Non Hokie 2019 Early Signing Day news

So the ESD thread was getting cluttered and slowing down. So post all your non Hokie tweets, news and other topics here.

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UVA's 2nd highest rated recruit, 4* safety Bud Clark, flipped today and signed with TCU. Had been committed to UVA since April.

#UVA2TX

2026 Season Challenge: TBD
Previous Challenges: Star Wars (2019), Marvel (2020), Batman (2021), Wrasslin' (2022)

Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

I wonder if he watched the UVA/Clemson ACCCG and realized he'd be on an island until he graduated since he'd be their top defensive talent.

That's a lot of pressure for not a lot of results.

"Nooooooooooo!"
~What happened?
"James Franklin to Virginia Tech...."
~Fuck me......*sigh*
"Oh my God.... They're gonna take all our recruits... like WTF bro...."
~*squints eyes in disbelief*

According to both UVa and TCU fans on Reddit, his first choice was UVa and TCU was his second choice. Both fan bases mentioned academic struggles.

UVa misses on a top recruit.
UVa message boards post that the kid wouldn't have been able to hack it academically anyway.

In other news, water is wet.

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

Reddit is not a "UVa message board".

Link to the thing you didn't read.

Water is, agreeably, wet.

Le Sabre is a "UVa message board."
Link to the thing I did read.
At least we agree on something.

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

Water is, agreeably, wet.

This is one of the greatest things I have ever read.

"Yes I am going to have favorites. My favorites are high production and low maintenance players, coaches, and staff." - JMFF

one of the myths of UVA is that the school is academically light years above all others, when in reality it's the "getting in" that's the hurdle. I know multiple VT and other undergrad alumni that went to UVA for grad school. And all stated once they were in that the academic load wasn't much heavier than their undergrad schools. I know that's all anecdotal.

From 2010-last year... thanks Pres. Sands for accepting everyone..I digress... but for much of the past 10 years, in Engineering, CS, Architecture, and several others, VT was every bit as competitive to get accepted as UVA was. UVA acts superior because 1. They have med and law schools, and 2. US News or whomever- consistently ranks them as a top 5 public school- largely because of reason 1. IIWII. They will always think of VT as a cow college, so just ignore them. VT's academic profile has changed dramatically the past 20 years, while UVA's really hasn't.

Just had this conversation with a co-worker.

*While she was shitting on Tech as a football program because we didn't recruit some white running back from Roanoke and how our players come in and don't have to earn anything, it's just given to them; unlike at UVA where they have to earn everything which is why they've been bad for so long*

"UVA has standards, as opposed to Tech who just lets everybody in and has to put kids up in hotels"

"Nooooooooooo!"
~What happened?
"James Franklin to Virginia Tech...."
~Fuck me......*sigh*
"Oh my God.... They're gonna take all our recruits... like WTF bro...."
~*squints eyes in disbelief*

Said every uva fan in existence
For a school that claims to be "almost ivy league" they sure are ignorant as shit.

uva - the taint of the ACC
Callused perineum is a symptom of being a uva fan

I called her out and was like: "You realize you're shitting all over my Alma Mater right?", and she didn't see how she was and denied it. For someone who went to Ferrum, she sure does hate Tech more than she should.

"Nooooooooooo!"
~What happened?
"James Franklin to Virginia Tech...."
~Fuck me......*sigh*
"Oh my God.... They're gonna take all our recruits... like WTF bro...."
~*squints eyes in disbelief*

Inferiority complex.

Based on GPA, standardized test scores, etc. , VT is harder to get into now than 10 or 20 years ago. The acceptance rate remains high in part because the academic profile of applicants has increased.
A few years ago I saw stats for athletes and the academic profile of VT athletes and UVA athletes were the same. I cannot remember if there was a breakdown by sport - probably not.
UVA also likes to think that their athletes are held to a higher standard. I don't know currently but I know first hand that wasn't the case 20 years ago. They just kept everything under wraps. A past UVA alumn coworker of mine was caught shoplifting along with 2 football players. He was told point blank by the police that he was the only one charged because they couldn't risk the football players not being able to play and it would be a black eye on the program.

