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2017 Sandalwood (Jacksonville, FL) CB Ameer Speed will take an official visit to Virginia Tech.
What a fantastic name for a db
There might be a problem. I've always heard you can't coach speed.
Ameer detail, my friend.
The puns are strong with these two
... AND with his parents, who gave him the coolest name for an athlete.
Ameer in a lot of languages means Rich/wealthy. So we get a guy who is rich in speed.
I had to look this up. It means rich/wealthy in Hindi and Urdu.
I'm thinking he is really fast.
The offer list says 5*, yet is listed as 3* on Rivals. Saw that with numerous members of our 2016 class who had 4* offer list but were at 3* leading to fan consternation of the quality of the class.
offer listings are unreliable. it's a poor way to try to justify star rankings.
True. However they're probably similarly accurate to star ratings to justify excitement about an individual 17 yr old.
Yep. The best way to justify star rankings is with a cool name like Speed.
Offer listing unreliable because the offers might contingent/ non-committable?
Yes or flat out fabricated. For instance if you go back and look at Darrius Fullwood's offer list you'd believe he had an OSU offer. It was contingent on him camping and earning it and while he did camp he did not have a committable offer.
Went to a game at my high school alma mater for the first time in a few years two weeks ago and got to see Zacch Pickens (#1 SDE 2019) and Stephon Wynn (#3? SDE 2018) in action together, and it was crazy how huge and dominant those guys were. Unlikely we can steal them away from Clemson/USCjr barring some HUGE next two seasons, but they have offers from us. My sauces indicate one of them really likes Muschamp and he thinks "he's a total bro" haha.
Frat Bro?
Can someone tell me why that's a good thing?
Bros are fond of their own kind.
sometimes it's nice to just bro out, ya know?
Bro yourself out of a SEC championship appearance.
I brought GameCube and some Natty Ice. Let's listen to some Dave Mattews and bro out!
Just don't spray it with full cans of Axe...
That actually sounds like a pretty great evening. As long as we play double dash or melee.
Double Dash was the go-to for me and my roommates back in Foxridge. Lots of cuss words and good times.
Classic Derrick Comedy
Idk, maybe he's just really "chill"
So he'll be decommitting after the end of next season when Muschamp confirms for all time that he's a good DC, but horrible HC and USCjr fires him.
T.L. Hanna huh? I'm from Spartanburg and went to Dorman. Always enjoyed playing Hanna and meeting radio.
Yeah Radio is still around at the school everyday, it's a really nice thing how much they take care of him. I do think he will be done soon though, he is getting quite old. I did not enjoy our yearly games against Dorman, Byrnes, and/or Gaffney. We were good, but we were a tier below overall and they rarely went well haha.
T.L. Hannah was no slouch. I played against Ben Boulware my junior year. He knocked me out of the game actually. Fun memories.
did he put you in a choke hold too?
Probably, but you can do that stuff in HS and get away with it, or in college if you play for Clemson....haha. Nobody can tell me that wasn't an elbow to the neck of the Louisville player, yet the announcers kept saying it was a shoulder to the chest - not sure what game they were watching. I can't believe Boulware didn't get ejected, yet Heulskamp got thrown out last year on a clean hit. That rule is a joke without consistent enforcement.
I'm actually friends with his older brother Garrett, and as a result I know Ben as well. Good people, that family is stupid tough, I don't think they feel pain.
I've always thought of Muschamp as more of a man-ssiere than a bro.
Sniveling is the word that comes to mind...
My sources are telling me the current hokie commits are having good HS season. One of them even got an offer from Michigan. We need to keep what we have and add more pieces to the puzzle.
I don't know why you're being cryptic. Dalton Keene, son of Wiles buddy, got the Michigan offer.
http://virginiatech.247sports.com/Bolt/Wolverines-offer-VT-commitment-47...
Keene is one of the best players we have committed. Looks like a great talent, at TE or DE.
QB?
I will always give legs for TE/QB jokes...some things should never die.
Well, unless they should...
To me he looks like a great MLB. He fills the gaps well makes physical tackles and can shed blocks easily. Also great pursuit of the ball.
How are we stocked for OL for the next few seasons?
I noticed on 247 we don't seem to have many commits.
We have Aiden Brown committed, looks like a C/G type. Pushing hard for Hunt and Becton, both OT types. Presumably still expecting Silas Dzansi from last years class to matriculate this January. Hopple, Kearns, Jackson from last years class are all redshirting (I didn't include Demetri Moore since he's a junior)
Sweet, thanks.
Carter Warren commits to Pitt.
Need to close on two of Hunt, Becton and Tucker.
Any word from Eric Whitehead and/or Adonis Williamson? Is this the year they're eligible to transfer?
Tech offered 2017 Largo, FL DE Bobby Roundtree.
Good frame. Needs to put on about 35 good pounds.
Does he have a famous father?
You meant Grandfather right?
Ya daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn right.
