For higher-level discussion of VT recruiting trends and broader conversation regarding the overall college football recruiting landscape and other schools' classes and commits.
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https://247sports.com/Article/College-football-recruiting-development-NF...
Interesting article that comes out annually from 247 that measures how programs develop 4* and 5* recruits into NFL draft picks.
VT comes in 19th nationally from the 5 year recruiting class period of 2011-2015
Something is wrong with that Miami score
Yes, seems out of place. But it's recruiting classes of 2011-2015. They're getting blue chippers drafted, just not highly drafted
UVA coming in with a development score of 0.25 and 16.7% drafted is
They massacred those 4* and 5* guys from 11-15. They had such good classes and did fuck all with them.
The puppet chef's kiss picture instead of a real life chef's kiss gif is so fitting when talking about this
Muppet?
"Ver der vor der sher de veer"
Translation: "LOLUVA stinks."
Honestly what I'm most shocked about from this graphic is that UW only signed 1 more top 247 recruit than us over that stretch and had a playoff appearance. Chris Peterson is a god.
It's 2011-2015. That's mostly the Steve Sarkisian era - and he was barely over .500 at UW.
Sarkisian coached Washington from 2009-2013. Chris Petersen started at UW in 2014. They went to the CFP in 2016. Sark's recruits are through the 2013 class. The 2014 class would be transitional. Petersen gets full credit for any 2015 guys with partial credit for development of any players drafted from 2012-2014 recruiting classes (if drafted in 2015 or later).
UVA just got another dual-threat transfer QB. This one from a former Top-150 recruit.
Keytaon Thompson
Miss State QB Keytaon Thompson has transferred to UVA. This allows them a QB who will employ a similar play style to Perkins. Thompson was a Mullen era recruit who featured several times. I think he may have been the QB that beat a Lamar Jackson led Louisville in a bowl game where the Miss St team didn't have their starting QB (Fitz got injured) and they did not have a coaching staff either.
Edit: confirmed he was the QB in that 2017 matchup.
Edit: he beat me by six seconds lol
Looks like they will be trying to stick to that formula. Thompson was a big time running threat but pretty awful as a passer at Miss State.
On another note, it's truly bizarre that UVA has seemingly developed a pipeline to Louisiana and VT has developed a pipeline to Texas.
Agreed. This also aligns with my consistent stance that Bronco is just making them BYU. He needs a playmaker at QB to be successful, even if that means sacrificing some in the passing game.
Yes but the QBs at BYU seemed to be LDS guys so it's somewhat unexpected to see Perkins and now Thompson fill that role.
Sounds like VT for years
But all the LOLUVA fans told us they had their QB in "ginger Vick" (yep that's what one of their fans called him and now it's only way I think of him)
Ginger Vick, Tim Tebow 2.0, etc. etc. etc. Insufferable, delusional fanbase.
2 years to play right? Certainly a good fit for them. Not to turn this into a Fuente pissing match, but I think Bronco has done a really good job building a program identity there. For how we've all made nonstop fun of them, he's done a good job and was a really good hire.
I give them and Bronco credit, but I still see it as a commitment to being average to above average. I think Bronco is limited to building a high floor, low ceiling program.
Yeah I didn't mean to say he was building some college super power or anything. But compared to where UVA was coming from, he's done a good job building a really competent program. Like consistently 6-6 to 9-3, no 2-10 seasons in there.
I know most people here still stick with the LOLUVA moniker but it's hard not to see Bronco as bringing stability and competence. This seems to be another competent move that I am not a fan of.
Relying on transfers to fill in back to back cycles at QB isn't what most people call "building a program"
Fair. But if they help you tread water and/or elevate the program to get better players, then it's better than the alternative. We're certainly not a fanbase to throw stones here... Three of the last four QB1s to start the season for Tech were transfers in
Yea and look what it did to any building and teaching of the QB room. They were needed stop gaps for lack of recruiting under Beamer and has hurt long term now.
Traditionally, no, but the transfer portal has really changed that paradigm.
Joe Burrow worked out pretty well for LSU.
And look at Georgia, in a 3 year span, they signed Eason, Fromm, and Fields. Two went to other schools, and now they are nabbing Newman from WF to essentially fill the gap as it were.