Before the new Fulmer cup standings website (only lists the top 10 now) you could view any school that had points. There were more times than not where uva finished way ahead in the standings than VT.

uva - the taint of the ACC
Callused perineum is a symptom of being a uva fan

I didn't realize that. When you consider that most years (although there appears to be more divergence now in the Fu and Bronco age) 80+% of VT football players were recruited by UVA (and vice versa) so to expect there to be any real difference in academic or legal behavior seems a little silly anyway.

We all speak to where we sit in our profession, industry, life, etc. and agree with all that has been said. However, in my opinion UVA runs circles around preparing business, more specifically finance students, and building their skill sets for the next step, which is the workplace.

I've raised it many times including with the school, and had many "arguments" about it. It is kind of frustrating, but we seemingly concede portions of Pamplin to the school up the road and feel okay about it.

From countless interviews it is not even close. Hokie through and through, but I can't get you the job you are less prepared for than the next person.

@hokie_rd

I tend to believe that.

You can teach people technical skills, but you also need to teach them how to write and interview.

It's like that with even the actual Ivy League schools. Take Harvard for example. The hard part is actually getting accepted to Harvard. Once there, the courses are no more difficult or strenuous than comparable courses at other, less prestigious, institutions.

Anecdotal perhaps, but have heard that time and again about many of the top schools in the country. Granted, there are always exceptions, but in some ways you are paying for the name on the diploma, not that what you are learning is necessarily heads and shoulders above what is taught at other schools.

I can share from personal experience, I got accepted to VT, UVA, Duke, UNC, and Georgetown. I didn't feel that it was "easier" to get in to any of them vs the other necessarily, but I chose VT for a variety of reasons (cost, course options, campus feel, Duke tour guide was a douche, etc). So the "UVA is superior to VT" argument never held any weight with me.

Just saw that Georgia Tech is currently ranked #23 in recruiting. That rebuild is looking sooner than expected.

If you want level-headed opinions, don't go on a message board or sports forums

Yeah, It looked like they had a real solid amount of stars just looking through the reddit CFB feed of signings.

Virtually immediate playing time is very enticing.

Amateur superstar and idiot extraordinaire.

Quick... list all the reasons that VT can never hope to compete with GT on the recruiting trail and tell me how they've always had the ability to recruit better than VT but they were just waiting on the right coach... and then tell me how coaching really doesn't have much of an impact on recruiting.

I can tell you they probably have a lot more scholarships this cycle on top of their ability to promise early playing time on offense.

The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

Being in the middle of a recruiting hotbed, having a ton of playing time available, and no longer being constrained by an unconventional offensive system are the likely catalysts here, not coaches.

GT generally recruited pretty well on defense before the coaching change.

That ATL draw will be big. My question is once the first class or two is in there how the recruits will be feeling about their what I have heard is limited academic offerings.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

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They ain't going there to play school.

I have no idea why my username is VT_Warthog.

Arkansas blew a 24-0 lead in the Belk Bowl.

Most of the players I've spoken to while a degree isn't their first care they mostly end up wanting that paper by the end. They put in all this work and want something to show for it.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

It's tongue in cheek but I am curious what you mean by limited academic offerings. GT is no academic slouch.

I have no idea why my username is VT_Warthog.

Arkansas blew a 24-0 lead in the Belk Bowl.

I could be wrong, but where VT offers like Communication and other Liberal Arts majors, GT is basically STEM and Business school. Not limited in terms quality, but limited in terms of breadth

This. I know Tech not offering a degree field in public safety related studies in 2002 kept me from applying. (Not that my grades would have gotten me in)

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Did you just refer to GT as "Tech"?

That ALWAYS cracked me up, when we played in Atlanta and their cheerleaders would start the "let's go Tech" cheer and their fans always followed right along. I always took it as we are the smarter ones.

There is only one Tech, it's in Blacksburg. I didn't apply to VT out of high school because they didn't offer certain degree fields. GT offers even less than Tech.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Agreed. I didn't really believe that was the case, but it was easy to read your comment that way.

This is correct. Georgia Tech does not offer any Bachelors of Arts, just BS's - Source. They technically have a liberal arts school, but the majors offered are mostly different econ degrees or things like 'History, Technology, and Econ.'

Geoff Collins is doing a good job of embracing the city, and he's basically following the ATL UTD playbook. It's helping recruiting, but I think it's doing even more to stimulate fan buzz (no pun intended).

The academics will definitely be a hurdle, but if even if GT peaks at a Stanford level and never beats Clemson, they're still going to be a thorn in our side (or worse).

Pitt also has a national title.

The list of great Pitt players is pretty damned impressive. As good as any school.

Quick... list all the reasons that VT can never hope to compete with Pitt on the recruiting trail and tell me how they've always had the ability to recruit better than VT but they were just waiting on the right coach... and then tell me how coaching really doesn't have much of an impact on recruiting.

What on god's earth does any of this have to do with the Pitt hall of fame?

What on god's earth does it have to do with anything?

Because everything is as black and white as you think it is? /s

Atlanta strip clubs

They can now recruit the host of talent in the Atlanta area for a non chicken shit offense that can actually pass the ball. They will be a force soon.

So you will be changing your screen name tag line soon?

Leonard. Duh.

Malcolm Greene, 4* Safety out of Richmond, flipped from LSU and signed with Clemson today.

I can't believe what I'm about to write, but I'd be okay with Norvell turning FSU around in a big way just so Clemson will have a team that can challenge them in their own division. The ability Clemson has to realistically promise recruits that they'll run unchecked through their conference and go to the playoff every year is too OP.

The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

Totally in agreement, but I would prefer to have Louisville or NCSU fill that role instead, but FSU will always have a recruiting advantage due to location and history. If Clemson wins another Natty this year, after bagging the number 1 recruiting class, they won't be A big dog, they'll be THE big dog in CFB. The Clemson branch of my family will be even more insufferable. Inconceivable!

VTCC '86 Delta Co., Peru Hokie, Former Naval Aviator, Former FBISA, Forever married to my VT87 girl. Go VT!

Bermudez landed with Ole Miss

Appropriate the Bermudez Triangle be a Landshark.

The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

I just can't see how recruits/parents can take Lane kiffin seriously. I'm sure he will have time to talk up his players to NFL scouts in between his twitter stabs at his ex's (old schools and jobs)

ole miss was on the table before lane got there. when Mitchell and wiles left VT we pretty much dropped out of the hunt. cancelled his official visit to us. last official was Ole miss. love D hes a great kid but he always gave me the feel that wherever he visited last is where he would sign and that's what happened. He was very sheltered through out his recruitment because he was so high on FSU he wasnt taking visits anywhere else or communicating with anyone else. he basically went through the whole recruitment process in 2 months. I hope he does well at ole miss and that it works out for him in his favor. but he may have jumped the gun.

in some other hokie recruit that didn't pick us after decommiting from FSU jeff sims the long time FSU commit and 4star choose GT over Maryland and FSU after decommiting 2 weeks ago. also another kid who basically went through what is a 2-3 year recruiting process in 2 weeks. but cant complain seems like that worked out pretty well for us in TX.

twitter @smithey_daniel
head scout BSP scouting specializing in north florida/ southern GA highschool football scouting

That's a lock to work out well.

"Make up your mind, dude."

-Cam'ron Kelly

the numbers don’t lie and they spell disaster

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound, Jeff Jagodzinski, Paul Johnson, Pat Narduzzi.

That is an awful lot of Diva to not end up going with Miami, why do I get the feeling that won't play out well amongst the cornfields of Lincoln

Plan for the worst and hope for the best, not the other way around.

He was checking to see if Miami was going to up their offer.

Another one sure to work out swimmingly...

USCe with 1 5* and 7 4*s.
Jewel is Jordan Burch defensive end (think Clowney)

Nice class for the cocks, Muschamp; Mr. 'If you dont think I can recruit, then just look at my wife.'

I live in Cola. They're pumped about Burch BUT he didn't sign yesterday, he's verbally committed but it's not a great look.

(add if applicable) /s

I also live in Cola. Wonder what the chances are he decommits later?

Honestly I wouldn't be convinced at all. I think the only thing looser than a commitment is not signing after giving a commitment.

(add if applicable) /s

I did not know until this portion of this thread that Columbia, SC is nicknamed "cola."

"You know when the Hokies say 'We are Virginia Tech' they're going to mean it."- Lee Corso

Cola. Soda City. Arm pit of SC. It's got quite the collage of nicknames.

(add if applicable) /s

I actually like Columbia. It's just sandwiched in between much better cities.

We have only one kid from Virginia in this class? Don't get me wrong, I love that we are branching out and getting more out of state kids, particularly kids from Texas, but it feels like we are missing even more on in state kids than we ever have before. I know that a lot of the bigger schools (Bama, Clemson) are recruiting the 757 harder than they did 20-25 years ago but personally I feel like we will never get back to the top tier if we don't get back to the days of getting somewhere in the range of 9 or 10 of the top 25 in Virginia.

Per Andy Bitter:

Seem that the staff didn't liked what they saw from in-state kids.

They definitely targeted a few guys in the top 10, they just weren't able to close.

For me, the biggest disappointment in VA recruiting throughout Fuente's tenure has been the inability to land just one of the top RB prospects in the state in the last few cycles. Missed on Khalan Laborn, Ricky Slade, Devyn Ford, and Chris Tyree in four straight years.

Oof.

I agree. Missing on one of the 4 is a travesty; missing all 4 is just mind numbing.

uva - the taint of the ACC
Callused perineum is a symptom of being a uva fan

all 4 of those kids probably feel the same way about the situation.

twitter @smithey_daniel
head scout BSP scouting specializing in north florida/ southern GA highschool football scouting

I'm pretty sure 2 of the 4 are having the 'what if' thoughts, one of them is probably content for now and the fourth is tbd.

uva - the taint of the ACC
Callused perineum is a symptom of being a uva fan

I don't follow missed recruits that well.. Which is which?

Laborn and Slade arent getting much playing time. Laborn committed same year as Cam Akers and as a rS freshman didnt have single run (only 4 touches all year). As a sophomore he had 297 yards rushing and 4 tds.

Slade had 257 yards and 6 tds as a frosh, but only had 156 this year (only 3 less carries)

Ford had 292 yards and 2 tds this year as a frosh. He had 5 more carries than Slade had as a frosh. But Slade and Ford combined for less than 10 carries a game this year. Mean while Noah Cain, a freshman received more carries than both of them this year. So Slade is 4th on the depth chart behind 2 freshman and a junior.

Laborn also had that bad leg injury last year too, so who knows what his future will hold.

Missing on even one of the four is a travesty? Really? Because there was a 0% chance we were going to land 3 5* RBs and a high 4* in 4 consecutive classes. In our entire history, we've signed a total of 4 composite 5* players and only 10 players rated as highly as those 4. Landing one would have been solid and two a huge success.

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound, Jeff Jagodzinski, Paul Johnson, Pat Narduzzi.

Lots of kids like the idea of getting away from home, recruits included. This can help us (NC2VT, TX2VT) but can hurt us locally. I think this staff does a better job of going outside of the state, but that's gonna ruffle some feathers.

"It's a Hokie takeover of The Hill ... in Charlottesville!" -Bill Roth

Good points. I know when I was 17-18 years old, I couldn't wait to get away from my parents. Some like staying home (within state) but not so far away they miss momma and daddy really bad.

We should really be able to sell the 757 then. Far enough to feel like a different state but close enough to still go home.

Same here, Tech was about as far away from home as possible while still being in state. Don't think I would have wanted to be further than 5 hours away though.

Just a reminder that the top THIRTEEN players in California this cycle all signed LOIs out of state.

Sayin'.

the numbers don’t lie and they spell disaster

That really shows how irrelevant USC is right now. Helton wasn't bad enough to justify getting fired this year, but they just aren't relevant. It's also getting harder for them to lure a big time coach there. You can coach at a big football school in the south in a nice college town or go live in super high cost LA and deal with the media there.

Part of USC's problem is their dogmatic and stubbornly insular insistence on bringing in only people with an established connection to the program when new blood and new ideas are clearly needed. It has little to do with how nice southern college towns are or how mean the big ole media is in LA.

Sort of like some of VT's latest assistant coach hires?

As inclined toward "true hokie-ism" as VT's culture can be, I think USC is much worse and contains an element of over-confident entitlement.

like Tracy Claeys? bad take

"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

Edited to "some of"...

fair, but the fact that it's not apparently an unwritten institutional policy at VT means it's not really the same at all

"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

The celebs paid too much to have their kids put on football scholarships.