Hope he doesn't give us the Shaft
Shut your mouth!
Background girls
SHAFT!!!
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going nuts looking for where we're getting more linemen this year before we run out of scholarships (or as the lady in the hamburger commercial used to say "where's the beef ?"). Any Ideas ?
Recruit more TEs and DTs?
Must resist urge to downvote...
Seems we're in on 2 or 3 OL. Hunt and Becton being the best chances. They have silas danzi coming in from a prep year, who I think is a project. It's not going to be a very strong OL class unless someone major pops up. Also surprised we aren't going after at least 1 DT more aggressively.
part of recruiting is keeping in touch with those who already committed and showing some love:
That's awesome.
I don't think we're recruiting him (yet) but I stumbled upon this kids profile over on 247 and for some reason this came to mind
Wonder how is parents came up with that name.
There's this kid from my old high school that I'd like VT to take a look at...the kid's name is fucking Excellence Perry:
http://www.hudl.com/profile/3187158/excellence-perry
That's an odd name. Normally the first name would be capitalized as well.
Seems they sent out the "This is Home" edits to a lot of recruits, seeing a lot of retweets today of recruits sharing the edits. Seems like @HokiesFB is garnering some reputation in the recruiting world, and that certainly doesn't hurt us.
edit:
Here is an example, Shaun Shivers posted his own and this quote tweet of Jaelen Gill's.
And now we know why the top sections were left blank in the card stunt....
Fucking brilliant forward thinking, to be honest.
Ive seen a couple recruits respond with what to me seems like sarcasm. Responses like "Is it?" or "Very persuasive (embarrassed emoji)" - HokiesFB and Zohn are retweeting the responses...so Im thinking, well Zohns young enough to be able to interpret sarcasm, maybe they arent being sarcastic.
Thoughts?
I saw the "is it?" with a thinking emoji and based off other interactions w recruits it seems he was doing a little what if, playing the field. Didn't seem he was being sarcastic to make fun of it.
Someone replied "no"
and then Jaelen liked it. If we're going to read into this then I think that says it all. His loss
Recruits making fun of us got me like:
It's cool I can't hear them over the sound of being ranked and stomping the #17 team at their field
Assuming we don't get a DT in this class and we have Settle, Walker, Sobczak, and Hewitt next year do we see Mihota or Fullwood go to DT or hope that Clay Dean or Dalton Rowe steps up? The depth isn't as deep once Baron and Williams are gone. I'd hate to see Mihota go to DT because he is excellent at DE in my opinion, and Fullwood does anyone know what is up with him?
Last I heard, Fullwood was playing a little stiff.
This is a huge deal. We are an injury away from serious trouble at DT next year if we don't get some help (T-Fr or a R-Fr steps up)
No way in hell mihota moves to DT
3* OT Jordan Tucker receives an offer from VT. Recently decommited from UT
HUDL TAPE He is a frequent visitor of IHOP..
*cue comments expressing relief that he used the correct name*
Good news. I want all the lineman. All of them.
I'm wondering if this year's team may be setting us up for expectations that
will be difficult to follow in year two under Fuente's leadership. In looking
over the roster I see some big shoes to fill based on attrition from senior
graduation to potential losses due to players leaving early for a shot at the
NFL. According to the way I'm seeing this we are subject to lose the following
players early to the NFL:
Isaiah Ford, Bucky Hodges, Brandon Facyson, Wyatt Teller
We are definitely losing the following seniors:
Augie Conte, Johathan McLaughlin, Woody Baron, Sam Rogers, Ken Ekanem, Nigel
Williams, Chuck Clark, DeWoun Green
Based on the above, we could be losing three starters on the O-Line. We could
also be losing three of our most productive skilled players in Ford, Hodges, and
Rogers. I'm not sure we have the type of talent on the current roster to replace
that kind of offensive output. The defense losing Clark, Ekanem, Williams,
Baron, and potentially Facyon is tough as well. We could potentially have about
8 players being considered for the NFL draft and that's a lot of talent to lose!
Am I being a little too pessimistic? If we do reach a 9 or 10 win season this
year do we take a step back to 7 or 8 wins next year before we see it back up
again? I'm really concerned about the loss at OL if Wyatt leaves early!
Teller should come back, few O Lineman go high draft early enrolled and Facyson still says he wants to be a doctor so not so sure he leaves early either.
Guards especially are not common early draft candidates. If he was a top-flight left tackle, that could be a different story. I'm not sure if NFL scouts would be very high on Wyatt anyway. We love him, but he definitely has deficiencies as evidenced by him being supplanted in the depth chart for portions of last year and this year. Whatever the reason for the depth chart issues, it doesn't look good for leaving early or being drafted at all.
I would not be surprised to see Teller an undrafted free agent after next year.
