Discuss and share any Virginia Tech related recruiting topics from January 2018 [0] that don't warrant their own thread [1]. Please do some digging to share original content (e.g. embed the original tweet, not a link to another post/website with said tweet), add context / relevant information and respect the Community Guidelines.
[0] If someone would like to make this thread from month-to-month, let Joe know, he is apt to forget and pressed for time. Or simply copy the boilerplate and start a new thread.
[1] New offers, commitments, decommitments, etc... deserve their own thread. Please read the brief best-practice tips at the top of the recruiting forum
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Comments
First?
How does someone get so many down votes for saying "First?" Did I miss something? Pretty sure down voting his comment of first is against community guidelines for down voting.
Saying "first" and nothing else is literally against the community guidelines. Hence the downvotes.
I didn't downvote but per the community guidelines:
Blast! TechHokie beat me by a mere 49 minutes. That refresh button will get after ya.
49 min? I don't think its the refresh button that got after you.
Thanks for the heads up - I don't memorize the rules for this site, but now I know.
But I do think it's hypocritical that my post gets downvoted and all the other off-topic crap that gets added to all these threads don't. The mob mentality is strong with these hardcore users.
Literally none of the other off-topic digresses on these monthly updates are "...neither witty nor funny, and do not add to the discussion." either.
I tried to leg you back up, it's unsightly having the first comment in negatives :)
Thanks man!
leg
Those comments may be off-topic but at least they are an actual topic. There hasn't been a more useless comment since the creation of message boards or youtube comment sections than the comment "first."
This. Tangents encourage discussion. Posting "first" is pointless spam. Let's not make this a thing we do.
My point is a lot of the topics we have on these recruiting threads (let alone the other posts) don't encourage discussion at all. "Pussy Touchdown" and other garble don't encourage discussion of the original topic at all. If one is spam, then all is spam.
/Rant.
It depends on context. Yeah, some stuff is pretty random, but at least there's often an attempt at humor. Propagating inside jokes can be fun until they get played out, and again that's up to each individual to decide whether they like it or not. But at least an effort at humor means an effort to positively engage the community and is not worthy of a downvote for being inappropriate.
Your post, however, was textbook "don't do this" according to the rules. So it should come as no surprise that this basically played out:
And because we are now wildly off topic and meta, and since I'm now probably pissing some people off for going off-topic, but then pleasing other people who want me to "do my job," I'll just stop at this point and get back to work.
Last
This doesn't actually help TKP either. One still has to sieve through useless posts to get to content, so it's still hypocritical.
Ok, you keep arguing this point if you want. I'm minimizing this thread now.
content is in the article. Discussion is in the comments. It sometimes goes on a tangent. If you don't like the tangent minimize it and move on. The amount of downvotes you got is really just a gentle prod to not do that. Almost everyone gets that at one time or another.
I did not downvote btw, but did not like your post.
My gifs are always witty, funny and add to the discussion.
Best part of a new month: A fresh recruiting thread.
Best part of a fresh recruiting thread: A fresh discussion of what deserves to be on said recruiting thread/what deserves downvotes
Dax getting ready for the Army AA game
Five new CB predictions for Stanford for Dax
https://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/Dax-Hollifield-at-Shelby-139773/...
WOnder what prompted it.
Maybe he is saying all the nice things before is official on Jan 12.
So when does he commit? I want popcorn to watch the meltdown.
Stanford is also sponsored by Nike so looks like he will flip to NC State
Simmons showing JJB some love on twitter
You mean JJB?
Of course
I kept hearing that "there will be a record # of assistant coaches changing/losing their jobs after the early signing period." Has this happened at all? Are many teams changing coordinators right now? Also, any word on who the 10th coach will be?
I'd guess many were/ are waiting for the bowl season and nfl season to finish. With the impending coaching carousels in both, there should be plenty of movement soon.
Yep. That's when Bud plans to make the move to aTm, if I'm not mistaken
/ssssafetyblitz
Yeah but what would it take for blind aTm fans to hold him accountable?
Man UGA is averaging 17+ yards per carry, they must have an awesome running back coach
Dell McGee.
They need the boxing glove on a stick though
UGA has 2 5 star backs that both play. One redshirted and the #1 RB in the country coming in next year.
With 1 or 2 4 star guys on the bench.
That makes me jelly.
They have the #1 RB AND the #3 RB in the 2018 class.
It's ridiculous.
How does this have anything to do with recruiting? Did TKP moderator quit or just forget how to do his job?
He's actually extremely busy with a faculty job at VT, and has said so a few times so.....
Thank you. Or, in this instance, since I don't get any vacation days to take and I worked all last week outside of Christmas Day, I was enjoying a little college football on the only day I have off this week, rather than compulsively monitoring every damn post.
