Hokies Offer a Trio of Talented 2016 Athletes Thanks to Efforts of Aaron Moorehead

Virginia Tech wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead was a very busy man last week.

The Hokies sent out a flurry of offers to a number of junior athletes across the nation, and some of Moorehead's primary targets seemed to be the main recipients of Tech's latest recruiting barrage.

Specifically, Moorehead is in hot pursuit of a trio of highly rated players, each one rated a 4-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite, and on January 9 he offered them each a scholarship to attend Virginia Tech.

Two hail from Moorehead's old stomping grounds in the Midwest, with receiver Austin Mack and offensive tackle Sean Foster hailing from Mundelein, Illinois and Fort Wayne, Indiana respectively. But one, receiver Tre Nixon, is a bit out of Moorehead's usual recruiting territory in Melbourne, Florida, but the Hokies have slowly but surely been building ties in the Sunshine State as well.

For the recruits, Moorehead's call last Friday came as a big surprise.

"I was just shocked by the offer, I really didn't expect it," Foster said. "We'd been talking for a couple months and I never lost interest in them."

Mack says he's also been in contact with the Hokies for a while now, but still didn't see the offer coming.

"I've been talking to Coach Moorehead for a while now, but I was still really surprised when he told me to call him and offered me," Mack said. "He said he just finally got my film to the whole staff and they really liked it."

Nixon says his offer from Tech came so suddenly that he hardly had time to process it all.

"He followed me on Twitter (on January 7) and reached out to me so we talked and he just told me how interested they are in me," Nixon said. "He said they loved my film and will be watching it with the staff the following day. When they did, he called me back and told me (they were offering)."

That means that Nixon has a little catching up to do compared to others when it comes to building a rapport with his potential future position coach.

"I really enjoyed talking to Coach Moorehead and I'm looking forward to developing our relationship," Nixon said.

Both of the young receivers were certainly glad to hear from the Hokies, given the program's propensity for playing young pass catchers.
"I like how many true freshman they have," Nixon said. "It shows me that they're a young team that's going to get better and that they're not afraid to start a freshman."

It would seem that Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips' dynamic debut season made an impact nationwide, as Mack echoed that sentiment.

"It's cool to see that things there aren't just based off seniority, you have to earn your playing time," Mack said.

Should either one of the receivers commit to Tech, it seems like a good bet they'd see the field plenty due to their excellent size. Nixon stands at about 6'1" and 180 pounds, while Mack boasts a 6'2", 205-pound frame.

"I think I'm a really big threat down the field, my size is definitely factor," Mack said. "But I think my routes are really precise as well."

Nixon agrees that his size would be meaningless if he hadn't worked so diligently on his technique.

"My biggest strengths are my speed and route running," Nixon said. "Just the ability to get open during man-on-man."

But that emphasis on the mental aspects of the game doesn't mean that both receivers aren't hoping to get a little bigger this offseason as well.

"I really want to gain some pounds, but still be able to run a 4.4 (40-yard dash)," Mack said.

For Foster, size was certainly part of Moorehead's initial interest in him (the junior tackle already towers at 6'8" and 285 pounds) but he thinks it was some changes in his stance that got offensive line coach Stacy Searels thinking about how he could fit on Tech's line going forward.

"They told me that the transition from sophomore to junior year for me was a huge deal when they were looking at me," Foster said. "At first, I just couldn't bend. I'd stand straight up. But they loved how aggressive I was last year, they said they saw my form change so much."

In his senior year, Foster plans to devote as much time as possible to developing the part of his game his squad at Carmel Catholic HS doesn't currently utilize very often.

"I really want to improve my pass protection skills, since my team just doesn't pass that much," Foster said. "I've got to find a balance, since I know it's going to be important going forward."

But while Moorehead certainly sees the potential in each one of these new offers, they're all still in the early stages of their recruitment.

Mack notes that he's also actively hearing from Stanford, Tennessee, Michigan State and Michigan, although he admits he hasn't heard from the Wolverines "since Coach Harbaugh came."

Both Nixon and Foster say they're not even narrowing things down to a select group of schools at this point, as each are still considering dozens of offers.

That means the next crucial step for Moorehead is to get these athletes to Blacksburg. All three say they've never seen Tech's campus, and now Moorehead is pushing to get them down there as soon as possible.

Foster says a visit could "still be coming down the line," while Mack notes he'd like to go "if I'm able to get down there." Nixon would have the farthest ride of the three, but he notes he "would want to take an unofficial there."

The Hokies plan to host a Junior Day on February 7, and Moorehead will undoubtedly be pushing hard to convince any one of this trio to attend.

But things are still relatively early for these prominent athletes' recruitment, and the staff will have to keep the pressure on for the next few months to make Moorehead's early efforts pay off.