What? ??? The best run blocking interior lineman in the ACC. If anything the depth chart demotions may encourage him to go pro. He may be ready to forego the college game, there may be some conflict we aren't aware of. He's clearly highly talented
not to turn this into a Teller critique but he does not use good technique consistently. This results in active DT's getting opportunities to push off his block and make plays at the LOS or in the backfield. He has the strength and drive to crush weaker opponents (e.g. most LB's) but against good DT's he only plays average.
He's a low round draft pick at best. Guards picked in the low rounds are about as low valued as it gets.
If he is bothered by his demotion enough to say adios - and there is no evidence this is case - he needs to understand he's not in a position to be taking his ball and going home.
I don't see teller coming back after the debacle with petit to start the season. Hopefully i'm wrong.
Yeah. Hard to see a reason to come back if you get a decent draft grade in general. Teller is who he is. His personality quirks will be fine in the league, but put his playing time at risk at Tech.
So unless he changes, or Vice decides to let it slide, it seems pointless to risk guaranteed money on the possibility of injury or completely pissing off your coach.
And I completely disagree with whoever suggested he would be an UDFA. I think teller is a round 5 guy at the worst. He's going to test very well.
How many underclass men, 2 year starter interior lineman get drafted that high?
Depends on how good you are. Plenty I'm sure. Is staying another year really going to improve his draft status? He's not a QB. His strength is NFL caliber. What really is there to gain?
His run blocking is NFL grade. Pass blocking is not at an NFL grade, which NFL execs value more
The reason I said it'd be possible for him to go undrafted is simply because Guards are one of the lowest valued players on the field.
According to ESPN, 17 guards were drafted in 2015 (3 in the first 2 rounds) out of a pool of 113 prospects.
Compare that to 23 tackles (9 in the first 2 rounds) out of 147 prospects.
The only field that was worse in terms of # drafted was FB. So, unless Wyatt is told he's a lock for going during a round of guaranteed money, I don't think it'd benefit him to leave. I also don't think his pass protection is at a level that will show an NFL team they need to draft him. If I was a GM, I'd take the gamble that he'll be available to pick up at a better value after the draft.
How would waiting a year change the situation?
In some ways it won't. He's not going to have the opportunity to make money that Facyson will potentially have, so a paycheck isn't a good reason for him to leave school early. Coming back allows him time with Coach Vice to further work on his craft and show improvement by locking down the starter spot the entire camp/year (if whatever the reason Fuente didn't start him for earlier this year is correctable).
Facyson's play isn't going to earn him much money. Not sure if he's not healthy still or just not as confident, but he looks very shaky to me.
Wyatt is gone after this year IMO and even you noted 17 guards were drafted last year. Everything I've seen about wyatt has him rated as being around the 10th best guard available in next year's draft, and he's going to test very well at a combine athletically.
Of that 17 it would be interesting to see how many made final rosters.
Wyatt is the most physically dominant OL we've had in the last 5 years. If he can't find a spot in the NFL I have no hope for anyone else on our roster (OL that is). Is he a finished product? No way in hell, but neither were a lot of our players that had the nfl makeup and refined their skills in the league.
People like to talk about Kam all the time and duane brown etc. Those guys had the nfl measurables and enough film to get the NFL's attention and then really developed in the NFL.
I've got the past couple drafts (and projections from before the draft) saved on my laptop at home. If no one beats me to it, I'll go back through tonight and see. My guess is that the number of underclassmen guards getting drafted high is pretty low.
The fact is it's much easier to find good guards or someone to slide inside to play as a guard.. Why do you think the top contracts for guards are *millions* below top tackle money? It's much, much harder to find someone you legitimately trust protecting your QBs blind side.
There were two guards taken in the first round last year. Joshua Garnett, (senior) from Stanford was drafted by the 49ers at 28 and Germain Ifedi (true junior who started his freshman year) from Texas A&M was nabbed by the Seahawks at 31 (remember the Pats lost their first rounder).
Guards in Round 2 were: Nick Martin (senior; also played C in college, fun fact) from Notre Dame (50 overall by the Texans), Cody Whitehair (senior) from Kansas St. (56 overall to the Bears)
Round 3: Joe Thuney, (senior) NC State (78 overall to the Pats), Isaac Seumalo, (junior) Oregon St. (79 overall to the Eagles), Rees Odihiamb, (senior) Boise St. (97, comp pick to the Seahawks).
For those of you keeping track that's 5 seniors drafted as guards and two juniors in the (edit) first 3 rounds of the2016 draft.
I see 13 OGs drafted last year: (they don't list their year)
http://insider.espn.com/nfl/draft/positions/_/id/47/year/2016
Have seen wyatt rated as the #10 OG for the '18 draft.
Yup, sorry. Early morning brain forgot to add I only looked at the first 3 rounds. Because if you don't receive a top 3 round draft grade and you have another year of eligibility why would you not come back?
Because the NFL is now about getting to the 2nd contract since rookie contracts took such a big hit. Also having major disagreements with the coaching staff that led to an inferior player playing in front of you could be a factor. Hopefully both wyatt and the coaches are over whatever caused that rift, but it could contribute to his decision.
