Shane Beamer has more bowl wins than Mike London. Haaaaaaaaaaa

Just heard from a friend. Anyone know if it's true?

If so, it could only help us.

Extreme competition in practice, extra pressure on the starter to maintain a high level at all times, a small distraction for the team, etc..

That it's quite possible to loose to us and still go on to be National Champions.

Apparently there is a national track tournament being held in Virginia next week, and Warren (Mich.) De La Salle high three-star RB/ATH Allen Stritzinger will be attending. He is talking with the Virginia Tech coaches about trying to work out a visit to Blacksburg while he is in the area. Stritzinger does hold six early offers and is receiving attention from several more schools. A 6-foot-1, 183-pound rising junior who could project to running back, wide receiver or defensive back in college.

This morning, the Amway USA Today Coaches poll was released, with VT fourth in receiving votes, for No. 29. Ohio State at No. 1: Full Pre-season Coaches Poll

1 Ohio State (62) 14-1 1598

2 TCU (1) 12-1 1487

3 Alabama (1) 12-2 1452

4 Baylor 11-2 1365

5 Oregon 13-2 1260

6 Michigan State 11-2 1230

7 Auburn 8-5 1103

8 Florida State 13-1 1057

9 Georgia 10-3 1026

10 USC 9-4 1014

11 Notre Dame 8-5 883

12 Clemson 10-3 838

13 LSU 8-5 727

14 UCLA 10-3 697

15 Ole Miss 9-4 668

16 Arizona State 10-3 577

17 Georgia Tech 11-3 573

18 Wisconsin 11-3 470

19 Oklahoma 8-5 407

20 Arkansas 7-6 377

21 Stanford 8-5 365

22 Arizona 10-4 299

23 Missouri 11-3 229

24 Boise State 12-2 190

25 Tennessee 7-6 166

Others Receiving Votes
Mississippi State 164; Texas A&M 149; Oklahoma State 89; Virginia Tech 70; Utah 40; Kansas State 37; Louisville 27; Nebraska 27; Minnesota 25; Penn State 20; South Carolina 18; Miami (Fla.) 16; Texas 8; Illinois 7; Duke 6; Air Force 5; Louisiana Tech 5; Marshall 4; Utah State 4; West Virginia 3; North Carolina State 3; Brigham Young 3; Florida 2; Georgia Southern 2; North Carolina 2; Maryland 1; Michigan 1; Kentucky 1; Central Florida 1; Cincinnati 1; Washington 1.

HUGE piece of news for the Hokies, as Joey Bosa, Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Corey Smith all suspended by Ohio State for "violating Department of Athletic policies." Bosa might be the top pick in the draft next year. Thoughts?

Full story via BuckeyeGrove.com: http://rvls.co/1DSvjyk

Guys, just a quick heads up, for those of you with SiriusXM, I'll be on College Sports Nation, Sirius channel 91 at 5:30 pm ET to talk a bit about the Hokies.

Any feelings on where he is leaning? Hopefully we can lock him up also!

Looks like Bosa and three others won't be playing against us!!

Guys, we'll be at our regular time of 12:30 pm ET tomorrow for this week's chat. This is also in part because I'll be helping my media partners at WSLS-NBC cover the commitment ceremony of three-star safety Traveon Redd tomorrow in Martinsville.

Lots going on in the past week with the Hokies, including three big commitments and more decisions on the way. Get answers to all the questions you've been dying to ask! Come take advantage of and get the very most out of your subscriptions and chat with us! And if you can't ,make the chat, you can always replay it, ask a question here on The Gobbler or email me directly.

Chat link Here: http://bit.ly/1OQW4d1

****NOTE: I'm planning on next week's chat being at 3 pm but it depends on VT's availability next week. Next Friday is the first day of fall camp and the team has yet to announce the practice dates. So it will depend on that.

Guys, my story.video I did with 2017 three-star LB Dorian Etheridge from Capital HS in Charleston, West Virginia. This was Etheridge's second visit to VT this summer. He was also there June 20, when he got offered. Last weekend he was at Tennessee, on Saturday at West Virginia.

Etheridge loves Bud Foster, but I still think West Virginia is the team to beat here. He likes VT's proximity though and will be back at VT for his next visit, the Ohio State game.

Story/video: http://rvls.co/1LYPumr

Guys, just wanted to pass along that three visitors have confirmed with us that they're visiting VT this weekend, all from Good Counsel (Md.) and in the 2017 class.. We'll be catching up with them afterward:

DE Josh Paschal, four stars, No. 220 in Rivals250, No. 8 SDE, No. 3 in MD
APB Mohamed Ibrahim, four stars, No. 228 in Rivals250, No. 8 APB, No. 4 in MD
LB Ayinde Eley, three stars, No. 25 OLB, No. 11 in MD

This is one in a string of visits for the trio. They'll also be at West Virginia tomorrow, then after VT, they'll go to Ohio State and Kentucky.

