1) Sooo….what the heck is going on with recruiting? - vtrider
Chris Coleman: That's a very open-ended question, and I'm glad you asked. Yesterday afternoon, I spent some time going through the list of people who Holmon Wiggins is following on Twitter. You can usually get a good idea of who a coach is recruiting by looking to see who he's following on Twitter. Here's a list of 2016 guys that he's following…
Scott Bracey: 4-star WR, Richmond, VA, committed to Duke Tino Ellis: 4-star WR, Hyattsville, MD, committed to Maryland Phil Patterson: 3-star WR, Virginia Beach, VA, uncommitted (former VT commit) Rick Wells: 3-star WR, Jacksonville, FL, committed to Florida Parnell Motley: 3-star CB, Washington, DC, committed to Maryland Diondre Overton: 4-star WR, Greensboro, NC, uncommitted Frank Darby: 3-star WR, Jersey City, NJ, committed to Iowa Bryan Edwards: 4-star WR, Conway, SC, uncommitted (former South Carolina commit)It's obvious that the Hokies want to sign a big wide receiver class this year. Eric Kumah and Sam Denmark are locked in. Divine Deablo hasn't decommitted, though he's listening to North Carolina. Tech would like to regain a commitment from Phil Patterson, and they would also like to add 1-2 other wide receivers. I could see the Hokies taking as many as six wideouts in this class.
Holmon Wiggins did an in-home visit with Sam Denmark last night, just to introduce himself. It's still unclear whether Wiggins will be coaching the running backs or wide receivers. For right now, I'm penciling him in as wide receivers coach. He's certainly handling the recruitment of wide receivers right now.
Justin Fuente has been busy getting in touch with Virginia Tech's 2016 commitments, as well as putting out new offers. He's also taken the time to call and introduce himself to many high school coaches around the state.
Fuente has a big decision ahead of him. He's considering keeping Zohn Burden on the staff, but nothing has been decided yet. Burden is a 757 guy, and VT recruiting gurus talk about how important it is to have connections in the 757. While I agree to a certain extent, I'm not sure those connections have been all that beneficial to Virginia Tech in recent seasons, and I think Fuente is seeing it that way as well. I wouldn't mind keeping Burden at all, and I think he would do a good job. But I'm not 100% convinced that he would do a better job than a dynamic recruiter with zero 757 connections.
As we hear of more scholarship offers, we'll let you know. But for now, wide receiver seems to be the focus.
2) What do you think of Isaiah Ford's NFL potential? - GretnaHokie
CC: I'm more convinced that he's an NFL player now than I was at the beginning of the season. He's developed a lot more strength, and while I never thought he was a burner earlier in his career, he's now starting to get behind defensive backs. Combine that with the fact that he seems to have excellent hands, and I believe his NFL stock is rising.
NFL Draft Scout now lists Ford as the #4 wide receiver prospect in the 2018 NFL Draft. They have updated their rankings, because last week they had him listed at #17. Clearly his production this season has opened some eyes.
Just look at what he's done the last two weeks…
UNC: 8 catches, 155 yards, 1 TD
UVA: 6 catches, 121 yards, 1 TD
Total: 14 catches, 276 yards, 2 TDs
And UVA and UNC have pretty good defensive backs, too.
I'm not an NFL scout by any means, but Ford's progress is something to monitor. He has made major moves up the draft boards this season, and he should be even better in 2016 if he can stay healthy.
3) What WR's do you expect to see playing next year (aside from Ford/Philips)? Memphis ran mostly 4+ receiver sets. - HokieDevil
CC: By my count, Virginia Tech is only returning four scholarship wide receivers next year…
Deon Newsome (r-Jr.) Isaiah Ford (Jr.) Cam Phillips (Jr.) Jaylen Bradshaw (r-So.)We know how good Ford and Phillips are. However, Newsome and Bradshaw couldn't get on the field in 2015 despite Virginia Tech's lack of depth at receiver. Could those guys potentially get better and contribute in a different offense system? That's certainly possible. Or, are they just not good enough? That's possible as well, and we won't be able to tell until we see them in action this spring.
Right now, Sam Denmark, Divine Deablo and Eric Kumah are Tech's wide receiver commits for the 2016 class. All three are scheduled to enroll in January (provided we can keep UNC's slimy hands off Deablo). With 15 practices during the spring to help them learn the system, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that all three of those guys see the field as true freshmen next year.
