This happened. Brown must really believe in Mike London. I wish Brown the best, heck of a player.
DT Andrew Brown has signed paperwork to be a mid-year enrollee at #UVA. London is permitted to comment on him.— Norm Wood (@normwood) November 18, 2013
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London is permitted to congratulate him on saving his job.
That's what happens when you take exit 118B on I-64 instead of I-81.
Man, I miss my home state...
Hey now, don't judge him. Some guys just enjoy getting double-teamed by 300+ lbs guys for the rest of their collegiate careers.
Great player but honestly I think Nnadi will be the better player with much better coaching if he chooses Tech.
da fuq?
Well, I guess we'll see how he develops over the next four years. Best of luck to him, and here's to showing him what it takes to win in your last regular season game every year.
Oscar Smith is down 28-0, going into the 4th quarter in the state championship at UVA. I guess Mr. Brown will get a head start at getting used to being blown out in football games in Scott Stadium.
I know trying to understand the mind of a 17-18 yr old and why he chooses one school over another is an exercise in futility. I mean other than the "this school has this program that the other don't" or "I've always been a fan growing up my dream has been to play there" . Other than those reasons I don't get it. Hey the better team in the state...and I mean much better...is recruiting you to play for one of the top if not the top defensive coordinator in the country who routinely fields top 10 defenses and you choose the team that has no defense and is just poor all around???? I mean how many years does London really have? Maybe UVA didn't want to bye out his contract but do they renew it?? If they do then Hokies will be happy everywhere. But how he convinces guys to come play for him after he has shown NO improvement at all is mind-boggling. I hope Mr. Brown rethinks his every year he's not playing in a bowl game. He may get plenty of playing time and make it to the NFL but his college career is going to be filled with disappointment from a program and team standpoint.
Part of the reason he's going there because of the shady relationship that UVA has with the thoroughbreds. It's impossible to prove anything these days, but I feel pretty certain that there is something illegal going on there. There is absolutely NO other reason that any top high school player would pick UVA.
And before people start calling me out for not having evidence, please don't be naive; recruiting is an incredibly dirty business and this stuff happens everywhere. I'd like to think that it doesn't happen much at VT because there is actually a legitimate reason for players to come here, but you never know.
I'd like to know more about this thoroughbreds thing. Both because I've heard little things here and there before but nothing concrete, and also because I'm a horse.
Hoping one of them has an eligible sister maybe?
Don't know why you got down-voted for making a pretty solid observation, so I evened it out.
Yes, recruiting is a very shady business, and yes, I don't know why a top recruit would willingly choose to go to a school that is trending toward rock-bottom because the head coach has proven himself to be a step below awful. It's a total head-shaker to me.
Maybe he told them he'll be leaving after next year and they'll get a better coach.
While the Thoroughbreds relationship is questionable, at this point it is more speculation. Is the Head Ball Cop playing the race card? Possibly. Is he pitching to these kids the fact that he used to be a cop and can act as a quasi-father figure to them? He would be stupid not to. But any other discussion about improprieties is useless without hard evidence.
I think the bigger element at play here is that a lot of these top recruits know they're great and feel pretty confident that they're going to make it to the NFL regardless of where they play their college ball. Remember, Andrew Brown was just named Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. Clearly these kids, in particular, are wired differently than those who are great HS players and want to win college National Championships. In my opinion, this is where their egos play the largest role. I think guys like Brown and Quin Blanding are drawn by CML's pitch of, "Come be responsible for the turnaround here at UVA. You will be legends forever."
Given his track record, most of us see CML selling a false bill of goods. But I believe that these kids would rather be the few key individuals responsible for a turnaround and future success, rather than one of many responsible for success at a big time program. Part of it is CML's ability to convince/manipulate the kids, part of it has to do with their own life experiences and the fact that everyone has been patting them on the back for 4+ years telling them how damn good they are. After a while, it becomes who you are, and its hard for someone like Coach Beamer to convince them otherwise.
less about the breds than about his cousin turtle and his dad pushing the family connection at uva.
VT sucks at recruiting. Big class this year rated 23-30.
Why do we suck? Well for one because we think everyone else cheats, and we give our coaches a free pass on not selling. Selling is hard work. Anyone who sells (not maintains relationships) knows how difficult it is. You have to listen, think, respond, sometimes quickly sometimes with a plan that has to be developed in concert with other organizations who aren't incented to help. Maryland picks up a couple 5 stars, UVA does the same, its not because they sold a vision its because the UA guy is a cheat, because Edsall is dirty, because London is a criminal. Please. Articulate your vision. Sell your arse off. Quit yer fuckin whining. Stop being a lazy ignoramous and calling everyone who wins at selling a cheat. Ignoring his shortcomings for a moment, Greenberg didn't have a problem selling Blacksburg. It can be done.