As always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

Guys, just wanted to provide a bit of an update, with the commitment of Dematha (Md.) Rivals250 WR Tino Ellis on Friday.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but barring something dramatic over the next couple of days, Ellis is about 90% set for Maryland. It wasn't a good sign that he cancelled on his visit to VT Saturday for Beamer's BBQ.

The good news is that the Hokies are the favorite for Bayside (Va.) three-star Phil Patterson, who assistant coach Zohn Burden has been crazy about and recruited hard since he was at Old Dominion. And VT is still doing its research, but the odds are very, very high on Rivals250 WR Dredrick Snelson if the Hokies want him. I'll have more coming on his visit from over the weekend, but it went really well and he has them at the top of his list.

VT wants one more receiver for sure, but it's uncertain if they want two. They're still talking that over as a staff.

As always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

Guys, this is a kid to really keep an eye on, Crest (NC) 2017 four-star LB Justin Foster, No. 43 in the Rivals100. When I talked to him Sunday after VT's camp, he said at first he didn't have much interest in the Hokies, but after visiting now three times, including for the barbecue and camp this past weekend, he now has them among three standouts, along with Clemson and Tennessee. He was adamant that I mention them as standouts, instead of a "top three," but VT is in excellent position here. And he'll be back for the Ohio State game, his next planned visit.

Full story/video: http://rvls.co/1MxOiGw

Guys, we already did our impact analysis, but here's video and analysis from Woody Wommack on what he thinks of OL Patrick Kearns and his decision to commit to VT: http://rvls.co/1LQWXm6

Guys, big weekend for South Charleston (W. Va.) 2017 Rivals250 safety Derrek Pitts. He visited West Virginia Saturday, then was at VT on Sunday. He told me at the camp that he liked how VT was a lot closer to home than Morgantown and also talked a lot with assistant coach Torrian Gray. Pitts was also out in the middle of the field most of the day, talking to coaches, players and looked to be having a great time.

It's still really early, but right now, this looks like a battle between Auburn, VT and West Virginia. Auburn was the very first school to offer him and you can tell that means a lot to him. Big thing, though, is that Pitts will be back at VT Sept. 7 for the Ohio State game.

Story/video: http://rvls.co/1SLgIMe

Oldsmar Christian (FL) 2016 SG Eric Hester will take an official visit to Florida on September 4th. He also took an unofficial visit to UF the first week in June with his grandfather. Right now I'd consider Florida the school to beat for Hester's signature.

I do, however, expect Hester to take one or two other official visits. Most likely candidates for other officials are Virginia Tech, Indiana, Missouri and maybe Oregon.

Guys, I mentioned it in our INsider thread, but I spoke to three-star WR Phil Patterson yesterday after camp. Here's that full story and video: http://rvls.co/1MvMe1U

Again, it sounds like VT is the clear leader at this point. Great timing to get the final visit before he announces Saturday. This was his first time in Blacksburg, but he stayed for the barbecue on Saturday and the camp yesterday. This has been a kid assistant coach Zohn Burden fell in love with and recruited hard when he was at Old Dominion and has made him a priority since he got to VT.

If you'll notice at the end of this video, Patterson lets slip, "come here...come wherever and start" when I asked him what will go into his decision. Just something to keep in mind.

Braxton has decided to play wide receiver this year now it's down to jones and Barrett makes buds job a little easier.

Welcome to the Hokie Nation!

A big, fast kid with yards after the catch: Login to view embedded media

Any news about his future with Virginia Tech? I sure hope he can get things worked out.

WR Divine Deablo has committed to VT.

Story here: http://rvls.co/1ghJRCX

Login to view embedded media

Adam Friedman breaks down the commitment of Beckett over the weekend and what it means to VT: http://rvls.co/1ewsCfd

What's anyone else's feeling on Beckett?

First off, our disclaimer:
As always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.

Guys, I'm sure you're all aware of Beamer's BBQ on Saturday, when a few dozen top targets will be at VT. I've got a huge piece of info on one of the visitors.

Darlington (Ga.) two-star OL Patrick Kearns has been a bit target for a while now. He'll be visiting on Saturday. But one thing to look for is a possible commitment.

After conferring with our friends at our Georgia Tech site, JacketsOnline.com, I'd put the probability of Kearns committing to VT at about 90 percent. And with him visiting on Saturday, the chances of him committing are very high.

Of course, we'll be following this every step of the way, with complete coverage. But wanted you all to be aware of what's going on.