Sure, I agree it absolutely could contribute to his decision. And your point about getting to the 2nd contract is a good one, that definitely factors in as well. He should absolutely submit his name to receive a draft grade at any rate. If he's projected 1-3, go. 4 or 5.....that's a tough one. Like I said, I think at that point you should stay but as you pointed out there's a lot to consider. Anything below 5? Nah.
Let's not forget there's job security in being a higher pick. Teams will and regularly do cut 6th and 7th round picks if they don't perform well. Some teams are more willing to keep projects than others, of course, but being limited to 53 hurts. And I do think Wyatt would be a project at the NFL level. That run blocking has to have people salivating but his pass blocking....not so much. There's always the possibility of a spot on the practice squad but man, if you left early only to wind up on the practice squad....
But I will say I think there's a disturbing trend in the NFL draft. A lot of underclassmen are receiving higher/high enough draft grades to entice them to leave early and many of them end up dropping to the late rounds or udfa. I don't know how they assign draft grades but that process needs to be reevaluated badly. Not so much to force underclassmen to stay but to give them an honest and legitimate expectation. Like I said, leaving early only to wind up on someone's practice squad has to hurt.
I think they should publish the draft grade recommendation or put all of these recommendations in a database and allow some independent audit. At least make sure they're not telling 50 different WRs that they're first 2 rounds materials.
wouldn't be surprised if he left though. If he gets any draft grade between round 1-4, and possibly 5.... I think is gone from what I have heard/know.
With the amount of play time a lot of our backups are getting this season I'm less worried honestly. I like to look at it less like we have to replace these guys, and more like another starter with different skill-sets will be brought to the limelight.
Bucky, Facyson, and Wyatt all need to come back for their senior years.
Bucky has been really inconsistent at times this year and had some pretty bad drops. Given that he's now a WR, he could use the extra year to both improve his hands and his route tree.
Brandon probably needs another to year to get back to his freshman level of hype. His injury and last year's struggles on the defense as a whole need to be overcome. Edited to add: But this season isn't over yet and if he has a stellar finish he could be a possibility. But, as others said, he wants to be a surgeon and needs all the schooling he can get.
Wyatt, and French can correct me here if this has changed, for as good as he is at run blocking really needs to work on his pass blocking. The NFL is a passing league and you need linemen who can keep your QB upright. Any liabilities in that area will be scrutinized with an electron microscope.
I don't like to knock players because I know they give their all for this team but losing Conte....well, you need to actually block someone for your loss to actually be felt :/
Bucky still doesn't look natural as a receiver. He has a lot of drops and a lot body catches. I also don't see him highpoint the ball as much as i would like from a receiver at his length. If he gets a decent grade, i think he goes, plus he will test off the charts athletically so that will help. But with Ford gone next year, he could see an opportunity to step in and eat up a lot of those targets.
He doesn't high point the ball ever. His go to move is a sliding catch. Not NFL quality yet. But like a lot of guys in his position, he might just get drafted on potential anyway.
I definitely see your concern considering the talent that Fuente inherited in his first year has to rank historically in the top tier of new coaching hires. But I think the important thing to remember with Coach Fu is that he is building a foundation this year that will set up new recruits and underclassmen to smoothly fill the void of the players leaving (just like the Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemsons of the world).
With that being said, I think Bucky and Isaiah are likely to leave if they finish the year strong and get a draft grade in Rounds 1-2. My gut says Facsyon and Teller will submit to the NFL for a draft grade but not receive high enough grades to make the leap.
In regards to the O-Line, I think Conte and Glock should be able to replaced by Plaff/Petit and Moore/Osterloh without too many hiccups. Sam Rogers (In Sam We Trust) will be a big loss but I think Steven Peoples has a similar mentality and skills to filld that void (besides the great pass-catching ability). Woody, Nigel, and Ken will probably be the hardest trio to fill considering their elite play this year but with Settle and Walker filling the DT hole and Trevon Hill sliding into Ekanem's spot, I think the D-line will be as dominant as ever next year. Chuck Clark leaving is a bigger blow than most people think but if we can lock down elite safety Devon Hunter I think that can soften the blow.
To answer your question, yes I think you are being a little to pessimistic, if we can get a 10-win season and ACC Coastal champs this year, I think that sets us up well in recruiting and convincing people like Ford,Teller, and Facyson to stay in order to set up another run at the College Football Playoff!
The advanced numbers on Facyson are incredible the last two seasons. If he stays healthy this year, he could receive a high draft grade, especially with great size/length to be an NFL corner. We will have to see though, I'm definitely not sold on him leaving early.
I think Ford and Bucky are definitely going to enter the draft if they have decent healthy seasons.
My hope is that all of our Jr's stay for their senior years. Some who haven't redshirted, need that year for the degree. There is also the potential of doing even better next year. We should be 4-0 with an OOC schedule that includes WVU, Old Dominion, ECU, and Delaware. That really can't hurt draft positions to stick around unless the WR class is extremely thin.
