The Hokie Hotline (football and basketball season)
When: Every Monday from 7:00-9:00 during football season, 7:00-8:00 during basketball season.
Where: Click here for a list of radio stations, and to find the link for listening to the show on the Internet (look to the right on the hokiesports.com page that loads when you click the link). You can also watch the archive on hokietv.com.
Jim Cavanaugh
- This is a very good recruiting class. They will find out exactly how good
in about three or four years. It’s a good recruiting class because the
Hokies filled their needs. - Tyrod Taylor is a quarterback. He’s been mislabeled as an athlete playing
quarterback. He’s actually a great quarterback who happens to be able to
run. - Tech signed 13 players from the state of Virginia. It was just a strange
year in 2006, when they signed just six. Part of the problem last year is
that the state had a lot of receivers in the top 10 who were more interested
in how many catches they were going to get than how many wins Virginia Tech
was going to get. - Some of those receivers left the state for the wrong reason, in Cavanaugh’s
opinion. One of them went to a certain school in the Midwest, and he’s
already been switched to a different position. (Editor’s Note: Cavanaugh was
most likely referring to Branden Caleb, who went to Oklahoma.) - Recruits from Virginia don’t have to leave the state to play for a top
football program now. Unfortunately, some kids still don’t see it that way. - Tyrod Taylor is a heck of a player. He has a knack of making good
decisions. He can make any throw on the field. Coach Cav recruited Tyrod
earlier, and Curt Newsome recruited him after he was hired by Tech. He’s a
good kid, he gets good grades and he’s also a very good basketball player. - Taylor is a little taller than Bryan Randall and the Vicks. He is a very
polished player at this stage. - Cris Hill can run. He’s a good player and he has good height (listed at
5-11). He is very polished. He was on the Richmond All-Metro Team for
offense and defense. He is going to play cornerback for Tech. He does
everything well. - Davon Morgan is a free safety. He is a very outgoing person. He is the
type of guy that loves to practice. He’s in great physical condition. He has
great ball skills. 
Blake
DeChristopher is every bit of 6-6, 310. He’s a very good student and has
excellent athleticism. He went to a camp last summer and impressed, and his
offer list went up by eight schools in a matter of 24 hours. He’ll play
offensive tackle.- William Alvarez is a very good player. He’ll probably play tackle for
Tech. A.B. Latif and Jaymes Brooks will play guard. It’s a very nice,
symmetric offensive line recruiting class. - Latif in particular is a very physical player. He just pile drives
defenders. He is a very good recruit for Tech. Some of these guys could
possibly help Tech this year, because Tech’s offensive line depth is so
thin. - It’s important for Tech to get recruits to campus for games. You don’t
realize what a great atmosphere Lane Stadium is until you see it in person.
That gives the Hokies a big edge on the field and in recruiting. - Josh Oglesby is in a good position because he enrolled in January. He is
working out with Mike Gentry, and he’ll go through spring practice. His
father was a very good player at UNC. He comes from great stock. - Darren Evans put up tremendous numbers during his high school career. He
was the focal point of his team. Charley Wiles and Bud Foster know Evans’
high school coach. When you recruit a player from Indiana to Virginia Tech,
you have to have some kind of a connection. - D.J. Thomas could play tailback as well. He’s going to be playing at Fork
Union next year and enrolling at Tech in 2008. - Hunter Ovens is very good. He’s a SuperPrep All-American. His football
abilities are overlooked by his baseball skills. He might have a decision to
make later this spring. - Quillie Odom and Barquell Rivers are two other linebackers that can really
play football. They give the Hokies a good nucleus of inside linebacker
types heading into the future. - Danny Coale is a very fast receiver. He has a lot of long touchdown plays
on his highlight film. - Patrick Terry, another wide receiver recruit, has the fastest 55 meter
time in the state of Virginia this year. Kendrick Pressley will also play
wide receiver. That gives the Hokies three very fast and athletic players at
wideout. - Tech signed four tight ends because of their athleticism. They are big and
good athletes. They can play a number of different positions. Duane Brown is
a former tight end recruit that comes to mind. - Kevin Sherman got some very good defensive line prospects from the state
of Maryland. Justin Young and Courtney Prince are very good looking players.
Kwamaine Battle, from North Carolina, was recruited by Charley Wiles. - Alonzo Tweedy was recruited to play whip. Generally the Hokies just move
players from other positions to whip, such as James Anderson. They actually
recruited Tweedy to play whip. He has good speed and a good frame. He’ll
have to put on a little weight. - Some rating systems are totally insane. They are there to make money off
fans. It’s that simple. - The coaching staff prefers to use the spring game or a spring scrimmage as
big recruiting tools, rather than a Junior Day. Most of these recruits and
their families travel from Northern Virginia, Richmond and the Tidewater,
and when they travel all the way to Blacksburg, it needs to be for a big
event. - Bud Tribbey was a good looking defensive tackle prospect. He and Davon
Morgan were very productive for Varina. He really liked the Communications
Department at Syracuse. Originally Tech talked to him about enrolling in
January, and that didn’t sit too well with him. But that’s how the numbers
were playing out at the time. - Besides D.J. Thomas, there are several other recruits that have a little
work to do academically. Cavanaugh can’t comment on the recruits, but they
all have a chance to qualify. - Cavanaugh said he still enjoys the recruiting process quite a bit.
Monday was Day 807 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.
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