Recent Comments
Is it the South? No. But there are a few top-flight football programs (see my previous post about Don Bosco Prep) and there are annually a number of All-Americans (recruits) that come from NJ. The problem is, the majority of the talent comes from the large parochial system there, so Catholic schools like ND and BC have an inherent advantage. Plus, schools like Syracuse and PSU have historically mined the state well for talent, and Rutgers has done a great job in the last few years of keeping kids home (Savon Huggins, being probably the best example).
I don't think there is a lot of great football in NJ
So I will preface this by saying I am excited about how thorough we are being about mining a larger footprint for talent at the moment and making sure we go after guys that we may not have traditionally targeted. Now I may be in the minority here on this sentiment, but despite all of these offers and visits we are reading and hearing about, I am a little fearful that we may end up over-extending ourselves this first year. As the staff tries to redefine and reformulate our recruiting territories and responsibilities with the inclusion of three new staff members, each with experience outside of our region, might we end up creating more difficulties feasibly maintaining contact (both virtually and in person) with these recruits to the point where we come across as less serious? Maybe serious is not the right word, but there is something to be said given the in-state talent this year for making sure that you really focus on a specific core group of guys and make them feel wanted and like they are the #1 target at their position (similar to what we heard was going on in Bucky's recruitment). These guys like to be shown the love; I just hope theres enough love to go around.
..that Grimes will likely be the co-recruiting with Foster on Moss.
same as Kinlaw, but different HS's.
We've also offered a highly rated TE out of Kinlaw's HS.
The sidebar on the right is gone, might be the embedded spreadsheet.
Sorry for getting off topic, everyone.
I have a few friends at Alabama, and it ain't exactly Harvard. South Carolina has one of the best history programs in the country, but if he's serious about trying to be an engineer, he won't be playing in the SEC.
They should give Bud Foster a ring just cause he's Bud Foster.
My old boss' kid just got a full scholarship to Bama's engineering program last year. He chose Bama over RIT, but that's about all I know about it. Plus, he is/was a total blowhard who thinks his kids are God's gift, so...all the more reason to #BeatBama
...and don't forget about them good ol' fashion corn fed farmboys!
Alabama is nothing special. Not abysmal or anything but its not going to be a selling point like the other schools.
Does anyone know how Alabama is Academically? Hand has acted very serious about getting into a really good academic program. At VT he would likely enter the engineering school. Maybe its the stereotypes of their fan base but I don't see Alabama being a great academic school. I know Michigan, Florida, and VT are all top 15 - 20 Engineering schools depending on who you ask.
Now that I say that, don't really know much about South Carolina either. Anyone have any insight?
I feel like beating Bama could do great for us in the recruiting field. I'm tired of losing 4 and 5 star VA kids to bama. They need to fall off the face of the earth
Fredericksburg is in Foster's region.
Finished my physics homework early tonight...
- Tony Pittman is verbal to Marshall as of 1/28/13
- D'Andre Payne has an offer from VT.
- Melvin Keihn also has an offer from VT.
- Zack Darlington has an offer.
Payne and Keihn's primary recruiter is Moorehead, and Darlington's (QB) is Loeffler. These guys are already getting after these 2014 recruits.
That's all for now. I'm sure I could dig a little deeper but I don't want to bombard Joe with a ton of stuff at once.
You could argue that they don't because they don't have to and you wouldn't be wrong, but they recruit mostly Texas kids. Being a brand helps, but Florida and Georgia are brands and they don't really go after kids out west (again, partially due to not needing to do that). There are a handful of blue bloods that can pull it off, and VT isn't there yet. What VT does have is a state that is growing and producing Division 1 talent.
I'd say a big part of why Robinson went to Michigan was because of RichRod's offense. RichRod also had experience recruiting Florida from his days at WVU.
http://businessofcollegesports.com/2012/01/23/conference-recruiting-expe...
Alabama spent nearly $1M in 2012 on football recruiting. VT spent $1M TOTAL amongst all their sports. Recruiting nationally is not cheap at all. Bama, ND, etc. can afford to go after anyone and not every school has that kind of cash.
I do find it somewhat ironic that everyone is talking about how VT needs to recruit other states when the 2014 class of VA players is supposed to be the best crop ever. Just looking at this current class according to Rivals, VT missed out on VA's top 4 players but still landed 12 of the top 30 (all of whom are at least 3 stars). It's probably not a stretch to think VT could have landed more if they had more open scholarships. VT in 2014 will have more openings for more talent. While VT should expand their net some in order to chase the top talent they need to win a title (which appears to be offensive linemen, VA for whatever reason doesn't produce a lot of those) they are able to get 85-90% of what they need from what they are doing.
Having the star rating on this spread sheet would be cool.
Well said, but according to RR, it was God's plan.
Who do they actually have on the squad now outside of this radius... The florida guys maddy, nicholas, manning, roth. PA only jarret, tarasche? Anyone else. Just Malleck from Jersey? I would look for this number to go up in the future.
I feel like its his time to be a real playmaker. He showed flashes last year like the Miami game where he could be a true two way tight end. I think in Loeffler's system and Martin and Dunn out of the way that he will be able to show what he really has. I am very excited for him.
VT has offered Thomas. I find it odd that Foster is the recruiter for Moss
If Virginia Tech were to follow Wisconsin's formula of nasty ground and pound game, then we need to hit the Rust Belt hard for OL. Maybe I am wrong, but it seem to me that the best are typically from the Rust Belt because of the Scandinavian heritage are strong in that region. That was one reason why I initally thought Adkins would have been a "make sense" hire before Grimey came along.
I am sure that Grimey have an eye for spotting nasty, mean streaked OL as evidenced by the list in the thread. So, I am confident that he is going to bring in some infusion of nastiness to the OL in recruiting.
And giants, and if I recall, even the skins...
That definitely went over my head. I was too busy at being shocked that someone on the site didn't realize they were brothers since it has been mentioned a billion times. I understand what you're saying now and I'll let you get back to engineering our next-generation of football player.
I disabled the sidebar on this page so the spreadsheet wouldn't be so constrained.