I wouldn't necessarily say that the days of recruiting and developing your own QB are dead, but I think there is lots of evidence that you can win lots of games and sustain your Program's success with transfer QBs.
OU with Mayfield, Murray, and Hurts; anOSU with fields
list goes on
Tell that to Lincoln Riley.
"Not to turn this into a Fuente pissing match, but I think Bronco has done a really good job building a program identity there."
I completely agree. He started it by having the football players bust pavers to get something going and it worked. Now we will see if the Hokies will respond in kind by ripping the commonwealth cup out of the fishes hands.
god damn that had to hurt
Quick little article about Thompson
Is he any good? Serious question.
From what I've seen he is a dangerous runner, but I wouldn't expect him to match Perkins production or playmaking, especially as a passer.
He produced as a running QB against SEC competition as a freshman and sophomore so I don't see how one wouldn't argue that he's more proven than Perkins was at this point. Maybe he's closer to a Lynn Bowden than Perkins... but that shouldn't exactly give VT fans the warm fuzzies either.
Well, hopefully Teerlinck will build a better/more disruptive D-line and we can get better at containing a mobile QB?
He was passed over the depth chart.
It seems like the question everywhere is - is he Perkins 2.0?
I honestly don't think it really matters unless UVA can find 2 WRs that were as exceptional in the UVA offense as Dubois and Reed. Every time UVA got in a jam all season Perkins just put it close and they went and got it. They truly made Bryce Perkins and that offense work.
Kemp and Jana are good, but they were getting great matchups due to Dubois and Reed being so dangerous and nearly impossible to stop.
While it's certainly a great pickup for Bronco and something the LOLUVA fans can be excited about, I'm not sure it means a whole lot to us. The kid was passed on the depth chart for a reason. And beyond that, Perkins was a really great competitor and college QB. Guys like that don't come around every cycle to teams like UVA (or VT for that matter). Perkins was a master at making chicken salad out of chicken (you know). Time will tell, but until I see otherwise, I won't be convinced this transfer can put a team on his back and single handedly take them to the ACCCG.
As crazy as it sounds, Bronco is doing something very similar at UVA now that Beamer and Bud did for years at VT. We recruited slightly better but still not great by any means, but got guys who fit what we were trying to accomplish. Play tough defense, really good coaching, and a dual threat playmaker at QB. It's not a recipe for a ton of national success other than catching lightning in a bottle, but it's what has me concerned with our situation. We're not a staff and program built for elite recruiting, and we are having difficulty with the out scheme em/coach em up method so far as well. I'm hopeful the change in defensive philosophy can at least shore that side of the ball up again. But still major question marks on offense until we see things finally click.
I agree, and I've been saying that for a while now. Bronco quickly established his culture, and has recruited specific players to fit his scheme. It's a great model, and to your point, a model very similar to the one that caused VT to thrive for so long.
not singling you out, because several people have said this.. "Bronco quickly established his culture"
what is his culture?
This has to help us a little in our pursuit of Naquan Brown
You would think, but FSU taking 2 5 star RBs in the same cycle tells me nothing is certain
Probably not. Top recruits want to go where other top recruits go for legitimate reasons well covered in croot threads on this site.
The reason I would say that is because he says he wants to play early, I'm also not sure of LSU and whether they're looking to take another DE at this point.
Early playing time is the CFB equivalent of snipe hunting. The goal is to make it to the NFL and maximize the paycheck. Early playing time is a cliche they are trained to use to fill interview space. Just like "take it one day at a time," or "just gotta' make plays and play hard and practice hard and execute" or some such shit. It's meaningless pablum.
Marcus Bradley commited to Maryland. Not sure we were ever in on him but he included us in his commitment video. I'm not good at embedding tweets.
feel free to link tweets as well
Taking Locksley less than 6 years to build relationships with MD HS coaches.
You mean the guy who was a coach at UMD for 11 years prior to him being hired as a head coach there?
You mean the guy that has a career coaching record of 6-40? Sounds like its gonna take him 6 years to win 6 more games....
