The transition from legendary head coach Frank Beamer has gone about as smoothly as Virginia Tech could have hoped. From a recruiting standpoint, the transition was pretty smooth as well.

New Virginia Tech football coach Justin Fuente sold his vision, keeping most of the class intact and adding a few new players of his own. There were some players Virginia Tech would have liked to keep but couldn’t, including Troy Pride Jr. (Notre Dame) and Myles Wolfolk (UNC). Pride was rumored to be a Notre Dame lean since the fall and Wolfolk flipped from Tech to UNC the day Fuente was announced as Tech head coach. Punter Marshall Long pledged to Fuente but de-committed soon after in favor of Georgia. Victor Greene (Coastal Carolina) de-committed because he felt his scholarship would be pulled.

So there were some losses, but Coach Fuente was able to bring one prospect back into the fold. Virginia Beach native Phillip Patterson de-committed following Beamer’s retirement but was swayed back. And, as mentioned, Coach Fuente brought in some new players of his own – junior college quarterback Jerod Evans and junior college offensive lineman Demetri Moore, who enrolled mid-year, as well as offensive lineman T.J. Jackson, offensive lineman Silas Dzansi, defensive tackle Jarrod Hewitt, linebacker Eron Carter and defensive back Tyree Rodgers (a former ODU commit).

The Hokies were in position to close out the class with a home run, almost “flipping” UNC recruits Tomon Fox and Dominique Ross and Minnesota cornerback commit Coney Durr, and almost landing Florida defensive end JaQuan Bailey and Alabama athlete Tyrrell Pigrome. Fox, Ross and Durr stayed with their original commitments, while Bailey surprised many by picking Iowa State and Pigrome chose Maryland.

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