Welcome to Tunnel Talk, with the latest in the world of Virginia Tech football recruiting.
Kelvin Gilliam
We've made no secret of the fact that Highland Springs (Va.) 2021 defensive lineman Kelvin Gilliam is not realistically going to choose the Hokies when he makes his pledge this weekend. VT made up ground after being completely out of his recruitment for a long stretch, but there was both not enough and somehow too much time to close the gap. The team ran out of runway, and didn't have the urgency quickly enough (especially with the coaching transition this offseason, which introduced position recruiters that have a much better vibe with him, but needed to get their feet under them early on).
The Hokies don't even get a passing mention in what amounts to a commitment preview from our Oklahoma site, and he's widely expected to choose to become a Sooner come Saturday.
There's no need to beat a dead horse here, but even with the improvements the Hokies have made recruiting home turf, they simply have to be more of a factor in some of the state's power programs, and the inability to do that is most stark at Highland Springs. Not only is it perhaps the top talent-producer in the state in recent years, but the Springs are coached by former Hokie Loren Johnson, as well.
A recent initiative to get former lettermen more involved in the program is obviously not directly related to that situation (it's long overdue anyway), but can only help there. Either way, it looks like there's still plenty of help needed in the medium-term.
Collin Sadler
I shared a story yesterday about an upcoming trimmed list for 2022 offensive lineman Collin Sadler. The Rivals250 tackle has more than two dozen offers, and wants to trim to a more manageable group.
Home-state Clemson - under an hour away from his home - is the overwhelming favorite, and he's widely expected to end up a Tiger.
However, Virginia Tech's interest in these recruitments (slightly depressing though it may be) has to be just as much about staying on a top prospect's list until the end for PR purposes and projecting the image of a big-time program to other recruits as anything else, at times. It does sound like the Hokies expect to be on Sadler's trimmed list, which is a positive. It should also be the bare minimum for a program with VT's history, especially when the staff got the first offer on the table, and he's visited Blacksburg on multiple occasions (something you couldn't say about any program other then Clemson).
If that baby step forward does indeed come to fruition, and VT stays alive for Sadler, it sends a message to other four-star prospects that it's a program players with their rankings should be interested in. It also gives the Hokies an outside shot to make the swipe if they prove on the field they they're trending back toward national power status.
If they don't make the list... well, the incremental improvements being made on the administrative and management side of the recruiting process (in organizing a board and contact with players) may take a bit more time to really jell. But it needs to happen faster.
Cameron Ball
Staying on the offensive line but switching back to the 2021 class, I'm hearing that Georgia three-star Cameron Ball is likely to make his college commitment this weekend, but I don't think Virginia Tech will have a hat on the table (perhaps in a less literal sense of the phrase, with press conference-style announcements obviously uncommon nowadays), much less be the destination.
He's a taler kid, but a pure interior prospect. More importantly, he hasn't been a hotly-pursued prospect for the staff... basically ever. Ball was more a "fire-and-forget" type of offer that this staff sends out to see if they can get some serious traction. When he wasn't immediately very interested, they sort of moved along.
Your mileage may vary as to whether the philosophy of sending out a ton of those offers is wise (I don't really have a problem with it, though I do think there are more effective broad strategies for a program in VT's position in the recruiting world). In this case, it got the Hokies into a top 12, but Georgia Tech is the hometown school and heavy favorite.
Kelvin Gilliam
We've made no secret of the fact that Highland Springs (Va.) 2021 defensive lineman Kelvin Gilliam is not realistically going to choose the Hokies when he makes his pledge this weekend. VT made up ground after being completely out of his recruitment for a long stretch, but there was both not enough and somehow too much time to close the gap. The team ran out of runway, and didn't have the urgency quickly enough (especially with the coaching transition this offseason, which introduced position recruiters that have a much better vibe with him, but needed to get their feet under them early on).
The Hokies don't even get a passing mention in what amounts to a commitment preview from our Oklahoma site, and he's widely expected to choose to become a Sooner come Saturday.
There's no need to beat a dead horse here, but even with the improvements the Hokies have made recruiting home turf, they simply have to be more of a factor in some of the state's power programs, and the inability to do that is most stark at Highland Springs. Not only is it perhaps the top talent-producer in the state in recent years, but the Springs are coached by former Hokie Loren Johnson, as well.
A recent initiative to get former lettermen more involved in the program is obviously not directly related to that situation (it's long overdue anyway), but can only help there. Either way, it looks like there's still plenty of help needed in the medium-term.
Collin Sadler
I shared a story yesterday about an upcoming trimmed list for 2022 offensive lineman Collin Sadler. The Rivals250 tackle has more than two dozen offers, and wants to trim to a more manageable group.
Home-state Clemson - under an hour away from his home - is the overwhelming favorite, and he's widely expected to end up a Tiger.
However, Virginia Tech's interest in these recruitments (slightly depressing though it may be) has to be just as much about staying on a top prospect's list until the end for PR purposes and projecting the image of a big-time program to other recruits as anything else, at times. It does sound like the Hokies expect to be on Sadler's trimmed list, which is a positive. It should also be the bare minimum for a program with VT's history, especially when the staff got the first offer on the table, and he's visited Blacksburg on multiple occasions (something you couldn't say about any program other then Clemson).
If that baby step forward does indeed come to fruition, and VT stays alive for Sadler, it sends a message to other four-star prospects that it's a program players with their rankings should be interested in. It also gives the Hokies an outside shot to make the swipe if they prove on the field they they're trending back toward national power status.
If they don't make the list... well, the incremental improvements being made on the administrative and management side of the recruiting process (in organizing a board and contact with players) may take a bit more time to really jell. But it needs to happen faster.
Cameron Ball
Staying on the offensive line but switching back to the 2021 class, I'm hearing that Georgia three-star Cameron Ball is likely to make his college commitment this weekend, but I don't think Virginia Tech will have a hat on the table (perhaps in a less literal sense of the phrase, with press conference-style announcements obviously uncommon nowadays), much less be the destination.
He's a taler kid, but a pure interior prospect. More importantly, he hasn't been a hotly-pursued prospect for the staff... basically ever. Ball was more a "fire-and-forget" type of offer that this staff sends out to see if they can get some serious traction. When he wasn't immediately very interested, they sort of moved along.
Your mileage may vary as to whether the philosophy of sending out a ton of those offers is wise (I don't really have a problem with it, though I do think there are more effective broad strategies for a program in VT's position in the recruiting world). In this case, it got the Hokies into a top 12, but Georgia Tech is the hometown school and heavy favorite.
