Recent Comments

I see VT is cutting costs by only buying child-size hats. /s

Nice to have the commit though!

Chris Ellis you say?

I feel like the TX thing was because Fuente understood them better, but to your point, it's harder to make it happen, it's harder if the player's family want to come see games, or if the player's wants to go home on a weekend, or whatever.

Having a footprint makes a lot of sense, and I think it will pay off. People make it seem like you should be able to recruit well from day one, but also talk about the importance of knowing the recruits and being in their ear from 8th or 9th grade. Pry had to fix relationships first, especially if the HS coaches are in the player's ears and recommending other schools.

But we're getting a lot of guys back from the portal, which feels like a good sign. Now we just need to get the higher rated recruits from in-state and the surrounding states. There really was a lot for Pry to fix that wasn't going to pay dividends right away. I feel like we're still one more year off from getting to see how well a number of things will pay off.

I don't think Fuente 'tried to reach further' - I think he butchered relationships locally, so he was forced to go places where he still had relationships.

The problem with that is that it doesn't scale; VT doesn't have brand recognition in Texas, so we can't just drop in and have people flock to us. Beyond that, it's logistically a challenge to maintain relationships with high schoolers a thousand miles away. They can't fly out on a weeks' notice to visit. How do you scout from 1000 miles away? It's a challenge. Coaches also waste time traveling. If you fly out and kid has a last minute conflict, it's a hassle to come back, etc. Despite NIL and everything, college football high school recruiting will never boil down to a zoom meeting and a job offer.

In VT's case Wiles and Gray used to bring in some really good talent from Florida.

Florida is a different story all together. Every staff has to have a Florida guy. Fair criticism that we don't have a Florida guy on staff.

Also, Wiles/Gray weren't recruiting the entire state - they had a handful of high schools/areas they were plugged into. Not only that, but when a good player wasn't getting rub, coaches would call up our guys and tell them - Dadi Nicholas was a 2-star or something with a theft on his record? Wiles knew a guy who knew Dadi and put them in touch.

Let them battle it out in Spring. Don't be surprised if those that don't make starters transfer again in Spring Portal.

I sure hope 1-2 out of five pan out. If not, that's a really bad hit rate.

Or our safeties either suck or are leaving and we're looking for bodies and hoping one or two pan out.

It's weird because they have programs like that on the academic side and have for decades. My wife is from WV, but she got in state tuition at Tech in the late 90's because she was majoring in Accounting Information Systems and they didn't offer that major at any of the major WV colleges at the time.

No idea how this will turn out but glad VT is using the extra scholarships to bring a lot of bodies in at safety and other positions of need.

lol. yes agreed. These kids know who the DC is.

Another good transfer on the defensive side.

If we truly don't have a DC yet, Pry is the best receuiter in the country

Part of the reason I'd be happier in the B1G than the SEC. Kevin Jones, the Fullers, we had a lot of good players come out of MD, PA. Plus, I'd rather play Penn St and MD than USCeast and Auburn.