VTGM is so busy he won't even see this.
via GIPHY
Maybe he needs more help then
This is probably the least off-topic post in a recruiting thread that one could complain about. As I have said repeatedly, indeed, I have a new and demanding job on the faculty at VT. I never had a "job" per se here at TKP, I receive no compensation, and I generally upheld things (and still try to, when needed) simply because I enjoy interacting with everyone and helping to keep TKP the cool place it is. I'm not going to police every thread, and in fact I wouldn't have batted an eye at this, anyway. People accidentally post on the wrong thread all the time, or they post duplicates (which I occasionally clean up). It's no big deal. Give this thread a day or two, and you'll see some REAL off-topic stuff when people get bored.
I see it all the time in recruiting threads. These type of comments have taken over TKP and have thoroughly diminished the overall quality of the site. I come here for real VT news but end up wasting time reading meaningless user comments on completely unrelated nonsense topics.
The "real VT news" is found in the content of the articles. Yes it can be annoying at times when people go on off topic tangents but then again if you're looking for pure VT news in the comments section of any fan site then you're going to have a bad time.
Normally, yes, but in the recruiting thread, the info (rumors) get dropped in the comments section. The whole point of the post is to discuss recruiting happenings, so really, nobody should expect this place to be the go-to source for the inexact science of predicting the whims of high school athletes. Your point is still valid across all articles other than the Recruiting thread.
Also for all those who find no joy in the tangential topics, TKP Tip Time: press the little downward facing > symbol on the first "off topic" post and it will collapse all the glorious downward spiraling below it as well as any new beautiful avenues that spin off. Just don't complain when you don't get the inside jokes in the future.
You need to go back to 2017 and trying coming into 2018 on the other side of the bed.
Don't sweat the small stuff. Will make everything much more enjoyable .
You know I learned most of my completely unrelated nonsense skills from the guys at 11400...
well done!
I'm hearing a lot of great things about Goode at the UA All-American Game activities.
Deion better not be recruiting him to FSU.
I really hope Goode and contribute as a Freshman. Hes got good size
via GIPHY
I may have missed the /s, but the biggest knock on Goode is his size. He's a sub 6' player when 6'3"-6'5" is the prototype. Yes, he is a monster, but size is not his forte.
Assuming he means good size in terms of weight not height. Yes he is sub 6-foot but he is 300+ already and looks to be fairly quick off the ball. Given some of the reports coming out of the UA game I am getting more and more excited about the prospect of him being one of the hidden gems of this class at a position of need.
If that's the case, I agree. He isn't a project, I think he can make an impact quick. He will be a guy you hear about on every ESPN broadcast with the phrase "don't let his size fool you" and that pisses him off. Look at his twitter and he hates that. He is going to destroy people in the ACC and I cannot wait.
Skip Hopkins says hi
Whatever happened to this kid? I remember hearing about him as the next Hopkins brother years ago and that there was a significant age gap between him and Antoine and Derrick, but it was never clear how old the youngest sibling was.EDIT: As corrected below, what happened to the 3rd Hopkins brother?
Antoine was "Hop". Derrick was "Skip". The third brother is "Jump".
Ah. My mistake. Question stands. What happened to Jump?
I believe his football career has concluded
Here is a review of Cam's first day:
"In a world where 6-foot-5 defensive tackles are becoming the norm, Goode's frame is one that is not often seen in the all-star game setting. Listed at a generous 6-foot on the official roster sheet, Goode has long played bigger than his size and that definitely continued on Sunday in Orlando. He impressed during one-on-ones and then raised his game to an even higher level during the 11-on-11 portion of the practice. Some may say that he was a little too physical at times, but that is the way Goode has played the game for years. He is also very quick off the ball, uses his hands extremely well and is tenacious in his pursuit. It will be interesting to see how he progresses during the rest of the week. "
Link It
Dude's lips are sealed, I'm impressed:
🤐🤐🤐
How are we supposed to feel about this?
Not Goode
The same as we feel about all recruits until they sign a LOI.
Edit: what VT said above.
Just remember it's really important to him that he makes an official announcement with his teammates.
ie. I wouldn't read much into it at all.
I thought I heard rumblings that he filled out his letter of intent, but told whatever school he sent it to not to post it, so he could make it officially public with his teammates.
Yep, and let's just say we have a good idea of "whatever team" he sent it to.
Shesh!! It's ok guys I promise
I don't have any sources to back you up on this but damn, some people live tweet by tweet. Let it all just play out lol.
I do, well #sauces so just calm down.
Yea I was in agreement with you. Usually you and LAHokie are the ones I (and I think many others) trust the most. But most people on here see a tweet and all hell breaks loose.
Haha sorry, I wasn't aiming toward you. Just in agreement. Recruiting right now is a clusterfuck. 1/3 the recruits left with everyone fighting over them. Then you have recruits constantly making comments to throw guys off. Just really really annoying right now.
Do we still have a shot with Anthony Grant?
I'm usually all about recruiting fatalism, but if he went elsewhere I feel like there'd be talk of VT recruiting another defensive tackle.
You know what, sorry to start palpitations...Maybe he was talking about his VT, NFL and retirement careers collectively, not which college he was going to.
I'm trying not to read too much into this, but given our DT depth situation, he would be a tough one to lose out on late.
All signs point to him signing with VT back in Dec. I'd be very surprised if he ended up elsewhere.