He was such a failure at New Mexico I couldn't believe that he was getting more opportunities. Wasn't he the one who punched a coach in the face during a game or something? I'll also never forget him getting a 4 star DT from Florida to commit to New Mexico over like FSU and UF on national TV. That had to be a different level of bag drop.
He can relate to a lot of these kids like few can. Born and raised in DC. Went to public high school in DC and made it out to play football and has coached at some of the biggest school names there is. He is very good at the sales and pitch and relationships he just isn't great so far at the coaching.
Got you fam
Mama must've really not wanted him to leave Maryland. That's a crazy ass list to go with about the 3rd least exciting program.
Looks like Khalil Ladler is headed to Louisiana Tech as a grad transfer. Hadn't seen it on here yet so I figured it should go in the discourse thread?
Pretty cool write up about the graphics we've been pumping out lately
'Creating a vision': A window into the world of Virginia Tech's recruiting graphics
Assholes.....
via GIPHY
It's okay, they aren't targeting VT's natural recruiting base of the Houston suburbs.
as a houston resident i wish i knew of a way to help
Can you distribute Hardee's coupons to recruits? Hypothetically, of course.
In the very near future, athletes may get paid in coupons for their likeness...so...maybe.
Which is odd since both ACC AND NCAA have banned travel related to recruiting and in person meetings. So either he is lying or is breaking rules 🤔
Hopefully he is lying, because we all know there are no consequences for UNC cheating
And now its gone, trying to get some clarification:
Of course it is.
Surprised it took them a whole day to tell Jay that saying he was "back at it in VA" was putting their own cheating on blast.
lmao and then there's this gem he retweeted yesterday from their linebackers coach.
It's like they know they don't even need to hide it 🤔
And this one
This one at least is trying to cover his butt saying he's talking to coaches
That is a picture of a phone above the words "Virtual Spring Recruiting." I believe the just touched down element here is figurative.
I could go along with that, if not for all the other assistants talking about traveling to other states
Maybe, or it could be a coordinated marketing effort for assistants contacting recruits in their allotted regions.
I refuse to give UNC the benefit of the doubt on anything.
Just saying it's worth considering
As we all know, UNC would never openly toss the rule book out the window and thumb their nose at responsibility. They would never even be brazen about it, knowing they have enough alumni throughout the NCAA front office that they are untouchable.
On a related note, I'm guessing UNC Charlotte is going to get blasted with NCAA violations within 18 months
LOL, there could be 4K video of UNC coaches in airports across the country and Mack Brown filmed in a recruits living room in Siberia, and there will be no sanctions against UNC. Why not cheat?
When did the dead period begin?
That would be March 13.
Oh well that is curious now isn't it
Interesting to have so many #Crootin labels from places like Georgia, Florida, and Virginia during this dead period only to miraculously start posting pictures of a laptop on a lonely desk at home when called out.
He made it back from Florida pretty quick!
Either he's lying or .....
This is in Miami
He still lives in Florida FYI, Dre Bly still lives in Charlotte. Not sure where the other coaches live outside of Mack who posts up at the K&W in Chapel Hill
wait, coaches don't live close to the school? That's just confusing and I retract my previous conspiracy post. However, stating he's crootin while posting a picture that implies hes on the road is still.....
I think I saw somewhere he was just hired and hadn't finished moving into Chapel Hill. Spending the quarantine with family I think.
Better get used to it.
https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/05/04/north-carolina-football-transformational-gift/
Amazing what the right personality can accomplish in a stagnated, apathetic institution.
Sounds pretty fishy tbh.
I don't know about that gift specifically but it's probably worth considering that the NCAA allowing athletes to profit from their likeness will almost certainly benefit UNC more than VT.
Also helps to have boosters willing to write a big check to ensure maintaining a competitive advantage. As much as everyone harps on the Hokie Club giving levels, for across the board giving, which does struggle, we lag badly on tapping into the deep pockets of some of our wealthiest boosters.
Garbutt becoming a great follow on Twitter, very Gayle-esque
NC recruiting news Will Shipley most likely will commit to Clemson today
It's been ND or Clemson for him for months. Clemson has had all the momentum lately.
Shipley let the ND coaches know last night they were out.
Right I saw the ND insider CB him to Clemson. That pretty much sealed it.
