I'm going to disagry w/ a few of the guys below. The "big boys" haven't just discovered tidewater. They've been there all along. In fact, I'd argue that Penn St's heyday was in part due to VA kidsway before we ever hired Beamer.

And, I do think the talent is subject to a bit of a sine wave; it's up and down. But unless something has happened to the gene pool down there (and it hasn't), the talent is still there. Lots of pro athletes from that area, and not just in football. The HS football programs rise and fall with a variety of coaches coming into their own as others age and retire or move on. The kids don't. As an SMSA, "tidewater" is actually a pretty dang big area. 7 on 7 type stuff; AAU; etc have had an impact on the recruiting game.

I don't think we can dominate the area..and never really did as much as people thought (because UVA was still getting their share down there, as was FSU, UF, AL, PSU etc)..but still contend that if (big if) IF we could dominate tidewater and VA in general, we'd move up the ladder pretty notably.

A lot of talent leaves; but hey- a lot of talent leaves Florida and California, too.

I think there's still talent down there. Absolutely. But a Percy Harvin, Bruce Smith or Mike Vick isn't going to happen in every HS graduating class-year down there.


[Post edited by Riverguy at 06/19/2019 1:48PM]