Royal Palm Beach offensive tackle Fredrick Johnson, told Scout.com's Florida Recruiting Analyst Corey Bender he de-committed from the Hokies. The massive 6-8, 285-pound Florida prospect made a verbal commitment to Virginia Tech on September 30th.
In a video interview with Bender, Johnson explained he opened up his recruitment because he didn't originally intend to commit until the end of his senior season, and he wants more time to consider his options. In addition to Virginia Tech, he has scholarship offers from Florida, Marshall and Nebraska, but believes more schools might be offering him soon. As of right now Fredrick doesn't have any official visits scheduled, but would like to wrap up his recruitment by the end of January. Johnson is would like to play for a school that can offer early playing time.
Offensive tackle is a need for the Hokies in the 2015 cycle, and Tech currently has verbals from three tackles: recent flip Austin Clark, Mike Arnold and D'Andre Plantin.
Comments
Why would he decommit if he wants early playing time?
Looking for a bigger & better deal. I would also remind that on occasion, recruits might give one reason for a commit or a decommit, when they actually have an entirely different reason for actually doing so. Not that this is one of those times, but recruits will say things they think will not offend as much, just because it is easier to say.
I never celebrate too much until they sign their LOI.
Bingo.
But no other school in the country can promise as much of a chance at early playing time as tech can.
You might want to re-read my post above.
Yea I guess I agree
I would also put forth that he's not saying that VT doesn't offer early playing time, rather when the interviewer asked "what are you looking for in a school?" he just answered "early playing time."
We're still in the hunt, people, he just wants to get wooed a bit more.
Wanna bet on that? There are plenty of schools that can offer early playing time including Power 5 schools.
E.g. I'm going to Michigan over VT engineering, oh but wait, Michigan is having a bad season... better pretend to switch my major and join Alabama LOL. (Hand)
And yet, he still ends up going for an engineering degree:
So, basically he chose Alabama over Michigan and Virginia Tech, citing their engineering programs. Basically academics are not a real factor.
He could've been playing by now if he signed with us, but have fun sitting in Alabama 's 4 deep.
Edit: As someone pointed out, he has played (sparingly) for Alabama. However, he would starting already splitting time as a backup if he had signed with VT.
He's playing for Alabama as a true freshman.
Hmm... that sounds like an ideal situation.
Even if he wasn't, none of us have any right to criticize him for his choices. Picking a college is one of the biggest decisions a young person can make- who are we to say what was best for them and what they should have chosen?
This is what I hate about recruiting- the fact that somehow fans think they have some right to get upset at a young kid for making a decision based on what the kid thinks is best- not what we think is best.
That's because far too often, zealous fans transfer their sensibilities onto the recruit. They expect the recruit to be as smitten with the program as they are, ignoring that they've already attended the school or been lifelong fans, while the program is just one of many for the recruit to consider. That applies for programs across the nation, not just VT.
My only problem with Mr. Hand's reasoning is the following:
I don't have a problem with Mr. Hand choosing Alabama over VT. I would just question his rational if it indeed come down to Civil Engineering. I choose VT for an MS in Civil Engineering precisely because VT's Civil Engineering program is considered a premiere program. I offer as evidence the following link:
US News & World Report - Civil Engineering
Again, I have nothing against the kid and wish him all the best. But I would just like to point out that his reasoning with regards to Civil Engineering is a bit flawed.
The problem with thinking any HS recruit is more interested in his academic major than his playing time is you have to be INCREDIBLY & willfully 'naive' to believe that is his actual reasoning.
When arguing about the strength of Civil Engineering programs re:Hand, what you should ask yourself is this - Does he prefer the Civil Engineering program at the school contending for yet another national championship? Or the one at the school that is a middle of the pack ACC team that is struggling to make bowl games at all? Because anybody with any recognition of college sports would know that is how Hand viewed it. And that's his choice. He doesn't have to be transparent about it. As nutty as fans get over recruiting, you can't really blame him.
I didn't think I was blaming him. I was just pointing out a flaw in his stated logic.
As for your theory on the reason why he picked Alabama over VT, well yea, I get it.
'You' as in the general public, not a specific person. Or - 'a person can't really blame him'. How's that?
I was about to chime in to say the same. You don't get much better than Tech for civil engineering. PE since 2002.
Jeff Grimes Hired as Next LSU Offensive Line Coach
agreed. it's about the major/degree, until it's not. it's about playing time, until it's not. it's always about something, until it's not. can't sweat it.
Transitioning from HS to college is difficult for most offensive linemen, even the 5 and 4 star guys. Early playing time - what exactly does that mean to the recruit? Playing in the 2 deep as a redshirt freshman would be An accomplishment . Starting as a RS freshman would be a great achievement.
That's unfortunate...
6'8"/285 offensive tackle?
I am not really to upset about this. Johnson was a project, and once they got the commitment from Clark, that means there are two offensive tackles in the pipeline that are already far more ready to play tomorrow than Johnson was. Now, if Clark or Arnold started talking flip, then it is EVERYBODY PANIC time.
There is almost less than a zero percent chance that Clark flips as he will be on campus in January. I doubt Arnold or Plantin do either, but you never know.
not suggesting that they are considering it at all... merely saying that if I had to read that we lost an OL recruit, this is the guy I'd be the least upset about losing
Agreed.
My thought when reading this is that when he committed he was "the guy" and was looking at significant playing time. Now we have 2 more tackles and that spot is getting crowded, now he wants to look at his options. Not saying that he's not going to be a Hokie in the end, but I think that he may be a little more uncomfortable about it right now than he was a few months ago.