As other have said, we have players that really need to stay for that final year to prove durability, hands, blocking etc.
Ford is the biggest worry to me as an underclassmen who could go early.
I sure hope they all stay! Next year could be a playoff worthy team.......if we don't make it this year. Hope we get some quality linemen recruits on signing day!!
Checking the 247 board for any real good news
So far:
Proctor is higher on us than people know
Hunter I am going to put money on being a Hokie
Harrison Hand is big on us
Garbutt is hearing some negative about us from UGA, not sure he's buying it
Ameer speed is high on us as well
Moar to follow
Negative about us from UGA...Shane Beamer bashing the Hokies now?
something something RB rotation...
Is Harrison Hand related to a certain Bama player?
Great update, thanks. I don't follow recruiting closely anymore, so this level of info is perfect.
My first thought was that this is a lot of defensive players. But I guess we like where we are on offense at QB, TE and WR. Need Holston at RB and two of Hunt, Tucker and Behkton on OL.
Last spot might be at DT. Looks like we could use one more there. Assuming we close with most in the original update.
Thanks jollyman for the update. The way I see the rest of the recruiting picture playing out if we keep in the 9-3 to 11-1 range and win the Coastal is:
Offense: RB: Holston will commit to give us depth and give him a redshirt year while McMillan,Williams, McKenzie,McClease, and Peoples tear it up.
OL: Hopeful we can bring in OT prospect Becton or recently offered Tucker. Need some big bodies to groom while Nijman and Moore/others hold down the edges for now.
We are full at WR,QB, and TE so that should round out offensive recruiting.
Defense: DE: Hopeful we can get Garbutt to reccommit, he will be immediate two-deep help behind Hill and Mihota.
LB: Proctor would be a HUGE pickup consdiering his versatile skillset (LB or DE potential, I think Tech is recruiting him as a DE) and the type of elite front 7 recruits we need to land on a consistent basis. We are also trying to flip Dylan Rivers, which would be a major win sin Bud is high on him but I am focused on nabbing 5-star and high 4-star 2018 recruits Teradja Mitchell and Dax Hollifield.
DB: Good to hear we are on the rise for Hand, if we can land either him, Donovan Johnson, or Amir Speed, it will help complete an overall thin DB class.
S: Everybody and there mom know Hunter is the prize possesion of this recruiting class as he could plug in for Chuck Clark and start at FS as a True Freshman. Looks good that we are trending as the favorite and have kept as his leader his entire recruitment.
There is a potential to grab another DT prospect to round out the class but if we can get most of the players above to commit, I think that will put us about 15th nationally and set us up for many more playoff runs in the near future!
Speaking of Garbutt, it would be cool to get more players like
him that can play straight away.
I don't think he's a play right away guy. I don't think he'll RS, but he needs a lot of development. Completely flying by based on being the best athlete on the field.
By play right away I mean at his actual position. I think he'd be very valuable on special teams and giving him the opportunity to travel and learn more while potentially getting mop up duty experience.
Even if we get the best case scenario with all those players listed, I don't think it gets us a top 15 class. Last year you needed 8-10 4* players to get in that range. Garbutt, Proctor, Capehart, Rivers and Hunter would give us 5. Even if guys like Keene and Deiuliis, who 247 is very high on, make moves in the composite, we'd still need a bit more. Top 15 class is very tough to crack.
Yeah that's a good call, I was mainly going off the article by Matej Sis here but his calculations are based off of current rankings. Even with a good finish the Hokies are looking at somewhere in the 19-23 range probably.
Which would be fantastic
cosign.
His article also discounts the fact that other schools will get more commits as well.
If twitter is an indication, Florida pushing hard for Hunter. Could be desperation, but his account retweets everything, and it seems there's a UF retweet several times a day. Their defensive rankings make for good Twitter graphics.
Their defensive backs coach must have said "Hi" to Hunter's mother
Well I'm on Cloud 9- my son got an invite today to visit and meet the staff.
I'm not going to provide any details as it's his deal, but for a dad and a Hokie Fan........ it don't get much better!
Go Hokies!
Did you go to BHS by any chance?
Negative -
Appomattox?
Edit: Nevermind, your located in Richmond
Any Ellis Brooks updates?
Trending towards Maryland
We're much more focused on flipping Dylan Rivers
4* CB from Canada will be in Blacksburg. Currently committed to Michigan, possible flip for VT an option.
via GIPHY
Canadian, eh?
Put it this way.....
If we keep winning, and keep playing like we have been, the list of kids who will want to come play for us is going to get vewwy vewwy interesting. Seriously, I'll guess that we'll start to see a swell in interest from highly ranked kids on both offense and defense who will want to be a part of what BudFu is building here. Coaches around the region will actively push their kids here because of what these coaches are proving capable of. They're able to squeeze every ounce of talent out of you they can, making you look so much better for NFL scouts.
