The latest on the world of Virginia Tech and recruiting.
Robert Jackson
Philadelphia DE/DT Robert Jackson has had a bit of an on-again, off-again relationship with Virginia Tech in his recruitment. The Hokies have never gone away completely (like they did with Devin Lee, for whom the Hokies are heavy favorite right now), but there have been stretches where VT has been near the top within the list of favorites, or languishing as an also-ran in a larger pack. That generally means - and comes as no surprise with this staff - a good recruiting pitch but inconsistent levels of contact in comparison to other suitors.
The staff has remained confident that they have the right connections and the right approach (even when some skepticism about their standing has been expressed to them), and for right now, at least, things are trending positively. While VT was outside his list of 5-6 within the top 10 just a few weeks ago, they're back in a small top group of just a handful of schools. That's not to say they'll land a commitment for sure, given his tentative plan has been to commit in February so he has a little more time to focus on his basketball season. But it's an improvement over the Hokies' previous standing.
A rapid climb also coincides with Georgia three-star Ian Mathews seeming to focus on schools a bit closer to home. A shift in focus back to the guy who's been on the recruiting board for a long time can obviously pay off. But it is also going to be a little frustrating from an external perspective to think how much more effective a focused recruiting effort from beginning to end would be, rather than too-often issuing an offer and getting in strong position with a prospect, then neglecting that recruitment to test the waters somewhere else, and going back to the original target only when the new one doesn't ultimately have much interest. In a lot of cases (Mathews is an exception since the Hokies were among the first Power-5 schools to offer), the second target is one whose ultimate lack of interest has been predictable, and a bit better focus on the recruiting trail would have been wise from the start. This is obviously not the only recruitment of position group that has followed a similar storyline.
All that said, I like Jackson a lot as a prospect, and if the Hokies can seal the deal, I think they've ended up with the better prospect right now (though Mathews may ultimately end up the better player - I wouldn't guarantee either outcome).
Commits sticking?
After Da'Wain Lofton firmed up his commitment to VT in the face of an opportunity from hometown TCU, it looks like - barring major developments in the next few days - the Hokies will sign everyone in the class who intends to put pen to ink in the December period. From Kenji Christian (through interest from LSU and other SEC programs, though they haven't offered and at this point he doesn't intend to wait them out) to Lofton, the class looks set. That includes the guys who have intended to enroll early - a much more nebulous group than in the past, since the benefits (and risks) of hitting campus a semester early are different than they've even been.
As noted above, there may be some mini-twists along the way (for example, there's a new head coach at the once-flagship university of South Carolina, a state where the Hokies have two pledges, neither of whom was interested in the Will Muschamp program), but things are solid for now.
Big-picture program
I know there's a post floating around the internet (it's made its way here, too) about donors lining up to fire Fuente - at the threat of refusing to continue supporting the athletic department. Speaking from sources in the AD side of things, simply put, it's either exaggeration or fabrication that there is a significant financial hit to the department for keeping Fuente (certainly to the extent that it'd be worse than the financial hit of firing him - saying "you don't get $100k unless you fire Fuente" and "I will pay part of the buyout to fire Fuente for that $100k donation" net out the same, except you also then have to undertake major administrative costs of seeking and hiring a new head coach, something the athletic department hasn't really prepared for). The AD also has plenty of people who are looking out for the good of VT no matter what who would more than offset people making those decisions on a petty basis. "I'm going to try to financially force you to cut the women's soccer program because I don't like the football coach" is very much a specific type of donor, and one whose motivations an AD as smart as Whit Babcock simply knows he can't cater to.
That's not to say everything is rosy in the leadership of the program, or that significant staff changes wouldn't be "gently suggested" to the head coach in order to maintain a little control over the direction.
But the optics (and financial realities) of firing a head coach in the pandemic atmosphere lean heavily away from the program making the ability to change. As much as Fuente and the players have said (and certainly meant) "we want to play, it's a blessing and an opportunity," etc. etc. all year, the pragmatic reality is that they were essentially forced - not on an individual basis, but by the momentum of institutions much larger than themselves - into having a season. The nature of that meant VT did it short-handed for basically every game this year, including without a top-10 draft pick from day one in Caleb Farley, and particularly early on without players at a ton of positions (and even more recently, their No. 2 corner, Jermaine Waller, has been unavailable, and the only two games he played in, he played literally without having been able to see the practice field). In any other circumstances, that situation - out of the control of any individual - wouldn't have seen VT on the field.
That's not to say Fuente is on stable ground, just that if he wasn't going to be fired in Babcock's mind before the season, the context (both financial and competitive) through which this season has to be viewed means the impact of wins and losses in 2020 is more diminished than it would otherwise be. I guess "safe" isn't really the right word when your job security rests on technicalities... and Fuente would still be extremely wise to beat Virginia - particularly if the Hokies have a chance to do it handily.
As always, thanks for visiting HokieHaven.com. Feel free to use this thread to discuss the topics herein.
