ADVERTISEMENT

Tunnel Talk: Feb. 15, 2021

Welcome to Tunnel Talk, with the latest on Hokie recruiting!

Khalib Johnson

As I started working on this piece last night, I was working around a little piece of scoop from a source that Pinson (Ala.) Clay-Chalkville quarterback Khalib Johnson is in limbo for a number of his suitors (or, at least, the ones that matter).

Login to view embedded media
While Johnson's finalists were nominally Kansas, Louisville, USF, and Virginia Tech, he really intended to end up a Cardinal or Hokie. When VT ramped up interest on (and landed a commitment from) Devin Farrell, it indicated a bit of declining interest in Johnson, a similar type of quarterback. Although the staff intends to take two passers in this class, a little bit more variety in their styles of play - or at least size, with the generously-listed 6-0 Farrell in the fold - makes sense. So what happened last night? We learned that Louisville wants Johnson to continue focusing on academics for the time being. For that reason, the Cards weren't ready to accept a commitment this weekend.

Like clockwork:

Login to view embedded media
In the long run, it'll likely mean more options for Johnson (as long as he shows that any concerns about his academics are unfounded). It may even increase the likelihood that he's a priority for Virginia Tech when it comes time to make his choice further down the road. But for now, because he's not an option for his top choices, he's not planning to make his choice Saturday.

In-state momentum?

It's been a regular drum we've beaten: the Hokies don't necessarily need to dominate their own state, but they need to make the decision to focus elsewhere worth their while. Well, the risk is that if you don't dominate your state and don't make it worth your while elsewhere, you've robbed Peter to... also not pay Paul. That's what we've seen in the 2018-21 recruiting classes. It's easier to get top players from close to home than it is to get them from far away (it's easy to get a player of similar caliber - no matter what that caliber is - from closer to home, the issue for VT is just that there are fewer of them close to home, which explains why it can still be a smart decision to go to Georgia or Texas or wherever else).

So, we've seen success in Florida and Georgia in making up for poor recruiting closer to home. We've seen tons of resources and limited returns from those resources in Texas. That's a mixed bag.

The highest upside remains a steady level of performance closer to home, and augmenting with top-notch talent (or the solid players VT is already getting) from out-of-region. That balancing act has been a tough one. The missing on players close to home has made it untenable long-term. Landing the McDonald twins or DJ Sims is nice - but let's not pretend like they were the staff's first-choice players, whether in-state or anywhere. They help bridge a gap, yes, but it's not the type of recruiting return that the Hokies are looking for.

There's reason to believe - as I've said in previous Tunnel Talks - that the staff is starting to build some momentum in key areas (namely Richmond and the Tidewater). DC is still a struggle, but landing a number of 2021 preferred walk-ons from the area helps re-build those relationships. Even if the players end up leaving the game by the time they arrive on campus, the relationships built by recruiting them, showing love to the right regions, etc. help. Look at CJ Scott, whose dad Chris is the head coach at Oscar Smith after leaving Bishop Sullivan Catholic: he never played a down for the Hokies and isn't with the football program anymore, but having him involved for a year can only benefit the Orange and Maroon in the 757 area.

It will still be a bit of a slog in getting back to where VT wants to be - and ultimately, kids want to see (and don't currently see) that they can compete for titles if they stay in-state - but the groundwork is being laid. The first major commitment from the Commonwealth in the 2022 class could be the bellwether that indicates the efforts will pay off. Following through on the field will help truly get things moving if and when it happens.

Braelin Moore

Moving out of state, you can look to a few obvious options if you're trying to predict the next Hokie commitment. One potential player is Bethlehem (Pa.) Freedom offensive lineman Braelin Moore.

Login to view embedded media
The 6-3, 290-pounder is the younger brother of VT redshirt freshman Kaden, and the staff has prioritized him to a solid extent early on. Some of that may be the ol' "let's get this ball rolling with some commitments" sort of thinking (which is fine at this point in a recruiting cycle that should see commitments well into the 20s - the 2021 class may have been better off pushing for some early commitments as well, rather than betting on a strong season (we know how that turned out) to open some doors). Either way, the staff has hosted Moore on virtual visits, which obviously augment his previous opportunities to see VT in the flesh thanks to his brother's process, too.

I wouldn't say he's right on the cusp of committing just yet, but if you're looking for an early one, you'd be wise to keep an eye on him.

Bonus section

Speaking of early commitments, the wave of offers among Farrell's teammates at Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton might be a good place to look. The Hokies are the only Power-5 offer for most of them, and for OL Gilles Tchio, the only offer at all. Better yet: players, coaches, and trainers in Atlanta are a little more understanding of the broader recruiting game, and aren't going to hold grudges nearly as much if VT were to take a commitment now and then taper of interest down the road (leading to a decommitment), so the risks of landing those players early wouldn't be as great if the Hokies end up being able to aim higher. \

These commitments likely wouldn't happen without a visit to Blacksburg, but with Farrell in VT's corner, they're all strong possibilities to drop.