There are many factors in recruiting, but an exciting on field product is definitely a strong one. Kids like to win, and they like to make plays, you give them that opportunity and recruits will come.
Sounds nice in theory, but our defense has long been elite and still has had trouble recruiting an elite front 7 and putting anyone in the NFL. Maybe Fosters move to go bigger up front will solve that, but performing on a college level still doesn't always translate like that.
The defense was elite, but the team as a whole was overlooked nationally because the offenses perennially sucked. You better believe that played into the decisions of the recruits when they wanted to go play for teams where they would be on national primetime broadcasts and be shown in the best light possible. Even in our best years, we rarely got the showcase treatment.
Now? Hell, we're 5 games in and there's already a different national perception about us. Things are completely and utterly different now than they used to be, and this will show in recruiting as well.
We were not overlooked nationally until recently. We were a regular BCS team with frequent national stages to play in big openers and bowl games.
Ish? In those big games, especially after 2010, we were seen as the sacrificial lamb to our opponent. USC, LSU, Bama, and Tenn this year we were treated as the afterthought to our opponent. And the one year we were hyped, when we played Boise, we followed up that disappointing loss to a loss to a FBS team, and were completely and utterly written off. Oh, but we got that At Large to play Michigan, so that means we were respected, right? Well, not quite as that decision was met with national outrage, with most notably Kirk Herbstreit going apeshit on the ESPN airwaves about how undeserving we were.
Recruits noticed the respect level we had. It wasn't good, and it hurt us, and it really came down to the fact our offense was terrible and we won a lot of games in what the national perception called ugly in defense and special teams.
I think you're dead on right here. I know a lot of us, as a fanbase, have complained about the negativity from ESPN and other major sports media about VT football, but really we have no one to blame but ourselves. We had a wave of hype and national attention after the MV7 years, and we failed to really seize that momentum and take the program to the next level. We would either completely collapse down the stretch, or more times than not, completely embarrass ourselves on the national stage. That lead to a lack of respect from sports media and recruits. And our absolute ineptitude on offense was a large reason for the lack of big stage success. That became even more apparent when spread offenses and putting up points became common in college football. It didn't look sexy to the media or recruits to win 10-7 with putrid offense.
I think all of these factors played into the ultimate downfall of recruiting and the program in the latter Beamer years. It had been a long time coming, and a lot of us saw it coming years before and the failure to do anything significant to address it. I think we're back on track and in great hands going forward under Fuente. This is what we've always wanted as VT fans: an explosive offense that attracts top skill talent paired with a Bud Foster defense.
What does taking the program to the next level look like to you? Unless it's basically Alabama or Ohio State then I think you are grossly minimizing the success the program had from MV7 through 2011. I realize it's extremely disappointing that we never made it back to the title game but it's not that different from other teams that got to the title game with an all world QB. Consider Texas after Vince Young, Auburn after Cam Newton, Oregon after Mariota, and Florida after Tebow. They had some success but it wasn't significantly greater than what VT had winning 10+ games for 10 out of 12 seasons. Honestly I used to despise that line and wanted a title so badly but the truth is that after a team loses a special player like MV7 it doesn't get easier to make it back to the title game even if that player helps create some degree of sustained success in his wake.
For me it would be more emphasis on the Hokie Club growth back then. Also all the improvements in other sports etc we see now should have been started back in 2000.
That's a fair point as I'd agree we failed to take advantage of the glory years in those ways. I'd guess we all have some speculation on the reason why that might have been but it's probably better to let it be.
In The Year 2000, VT was not in the ACC.
Improvements in the non revs was impossible when we were writing the BE a $3m check every year instead of collecting conference revenue.
It could of been possible (to levels during that time) to leverage the success into more Hokie Club members, more marketing and sponsorships to do something to make the program have stronger footing.
If anyone here was not around during the days of the Big East conference, you owe it to yourself to read up on how VT was jerked around. It is almost unbelievable. We spent 5 years as a full member and never received a penny in revenues from the basketball TV contract. You had a coach (Boeheim) who told the league commissioner he refused to travel to Blacksburg and the conference honored his wishes. Not to mention the fiasco from 1994, which is another reason to despise Syracuse.
We undoubtedly had a ton of success between the Vick era and 2011, and I don't mean to downplay that. We weren't supposed to dominate the ACC, but that's exactly what we did. The problem though was that we continually came up short on the national stage even while we were consistently winning the ACC.
With all those ACC titles and 10+ win seasons, it's disappointing to me that we only came away with one BCS bowl win. In big OOC games and bowls, we really lost a lot of national respect and credibility during that time.
I think not making a bigger effort to grow the Hokie Club after the MV7 years, investing more in recruiting, and adopting an effective offensive system were huge missteps that kept us from being truly elite. We definitely established ourselves as a national brand, but we didn't stay ahead of the curve and use that momentum as a springboard to the top. I realize we will never be a blue blood program, but only a handful of schools are. FSU, Clemson, Oregon, etc. have reached the top without being a historical blue blood, and I think the potential of this program can reach those levels under the right leadership. I think we are in excellent hands with Whit and Fuente.