When you look at his comments, he mentioned the bigger program names that were still recruiting him, with his expectations for even more big names to offer soon. I'd say that factors more than any possible insecurities about playing time with us.
That too
Are we 100% sure Clark is a tackle? I'm not sold quite yet.
Tennessee's coaching staff would agree with you. I disagree. I think he has enough reach and quickness to play right tackle.
If you watched the tape on Johnson... he is a massive kid. But otherwise he is incredibly raw. No matter what other programs are telling him, he is the kid that you have to break down, start from scratch, and rebuild so maybe he competes to start as a redshirt sophomore or junior. If he is in the two deep on the OL of a P5 conference team, then that team is hurting badly for OL talent. He has good feet for such a big man, but he doesn't bend well (and as result he plays very high) and he has some awful habits in pass protection.
Here is an example from his HUDL video: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3007448/highlights/184202385
If you watch the play at 1:18, he overstrides and crosses over his feet as he shuffles with the defensive end. A strong end can get into his body and knock him off balance when his feet come to close together, and his posture makes him very susceptible to a bull rush if you get inside his hands.
Again, I think he has more upside than a similarly sized kid like Osterloh, but he isn't stepping on the field day 1 for anyone IMHO. Clark and Arnold have a chance to get on the field early, and Plantin can be very good once he adds size and strength.
How does Johnson compare/contrast to Parker Osterloh?
I'm not distraught about this or anything, but I think if anything the recruiting results of 2010-2012 and injuries this year should teach us all a valuable lesson about the need to build depth, everywhere on the team - but especially at a position(s) of extreme need at OL. Having two guys at tackle in the pipeline who are in a better spot now is great, but what happens when one or both of those guys pops a knee?
Again, I'm not flipping out or anything. Kid committed to his first major offer, then the prettier girls started paying attention and he went on his merry way, it happens. But this does hurt us. We need to be building as much depth as possible on the OL, lest we find ourselves in this exact position 2 or 3 years from now and we're singing the exact same "Well, of course the OL sucks, everyone's injured and we have no quality backups" tune...
Because I don't know about you guys, I'm more tired of that song than I am [insert overplayed popular song, I don't know I don't listen to the radio anymore - podcasts, baby! Ummm....Taylor Swift's latest single about I'm assuming a mean ex boyfriend of some sort?]
that's worth the price of admission, right there.
Is he the one who's never been to Blacksburg?
I believe he visited right before committing.
Ahh, my bad. I don't really follow recruiting all that close but I thought I remembered somebody who committed to us this year and had never actually visited campus. Who knows.
I could be wrong but that's what I seem to recall.
I believe that was Plantin, the OT from GA.
It could also possibly be that a 17-18 year old kid is starting to have some doubts about what will most likely be the single biggest decision in his life to this point.
Guys, let's be real. It's a verbal commit. Doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot, and it doesn't mean he won't decide he still likes Tech best and recommit. Or he could go somewhere he sees a better fit.
Either way, best of luck to him in his decision process.
can anyone name one player who has decommitted and then gone back to his original commitment? I am hardly an expert, but it seems that players are far more likely to stay "committed" while shopping around and then jump ship for real once they have a place to land than they are to decommit when they are still undecided.
btw, spell checker refuses to acknowledge decommit as a real word. Silly spell checker...
I believe Marshawn Williams did it last year. If he didn't for sure decommit then he definitely was a soft commit and he looked around before committing once again fully to tech.
The point I was trying to make still stands, however.
Thomas Tyner from Oregon is the only one I can think of off the top of my head.
I don't know guys. This could be disastrous.
Next year we could very well be incapable of making proper dick jokes with our OLinemen.
Despite our famous ability to generate the worlds best engineers, you sir, need to have faith in our ability to generate people with bad jokes based on abuse of the language.
We need to land Nijman and not worry about it.
bad word bad word bad word bad word bad word bad word =(
Obviously, I hope Mr. Johnson picks VT, but I understand if he goes somewhere else for his college degree. It's his life. I also appreciate that the kid is being open about the process. I wish him well, regardless of where he ends-up.
He's gonna stay close to home. Can't fault a kid for that, best of luck to him.
Chris Coleman of TSL called this from a mile away. He thought Johnson jumped at his first major offer, not thinking that one (VT) would lead to more (Florida etc). I wouldn't worry too much about this one if CC saw this coming, I'm sure Searels and company have a backup plan.
We have way too many TEs anyway!!
As long as "Big Country" Austin Clark is committed, it's all good. Good luck to Mr. Johnson.
It's tough to beat out Florida for an OL commit. They really love to block...even each other if they have to.
Wow, had not seen that before. Those players are just special.
I will never not watch the block from the Georgia Southern game.
In all fairness, in the first gif they don't really block each other. They touch, but there's nobody to block anyway, unlike the second gif where the guy locks up the other.
I dont know, in the first gif they seem to engage for a bit. They should be thankful that one of them wasn't Teller or it could've been MUCH worse. Teller doesn't engage, he destroys.
I prefer this version because it has less limp wang
Don't get too upset, 17 and 18 year old kids change their minds, alot. I know I did and I am sure most of you did too. When it comes to recruititcorning I have found it best to not count your chickens until they are on campus and enrolled in classes and participating in practice and/or conditioning...
My random guess as to where he winds up is Miami. Or maybe UF. But most likely a florida school. I could see him re-comitting to the good guys but generally the odds aren't great that a de-commit re-commits.
Picking up Clark certainly makes this a much more palatable loss. Also we're still going to take 2-3 more OL this class so I'm not too worried. Best of luck to Mr. Johnson.