This is a big week for Virginia Tech, and it begins today. It’s time to pause and try to get you all caught up on what’s going on in the football program right now.
Right now, we’re waiting on three things…
1: The official hiring of Virginia Tech’s new offensive coaches.
2: The impending announcement of Logan Thomas
3: Qualification status of incoming recruits.
We’re all hoping that Virginia Tech bats 1.000 this week in terms of good news in the football program. In fact, the Hokies already got good news this morning.
Qualification Status of Incoming Recruits
Fork Union offensive tackle Jonathan McLaughlin announced via Twitter just moments ago that he made it through the NCAA Clearinghouse, and he is all set to enroll at Virginia Tech next week. The 6-4, 288 offensive tackle is originally from Mauldin, SC. He’ll get a jump-start on his college career by going through spring practice before his true freshman season, and it sounds as if he’ll be working with a new offensive line coach as well.
Tech is still awaiting the NCAA Clearinghouse ruling on Fork Union tailback Drew Harris. The 4-star recruit from Pennsylvania originally signed with Virginia Tech in 2012, but played for a semester at Fork Union to get his grades up.
Roger Gonzales of The News Virginian in Waynesboro spoke with Fork Union head coach John Shuman earlier today, and Shuman said this regarding Harris’ eligibility: “I think everything is looking good.”
If that report is true, then that will give the Hokies a big 215-lbs running back to add to the mix this season. We plan to take a closer look at Tech’s 2013 running backs in a TSL Pass article very soon, following the official hiring of the new offensive coaches.
Logan’s Decision
Logan Thomas is expected to announce his NFL decision this afternoon via press release at approximately 4pm. The rising r-senior has already graduated from Virginia Tech, and he submitted his paperwork to the NFL to get a better idea of where he would be selected should he choose to enter the 2013 Draft.
Information on where Thomas was projected to go in the NFL Draft has not been released, but few if any mock drafts had him going in the first three rounds. It’s a nearly unanimous opinion that it would be in his best interests to stay in college for another season.
Virginia Tech is reportedly close to hiring Scot Loeffler as their next quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, and he has coached a number of NFL quarterbacks in the past, including Tim Tebow, Chad Henne, John Navarre and Tom Brady.
Coaching Announcements Coming Soon
It seems nearly certain that Virginia Tech will hire Scot Loeffler as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, as well as Jeff Grimes as offensive line coach. It has been reported that Aaron Moorehead, an assistant coach at Stanford, could be hired as wide receivers coach as well.
Remember that this is a process. The contracts have to be drawn up, and the background checks have to be performed. It generally takes 2-3 days for that process to take place, so I would expect an official announcement to come from Virginia Tech later in the week, assuming everything checks out correctly.
Clearly there is going to be a lot to talk about in the next few days, though we aren’t going to closely break down the new coaches until they are officially hired. Here are a few things you can expect in TSL Pass articles in the next week…
1: A closer look at the 2013 Tech running game, with or without Drew Harris.
2: How Logan’s decision will affect Virginia Tech.
3: Multiple pieces from the TSL Staff on the coaching staff changes.
These are exciting times for Tech fans, and we would like to take this time to encourage you to try TSL Pass for a month. It’s only $5.49 (or, $54.99 for a year, if you choose the annual option), and this week is just an example of the coverage we provide all year round.
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TSL makes Hokie sports a lot more interesting. I can’t imagine going through the seasons without the in-depth analyses that TSL provides. What a bargain!
The coverage here really is outstanding- Raleigh Hokie’s game breakdowns alone are worth the cover charge. Great job!
With all the talk of the new coaching hires – I wonder when the resignation, termination, etc of the existing coaches will be announced ?? I am sure the athletic dept. does not want to pay for two each co-ordinators/assistants !!!
Really glad I renewed mine !! Great job Chris!!!
Love TSL, and eagerly await new articles. I receive my subscription each year from my brother as my birthday gift. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving!
GREAT VALUE – I don’t understand why any Hokie doesn’t subscribe. Especially those
of us who live outside of Virginia. I couldn’t live without.
Totally agree. This is THE source for those of us who follow the Hokies from well outside the local media market.
Best return on the dollar that I’ve ever spent. I think.
So far 2013 has started to shape up as a good year. Now after signing Day and these New Coaches start to Show why they were hired, I believe we see things Really Shaping up. IMHO, I think Gentry will be glad to see a OL coach that wants his lineman to be a little more serious at the weights and a meaner attitude towards playing. I see were LT is coming back, so our OC/QB coach can get him back to were he was in 2011…thanks for the up-dates/report.
We just hope that all the changes will work, but I really hope we don’t have to wait a couple years to get results. JUST GET THE OFFENSE GOING.
Thanks for the info fellows
You guys will do anything to increase the
Hits on your ads and memberships
Not bad and I didn’t even mention national signing day!
Haha, good point!
I’ve said before, I feel like the two vultures perched on a dead tree limb. One says to the other, “I’m tired of waiting around for something to die. I want to go out and kill something.”
Had that poster in my dorm room freshman yr.
I hope to see a surge in subscriptions as these are the most news worthy of times in a while. As I look at the 2013 schedule the news over the next days and months will detirmine whether we are closer to 6-6 or 9-3 in 2013