Goode has already signed. Goode has an official visit scheduled with VT. It is against NCAA rules to recruit a player who has signed with another team...
So how the hell did Frost coach UCF and Recruit for Nebraska. Meanwhile LOLUVA coach didn't recruit or coach his team this bowl season.
UVA was too busy putting their hard things together.
Cause Frost literally threw every 3,4,5 recruits an offer when get got the job to see what stuck. He let his staff in Nebraska filter through the mess till he got there. I
His Nebraska staff is his UCF staff though.
doesn't change the fact that he still offered every kid out there.
likely makes it a lot easier because they know what he is looking for
He has no staff at Nebraska, he's taking literally the entirety of the UCF football department from what I've heard
Wait does that mean JUGS is going too?
Omfg I forgot about these things. I'd get a set if I could afford it!
😓
what are they exactly?
tracks for trucks but you don't have to remove the wheels.
Find them here
So, your going to Nebraska?
Congratulations by the way, the UCF football staff has a lot to be proud of. Great game beating an SEC powerhouse. I enjoyed watching that. Also, my son is a UCF graduate, so liked it for him as well.
can confirm... craziest few months I've ever been apart of and it will continue until NSD in February.
JUGS YOUR ALIVE!!
He seems to be one hell of a coach. seems like the UCF players love him and played their asses off in his last game there. Also didnt realize how unique his playing/coaching career was. He was a college QB, but converted to safety and in the NFL, was a DC and OC as a coach.
It might not show in the final rankings, but I think our staff took a step forward this recruiting cycle. We closed on the high 3*'s and low 4*'s at a better rate this year than we have in a while. Guys like Simmons, Crossen, Tisdale, Goode, Thompson, Culver, Waller, etc. are stronger recruits than we have brought in in previous cycles. Our average quality of player is definitely going up and I think that's the single most important indicator.
We aren't going to go from 0-100 over night. It's a process. mid-high 3*'s, high 3*'s-low 4*'s, 4*'s...and then we might find ourselves landing a mid-Atlantic 5*.
Since you got me thinking I decided to glance at a slightly different metric from what we usually look at...
Currently our average recruit ranking is an 87.09 with the potential to go up a tiny bit on NSD. If the class was finalized today then that would be our best average recruit ranking since 2013 which was of course the last time we landed a 5*. Even then the 87.09 is interesting because it's really devoid of any high 4* outlier players too (ie. Hunter's, Settle's, etc) which we often grab one of.
I know it's been said before but I think it shows that we have a lot less "filler" type players like we have managed to sign in the past. As a result I find myself more excited about a higher percentage of this class than I feel like I usually am.
Also that includes a long snapper rated 0.8158 so it goes up to 87.32 if he is excluded
I just can't fathom using a scholarship on a long snapper.
If it means Bradburn never has to ball out and somehow punt after chasing down a high snap, I'm good with it.
Me too. But just because someone is on scholarship, they aren't immune to mistakes - top rated or not.
Note: I trust Fuente et al, but how many college long snappers even long snap in high school? It seems to me the #1 HS long snapper is a pretty low bar.
My guess is that Shibest is looking at the longsnapping abilities of the guys that are returning, isn't certain about the talent we have coming in, and made the call that we should offer him. Who's gonna use a scholarship on a longsnapper? Not many people, I agree. At least we got the #1 guy, though, and if offering him a schollie is what sealed the deal, I'm cool with it.
I was a long snapper in High school
My dad has diabetes.
What's happening right now?
[insert random-factoid-about-yourself-without-expounding-in-any-way here]
Holy CRAP, this is one of those thread tangents that mama warned me about! The end of the world is nigh. How in this world people can start thread tangents and sleep peacefully at night is beyond me. /s
Speaking as a high school coach, I understand what you are trying to say, but I couldn't disagree with you more. The ratings for #1 longsnapper/kicker/punter come from verified camps that all NCAA football coaches trust.
If you are a high school coach and are talking to a college coach about a potential scholarship specalist, they will ask if the player has attended a Chris Sailer Kicking Camp and, if so, what his rating is.
I'm not trying to come down on you. I only know all of this because a kid I coached was ranked as the #2 longsnapper in the country (behind the kid for VT). He was selected to the Shrine Bowl as a LS and will be snapping for Wake next year.
Ha. My neighbor's grandson was the long snapper for Wake and graduated last season.
My sons' T-ball coach's son is walking on at Wake as a kicker.
I know a guy on an internet forum that has a neighbor with a grandson that was the long snapper at Wake. Small world
Ok, but how many P5 long snappers went to this academy and/or were even ranked coming out of HS? How many NFL long snappers meet these distinctions?
Like I said, I trust Fuente to know more than me. But in the end, unless you're awful, mistakes by long snappers are few and far between, no? And even the NFL guys aren't immune to making mistakes. So I'm just not sure I see a significant value added between the #1 long snapper and, say, the 27th best long snapper.
I really couldn't either. He was announced on signing day but as we found out with the Kaleb Smith situation, who knows what that actually means in terms of an athletic scholarship.