If the 20 programs ahead of us in recruiting every year all cheat, why not dig up some dirt and send it to the NCAA. Shouldn't be that hard. 25 kids a year x 20 programs is 500 kids a year. Put your money or effort where your lazy mouth is.
These thoroughbred coaches take it personally as they should when called cheats by idiot VT fans. The reality is not that we hate the thoroughbreds, its that a certain high percentage of our fanbase thinks everyone else cheats, except VT. All because our lazy arse coaches have gotten a pass on selling for far too long.
IMO, Thoroughbreds coaches are in many respects just like any other avid VT fan. We want to see Virginia players win a MNC. We believe the state has the talent to consistently challenge in the top 10 and top 5. They acknowledge we may need to get some lineman from OOS. We believe that Frank Beamer's offensive friends have killed MNC aspirations for the past 5-10 years for the VT program. We want a high powered offense for Virginia based players to be able to play for MNCs and get to the pros. The thoroughbred players may not have played all that well in the 7v7s but they did show ambition and SWAGGER. And they did have some games where they looked like one of the best high skill 7v7 squads in the country. Why don't we have Morehead and Gray watch a few practices and give them some tips and wish them well? They want to see a Virginia based school emerge to allow them all to go to school there and employ their skill position talents in a bid to win MNCs and get to the pros.
The breds believe Frank won't be able to get it done. Ever. A small percentage of our fans are of this opinion as well. A high percentage of our fans believe Frank's friends poisoned the last 5-10 years of VT MNC aspirations. I would hazard a guess that between 40-60% of our fans don't believe Frank really aspires to fill the trophy case with anything other than bowl trophies.
Avid fans believe the jury is still out on whether VT's new coaches represent a step forward from the past or a new set of highly competent coaches with a desire to be the best and empowered by Frank to do what it takes. Show the breds its the latter and they'll all show up and play for VT.
I didn't downvote you on this one because it's ultimately your opinion. You say this class sucks eh? Personally I believe this is one of our better classes and is gonna bring a slew of game changers into the program. Dude, we're very rarely ranked a whole lot higher in recruiting than we are right now and we're currently out-recruiting schools such as B1G champions MSU by a Damn sight right now. What more do you want? Besides, you used the word "swagger". This site is the site for kids who are interested in swagger- http://www.canesinsight.com/forum.php
He/she didn't say our class sucked. I think he/she was saying this is one of our better classes but still that VT just hasn't historically been very proficient at recruiting. I'd like to think we're turning that around though, and this class is just a start of things to come. I'm excited for Hokie Nation!
Maybe... I read the second sentence as ironic. If so, I apologize. There's more to recruiting than stars though. If a kid is a 5 star player it's a good indication he's a stud, sure. However a 2 star rating doesn't automatically relegate him to jobber status. I really doubt our staff values star rankings over their gut and whatever tape they have on the kid.
I agree 100% with that. Far too much emphasis is put on star ratings for recruits. It's not really a true indicator for how a recruit will pan out.
The part I found ironic was where VT_Slacker used the word "lazy" three times. Kidding kidding...
Agreed. Not every 5* ends up being the tits. Bama gets 5& 4 in large amounts, however a lot of them don't work out.
Manziel was like a 3 if I recall. Some kids peak and are great in HS because they are the biggest kid, or best athlete. However when they move down the funnel into college, they run into kids who were the top at their HS cool. Whoops, I can't bull rush this line anymore, cause they are bigger.
Anyway, if you want more top rated players, you have to win. Bama hardly has to recruit. Oh we play for national championships here, done deal. Even cj reavis said he would consider Bama if they had sniffed in his direction harder.
UVA picked up a couple of 5s by luck, but their overall class sucks.
Right now, not sure if it's our new guys, but 2014 and 2015 are looking nice in the recruiting realm.
Up vote for throwing out a strong opinion.
But in my opinion, the issue with the Thoroughbreds is more than that. I believe VT sees this group as the AAU'ing of football recruiting, and I think our old guard (read: Cavanaugh) hated this notion with a passion and tried to curtail their influence. This just strengthened their resolve against VT. Now, I believe, we've made some in roads with a lot of this crowd due, in part, to having Cornell Brown in the area.
I agree that we have given our recruiters a pass for too long and accuse everyone else of cheating. VT cheats. We know they do, there are too many rules to be broken to be a clean program anymore. I bet Michigan State doesn't think highly of us right now.
And part of that is the new coaches. We're more aggressive than ever before, we will see if it changes anything. If nothing else, I like our evaluation process for OL and QB's a lot better now that we have actual professionals handling it.