And don't think that didn't play a role in diminishing the national perception of the ACC. We were kings of the conference for a long time, and we consistently shit the bed on the largest stage. If the undeniably best team in the conference routinely gets pwned in its marquee games, the assumption will be that the conference just isn't very good.
All those guys won national championships tho. I see your point, but winning on the top stage, imho, supersedes being consistently good, at least in the eyes of the public at large.
Edit: except Mariota... but they all did win the Heisman and a number of big time games.
Yes, but we weren't keeping up with the joneses on offense. Our offense was in no way appealing to anyone other than a top rb (the only spot we recruited well on offense during this period) It was obvious we were falling behind the times and it was too late. Additionally, I think there were a lot of other factors as well with the coaching staff and not adjusting to the changing ways of recruiting.
That said, I don't buy the scheme issue as a huge recruiting issue. We aren't the only team that runs gap-fit. The fact was we were tailing off, not winning the big games, the offense was lagging behind and so maybe people saw the fall coming before we did. Lots of teams have scheme/technique issues that don't translate very well to the NFL, for example, Alabama's corners don't often utilize a traditional backpedal. (seriously)
DJ Matthews Jacksonville Fl native and former Isaiah Ford teammate at trinity Christian HS (current FSU commit) posted a pic of him in his VT jersey on IG. mannn I hope that means we are still working him and hes liking what he is seeing from us on the field now. I would love to get back in the mix for him.
his account is private. I tried save and upload the pic but didn't work.
I'm logged out of my Twitter account and I could view it here.
whoaaaa hes got it as his cover photo on his twitter! hmmmm.......
Guy in his banner pic and Instagram is current OSU commit and 5* CB Shaun Wade. Dare to dream?
I heard something recently on a podcast from an ex Miami player talking about how it was common for kids to troll teams to just to pad their offer lists.
Not saying this is the case since I'm pretty sure he has a VT offer. But ever since I heard that, it makes me wonder kids motives.
This kid has been trolling us for almost a year now if I remember correctly. He's been a hard commit to FSU for a very long time. He could be different and actually be interested in playing here, but for the most part I think recruits are just playing the field looking for likes and followers.
Edit: Found it. Back in December 2015 we had almost 250 comments on DJ. He clearly has been dating around though, with trips to UT, Alabama, OU, and Miami since his FSU commitment. Fuente's offense is attractive, and winning cures nearly everything. We'll see how it plays out.
In this case I think Ford could give us an outside shot to flip. Otherwise I'd just write him off and be pleasantly surprised if he did.
5 star RB Ricky Slade visiting tonight
He got the full Lane experience tonight.
I'm glad the commentators were talking up the atmosphere. Hopefully helps with the recruits!
He got to see first hand what potential our team is with a rushing attack! Ricky Slade... welcome home!
And we even pretended to have a feature back!
Per 247, we're a lock for a 3-star RB from FL? #6 All-Purpose back in nation. Apparently a real speedster.
EDIT: Sauuce
So what's an all purpose running back? And why is the #6 only a 3 star?
Rivals 4*
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/10108
I thought we hated rivals? Whom do we have irrational rage against? I'M SO CONFUSED!
That would be Heather Dinich
Eurasia, uh I mean Rivals, has always been our friend. We've always been at war with Eastasia, I mean, 24/7.
I see what you did there...
He committed to Auburn.
Im glad all the recruits we there for:
1) The atmosphere
2) The beat down
The atmosphere + a win is really what you hope for.
I think Buzz also had some basketball recruits there, and I'm guessing they enjoyed that!
So great having a team and environment where recruits can see something
like last night.
Who were all those people wearing blue behind our bench? was that like a recruit thing or a family thing?
Thats so weird I thought they were wearing white and gold.
FUMA football team apparently.
HUGE recruiting weekend coming up for the Georgia Tech game
5* CB Shaun Wade will be visiting... along for the ride are his teammates
high 4* WR DJ Matthews as well as
3* RB Rasheed Martin
EDIT: High 4* All American OL Taderral Slanton will be there as well
Thats great. Don't think we have a shot at either, but being a place worth going for official visits is a step in the right direction.
Landing these kids begins with getting official visits.
All 4 are officials and I gotta say from what I've been reading there's a lot of buzz around our program
Just checked out Shaun Wade's HUDL. That speed!
any update on Mekhi Becton? He would be a HUGE get imo
Still think he doesn't plan on announcing until Signing Day so it's pretty much still wide open. Originally was considered to be a UVA lean but appears to be more open to other schools now.
Literally.
His little brother needs an offer yesterday. That little guy is going to be a killer.
Dads looks like he can play some DT.
His face already looks like it's 25.