According to 247, Alabama and Auburn both recruited long snappers with scholarship offers last year and anOSU did a few years back. Seems like most top programs take one every 3-4 years. I'd be concerned if we were handing a scholly out every year, but I think every few years it's worth bringing in someone who actually knows what they're doing. If you read some of the right ups on this guy, it sounds like Shibest picked a good one to offer if you're going to.
Maybe this is the next step to get to Alabama, Auburn and OSU's level. a scholarship longsnapper.
Maybe you dropped thi/s, but maybe you didn't?
Alabama, Ohio St, and Auburn (to a slightly lesser extent) also have position player depth out the wazoo compared to VT. Using a scholly on a long snapper is just icing on the cake for them.
Maybe we're opening up a line to his school for other players or family(?)
I found his interview video:
I would shit my sweatpants in that situation.
I bet if she turns around you see a couple bruises from the earlier attempts. You see that flinch? That's 'cause she knows how it can go.
FWIW, one thing most folks always fail to recognize when getting excited about rankings is they are not linear.
By the avg stars measure you mention (which is the better barometer than the recruiting service rankings IMO), the gap between #24 (where VT currently resides) and #18 is currently about the same as the gap between #24 and #48.
And the gap between #14 and #24 is about the same as between #24 and #61.
So VT's class this year (a good year by VT standards) is still about as close to Pitt or Colorado as it is to Michigan or Texas A&M. Or to Purdue or Rutgers as it is to Oklahoma or Auburn.
While this may be a good year for VT, the hill to climb to move up just a few spots in the rankings to the next tier is still huge.
I would think maybe using the median rating might provide a better, or at least different, perspective.
It might. But I suspect if anything, it makes the gap between the first tier and the 2nd tier even bigger.
RichRod got let go by Arizona, 10th coach maybe?!?!
You're playing with fire.
No but seriously, I think we all know what Arizona needs to do is hire Brent Venables
How screwed would Dabo be if he bailed? That offense looked impotent against Bama, and outside of Watson the last few years, Venables is the main reason they've been having success.
I hope Arizona makes that move, because it would flip the ACC on its head.
His son just signed with Clemson, so unlikely he leaves anytime soon.
Primetime with quite a reputable endorsement and high praise for DT Cam Goode.
I think that the successes of Geno Atkins and now Aaron Donald (quite possibly the best D-lineman playing right now) are leading NFL GM's to start to realize that really good DTs don't necessarily have to be 6'4".
Cam Goode and Teradja Mitchell were named the defensive captains for the UA All-American Bowl
https://247sports.com/college/virginia-tech/Bolt/Virginia-Tech-Hokies-Fo...
by the way, I love the predictions on 247 for him:
https://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/Teradja-Mitchell-at-Bishop-Sulli...
LOLUVa...LOLUVa...LOLUVa...FSU...signs with anOSU. The hoo tears were glorious.
holy crap, joe, when did you add the functionality that links come through if you just paste the address in the text box? we are truly blessed, TKP.
Getting so hyped about Cam'Bam'. Hoping he can provide some DT depth that we truly need along the line. Especially with the threat for 4/8 leaving for the draft.
It's great because 4/8 reduces to 1/2 and only 1/2 of the 4/8 is probably leaving for the draft.
Who do you think leaves for the draft this year
Settle/4 and Walker/8.
I think they both stick around I hope so anyway
I do think Edmunds will declare for the draft
I think Settle leaves
You didn't deserve the downvote for being right (or expressing an opinion, right guys?). I offset you.
Regarding my comment, I think Settle is going to jump ship.
I think Settle returns and Tremaine is the only Edmunds to leave.
Tweet
Here is the tweet HokieChemE2016 is referencing:
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I personally think Goode is one of the top 3 important players in this recruiting cycle for us. We just need some really bad DT depth and he has good size and quickness.
Why not really good DT depth?
I think they were talking about Cam as the defensive MVP for the first day of practice when I was watching ESPN UA coverage last night. They don't cover many guys outside of their top 300 and they all sounded pretty enamored with him.
I've been high on Cam Goode all along, but I really do think that he is the most underrated player in this cycle for the Hokies.
I agree he's underrated and is showing it against other elite talent this week. What are the chances he parlays this positive press into a sizeable ranking bump to where he no longer seems so underrated?
Good chance. There's typically one last round of ranking adjustments before the February signing period.
I just don't get the ratings paper chase game.
Honestly what does it matter whether he gets a ratings bump at this stage of the game? Just so folks can thump their chest over a few hundreds of a point in the recruiting service average star ratings when by most appearances he's coming to VT regardless.
What matters to me is the VT coaches likely already had him as a 4 star recruit in their ratings - and that VT is getting what appears to be a player with very good potential.
Points matter because perception matters, especially to future recruits. Your comment kind of comes across like the 5 star heart thing Butch Jones did.
Son, you gotta have a 5 star heart and be a 5 star competitor to play football for me. Rankings don't matter unless you have what it takes on the inside. To be successful at this, you have to be a champion of your heart and a champion of life.
I'm dead. Go plaid for me
Spot on here. Elite talent wants to play with more elite talent. I agree that a rankings bump will have no impact on Cam's on field impact, but it can have an impact on the upcoming recruiting classes that will ultimately surround him on the field.