It's going to be insufferable for Clemson to have a white RB that good. Hunter Renfrow was bad enough living around here.
Well, they'll probably get richer the following year when the younger Etienne goes to Clemson
Is he actually any good?
Man try living in Myrtle Beach while he was there. They had a giant roadside billboard of him outside Socastee high school.
I can confirm.
Hang on to your hats gang it's going to get bumpy and possibly ugly soon. The silent commits not going public are hurting and latest Dee tweet (now deleted) isn't something you want to see.
why cant we have nice things...
If we lose Dematrius from this class that could be truly disastrous.
Understandable. Dee thought we would see more momentum on the trail and that his presence would elevate our class to new heights. Each guy has the right to commit on their own timeline, but this would be a huge blow to our class if we lose Dee.
Here's to hoping we sign DD and the silents start going public soon so we can finally have a program changing class instead of just waiting until the next year.
With Twitter comments, it's always hard to know how much is noise and how much is real, but they're definitely feels like there's some change in momentum here.
The '21 class is beginning to feel somewhat like a house of cards with DD right at the middle.
If he were to fall, things could go South quickly. They're certainly going to be plenty of competition for him going forward. This is a real put-up or shut-up moment for Fuente and Co.
Edited: house of cards, not deck
Really. Vick was supposed to reach out. This recruiting world is nuts. At this point I'm just going to enjoy the kids we sign and watch the team itself I can't keep up with the demands.
I'm with you HF wtf is that. Mike is supposed to drop everything he's doing and make sure his ego is stroked lol?
Just come play and create your own legacy.
It's also not like the coaches can control that. When people bitched that Vick didn't get to meet Ford at the spring game when Mikes plane was late how is that the staffs fault?
Staff has reached out to MV7 multiple times he's just not following through. Extremely weird to process
I can't speak to whether or not Vick was supposed to reach out, but even if he was supposed to and didn't, I can't imagine it would sink the entire recruitment. In other words, there's more happening here than Vick not reaching out.
With COVID restrictions this is the weirdest recruiting period in history.
Ding ding ding! There is no way this is the reason a recruit is going to back out.
Absolutely it's just an easy out IMO
Mike went out of his way and was very gracious to Devyn Ford and his family. It made a huge impression on Devyn's folks, but at the end of the day, we all know how his recruitment turned out. His parents still talk about how awesome it was to have one on one time with him. Point being that one previous player (even the GOAT) won't be the reason a recruit picks a school.
I don't understand the advantage to having silent commits be a thing from the school's end if it just winds up with stuff like this happening.
I've been trying to figure it out since reading that comment too, I got nothin
I'm always skeptical of the number and quality of silent commits we're supposed to be carrying at any time. I'd like to know after the fact how many guys who eventually signed were at any point a silent commit.
I've always viewed 'silent commit' as 'backup plan secured'. A nice fallback if Plan A or B falls through.
Bingo, let me hold a spot quietly then work for other better offers. VT isn't in a spot to tell these high 4* guys shit or get off the pot and these kids know that. All VT can do is sell DD on the things he likes and an easier route to ACC title game in a weak coastal. Scouts will find you regardless where you go and that shouldn't be an issue.
The silent commits is essentially the inverse of the "non-committable offer" from a Program.
Essentially, it says there's some real interest and hold a spot for me, but if something better comes along don't be surprised if I bolt.
Since there's no actual announcement, it's simpler to move on without getting people (read message board and Twitter folks) angry.
In short, it's not something that should be counted on.
The school should just "leak" them
Is there supposed to be an advantage to silent commits from the school's end? I think it's a situation where the coaches have to act pumped when a kid says he's going to commit and then hyping it up might be a way to exert a little pressure on the kid to follow through. I have no idea though and the only thing that seems clear is that recruiting is a very dirty business.
Shit.
anyone have any idea why carter hawkins is even tweeting this? carter...you on here? can you explain why you're tweeting them??
Really excited that someone with 12 followers on twitter can not only get a response from our top commit on a somewhat crazy request, but that it is also likely to lead to another recruiting panic?
Modern day recruiting is so ridiculous.
Well he must have deleted this because it's no longer on his feed
But wait, I was told 👀👀!!
Was this supposed to get the nuke ?