Robert Jackson
Philadelphia DE/DT Robert Jackson has had a bit of an on-again, off-again relationship with Virginia Tech in his recruitment. The Hokies have never gone away completely (like they did with Devin Lee, for whom the Hokies are heavy favorite right now), but there have been stretches where VT has been near the top within the list of favorites, or languishing as an also-ran in a larger pack. That generally means - and comes as no surprise with this staff - a good recruiting pitch but inconsistent levels of contact in comparison to other suitors.
The staff has remained confident that they have the right connections and the right approach (even when some skepticism about their standing has been expressed to them), and for right now, at least, things are trending positively. While VT was outside his list of 5-6 within the top 10 just a few weeks ago, they're back in a small top group of just a handful of schools. That's not to say they'll land a commitment for sure, given his tentative plan has been to commit in February so he has a little more time to focus on his basketball season. But it's an improvement over the Hokies' previous standing.
A rapid climb also coincides with Georgia three-star Ian Mathews seeming to focus on schools a bit closer to home. A shift in focus back to the guy who's been on the recruiting board for a long time can obviously pay off. But it is also going to be a little frustrating from an external perspective to think how much more effective a focused recruiting effort from beginning to end would be, rather than too-often issuing an offer and getting in strong position with a prospect, then neglecting that recruitment to test the waters somewhere else, and going back to the original target only when the new one doesn't ultimately have much interest. In a lot of cases (Mathews is an exception since the Hokies were among the first Power-5 schools to offer), the second target is one whose ultimate lack of interest has been predictable, and a bit better focus on the recruiting trail would have been wise from the start. This is obviously not the only recruitment of position group that has followed a similar storyline.
All that said, I like Jackson a lot as a prospect, and if the Hokies can seal the deal, I think they've ended up with the better prospect right now (though Mathews may ultimately end up the better player - I wouldn't guarantee either outcome).
Commits sticking?
After Da'Wain Lofton firmed up his commitment to VT in the face of an opportunity from hometown TCU, it looks like - barring major developments in the next few days - the Hokies will sign everyone in the class who intends to put pen to ink in the December period. From Kenji Christian (through interest from LSU and other SEC programs, though they haven't offered and at this point he doesn't intend to wait them out) to Lofton, the class looks set. That includes the guys who have intended to enroll early - a much more nebulous group than in the past, since the benefits (and risks) of hitting campus a semester early are different than they've even been.
As noted above, there may be some mini-twists along the way (for example, there's a new head coach at the once-flagship university of South Carolina, a state where the Hokies have two pledges, neither of whom was interested in the Will Muschamp program), but things are solid for now.
Big-picture program
I know there's a post floating around the internet (it's made its way here, too) about donors lining up to fire Fuente - at the threat of refusing to continue supporting the athletic department. Speaking from sources in the AD side of things, simply put, it's either exaggeration or fabrication that there is a significant financial hit to the department for keeping Fuente (certainly to the extent that it'd be worse than the financial hit of firing him - saying "you don't get $100k unless you fire Fuente" and "I will pay part of the buyout to fire Fuente for that $100k donation" net out the same, except you also then have to undertake major administrative costs of seeking and hiring a new head coach, something the athletic department hasn't really prepared for). The AD also has plenty of people who are looking out for the good of VT no matter what who would more than offset people making those decisions on a petty basis. "I'm going to try to financially force you to cut the women's soccer program because I don't like the football coach" is very much a specific type of donor, and one whose motivations an AD as smart as Whit Babcock simply knows he can't cater to.
That's not to say everything is rosy in the leadership of the program, or that significant staff changes wouldn't be "gently suggested" to the head coach in order to maintain a little control over the direction.
But the optics (and financial realities) of firing a head coach in the pandemic atmosphere lean heavily away from the program making the ability to change. As much as Fuente and the players have said (and certainly meant) "we want to play, it's a blessing and an opportunity," etc. etc. all year, the pragmatic reality is that they were essentially forced - not on an individual basis, but by the momentum of institutions much larger than themselves - into having a season. The nature of that meant VT did it short-handed for basically every game this year, including without a top-10 draft pick from day one in Caleb Farley, and particularly early on without players at a ton of positions (and even more recently, their No. 2 corner, Jermaine Waller, has been unavailable, and the only two games he played in, he played literally without having been able to see the practice field). In any other circumstances, that situation - out of the control of any individual - wouldn't have seen VT on the field.
That's not to say Fuente is on stable ground, just that if he wasn't going to be fired in Babcock's mind before the season, the context (both financial and competitive) through which this season has to be viewed means the impact of wins and losses in 2020 is more diminished than it would otherwise be. I guess "safe" isn't really the right word when your job security rests on technicalities... and Fuente would still be extremely wise to beat Virginia - particularly if the Hokies have a chance to do it handily.
As always, thanks for visiting HokieHaven.com. Feel free to use this thread to discuss the topics herein.