This is more urban legand than anything. Elite talent go to programs with cache - and that's mostly resources mixed with a bit of program history.
1 guy getting bumped up 1 star isn't going to do diddly for recruiting - this year, next year or any other year.
What might impact recruiting is if the player turns out to be Aaron Donald. And that's a big if - seen any 5 star DL going to Pitt recently?
FTFY
Jaevon Becton got a CB to the Good Guys from Evan Watkins
is that a good thing? I would much rather have Javonte Jean-Baptiste
From 247 they're supposedly separate, both takes. I'd rather take JJB, but who knows?
Gotta look at it differently. We are trying to set up Ocean Lakes pipeline. Virginia Tech will want kids from this high school to give tours to the future four and five star recruits from this school. Ocean Lakes is a powerhouse for football and frequently sends elite high school talent out of the state to blue blood schools.
Virginia Beach schools pass around the "powerhouse" title. I wouldn't worry about giving out offers to anyone to try to get an "in" at a particular school. There are D-1 players at every single school in the city. At times though, players will start to migrate (legally or not) to a particular school if they feel like the best players are there, they can win there, show off their talents there, etc. Coaches get ripped for "recruiting", but that is hardly the case. The kids and their families are very wise to the game, and it has been going on for a very long time. I would be looking for the next OL, if anything, ever since Scott left.
Agree somewhat, but Ocean Lakes is the exception. They consistently have the best talent. OSU, FSU, Alabama and Clemson always send coaches over to Ocean Lakes.
Rivals is great for searching previous seasons high school recruits. Go check out the amount of 4/5 star guys to come outta there in the last 10 years. You can search by HIgh school names year by year.
Well...10 years ago Landstown was finishing up their run of dominance. PA had a time in the 90's. Bayside, too.
The only constant is D-1 guys can be found at any of the 10-11 schools in VB, which is amazing and unique, IMO.
I would say it also fluctuates some with certain schools being staples. But right now if we want to get in with one school in particular, it should be Bishop Sullivan. They are on the rise with top recruits and a ridiculous amount of D1 guys. When they played IMG last year there were 44 players on that field that had D1 offers. Obviously IMG is one of the best schools in the country, if not the best, for producing talent but Bishop is not far behind and has come on strong recently. In 2017 they had the top recruit in VA and 4 in the top 20, in 2018 they had 2 in the top ten and 4 in the top 20 and 2019 looks like they have 2 more in the top 10 so far.
But I agree that most schools in that area produce from year to year so having guys from a few different schools never hurts. Same goes for other Virginia schools like Indian River who has a lot of solid guys in the coming years and we just got Devon Hunter. Current players are very valuable recruiters as well and I love seeing them so passionate about the program that they get recruits excited and want to come play in Blacksburg.
Definitely would take both. Becton may help with some DT depth?
That's quite the offer list. Would be a nice addition then also the association
with Ocean Lakes. Like his height.
I live in Ocean Lakes and can tell you that every Va Beach school is important to be in with Private or Public along with Chesapeake, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg but top 3 aside from Ocean Lakes would be Oscar Smith, Indian River, and Bishop Sullivan. Central and Northern Va are also equally important.
Again...in there was a time not long ago that Deep Creek ruled in Chesapeake, and Oscar Smith could barely win a game. Things change in Tidewater.
And back to VB...I believe every school in VB has either won the Beach Title or made the playoffs at some point. I think Cox was the last to do so when they broke through around 2007. That's crazy to contemplate considering there are about a dozen schools there. Putting emphasis on one school is folly, IMO.
Agreed. I played against a Deep Creek team that featured Darryl Tapp, Deangelo Hall, And Josh Hyman. It was crazy.
I never lost a game to Oscar Smith.
The tides will turn again eventually.
I went to Deep Creek and they are on the rise again.
OK, pissing contest over... Any new recruiting news to share?
Agreed. We are sitting good with Grant and Becton. Dax is still being Dax and living up his recruiting process so crystal balls are all over the place. Baptiste is a wild card. Not sure if any big teams are getting their names in but he is going to Nebraska this month on an OV.
.....and cant forget CamBamBiggalo - he's shreading at the Under Armour all America all week.
TexasHokie-I noticed u are in Dallas, I too live in east Texas. Sweet knowing I'm not the only Hokie in these parts!
Excited about our trajectory folks, brighter days are ahead. The upside, if any, to Settle leaving is an opening for Mr. Goode. Hopefully he sees it that way too.
OV to Nebraska? I'll have to stop over and hang up some VT flags around Lincoln so he gets the message /s (...kind of)
Seriously though, the hype around the state of Nebraska is real right now. Every person out here is starving to climb back to where their program once was. Lincoln and NE in general aren't super pleasant this time of year in terms of weather, but I'm sure Scott Frost has a killer pitch ready for all of those guys when they get into town.
So what you're saying then, is that things are getting a little...FROSTy?
Great plan, I'll help and pick you up on i80.
