.
What if the NCAA did away with the ability of recruits to make Verbal Commitments, added an early signing period, and kept the regular Signing Day? It could do away with some of the pressure these kids feel when going and taking unofficial and official visits knowing that they are not allowed to verbally commit to anything and that they have to wait until either the early or regular signing day to announce a commitment. This would make the coach's jobs more difficult, but with the early signing period you will undoubtedly get some sense of what you have for each class and where to focus the remaining attention of your recruiting efforts until the regular NSD. There are many problems with this idea that I am thinking of as I am writing this, so feel free to add to my idea or tear it apart.
I don't think it would change a thing sadly. Twitterers will still pressure recruits to know where they are going and recruits will still say that they are going to play somewhere.
That's life.
I'm a big fan of this. I'd take it a step further - not just an early signing period, but maybe an 'anytime' sign period where a coach can offer a student athlete at any time (with a signed, written offer), and the student athlete can accept.
I would argue that your idea might lead to kids making even more rash decisions without the chance to back-out, could you imagine, Jim Harbaugh lays a letter in front of a player while on a sleepover in their tree-house, and says "Come on just sign it". I'm awkwardly sweating now just thinking about that happening. My larger point was that there has to be a better way. In conjunction with my idea, I'd like to add that a player 100% can break their signed early LOI if the coach is fired or takes another job before the regular NSD.
I have long supported an earlier signing period. Here's what I'd suggest:
1. Official, written offers can go out after the conclusion of a recruit's junior year in HS.
2. No LOI can be signed before August 1 preceding the recruit's senior year.
3. LOI can be signed any time between August 1 and the traditional NSD.
4. LOI can be retracted by the school if the recruit fails to qualify or is charged/convicted of a crime (basically anything that would disqualify any regular student from enrolling).
5. Recruit can retract LOI if there is a coaching change or if the NCAA initiates an investigation or sanctions a school after the LOI is signed.
Basically all I'm doing is moving the timeframe up and giving everyone more flexibility. What effects would this have?
1. Coaches will be less likely to throw out "offers" to just about anyone, leading to fewer kids being led on by the big boys. Only committable offers will exist. No more BS from Bama and the like; either a kid gets a letter in the mail or he doesn't, and there's no ambiguity about it.
2. No immediate requirement to sign. The recruit has a full summer to attend camps and take official visits.
3. Classes come together more steadily, perhaps with a few blue-chippers committing (really committing) early in the process. This gives coaches the ability to adjust and send new offers, which I think benefits everyone involved. No (or very few) NSD surprises that leave everyone (recruits and coaches) scrambling.
VTGuitarMan for President! I like it.
Devils advocate... why has this not been discussed?
Perhaps because its the NCAA and this makes too much sense?
its been discussed at lengths, they started with Basketball and its seemed to work. They definitely are bringing it back to see if it would work in football but sadly don't think anything comes from it.
Generally I like it
There is nothing official about a verbal commitment now is there?
Water is wet. The sky is blue. Young recruits change their minds. And Joe Hallenbeck still loves his cheatin' ass wife.
Why don't you just go ahead and hit me?
My favorite idiotic hot takes are as follows:
1) There's no LOYALTY these days, kids are so spoiled and their COMMITMENTS don't mean a damn thing !!! Why would you ever VERBALLY commit to a school when you might CHANGE YOUR MIND?!?!
- they are young and are being pulled every which way and it's the biggest decision of their life up to this point.
2) It's proven that these coaches CAN'T recruit.
-THEY DIDN'T EVEN RECRUIT ANY 5 STARS AT MEMPHIS WHO TF ARE THESE LOSERS.
3) MARYLAND IS GETTING 5 STARS
I hate Maryland.
I watched a replay of the Maryland/Penn St. game the other day.....Even though I knew they lost, I kept finding myself rooting for Penn State. And neither team understood defense, apparently.
That handshake bullshit was terrible. And the Terrapin is a stupid mascot. I live in MD and nearly everything is too polluted to support them. Dumb state.
At least we haven't gotten the "these coaches are all overpaid CUSA coaches and should be gone after this season" hot take.
I saw Bitter tweet about that, where was that thread? TSL?
247
via GIPHY
Never listen to a teen ager! Listen to Alice Cooper's song 18. Says it all.
Check it out. Pretty funny. Pretty F'ed up. Like a wva fan after losing to Marshall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXZcJojTucg
I say we go with the little used 1 x 2 x 8 defense. I am pretty sure we can sign at least one DT per class and find a couple of serviceable linebackers. I know we can sign the DB's. They will just need to be around 250lbs and run a 4.4...may be a bit difficult to find....
Well, we're close there with Tim Settle, right?
We lose a stud DE that was once committed or a Tech "lean"? I'll believe that when I see a kid announce his decision in a school-logo'd Lamborghini .
All I can say is I'm disappointed just because of all those comments he made back when he committed. Normally I wouldn't get too upset about a kid de-committing like this because, like everyone has said, they're just kids - it sucks but it happens. But this guy in particular really went way out of his way to make it clear he was committed to us and that committing that early wasn't going to be an issue. He addressed that head-on and made a ton of statements like that you don't normally see these guys make. It seemed like the most sure thing you could ask for, and the fact that it fell through like this just looks really, really bad for our staff IMO.
Supposedly his high school coach is trying to persuade him to not go to VT(Garbutt). However, lets reel in Devon Hunter from Chesapeake and ease the pain... Hunter is an 88% Tech lean on 247 and a high 4* recruit and a higher ranked 4*...
The logic of replacing a 4-star recruit at position X, with a higher rated one at position Y (where the need at X > Y) evades me. Don't get me wrong, Hunter would be a terrific addition to the class, but I believe there's a more pressing need at DE. Virginia Tech should get both, but I prefer the blue-chip DEs given the way the roster and class currently stands.
Because Devon Hunter is a different class of a recruit. Garbutt is a regional talent. Hunter is a truly elite national talent. You want the guy that has the highest chance of being a game changer. That looks to be Hunter.
Obviously we want, and I think have a decent shot, at both. But if you have to chose, you chose Hunter
At this point VT can't be choosers when it comes to getting elite talent.
Duh? Everyone, coaches included, wants both.
My guess is that it makes more sense if you look at it from a recruiting prestige point of view. If you're just trying to say you can bring in elite talent, you gloss over what positions you actually need and focus on how "good" a recruit you pull. The idea being, whether or not this is true, that getting 5* begets getting more 5*.
But then again, what do I know, recruiting confuses me and I don't get why anyone would want to spend 4 years in Tallahassee or Tuscaloosa instead of in the mountains of Virginia.
4 star? He'll be at Clemson. But I'm sure the 2 star safety who commits to VT over Norfolk St. is a real sleeper who will be just as good as Hunter.
"HUNTER COMMITTED VIA NEW FANGLED SNAPCHAT VIDEO, HE'S TOO MUCH OF A DIVA FOR HERE!!!!111!!!!"
/s
Garbutt's coach is a huge Pitt lover. Western PA native.
Check out @tyjuangarbutt4's Tweet: https://twitter.com/tyjuangarbutt4/status/756912137042296832?s=09
So basically it looks like we are starting over on this one. The kid decided he wanted to look around some more and the Tech coaches will just have to make sure he can't find a better option.