The Hokies need some size at receiver, and Deablo (6-4, 205) and Kumah (6-3, 200) provide exactly that. They could also use a deep threat, and Denmark is a track star down in South Carolina. I believe all three of those guys, for various reasons, are well-positioned to play as true freshmen next year.
If the Hokies manage to sign a JUCO receiver in this class, then he could end up playing as well. High school receivers who sign with the Hokies but don't enroll until the summer would have less of a chance of playing right away.
And of course, assuming Bucky Hodges returns next year, we might as well count him as a returning wide receiver as well.
4) Any chance Ricky Hunley will join the coaching staff? - Texas Hokie
CC: I mentioned that as a possibility in an article earlier this week, but since then it seems as if it won't be likely. Instead, it sounds like Galen Scott will follow Fuente from Memphis to coach at Virginia Tech, following the bowl game.
Scott is a linebackers coach for Memphis, and he also serves as their defensive coordinator. He has coached with Fuente at Memphis and Illinois State. In the past, he has also coached outside linebackers and safeties, and it seems like he would be an ideal fit to coach the whips at Virginia Tech.
I feel like Scott would be a huge upgrade at whip over Cornell Brown. Brown had no college coaching experience before coming to Tech, and he didn't make the recruiting impact that many expected when he was first hired. With Scott on the staff, the Hokies would have two defensive coaches with coordinator experience at the FBS level: Bud Foster and Galen Scott. Charley Wiles was a Co-Defensive Coordinator at Murray State. Torrian Gray could get an opportunity as a coordinator one day.
On the whole, you've got to like that defensive coaching staff. I feel like the addition of Scott would be a major upgrade. I don't mean that as an insult to Brown, but he just didn't do very much during his tenure here.
5) Recruiting approach between Coach Beamer and Coach Fuente. What'll change? - JKHokie-RunFor32
CC: Well, this for one…
Coming for you 757!! pic.twitter.com/ycwV0g54mT
— Justin Fuente (@CoachFuente) December 1, 2015
What you're seeing above is history in the making. It's the second ever Tweet by a Virginia Tech head football coach. Fuente's first Tweet was thanking Coach Beamer for being so welcoming to his family.
Fuente isn't a big Twitter guy, at least from the outside looking in. He doesn't Tweet all that much. But you don't have to Tweet a ton. You just have to have a presence, and you have to have an account so you can private message recruits. Obviously we won't be able to tell if Fuente is doing that, because they are private message after all, but I think it's safe to assume that he is.
It's too early for me to tell what else will be different. I wasn't old enough to pay any attention when Frank was 39 years old, but to me Fuente seems to be pretty similar from a personality standpoint. I think he'll recruit hard, and he'll adopt the most modern means of recruiting. Frank would have done the same thing at 39, but it's much harder for a 69 year old to do that.
There are two big things that Fuente has going for him that Frank Beamer didn't have the luxury of for the last several years…
1: Age. Fuente is 39, and nowhere near retirement. Frank's impending retirement hurt the Hokies on the recruiting trail over the last few years. Not to mention that recruiting requires a lot of energy, and at 39, Fuente has more of it than Beamer.
2: An offense. Tech's offense, or lack thereof, was a major issue for the program over the years. Bad offense more than anything contributed to the decline of the Virginia Tech football brand. Fuente has developed two first round picks at quarterback, and his offenses score a ton of points. He can tell recruits that with Bud Foster still on the staff, the Hokies will still have a great defense…only now they'll also be able to score points.
6) Ask Santa for a gift: Who would be on your 2016 recruiting class wish list as Fuente closes out? - VT PoolShark
CC: So I could have just one gift? That's all? Not multiple gifts under the Christmas tree? That stinks!
First I'm going to assume that Divine Deablo is kept in the fold, and he, Eric Kumah and Sam Denmark all enroll in January. While I'd certainly like to add another wide receiver to the class, I'm not going to pick a true wide receiver. I'm going to pick Jovani Haskins of New Jersey to play the Bucky Hodges role.
Haskins is an excellent athlete. He's big (6-4, 226, per Rivals) and he's got a big offer list. As a high school quarterback, he might require a redshirt since he'll be changing positions in college, but his upside is high.
Haskins has the Hokies in his top four along with North Carolina, Pitt and West Virginia. He was already high on Tech. With the promise of a better offense in place, hopefully he sees the light.
Of course, I'm operating under the assumption that Justin Fuente likes Haskins as a prospect. For all I know, he has his sights set elsewhere. It's going to take me awhile to get used to the type of prospects that the new coaching staff likes.