JJB will be a guy I think we will have to fight for a little bit as FSU looks like is going to offer him once they find their DC and I can just see other blue bloods following suit once they catch on to his potential. We all know BC was the early leader but I could see them fading as better offers come in. I know Nebraska is hot after him too but Frost is throwing out as many offers as he can right now and from what I see here (LINK) it doesn't seem like he is super excited about them compared to other recruits. He doesn't say much of anything on twitter or in interviews so I'm not sure this means much but Nebraska to me just seems like theyre going after too many guys which could hurt them with certain recruits.
As I said in another thread, I think the early signing day is just going get the 2nd & 3rd tier program's fanbases lathered up about their early ranking - only to find it makes it even easier for the big boys to dial in on the remaining blue chippers in the barrel and gobble most of them up late.
I agree that it will happen, but not all players are just looking to sign with a blue blood. Some definitely are and don't really care if a school just throws an offer at them late because they missed on their first choice. JJB doesn't really talk much so it's hard to tell with him specifically, but I think there are players who wouldn't appreciate that and would rather go somewhere they've been in contact with for a while and feel valued at.
If FSU actually comes after him and does it soon I could maybe see him going there, but Nebraska just seems like they're throwing out offers left and right and not really trying to connect with these kids. I realize that's only because Frost needs to get a class together, but it makes me feel better about our chances with him at least over Nebraska at the moment.
Anyone have any insight to who the 10th coach might be?
I'm going to throw some names out:
Bruce Arians
DeAngelo Hall
Mike Vick
Moorehead
Jake Grove
Chris Malone
Bruce AriansDeAngelo HallMike VickMooreheadJake Grove doubt it
Chris Malone maybe
Honestly look for a G5 or FCS position coach who is young. You gotta think cheap and decent recruiter.
What about the o-coordinator from JMU, Donnie Kirkpatrick? Seems like they run a similar style offensive (or maybe I'm totally wrong here ... not an x's and o's guy), that's been amazing since he took over.
From the JMU website:
"Kirkpatrick brought 32 years of collegiate coaching experience to Harrisonburg, including three as a head coach. Prior to his hiring at JMU, he spent the past 11 seasons at East Carolina, where he served as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, as well as the assistant head coach for the 2015 season."
I kind of like the fit, though it's probably be step back for him.
I thought Fuente is on record saying we're hiring a 5th defensive coach with the new position (offense has 5 already, plus Fuente has far more expertise on that side of the ball).
My hunch is that we'll go young and relatively inexperienced with this hire too. Some schools are basically hiring additional co-coordinators, but I don't see that in our budget.
What position on defense do you think that we would need the extra coach for? Right now we have D Line, Linebackers, Safeties, Cornerbacks.
Could either split the LBs to MLB and OLB groups, or split the DL into DE and DT groups. The former makes some sense in Foster's defense, but since Foster usually coaches the LBs, I'm not so sure. Wiles is also your most experienced defensive coach, and has done a pretty good job with the DL.
I hear there's an under the radar guy named French that's pretty good ... he may be more o-line focused naturally, but pretty sure he'd be awesome!
Just saw this. They throw $120K in front of me, I am packing up.
Cody Grimm or Jack Tyler?
I was under the impression that Jack Tyler was already a part of the program to some extent. Maybe not in a true "coaching" role though?
Both he and Cody Grimm are GA's at VT right now.
Does Devyn Ford's dad have any coaching experience?
I am of the opinion that settle to the NFL is a good thing because I truly think he will make it and eventually pay dividends in recruiting. Losing him for a year obviously sucks, but a small price to pay for an active DLineman in the NFL that looks back fondly at VT.
Sure. I think it helps.
Settle also dominating on the DL for VT this fall also would have helped recruiting.
Agreed. But I have to believe that one of the tools missing from Fuente's tool box while sitting in HS kids' living rooms is the quick run-down of widely known NFL players that he has created. Swinney, Saban, Richt, Meyer....they all have that tool.
Swinney didn't have that at all when he became head coach yet he still signed a top 10 class. And that's not a condemnation of Fuente. Just saying there are a lot of factors at play and those often are ignored.
Got it....Swinney might be the anomaly there. I think we can all agree that Clemson was a decent head man/recruiter away from exploding for about a decade. My point is that I would trade an extra year in school for a productive NFL player every single time.
The problem lies in the cases of Bucky Hodges, Jerod Evans, Isiah Ford, etc. Those guys were all missing an important piece from their skill set when they left. I realize the coaches will always support the player and their wishes to test the waters, but it's terribly frustrating to watch underclassmen push to the NFL and languish when common sense clearly indicates that an extra year could've helped all parties.
I'm not sure I'd make that trade every single time. A player staying brings a value in production for the team and increases the likelihood of winning. That helps recruiting. Settle, Edmunds bros, Adonis all staying would make our defense flat out nasty next season and that impresses recruits when they see them live.
I hear what you're saying, and there is some value to Hokies being successful in the pros, but they can still stay, do well in college, and STILL have a productive NFL career
The elite recruits are a bit of a double edged sword at this stage of the program's recruiting. We need them to take the next step yet we aren't getting enough of them to backfill their production when they leave early.