There are also grumblings that London has played the race card against Frank in recruiting. So you can add that to your musings on the T-breds/757 as well. But I would think what really hurts Frank in recruiting is his age. He's got guys in place now who can overcome that. The next step is to win some of these high profile games with the recruits we have been pulling in.
Frankly, if London isn't using race as part of his recruiting pitch than he is a fool. When trying to impress the minds of 18 year old kids, I say pull out all the stops that are ethical.
There is nothing wrong in my opinion with a coach pointing out that fact.
Fondue should do whatever he pleases. As bad as he seems to be, it can only help the Hokies long term.
I noticed he was getting a head start tonight of losing in Scott Stadium.
I know for a fact OS has been pushing their kids toward UVA since Greg Boone 'never worked out' at QB for the Hokies. Their athletic director has not been shy about Hokie-bashing, and thinks the world about LOLUVA.
Sad but true.
phillip sims being shown the door AND thrown under the bus, changed that.
VT has been working to get back in the good graces of morgan ... i think you'll see that soon.
brown was only at OS for 2 yrs, he isn't your typical OS or breds guy, btw.
Isn't Bradshaw from OS, to reinforce this point.
Yes, and JC.
Yep, UVA isn't involved at all with Sweat or McClease. Some say our "patience" with JCC is connected to our reemergence at OSHS.
That's such bullshit. Players should get recruited/get playing time at VT because the coaches feel those players will help them win games, not because of where they went to high school.
I lost a lot of respect for UVA when they gave Philip Sims so many chances because of "political reasons" and they started taking kids from random 757 schools to create "pipelines" even though they weren't D1-level players.
I don't give a flying fuck where a kid goes to high school. If he can help us win games, represent VT in the right way and do well academically, I want that kid on my team. If it's Oscar Smith, great. If it's Hampton, awesome. If it's Norfolk fucking Academy, that's fine too.
AD's at high schools shouldn't get butthurt because their kids didn't make it at VT. Guess what fuckfaces, we're 99-34 since we've joined the ACC, we know what the fuck we're doing. If you kid didn't make it, it's because he wasn't good enough not because of "political reasons" or "we didn't like him". Don't bad-mouth our program and blame the coaches because your kid didn't pan out.
High school coaches are a part of the process, like it or not. Keeping them happy is key to the program. Ask Al Groh- his downfall started when he pissed off Mike Smith at Hampton High.
The OS athletic director (the one responsible for getting them on ESPN each year) is in my FFL and posted a picture with Tiki Barber last week. Has a big dislike for anything VT. Complains that VT hasn't been "straight" with a lot of the kids and brings up the Greg Boone QB tryout story.
Ideally VT would repair these relationships, because the 757 pipeline has been the bread and butter of Tech football IMO. Now that the area has been "discovered" a lot kids are headed to LOLUVA or out-of-state.
Glad to see Grown men holding grudges. Luckily, there are quite a few talented FB programs down in the 757 and the Peninsula is Hokie (Hpt, Phoebus, Bethel, etc.). Some schools on the Southside are too. Smith isn't. It is what it is.
Sadly, Hampton has sent a lot more kids to UVA from what I can remember. Tyrod was the exception, far from the rule.
Up until the mid-2000s they were a UVA pipeline. Then Groh decided to piss off Mike Smith, which has worked in VT's favor. Has London gotten that many guys other than Watford from Hampton High? I honestly don't know.
I think Deon Newsome was from Hampton, but he obviously had a strong VT connection
Boone didn't play QB, big whoop, kid still played a ton. Guess that last part doesn't matter...
Seriously. He still had thousands of fans shouting "BOOOOOOOONNNNEE" almost every home game while he played at VT.
Yeah, we should have sat Tyrod and played Boone. That would've made sense.
That being said...we need a sarcastica font. It would probably be the most used font in the system. I would use it in MS Word and emails, and texts for that matter. How fantastic would it be to actually apply tone and /rollseyes in the written word?
I watched Nnadi play in the region semis this year and some of the OS players were there. I was with my son and had on a VT beanie and Jaylen Bradshaw walks by and says "HokieNation" then looks over his shoulder at Brown and says "Meh...Wahoo" I was grinning from ear to ear and my 10 year-old was cracking up laughing.
I went to Centreville, so I watched Andrew Brown in the state finals game. Centreville pushed him around the whole game and he just looked like another player to me.
I caught some of the game on tv and from what I saw it looked like Centreville was giving him the "Clowney treatment". And I think it got to Brown. He just looked totally frustrated and out of it.
I have seen both Nnadi and Brown play and I think Nnadi is better. You heard Nnadi's name more often on tackles than Andrew Brown!