Yes. This thread is for higher-lever discussion of Virginia Tech recruiting. The comment landed between self-deprecating humor and whining. It was noise. Keep the discussion on point. Thanks all.
I mean, if nuking a mild tongue in cheek response that is based on the emoji-style tweeting of recruits is the move, I'm a little surprised. I get that the signal to noise ratio in these threads isn't perfect; but we aren't nuking every gif response or drew Harris comment? I'm honestly surprised at this, having posted on this board since 2010.
Yikes ok.
Whats so wrong with a joke about how so many people can freak out over the use of an all emoji tweet? Did the original post get an edit? I thought the whole purpose of a discourse thread was for this kind of stuff more or less to leave the main thread as a more official discussion?
No, no edits to my nuked comment.
I did my best to answer that above.
A bit of a rant (and not directed completely at you or this thread per se), but holy fucking hell it's really difficult to moderate this place. I gave an explanation, some fake internet points were lost, try not to do it again and move along. Thanks!
it read more to me like a tongue-in-cheek commentary on how we're so inclined to read into every little thing on twitter when it comes to recruiting
Right, I thought that sort of thing was ok in the specified discourse thread for recruiting but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm not trying to spark anything, just purely curious I get this place is odd during these times I just felt this was the right place for that kind of a joke is all and was curious why the uvaplaid.
To me, it didn't fit that description. Extreme Forest Gump voice, "That's all I really have to say about that." But seriously, it's a recent point of emphasis to moderate threads and keep them on point.
I honestly do not think there is such a thing as high level recruit discussion. It is all quite gross frankly.
If I may offer my opinion, I don't believe that was the original intention of the Discourse thread. It was created earlier this year as a reaction to many of the tangents that occur within the regular Recruiting Thread to reduce noise in there. This was intended to be a catch-all thread that allows us to discuss not just VT recruiting, but also how the recruiting of other schools is going, and how that impacts us. If ever there was supposed to be the kind of snarky take that we see here, I thought it was supposed to be here, to not muddy up the waters elsewhere.
That jives with what the original post states, which is what I went off of. Look, I don't relish being the "bad guy" here, I am simply trying to keep this place on point and from blowing up.
Yeah I'm interested in an explanation on that, please.
You asked for an explanation, I took my time to provide you one, and your response: Downvote.
Isn't that tool meant for me to use when I disagree with or don't approve of a comment? I didn't want to argue the issue further.
My mistake then, and downvote reversed. I still don't agree with the nuke to the OG comment, but I'll move on.
downvotes here aren't apples to apples like reddit. downvote when someone is violating CGs -- in this case Joe felt your comment as it was presented was too much noise and not enough signal
The spring/summer camp and visit time frame has long been (and since the advent of the ESD, extremely) important to recruiting and class building. It will be very interesting to see how much the value/importance of in-season visits affect the recruiting landscape, and if more players wait until the second NSD than usual so they can take more of those "off-season" visits where they tend to get more attention, a better feel for the campus, spend more time with the coaching staff, etc.
Naquan Brown's tweet from the recruiting announcements thread about not committing until he has taken OV's/unofficials sparked this train of thought.
What happens if no fans allowed then they can't possibly allow recruits to visit for games. 💥
I think that question may be easier to answer, but I'll give two scenarios:
1) If in-season visits are cancelled they will have no choice but to commit sight unseen or to places they have already visited. For most recruits, this probably means advantage to places they've already visited. For top teams and elite recruits this may not matter as much.
2) if in-season visits are canceled but December/January visits are allowed, I think we see more guys go to NSD and utilize those visits, giving those visits premium and elite value. That will be a circus of teams battling to get recruits on campus each week.
I find issues with the 2021 class especially frustrating because so much (reported) emphasis was placed on it over the 2020 class, due to in-state talent being down, numbers being tight, or whatever. The staff has already swung and missed on all of its top RB targets for the cycle, and they are offering unranked 2021 OOS defensive ends this week, so who knows what that means with regards to where they stand with Brown or Watson. Losing Davis would be a big problem.
yep, maybe I am reading too much into the offers, but the offers recently seem like the contingency plan after the main targets are off the board.
so if I read between the lines, we slow played guys that Dematrius wanted to play with and when they didnt/werent allowed to commit he backed out?