Any word on When we expect Dax to make a decision on commitment? It'd be awesome if he and Rivers became the next Hall/Adibi.
He visits Stanford next week. I believe it is after that visit.
He seems to love the last school he visited, so I have a bad feeling that he will go to Stanford.
I'm hoping the plane ride for mom and dad is too much.
Plan: We gotta get some young kids on that flight and make it miserable. I have one I can contribute. Do you know anyone with children?
I have a 3 year old and 4 month old.
there's a certain fireman above you that's been awfully generous with his hose. He could help with four of those plane seats.
Yeah, that was the joke, but "being generous with his hose" was a much better one.
yeah I know. it came to mind so I went with it. legged you for the original thought. great setup
It'd be awesome if
he and Riversany two linebackers became the next Hall/Adibi.FTFY
I think Ashby, Artis at ILB and Kearny, Rivers, Tisdale, and Griffin at OLB are a solid look. With Beckett being gone now we definitely need Dax! Maybe Kearny could play ILB if we don't get Dax. ILB depth scares me.
Solid players with talent, but not good depth.
I think Ashby starts regardless if Dax commits or not, If things get dicey with injuries, Rivers could probably move over briefly
Kearny is a mike.
Nabbed 2 CB's (1 from Evan) for 2019 WR Elijah Bowick out of Charlotte.
Well this is picking up.
And now we will see how the early signing period truly affects non blue bloods. I'm getting kind of nervous about JBB. His offer list is starting to grow and he has been just about silent recently. Hoping that his visit to Blacksburg means more than a late offer with no visit.
agreed, we are going to see more and more recruits skip the early signing day, to see if the ohio states, alabamas, USC's end up with any openings, in hopes of getting a late offer. the early signing day is going to end up helping those schools a lot more than it helps the non-blue bloods.
Blue bloods have always poached recruits from other schools at the last minute though, early signing day or not.
Yea but they will probably do it more now when they see their top target sign early with another school instead of waiting until national signing day. This gives those top schools another month and some change to readjust and find new targets to go after. In previous years they wouldn't have had enough time to do that once they knew they lost a top target.
It also prevents them from swooping in and poaching guys who are already committed because most players will sign early and end their recruitment once and for all.
While I understand the negative impact it could have on VT, how is this not better for the recruit?
On the flip side, VT now has a chance to "steal" potential commits from other lower tier schools. We didn't get KJ Henry, so now we have a month to find a replacement. The only real losers are the schools at the very bottom of the FBS totem pole.
I think it's all case by case.
In some cases we'll be able to sell the fact that we've been committed to the kid from the beginning and the new offers see him as a backup choice.
In other cases they'll simply play the blue blood card.
In other cases we'll play the semi blue blood card and poach from someone less prestigious.
Pretty much we'll get the kids who really want to be here and we won't get the kids that don't.
Oh I didn't mean for that to come across as I was only thinking about how it affects the schools. I think all these rules should be made with the best interest of the athletes in mind.
That being said, the only way I see this as a negative for the recruit is if they committed to a school early on but have continued their recruitment but feel pressured to sign early. I personally don't think that would be a big issue because we will just see recruits decommit instead and obviously there are benefits such as enrolling early and being done with the craziness that is the recruitment process. But I can see how people have reservations about it.
Haha fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck...
I'm not worried
Probably should be. He's already set up a visit there.
Are our chances with him dwindling with each new offer that comes in? I am not feeling good about him visiting two other schools these next two weeks.
Wouldn't necessarily say that but if you're not concerned about him getting an offer and visiting a national powerhouse two weeks before NSD then you're being naive.
Oh I said in my first comment I was worried about that. Not that you can tell a whole lot from recruits tweets or interviews, but his silence doesn't do anything to ease my worries because without good #sauces I have no idea what he is feeling.
From what I've gathered he's a pretty quiet kid but he definitely loved VT when he visited. Was close to committing but his parents put a stop to it and wanted him to wait til February.
Word is his mom didn't care for VT/Blacksburg. That something we can even overcome?
How can someone hate Blacksburg unless you're a Hoos fan?
I guess if you don't like crowded stadiums....
Haven't heard that specifically but I know he's worried about how he'll adapt going from more of a city environment to a small town. I don't think it's that big of a deal or else he wouldn't be visiting Nebraska this weekend.
Lincoln is a decent sized town I think.
Not quite as small as Blacksburg but I wouldn't consider it a metropolis by any means. Went there in 2005 for the the college World Series and you go from "city" to agriculture pretty quickly.
SOB!!!!
I know I'm slightly naive but hopefully they came too late to the party to make too much of a push since we were the first big time offer (besides BC). Will probably depend on the visits to Lincoln, Columbus, and potentially College Station but would be a great get if we can hold the lead.
He just got some CB's towards Ohio State
Obviously that's NSD so not really news. Don't know that we're still in the running anyways.
but why? still waiting for a specific offer?
PSU or OSU
What's the deal with Coleton Beck's twitter? Bunch of recruits have tweeted that whatever was posted wasn't him. And now his account is suspended. Anyone see what was posted?
