Bryan Stinespring
Stinespring thought Signing Day went very well, including the two hour online special. It was a live broadcast, and everything went smoothly. It went very well, especially for the first time. They got great feedback from recruits and coaches.
Stinespring considers this a very versatile class. There are guys who could play multiple positions, depending on need and how they grow. When you have versatility in your recruiting class, that says a lot.
You can only have 85 guys on scholarship, so the Hokies couldn’t sign a very big class this year, but they are happy with who they signed. They will also bring in preferred walk-ons, though Stinespring isn’t sure how many at this time.
A few 2013 signees have a little work to do to qualify, but they feel good about their chances to get everyone qualified for regular enrollment.
Scot Loeffler will recruit western Pennsylvania for VT. He has recruited that area before, when he was coaching at Michigan. There will be renewed emphasis there for Tech. Jeff Grimes will recruit eastern Pennsylvania, and that state will become a major effort for Virginia Tech. With Pitt coming into the ACC, Pennsylvania is a more ideal recruiting location.
Tech will let Loeffler and Grimes recruit their own position players as well. That’s what Grimes has done in the past, so the Hokies will incorporate that into their own recruiting strategy.
Anthony Shegog looks the part. He has a lot of range. He can be a Kam Chancellor type. He’s an intimidating player who brings some pop when he makes a tackle. The coaches are very excited about him. Overall this is a very good defensive back class.
Over the course of time, Tech has been able to keep man of the best players in the state of Virginia. In-state recruiting is imperative. A few highly ranked guys went out-of-state this year, and that happens from time to time.
Stinespring really likes this class of offensive linemen. There was an emphasis on getting good linemen this year, and that will continue in next year’s class. Tech will sign at least three offensive linemen next year, and four if they can.
Jonathan McLaughlin and Parker Osterloh are already enrolled, and that will help their physical development.
The in-state 2014 class is loaded. Stinespring doesn’t know if it’s the best ever or not, but it’s certainly a very strong class. It will be a battle, because many other major programs will be coming into Virginia to try and get players. But that’s no different than any other year. The SEC has and other leagues have been recruiting Virginia for a long time.
Virginia Tech will have a second Junior Day this year, rather than just having one. One Junior Day is in conjunction with a spring practice. It’s another opportunity to get recruits on campus. Obviously the Spring Game will be huge as well. It will be an emphasis to try and get everybody on campus for that event. Other things are in the works as well.
Virginia Tech does a great job of selling itself. It’s well-respected. If you are wearing VT clothing, you always get “Go Hokies” from somebody, whether you are in an airport, another city, etc. If you build a good relationship, and you have good communication, then Virginia Tech will sell itself.
Stinespring thinks Tech can sign between 15 and 17 players next year, though that could change. They hope to sign 3-4 offensive linemen, and a quarterback of course.
There is a lot of red tape you have to go through to get cleared through the NCAA Clearinghouse. How the Clearinghouse views things might be a little different than VT, or any other school, views things. If there is any disparity, the Clearinghouse has the final say. It can be a confusing process.
James Johnson
Erick Green is doing ok. He practiced on Monday. He will play against UVA on Tuesday.
It’s going to take a great effort to beat UVA. They have to have some help for Erick Green. Tech needs a good game from Cadarian Raines, but UVA traps the post and will make VT beat them from the outside. Guys will have to step up and make outside jumpers.
The Hokies will also have to defend. UVA is playing very well offensively right now. They have a number of guys who can score.
Note that there has been some disparity over exactly how many days Virginia Tech has owned the Commonwealth Cup. Using this site, and clicking on “include final date in calculation” tells us that Monday was day 2,999 in Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup. That means that today is day 3,000 in Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup! Happy Anniversary!
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Stiny is right about getting a Go HOKIES. Here in the UK I know a ‘bama grad that I sometimes see at the pub. I always get a GO HOKIES from him and of course I respond with a Roll TIDE. We may hate each other but we respect each other.
GO HOKIES BEAT ‘bama!!!
plus with Penn St.’s troubles, it’ll be an oppty to snag some of those guys who’d go there initially…
So our recruiting line is moving north rather than south as some speculated. Interesing move into PA.
I guess we feel it is better to go head to head with Michigan, Penn State, and the Big Ten (Ohio State seems to be recruiting everywhere) than go toe to toe with SEC and FL State/Clemson
There was an article on TSL not too long ago analyzing Tech’s misses with recruits (OL men in particular) down south when going head-to-head with SEC schools. Conversely, we’ve snagged quite a big of OL men up north due to our Big East days I think. In any case, I’m ok with the move.
It does raise a few concerns for me that VT hired 2 former SEC coaches (Auburn I believe) and is not planning on ultizing any of their connections. Realistically I am not expecting VT to compete against the SEC schools for the blue chips from those states. However, I would think VT could easily compete against So. Miss, ECU, UCF, USF, and Troy who often times end up signing 2-star or 3-star recruits (which Beamer seems to prefer). Am I missing something here?
Yes. Chances they developed strong relationships are slim. They were at Auburn for 1 yr only. Plus PA isn’t their only area of focus.
I’ve seen in the past that we tend to do better getting northerners to come down to the south than getting southerners to come north.