If you pause this at the right point and then blow up a screen shot, you gte a glimpse at some name on Vice's recruiting board
Didn't take long for that to be deleted lol Pete
Courtesy of @wansapana:
Here is a closer up screenshot I got.
You can cross Warren off that 2017 list, he picked Pitt last week.
Hoffman?
VT_Football twitter strikes again....
this time, its actually an NCAA violation for unintentionally calling out recruits by name. Brilliant!
dammit pete.
Are we going to get into some shit for this in terms of a recruiting violation?
No its just stupid for a teams own fan base to do something like this that the staff clearly didnt mean for
According to 247sports for our recruiting class it has Silas Dzansi as our top rated recruit at a 90 and #1 for every category, anybody else see this?
#1 for prep kids.
Now I've seen it. Maybe everyone is realizing he was a really good athlete.
Very similar to Yosh Nijman. In other programs, he's a 3-4 DE.
So he was under recruited?
Don't know how to embed but Devon Hunter just cancelled his official to ND this weekend.
1 down
Here you go....
Don't think ND was ever in it. Still more nervous about UNC, Bama and Florida
The general chatter is Hunter will be a Hokie
Jolly, I still believe in you, but dammit this makes me nervous.
We've done everything we can and more.
If my Cubs are in the World Series then I'll believe anything now.
(from another fellow longtime sufferer -old enough to have seen "the Sandberg game" in '84 on the weekly MLB syndicated Saturday Game of the Week)
I don't remember '84 but I remember '89 losing to the Giants. Grace was hitting everything but Clark was better.......
Would be nice if he went to the Nov 19th game at ND
Do we have to review the Stages of Hokie Recruiting and how the last stage is sadness?
same school as rayshard ashby i believe
EDIT: idk when this was written but it seems he's class of '19 and plays TE and possibly OT and UNC is his other offer so far
Oooooh, class of '19 makes this extra promising.
VT has offered him twice...and he's a QB? Sounds double extra promising.
deleted
#FirePeteMorris
This will not end well for you... trust me
Know that you two are not alone
We skrong fam
Like what is this garbage
What's funny is that someone thought that was a good idea.EDIT: You know what? I've had a change of heart on this.
I'm not understanding the problem here.
So you find them...
... attractive?I don't have an opinion about them one way or the other. They are unique for what they represent.
*double post*
You know what? When you're right, you're right.
It commemorates an American ideal, and I'm certainly supportive of that.
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2016/october/20/uniform-news-duke-has-...
I'm aware of that thread. I was just using it as an example of another bad tweet
I can see what the talk will be about if we lose, ..red zone offense.
We may talk about that anyway, but will use a lot nicer tone.
Hey so maybe we should try and improve our redzone offense a'?
Oh okay, or not, just a suggestion a'.
/c for Canadian.
http://virginiatech.247sports.com/Bolt/Virginia-Tech-signee-gets-a-big-r...
Need to keep this kid in the fold. 4 stars aside, his name game is very very strong.
Silas. Silas Dzansi.
I predict a profitable football future, but if that doesn't pan out, he should pick up an axe and start a metal band. His name alone will sell albums.
Devon Hunter is supposed to drop his top 5 tonight. Somebody not on mobile please embed his tweet
Just checked his twitter, I don't think he dropped it tonight, but he did tweet that he was.
He just dropped it. Includes Bama, Auburn, UNC, Florida, and the good guys. Interesting he included the picture of him wearing VT gloves
Yep, pencil him in for FSU
I wonder if there's anything to the order in which the schools appear in the video?
Really doubt it. Most likely he had someone make that video for him.
Devon Hunter, Eric Crosby, Gaddy brothers, Garbut, would look lovely for us recruiting VA. I hope we get Hunter and the Tennessee fallout is bad! Also a 4 star linebacker from Maryland is looking at us but I forget his name. I hope this signing day is full of awesomeness!
The 4* LB is Nathan Proctor but, we are recruiting him as a DE
Hunter, Garbutt, and Proctor would be a great trio to get this year.
Proctor and Garbut would be a good class for DE's, Hunter would be awesome, but DT has me worried. We may get Janaz Jordan but we need more at least 1 more and Crosby, Ewell, the Gaddys, so much DT talent in our state alone and we can't seem to land it!
I think Janaz Jordan goes to Bethel.
I think Emmanuel Belmar is a DE as well now and he was a OLB when we recruited him. I wonder if that hurts our recruiting at all.
still listed as LB on the roster.
I know it is November, but looks like we just landed a 2018 commitment. Kid has a nice offer list, too.
Player Profile: http://247sports.com/Player/Chamarri-Conner-86352
Scout Profile shows him as committed: http://www.scout.com/player/203159-chamarri-conner/recruiting
Huge if true.
Would probably help us with Shaun Wade, DJ Matthews and the rest of the Trinity Christian/Pro Impact Guys
Any word / reaction from recruits post ND win?
ps. Is there a November thread we should be posting on?
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2016/november/2/november-recruiting-th...