Just like Anthony Weiner...
No, that was Carlos Danger.
Or was it Joey Freshwater?
The screenshot is out there, but I'm not linking to it. I know Cole and what was posted isn't at all like him.
You're right. He was hacked and his @ handle was changed. Hopefully he'll get it fixed.
Probably his drunk cousin, Coleman Beck.
Someone get HokieSoup's brother off his computer!
QP being a team leader before he even gets here
It was a bunch of racist stuff.
Well the Edmunds Bros are gone. That hurts but I think they will have solid NFL Careers!
Yeah looks like we could have 7 NFL draftees when it's all said and done: Facyson, Stro, Edmunds x2, Cam, Teller, and Settle. Hopefully Tremaine can headline with a first round pick and Cam, Settle and Teller can get into that 3rd round range and all our DB's can get picked up in the 3-7 rounds.
Now we just need the Fullers and the Edmunds brothers to all have sons the same year
and daughters- thus guaranteeing a third generation of dominant hokies of the Fuller-Edmunds lineage.
Wouldn't there sons be able to pass along their genes to a 3rd generation?
Imagine if Trey's son gets together with Kyle's daughter and has 4 boys. Then imagine Tremaine's son gets with some random chick and has 2 sons and then Kendall's son gets with some other random chick and has 2 sons. Who do you offer scholarships to at birth? The half edmunds or half fuller kids or the half edmunds AND half fuller kids?
I'm pretty sure the answer you're looking for is YES.
Just imagine. A Fuller kid mates with a Edmunds kid. Thus creating a Fuller/Edmunds hybrid. A Fullmunds. Destined to be an unstoppable athlete.
JJB's getting more CB's for tOSU including one from Wiltfong...
I hate being in an office full of OSU fans when stuff like this happens.... Always hear how we will lose (insert recruits name) if a bigger school like Ohio State offers. Problem is, most of the time they are right.
Bright side: you are always the smartest guy in the room.
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31 page slideshow
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TL;DR - 29 former 5 star recruits on the rosters of UGa and Bama. That's almost 20% of all 5 star recruits of the last 5 years (32 per year).
Turns out 5 star recruits like playing for powerhouse teams. Who knew?
SHEEESH!
Any word on who VT is pursuing to round out the 2018 class? I have seen that a lot of crystal balls have gone toward OSU for JJB and some to Stanford for Dax. If we miss out on both of them, is there anyone else we are in the running for? Grant (Tenn. commit) hype has seemed to cool some as well.
Really just Becton as far is I know. I believe the staff was planning on having a meeting this past week to take one last look at their target board but not sure if that has happened yet or not or if anything came from it.
Any chance Elijah Davis gets a scholarship offer if Grant goes elsewhere?
Also, any chance JaQuon Griffin (brother of Jaylen Griffin) would get an offer if we have space? I'm assuming he wouldn't since I haven't heard anything about him and Becton would most likely become a DT, but I wouldn't mind adding another DT if there was room.
I seriously doubt any borderline prospects are getting offers. Those last few key recruits would get spots if they commit but our 2018 class is already large enough for there to be a good bit of attrition needed this offseason.
Speaking of Griffin brothers, his youngest brother Jamious (who I know has been talked about on here before) looks really good. I know he is still very young but just watching his film he looks like the best athlete in the family which is saying something because Jaylen can move. Already has great size for his age, hits the hole hard and makes some pretty impressive cuts.
Anybody know if we're looking at him? He already has offers from NC State, WVU, South Carolina and Ole Miss. I know Devyn if priority #1 but this kid is a straight up athlete.
Dang that's kind of depressing but thanks for the update. I was holding out hope that the class could finish off strong. The fireworks mentioned a few times in previous recruiting threads have seemed to run out.
Apparently this weekend is the first big Junior Day weekend for VT. Sounds like a lot of kids are expected to be on campus, wondering if we could pick up a commit or two to get rolling on the 2019 class.
It seems like the coaches are working hard as there has been a lot of kids who have recently come out with early top groups that include the Hokies. Recently 3* WR Elijah Bowick has named us his leader, as well as 3* CB Myles Bell. And we have made the top 5 for 4* OT Bryan Hudson, top 3 for 3* OT Jake Pope, top 3 for 4* WR Traevon Kenion, top 5 for 4* OLB Traveon Freshwater, top 2 for 3* CB Semar Melvin, and top 4 for 3* S Khalid Martin. Obviously it's still super early and top groups don't mean a whole lot at this point, but it's good to see us popping up.
I've been impressed with the number of kids who have said that VT is recruiting them the hardest. I would love to hear from someone like Bud who was there at the end of the Beamer Era to see how our recruiting efforts have changed since Fuente came in. It seems like our staff are working their tails off. Hopefully it'll pay off.
Any word as to if Drake Thomas will be there? Read a 247 article that said he is starting to trend our way
That dude gets to the ball in a hurry and in a bad mood. Very impressive.
He's listed at 6'1" 225 and looks 5'10" 205, but his tape is energetic. Also like that 4.1 GPA.