We put the K in Kwality

#CA2VT

Good observation, I believe it was Fuente who in summary said something to the effect that the world is getting smaller; social media, teams regularly televised for a national audience etc. Makes it easier for recruits to see themselves further from home.

757 RB CJ Beasley who decommitted from us, signed with Coastal Carolina. Did he not have other offers? Is it a good thing we did not use a scholarship on him? I don't know what to think about this.

That is curious for sure. Grades perhaps? If that was the case then I guess he did not want to prep for a year.

I wonder how the newfound freedoms of the transfer portal are playing into recruits decisions these days. Maybe got to Coastal Carolina and ball out a year or two the transfer to a bigger program.

I hear they make you sit out a year if you do that, but maybe that only applies to OL

but maybe that only applies to OL

Nah, it's when you have a legitimate family medical situation that they make you sit out a year. Otherwise you can ball immediately.

/s

it's a clear indication of his talent level. great player, just not FBS P5 level.

the fact that he had an offer in the first place is one reason Burden isn't on the VT staff anymore.

Just some food for thought, discuss

Directions from Blacksburg to whoville, go north till you smell it then go east until you step in it

Canes gonna Cane.

Manny already had the most talented roster in the Coastal last season. We'll see if he can ever actually make something of it.

The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

The answer as shown by the last 4 Miami coaches is no.

https://www.southbendtribune.com/tncms/asset/editorial/fd880d02-207c-11e...

Most controversial opinion: "The Earth is flat. It just doesn't make any sense to me that the world is round."

ND signed and admitted to their school a player who doesn't "believe" the earth is round. I never want to hear another golden domer talk about their academic standards.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

It's almost like college helps people grow and develop academically and you can do well in school while holding some incorrect opinions.

EDIT: And if you really wanted to go after anyone in ND's class, why not the guy who puts ketchup on ice cream? Tackle the real monster first.

Outspoken team cake advocate. Hates terrapins. Resident Macho Man Gif Poster. Distant cousin to Dork Magic. Frequently misspells words.

I mean Kyrie also went to Duke and he's one of the guys who has spouted off the most about flat earth. There are morons at every school, some of them just happen to do better at school and sports.

How can you pass any high school or college science class (outside of the state of Ohio and Liberty) without the basic knowledge the earth isn't flat?

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

If you play well enough to get a scholly, they can look the other way. I know what you're getting at and agree, but there's always a way.

This question could start a whole row about the entire public education system.

The Orange and Maroon you see, that's fighting on to victory.

How often do you think you have to answer questions about the shape of the earth if you are a nutrition or exercise science major for example?

Outspoken team cake advocate. Hates terrapins. Resident Macho Man Gif Poster. Distant cousin to Dork Magic. Frequently misspells words.

At UNC you don't have to answer any questions.

Tyrod did it Mikey, Tyrod did it!!

Are there not basic science classes taught in high school anymore as a requirement to graduate? Same for college? I know it's been awhile since I was in high school (2002), but since I'm still earning my BS in Emergency Managment (last three classes this spring !!!) I was still required to take several science general education classes.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

It's one thing to be taught something, it's another thing to understand it / respect the knowledge of others. This kid is putting his personal experiences, limited as they are, of walking around on the ground and everything seeming flat, ahead of what he learned in the classroom.

and this is OK?

I assume the original statement by the recruit was meant to be a funny tongue-in-cheek comment. But, flat-earthers do exist. And they exist in denial of basic knowledge despite every institution establishing the veracity of the earth's shape with actual data.

🦃 🦃 🦃

I think the real morons are the people who think Kyrie was being serious about flat-earth. It was a pretty obvious troll job.

"For those who have passed, for those to come, reach for excellence."

The guy was making a joke.

I forgot that wasn't allowed in college. Also not allowed in college: being honest, and questioning authority, or actually asking any questions at all.

There are plenty of things I hope students want to debate, hell go out and do a study on but basic facts of something like the shape of plants isn't really one. Should we be ok with college students who think the sun revolves around a stationary earth?

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

The earth is a disc. Therefore it is both round AND flat.

Leonard. Duh.

The shape of plants?

The guy's a college student. He made a joke. Nobody should be losing any sleep over it.