As always, thanks for visiting HokieHaven.com. Feel free to use this thread for discussion of the topics herein.
  • Like
Reactions: cwimbi

New PWO commitment

An in-state OL:

Login to view embedded media
Getting preferred walk-ons from the state definitely helps build some goodwill among coaches (both high school coaches and trainers) and can help improve the longer-term results when it comes to contested recruitments, too. It's a little step, but can be an important one when you're trying to get back to a status that you probably should have. Of course, you may also find some contributors from the PWO ranks, as well. On that note, here's Smedley's film:

Login to view embedded media

Tunnel Talk: Feb. 10, 2021

Welcome to Tunnel Talk, with the latest on Hokie recruiting.

Recruiting philosophy

It's been interesting to see the offers go out in the past several days: late last week, it was a ton of new quarterback talent on the board. Early this week, it's been defensive linemen (with a slight emphasis on DTs). OL may be up next. That's pretty different from the past, semi-scattershot, approach to issuing new offers. It indicates a bit more of a cohesive gameplan to the process than we'd previously seen. That's not to say it's a guaranteed upgrade in the perceptions among players - you could make an argument that seeing a bunch of other players at your position would diminish how special you feel for receiving the offer - but the upgrades in process might be worth any (extremely minor) downsides there.

This is largely an effect of the reorganization of responsibilities in the staff, with Adam Lechtenberg gaining an Offensive Recruiting Coordinator title, and JC Price coming in as a Defensive Recruiting Coordinator in addition to his positional coaching assignment. With a coaching staffer overseeing the effort on either side of the ball, there's more cohesiveness to the effort to each, and that's a good thing. More than anything else, that's what's been lacking and has led to diminishing returns on the recruiting trail in recent classes. Having one "final say" guy to determine the order of the board, give contact schedules to non-coaching staffers (and assistants), and make sure things are running as they should... it's a step in the right direction.

In that regard, I wouldn't read any departures from the non-coaching staffers as an indication of performance-related dismissals. Certainly, the program's desire to keep personnel around when the overall role within the program's hierarchy has been low-performing... well, they weren't itching to give guys raises and keep them around. Sort of similarly to how not all roster attrition is bad attrition (even if a departing player had some usefulness left to give), not all staff attrition is bad, even if there was more juice to squeeze out of the orange, so to speak.

Hokies trending for Curlee Thomas

The Hokies' coaching staff is hosting virtual visits with some of the top prospects on the recruiting board.

One of those is Texas DE Curlee Thomas. VT made his list of finalists (albeit a massive one) a couple weeks ago, and he regularly mentions that the Hokies are among the programs showing the most interest in him - and that the feeling is mutual. His virtual tour and meeting last night with a couple non-coaching staffers and defensive line coach Bill Teerlinck went extremely well. There's still plenty of time to go for a kid who's only narrowed to 18 schools. But at this point, VT is major stock-up for him.

Login to view embedded media
Of course, we've seen this before, and the level of attention the Hokies give trails off (or remains steady while other programs ramp things up on their interest as they get more serious) over time. A recruitment like Thomas's will be a test of the above section of this story, to say the very least. The whims of the staff's preference needs to be more consistent - one could argue that some of the spotty attention for top recruits in recent classes has been changing their mind constantly about who's atop the board - and the level of 'cruitin going on needs to follow a bit of a flowchart from top to bottom. If Thomas starts talking in a month about how he's hearing from the Purdues or Texas Techs of the world way more than VT, that sense of unease will seep back in.

Khalib Johnson

The Hokies are a finalist for Pinson (Ala.) Valley 2022 quarterback Khalib Johnson, who will announce a college commitment next weekend. Louisville is the smart bet here, but there's also something to be said for the Hokies' rise here (Kansas and USF are the other finalists, but are not expected to be in the picture). As noted above, the VT staff sent out a ton of QB offers last week, and they paused those mostly because they'd identified everyone they wanted to offer in that wave. However, it's also smart to wait on a guy to make an announcement when you're a finalist, if for no other reason than to project confidence, but also because you feel you have a decent shot with him.

Login to view embedded media
And the Hokies do indeed feel they have a solid shot with Johnson, even if they had to play catch-up to the Cardinals when they hopped into the mix. I do think it's likely that Louisville is the choice - the timing of the matter has made it very tough for VT to have enough runway to make up that ground - but even if the Hokies don't get him, this may not be a recruitment that's completely over. VT wants to be a bigger factor in Alabama for players who may not get that Bama or Auburn offer, but are still capable of playing at a high level in the ACC. Keeping up the heat on a guy in hopes of flipping him might be a wise choice there.

The staff's behavior after Johnson commits (assuming it's not to VT) will go a long way toward indicating exactly where they see this 2022 QB class playing out. Is it keeping heat on Johnson? Focusing on other offered prospects? Or once again widening the net?

As always, thanks for visiting HokieHaven.com. Feel free to use this thread for discussions of the topics herein.
ADVERTISEMENT

Filter

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT