Nothing to see here (Former "Devyn Ford Commitment week!" thread)

I have sauces (no #) that say Ford will be a hokie.

so how many hours before this thread goes completely off the rails?

Said before, keep piling up these O lineman like we have the last couple cycles and running back will take care of itself. I think Ford is gone to PSU (hope I am wrong) but it won't matter we will be fine.

If I could take a pill that would make me never follow recruiting again, I would OD.

Hey anyone see the twitter post about one of PSU fan's DMing Ford's dad asking him where he feels his son is going. And dad answer back "leave my family alone"

The "fan" replies "just asking, go hokies"

Something along that line but that stuff pisses me off

Down to 48% to VT.

Fingers crossed

Not feeling good.

Edit: there are basically two scenarios here that are equally possible...

A: The recent string of PSU CB's for Ford is a result of people piggy-backing off of the predictions of a few credible national insiders.

B: The VT insiders are being fed what VT wants to hear from people involved in/near the situation. No one likes to be the bearer of bad news.

To be completely honest, I think the second scenario is far more likely.

Down to 42%. This falls in line with days 1-3 of crystal balling. We should consider 2nd place a real moral victory.

I haven't felt good about Ford's recruitment since he set foot on PSU's campus last month. I know there's been some positive info on here and other sites, but this just seems like a situation where we're gonna be the last to "know" because people's sources are telling them what they want to hear or we as casual fans choose to disbelieve anything that suggests he isn't coming to VT. PSU side seems uber-confident and national people seem adamant that he's heading there as well. PSU has had all the momentum since his visit and I don't feel that's changed at all. I know its repeatedly said not to read into kids' twitters and such, but Ford routinely interacts with PSU players and targets and we know he's good friends with Slade/Nana. He doesn't seem to be tight with any VT player/recruits. At the end of the day, I think his relationships and comfort with PSU players/recruits coupled with Franklin's ability to recruit will win out. I hope not, but it seems like its been trending that way for a while despite what people's sources around here are saying.

I have gone from feeling confident and thinking that Ford was going to be the big recruit that we've needed for a while to now just hoping that we'll be surprised and he puts on a VT hat.

The only thing I've seen definitive is that he's close to 50/50. Nothing definitive toward psu, nothing toward tech.

One week left, anything can happen. This isn't a done deal yet. Think people are concerned psu will close better Fuente. But VT battled off late pushes for both Dax and hunter. At this point I'm optimistic until I hear anything definitive.

And if we lose him Friday, signing day is a full football season away. Well stay on him.

PSUs OC was what made them good. He is gone.

PSU's offense will come back down to earth this year

It's over, my dudes. Focus on your work Friday, grab dinner with your family/friends. There's no point in following this any longer.

This thread is an emotional mess

Czy is conceding defeat and Matej Sis just flipped his cb over to psu. Not sure what they have heard because my guy has heard nothing differently.

For all intents and purposes, this seems to be over.

This is a massive, massive failure on the part of the VT staff. We held an enormous lead for this kid and one point, and basically got outsold by PSU in one weekend. People have preached that we need to let these coaches establish long-term relationships to truly evaluate their recruiting, but this is an example of why having a recruiting focused head coach is a big deal in today's college football.

For the "it's just one recruit" crowd, I think you need to see the bigger picture. If rankings stay the way they are, we only have a chance at 1 of the top 10 recruits in the state of Viriginia. For a staff that harped on winning back the state when they were first hired, it has at best stayed the same as it was towards the end of the Beamer era. If we secure Tayvion Robinson, that would be 3 out of the top 20 recruits in VA over the past two cycles. For the big name football program in a state that produces this much talent that is abysmal and inexcusable. I understand that some of those 20 did not fit the coaches' evals, but regardless, that is a trend that needs to reversed, and from what I've heard, the momentum for these kids to leave the state is only getting stronger.

As a program, I think we are on the rise, but Fuente needs to make more recruiting-centric decisions or else we will never reach our potential as a program. Hiring Lechtenberg as a 10th coach and potentially Justin Hamilton are the opposite of what needs to be done in order to take this program to the next level. I'm sure both guys are great and will one day be coaches, but they are a couple tiers down from hiring someone like Derek Jones from Duke, who has had some great recruiting success and who we easily could have overpaid. No more safe hires. Something has got to change to get us there.

Dylan Rivers committed to PSU and now starting for VT.

Part of me says if he goes to PSU I want him to have a breakout year and get drafted so we don't have to play against him in 2020, but the other part of me wants him to play against us as a rubber match in what he could have had.

via GIPHY

Well Shit..... I am not happy and this will take some time to cool off.... I will see you guys Monday. Look for this to be a banner few weeks for PSU.

these big recruiting misses have us all like...

Sucks but my gosh let's keep some perspective here!! Laborn, Elliott, Nnadi, Sweat, Andrew Brown, Curtis Grant, Philip Sims etc etc. All the same type recruit and look how they panned out. Let's focus on who we do have like QP and all the NC recruits and O lineman. This is worse in perception than in reality. Lot of talent in this program and more on the way.

Looks like he's going to Pedo State

Don't we have a visit later in the week? Maybe we can steal this back. Either way gotta keep our head high and move forward. Long time until NSD. Fuck PSU regardless.

This is a very disappointing reaction from TKP to a coach that is working his ass off to make us relevant. Also for a director of athletics that is working his ass off. And a 17 year old kid who Has worked his ass off to make a decision to put himself in the best situation to make millions.

Disappointing if it goes this way, sure, but please think about what you say about this before you post anymore.

Really interested to see what the fuck we do with our abysmal running game for the foreseeable future now because by all accounts our Plan A was "Get Ford" and there was no Plan B.

Also gonna be really fun to go through the exact same Ricky Slade/Devyn Ford saga again with Chris Tyree next year. Gee I wonder how that one will play out.

I think it's safe to say that after Friday the honeymoon period with Fu for some will be over.

I think it is reasonable to have a reaction to some of the decisions CJF has made towards recruiting without devaluing what he has done as a coach.

As a whole, he has the Program in a significantly better position than what he inherited, but some of the Recruiting Issues we are having are hard to ignore.

Yes, we certainly are at a financial disadvantage to "Blue Blood" programs but we have also lost some targets in circumstances that are difficult to understand. We have also not been able to close on targets against Programs that do not have such a financial advantage. As someone pointed out in a prior thread, despite their relative lack of on-field Success, both UNC and NC State seem to have much more success keeping their top-10 Prospects In-State than do we.

Think about this...if things go as are currently expected we will have lost the last 2 major RB Prospects we have recruited:
1) Late in the recruiting process
2)to go play for programs that already have UNDERCLASSMEN 5* RB on the roster
3)two of those 5* RB were also VA players and targets of ours that we could not close on.

It is hard to ignore that if a Spring Official Visit was was broke the Camel's back with Ford; that the very subdued nature of our Spring Game may have had something to do with it. As I watch replay after replay of literally EVERY SEC teams' Spring Game, I can't help but wonder....why not us???? The vibe that CJF gives with our Spring Game is that of an annoyance; while other teams are making them events and using them to get as much Recruiting exposure as possible. It seems totally counter-productive to have such a drab mood around what should be a showcase event for the Program.

I also agree with above concerns about only trusting "your guys," as I think it was one of the downfall of Beamer's later years. The 10th coaching hire was felt to largely be underwhelming here, and I think there is alot to be learned by how CJF goes about replacing Scott. Logic would say to reach out and find someone with a very strong recruiting background as the current staff lacks anyone that would be considered an ace recruiter.

I certainly don't think its time to smash the panic button, but I also don't think it is unreasonable to ask some hard questions about where we have failed and if there are problems (outside of financial constraints) that are hampering our recruiting.

I think some people here need to have some perspective. All things equal Virginia tech would of locked down Ford if it were for effort. What else could they do? I've never heard of some the stuff they did for just ONE recruit. CJF rolled out the red carpet for this guy...and Penn State snagged him in one weekend. I think that has a lot more to do with the name of the program more so than the effort in recruiting. I think there are things that you can't overcome and brand name is one of them. We aren't blue blood and we will lose these recruiting battles time and time again. That's not to say we shouldn't be trying to win these battles because we can win some but there are some things that great recruiters and money can't overcome and brand is one of those. Sadly VT doesn't carry the same weight as a PSU even with the corruption and scandal that PSU has uncovered over the recent years.

Recruiting is just like playing on the field. If we want to be the best we needs to play and win against the best. In recruiting that means going after players that are going to have every program bigger than us in stature and funding after them as well.

To say that failing to secure our top recruit in a single year is somehow an alarm bell of greater ills is illogical. Unless Ford's father is on here feeding us info there isn't a single person, I'll wager, that is in a position to say with authority the why of his decision. It could simply have been a last minute gut feeling. Shit happens. Life goes on. It's not indicative of the program as a whole, which largely looks like better recruiting across the board, it's indicative to a single player in a position that we struggle to recruit in.

Why is that? we haven't had a breakout RB in a LOOOONG time and not under Fuente. Meanwhile PSU churns them out much more regularly with Barkley being selected number 2 in the draft. If your a top RB prospect where nearly everything else is even that could easily be the straw that tips the scales in the other direction. That means dick in regards to effort VT and Fuente made to recruit him.

I seriously doubt given that we have been hearing about Ford for this long and all the bells and whistles being thrown at him that Fuente did not put forth as great an effort as possible. Just go back and look at comments on his recruitment. So comments about insider info on Fuente's lack of focus come off disingenuous when up until this week we were all peaches and cream. They may be true but it looks hindsight and reactionary rather than true.

Coaches need to be held accountable. Hell, I have been screaming about the fact we don't play size at DE so we will never land a true NFL caliber end for so long I feel I'm being redundant. Yet, Foster and Wiles are still great coaches that deliver every year sans those 5 star DE's I so desperately want to see on our DL. Great coaches win despite the disadvantages given to them. Foster is a great coach, and I believe Fuente is a good coach that can be a great coach.

Here is the lesson everyone needs to remember:
Every now and then a single player can truly elevate a team, see Vick, Michael. Yet a missed recruit has never to date every brought a team down. We can debate the missed opportunity all you want, but just like many of those missed DE's I wanted to choose VT rarely made impact at the programs they did choose, if Ford selects PSU and is another Barkley it does not automatically mean he would have been at VT. SO take a step away and realize that this too will pass and VT will continue on, and that at no time ever in your adult life should you let your opinion be swayed by the whims of teenagers trying to make the best decision they can for their future.

I'll piggy back on a few arguments I've seen around here with regards to alumni programs.
Personally I did not go to Tech my whole family did so in turn I've always been a die hard fan and personally I've never seen any of my family or my sister who just graduated get anything in regards to HC or any alumni events/donation requests where as her and my dads grad school, william and mary, sends them both multiple things a month about what theyre doing and monthly alum events like oyster roasts and tailgate for alum etc and to me its baffling VT isnt doing anything similar where as a smaller school like WM is doing all this.