If we aren't allowing commits from players good enough to command a recruit like DD's attention then we deserve what's coming to us.
More likely the recruits themselves just aren't pulling the trigger.
Because we have higher options who plan to commit, or are very high on us, and the staff doesn't want to go back and tell a recruit we can't take them. Lost some leverage when the staff first started, pulling offers after they did their own eval. HS coaches remember these things.
I'm saying the kids who in this scenario we weren't allowing to commit would in fact be the higher options.
i think the issue here is more that DD's preferred teammates aren't committing to us more than it is that we're slow playing them or labeling them a fallback option
I just don't think we were ever going to get enough TX2VT momentum in order to truly make a pipeline there. Yeah it's exciting and cool, but once the novelty wears off, you have kids that are so far away with other options closer to home. We are putting all our chips in on Texas now because we flat out ruined relationships in VA and couldn't get any momentum, and NC after a year or two has fizzled out.
Clock is ticking on this staff for me. I know there's likely a mulligan this year for CV-19, but if they can't keep DD and finally put together a signature class, it's just not going to happen.
That's quite the blanket statement.
That statement doesn't just apply to this staff but the previous. But nothing has really been done to fix it or improve perception.
do you think that every VA player who gets an offer gets a committable offer changes things? as opposed to high school recruits getting an offer after their freshman or sophomore year because they're in-state and it's expected and then all of a sudden the offer goes away because it was never committable on Tech's end?
John Iezzi mentioned that in the Sons of Saturday pod and I keep bringing it up around here because that to me is a big change in how this staff is approaching in-state recruiting. Josh Miller, the massive OL at Life Christian in Richmond who got an offer as a freshman this week, got himself a committable offer.
it's easy to say "nothing's been done to fix it" because TreVeyon Henderson committed to anOSU and because Tony Grimes didn't have us in his top-10, but it doesn't exactly reflect reality.
VT simply hasn't won enough yet, and laying that massive egg down in Norfolk in 2018 was poison for this program. Those are not the things that need to be happening to show VA recruits that VT is a serious national contender. I'd be less upset if we were coming up short against the Clemson's of the world and needed more elite guys to get us over the hump. Losing to ODU, BC, Duke, UVA isn't doing all we can do as a program to show we are on an upswing.
I totally understand why you'd draw a line between on-field performance and recruiting, but there's just so much variance that it's difficult to draw that line for me. There's also a difference between "the recruiting is matching the on field results lately" and "the staff hasn't done anything to fix things in state". The first statement I totally agree with -- you can tweet all you want about building something incredible, but pls show us. The second statement just sounds like it's frustration that is boiling over from the first.
I'd argue that the travel limitations actually help Fuente - less likely to get big-timed by other programs if recruits can't take their OVs to FSU or Penn State. With the amount of time they've poured into these recruits, at least at the top of the board, I don't believe there is room for a lot of excuses, particularly if they've been on campus a bunch. They may just not want to come to Tech, and ultimately that falls on Fuente.
Painting in a broad brush. What constitutes a TX2VT pipeline? 1-2 commits per year? 4-5? I think what we're seeing is that we do have relationships there and TX recruits have signed with VT. Not sure if we'll ever get to the point we're we're pulling entire classes out of Texas or even if we're pulling top-5 in-state kids out of Texas, but I'd argue that we don't have to get to that point for it to be a success. And i'd argue that it'd be irresponsible of this coaching staff to ignore Texas if we know we can get talent from Texas to come to Blacksburg.
Also I don't think it's exactly fair to say "We are putting all our chips in on Texas now"
We are recruiting TX heavily and actively trying to get other guys from the area that our QB commit wants to play with to come to VT. That to me is relying pretty heavily on TX to make or break the class.
For 2021 class, yes I agree that our results in TX have the ability to make or break the class. I will be very disappointed if we do not wind up signing DD and Latrell Neville (at the very least) because I think we should reasonably expect the staff to prove that we can hold onto our own recruits. I also will be disappointed if Landyn Watson winds up elsewhere.
However, that doesn't mean that a class in line with a typical VT class (e.g. say 26th ranked nationally) is a total flop just because we didn't get the Texas guys. It's just tough to envision it happening without them.
