Kevin Bronson, one of Tech's 2014 signees won't be headed to Blacksburg as planned.
Big area recruiting news: #VaTech DE signee Kevin Bronson (Village Academy) has been granted a scholarship release. Will enroll at #USF.— Wells Dusenbury (@DuseReport1063) July 3, 2014
Per his HC, Bronson was a point shy on ACT of qualifying. VTech had said from beginning they'd be able to get him in, but started to waver.— Wells Dusenbury (@DuseReport1063) July 3, 2014
Bronson & family thought #VTech had been giving him the run-around, so he asked for release on Tues. #Hokies granted it & he's now with #USF— Wells Dusenbury (@DuseReport1063) July 3, 2014
Kevin Bronson was down to #VTech & #USF before Signing Day, so #Bulls ended up being natural fit. He'll enroll there on Sunday. #Hokies— Wells Dusenbury (@DuseReport1063) July 3, 2014
He will enroll at USF after being granted his scholarship release from the Hokies.
Comments
Fortunately the Hokies still have Big Luther Maddy in 2014.
Unless an unimaginable amount of injuries, Bronson's not a kid that would've played in a down in 2014. However, he probably projected to play at DT and it's a hit to depth down the road.
http://www.espnwestpalm.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=36181
The full article, most of the good stuff is already in those tweets though.
Getting aired out by a high school coach is not a good look.
s/ you can probably blame the recruiting coordinator for that one /s
ducks
And he's mad at that.. instead he'll go play at USF.. What do you expect recruiting to be Pie, Cakes and Ice Cream.. Of course there are tiers and if he thought he was a tier one player then he should have looked at his offer list and said which team will VALUE me as a tier one? Not to put the kid down but looking at his offers/interest VT, SC, Miami, NC State can recruit multiple guys at the position, its not like a Middle Ten State or FAU or BGSU or a mid tier team that has 3 options and that's it.
Not too worried because this happens all the time doesn't it?
Ohio State treated Brady Taylor the same exact way (only offering when they missed out on "their guys") and it didn't matter. The coach wouldn't have said anything if Bronson would have got in. It definitely sucks because I liked his film but at the same time I'm proud we stick to our academic standard and don't bend it just to get a recruit in.
It's certainly not good, but in the context of the rest of the article, this just sounds like sour grapes to me. You have a kid that is borderline on being able to qualify for college, then when he doesn't, it's suddenly VT's fault. Now, if someone within the football program made some promises he shouldn't have, then yes, that's a problem on VT's end and it needs to be squelched. But honestly, if the kid can't qualify for enrollment, I'm sorry, but we can't be making exceptions just because he has non-academic value to the school. If we can cling at all to the vestige of "student-athlete," there is no reason to make exceptions.
I wish him well and I hope that he finds success at USF in the classroom and on the field. It sucks for our DE depth, but perhaps we can use the opening to attract a talented recruit in the 2015 class. In the end, there are standards for getting in to college. If you can't meet them, that's ultimately not VT's fault. Maybe that sounds a bit asshole-ish, but it's the truth. No one's going to intercede on behalf of any non-football player if they have borderline test scores/grades.
We have to get at least 3 DEs this class.
The only two DE's in last year's class were Mihota and Bronson. Mihota was moved inside to DT and Bronson won't be a Hokie. We didn't land a DE in '13 class either. Not looking good.
Well Melvin Keihn was a linebacker/de so maybe he moves to de?
It was a possibility, and depending on who we land in this class, it might become a necessity.
We seem to be in good shape at LB with young talent so I wouldn't oppose moving him. If we land any combo of Sweat, Gaines, Ford, Hill, Taylor then I'll feel better but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Bronson was projected to be a DT at Tech...
I thought Kevin had a chance to be a good DT at tech. Now that hes gone, other DT signees will have to step up.
Well, this settles it. I am going to become a bag man. I may not have "disposable income," per se, or "income", per se, but I think I could put together some coupon packages and other knick-knacks that would be pretty hard to turn down. We're not losing another recruit.
Well you could absolutely get away with it since you're a lawyer right??
Coupon packages from legitimate companies like Stop In or Bojangles, or coupon packages like the homeade ones little kids make for their moms that have coupons for things like free hugs or doing the dishes?
Probably both. Honestly, I've never really made that distinction. It doesn't matter to me if I'm cutting them out of newspapers or construction paper--it's a war zone out there and I'll do whichever is necessary.
You sir, are a true Hokie Hero. I salute you!
Per Andy Bitter, you would have to pay his HS teachers and administrators to get him into Tech. He didn't make the grade. He wasn't flipped.
Cut me some slack, man, I'm new at this.
NO EXCUSES! TRIAL BY FIRE!
Reading all these reports about this, something isn't adding up here.
The notion that the coaches just went after Bronson after missing out on other guys is wrong. Plain and simple. He's from Delray Beach, the town that Charley Wiles is the mayor of, so it's not like he was some backup to the big guys they happened upon. Wiles probably met him on any of his numerous recruiting trips there, heard good things from coaches and signed him. That strikes me as just a bitter HS coach.
Beamer himself even went out of his way to mention him during his signing day press conference. I was there when he said this, unprompted, about Bronson:
As others have said, Bronson didn't make the grade, which is on him. If coaches gave him conflicting information, then that's certainly bad, but it's not unreasonable to ask him if prep school was an option. Plenty of others Hokies have done it and been successful.
Keihn could certainly be an option at DE, but honestly, while losing a guy with potential is never good, it isn't the end of the world. Assuming they pan out this year, Dadi and Ken Ekanem will be starters for multiple years each. Seth Dooley and Dewayne Alford should see limited time this year in preparation for bigger roles going forward. If the Hokies can land a couple DEs or DTs in 2015's class, they should be fine.
I see your point. But Tech needs to sign multiple defensive linemen this year. The DE depth is thin.
I am now prepared to offer immediate playing time and a signing bonus to Sweat.
Kidding!