First, has he officially backed out? Thought it was all still speculation at this point.
Second, I do not follow recruiting very closely. So, this comment is NOT directed at DD, but is just a general statement. It is my opinion, that a coaching staff ought to be very careful about wanting/needing a single recruit so badly, that they let him use his commitment as significant leverage and dictate to the staff who they should/shouldn't offer/sign. There are so many long term factors that a staff has to consider when it comes to geography. I certainly do not think Fuente is going to let a single recruit sway his approach to recruiting.
Again, the last comment is not directed at DD. I have no reason to believe this was the situation.
Lots of eggs in one basket- hope Fuente can juggle them all.
One of our top targets, Philip Riley (4* CB out of FL) committed to ND today.
I apologize if someone has posted this before, but came across it when I was verifying the NCAA dead period.
That's a hell of a long signing period. Link
With Riley going to ND, and the speculation of Dee decommitting. There have been a lot of commitments as of late, somewhat to groups that may not make sense (Vols jumped up this past week for example). A lot of these commits are based on no OVs or not having the spring and summer to take additional visits and seeing coaches. So I think this year still has some craziness left in it.
I think when/if this whole Covid thing ends and things get back to business as usual, you could see a lot of changes on the recruiting front. Could be good or bad, but I think things will change. Kids that are committed now could take a visit somewhere or see something and change their mind. It is may afterall, and if there is a season, seems like some believe it will be pushed back. I wouldn't be surprised is that moves some of the other dates back as well.
In short, I think everyone should get ready for a wild ride. Hopefully VT ends up in a good spot once its all over.
If we miss the mark on the 2021 class, Fuente doesn't get a chance to make up for it in 2022. Especially after how bad the 2020 class was.
They need to get it right and they need to get it right this year. No more excuses
I'm not setting up for excuses. I agree if we drop the ball on recruiting this year, something has got to give.
i'm just saying we have a potentially long ride ahead of us, and at this point, anything can and will still happen. Kid could commit to a school now, then do an OV and change his mind. That is probably being set up more now than ever with the virus, as it's limiting options now and could change down the road.
Understood, but Fuente and company have lost the benefit of the doubt at this point. So I think the anxiety about the 2021 class being subpar is real.
Agree completely. I've tried to be very realistic (transition, young team, losing Bud, etc.), but Fuente and co. have to close on this class. Davis is the foundation of everything and it could completely fall apart if he goes elsewhere.
To a certain extent I think people overrate the impact one commit makes. And while DD is obviously a great talent, he's not a top 5 in the country guy. This can still be a very successful class without him, though obviously TX2VT takes a big PR hit. The biggest impact this makes is that we haven't recruited a QB who we trust to throw a forward pass since 2017 and would likely have to start an unidentified transfer or true freshman in 2022.
I mean he's pretty good.
6th best dual threat in the country, Top 100 247 / Top 150 if you look at 247 Composite
Plus getting a guy from TX to come all the way to middle of nowhere VA would be a hell of a feat.
and the fact that he's not a top-15 player in Texas for the 2021 class by 247 rating or by composite should tell everyone complaining about us recruiting texas why it's useful for us to do so -- there are several metric frick tons of talent in Texas
He's a pretty damn high level recruit in the most important position in the game.
Please tell me anyone of a higher ranking that VT is currently in-play for...? Grimes isn't coming here, Henderson going to OSU.
The message sent if we can't keep DD in the fold is pretty clear...VT can't sign top talent. That's incredibly damaging. Having nice #[InsertStateHere]2VT tags is wonderful and all, but actually signing recruits is what really mattters
I disagree on both parts. DD makes a huge impact. For starters, he's a blue chip QB that everyone wants. So in that respect it would make a huge impact to land him.
Beyond that, and I made this statement in another thread somewhere, DD is the lynchpin of the class. If we lose him, we likely lose a bunch of other commits. Big time recruits follow big time recruits. Losing DD would be a devastating blow to the 2021 class.
And if the current climate has that much of an negative impact on Tech in terms of visits, and recruits going with the name brands over the relationships with this staff , then Fuente picked a real bad time to shank the recruiting class prior.