UVA and Tech not getting it done on the home front

[MCAthletics]

He's got an SEC offer, why would you ever sweat a VT or UVA offer? Not really seeing what you're getting at here. If he actually wants to stay in-state then does it matter who's first to the punch? Like, he can't even put ink to paper for about 18 months, does it really matter this second that UVA or VT haven't offered?

I’m not “sweating” a VT or UVA offer. I was pointing out that UVA is so close geographically but another out of state school is, at least, ahead of them in POSSIBLY snagging a player in their backyard.

My post was much more about in state schools lack of recruiting in state players than the actual young man.

The tone of your post is questionable at best.

 

[MCAthletics]

Okay, now I think I remember meeting you this past season at the MC vs Clarke game at MC, am I correct? I don't remember seeing Sacra, was he on the freshman team? I’m afraid you lost me on the mutual friend comment.

And if it is you I met, please tell our mutual acquaintance hello for me. Still want to meet him someday.

I just returned to the Madison school system a short while ago. However, I’d be glad to meet you sometime. Always nice to put a face to a name!

Sacra has been starting on the Varsity since his freshman year I believe.

 

[MCAthletics]

No sir! Jason Kamras, Richmond’s superintendent, doesn’t have a doctoral degree.

Neither does Madison County’s superintendent.

 

[MCAthletics]

Everyone's OL is that size now. All of Tech's scholarship guards and centers are 6'3 or taller, all their tackles are 6'5 or taller.

I'm sure he will garner more offers and among them will likely be VT and UVA. If this is what spurns him, the notion that they didn't offer him when he was 12 years old or something, then so be it because he was never going to go to VT or UVA anyway. If he actually wants to stay home and play for an in-state school then those schools not being the first to offer won't matter to him and he'll make a rational decision based on where he wants to spend the next five years of his life and what coaching staff he wants to do it under.

Also, VT will have one of the best OL in the conference this year and Christian Darrisaw is one of the best OTs in the entire country and has first-round potential when he goes into the draft in two years.

Dang...you totally missed the point. It is not about the player!!!!!!!’ It is about out of state schools recruiting harder in Virginia than our in state schools!!!!! Geez....

 

[MCAthletics]

Yes the kid is prototypical size of a power 5 college lineman I don’t think that was debatable. He already is bigger than some of the kids in both programs as a sophmore, and as a sophomore to have a SEC offer speaks volumes. In reality both OL rooms at UVA and VT aren’t elite. PFF ranks Tech as 84/130 in returning OL grades and yes the OT is elite but the remainder of the unit is lackluster. He is eligible to leave after this year so we will see where he goes but that’s one player out of a unit or 5. UVA ranks a little higher but still is below top 50 at 66. Which shows that the depth and talent on the field isn’t yielding the results where an elite OL prospect would consider the instate institutions for pro development unless they have an affection for them before.

no one is saying that the schools have to offer first/early but the fact a kid is getting a UT (SEC) offer first and is in the backyard of UVA as a sophomore maybe the instate programs could do more to identify these prospects before rather than recruit outside the state for the same positions. Both in state schools are letting Virginia get picked apart for recruits and they’re getting the kids who are left. If you increase the presence and the on field results keep showing up in the Top 25 rankings you’ll stop the exodus out of the state. Where they want to spend the next 5 years will come down to comfort, playing time, development and more but the point of all this is just to highlight that UVA and VT aren’t getting marquee VA talent anymore and it’s because they aren’t recruiting the state and building those relationships. If you’re getting less than 5 instate kids a year that’s atrocious. Maybe the kid will get these offers, I’m sure they will roll in as he continues to grow and play but right now the staffs missed identifying a prospect and getting a strong first impression by offering early.

Exactly my point! Thank you! In state schools better pick up the ball or they will remain also-rans.

 

[ClarkeFan83]

I just returned to the Madison school system a short while ago. However, I’d be glad to meet you sometime. Always nice to put a face to a name!

Sacra has been starting on the Varsity since his freshman year I believe.

Probably confusing you with someone else then. The guy I met at Madison is a Mason, like me.

 

[rainman17]

Yeah, the point is well-made that UVA especially not showing adequate interest is not a positive. But it’s also true that some coaching staffs don’t like to project too far down the road with offers.

All staffs in the world of recruiting are making inroads with recruits that are in the 2022 and beyond class currently. Many schools are trying to finish up their 2021 recruiting classes currently, so by the early sign period they can get guys in the fold. A 2022/2023 starter who has an offer from power 5 is on the radar of every staff in the state.

People in Virginia will need to deal with the reality of having one in-state program coached by a staff mainly from out West and another from the Midwest so don't expect this massive effort from either staff on "reclaiming" a state neither really held to begin with anyway. VT spent plenty of time in the top 10, that didn't stop tons of kids from leaving either, trying to big time a Hall of Fame coach (most of these kids busted at big schools anyway) so this notion that the exodus will stop if they win more is also a bit of bunk. People have overhyped VA kids and all the kids coming up now don't care about getting in-state offers anymore, they only think Bama or OSU is what matters. It doesn't matter that for every kid who leaves the state and lives up to his ranking there's easily five who ride pine and transfer to some no-name FCS, they only see what they want to see and these kids all think they're too good for VT or UVA so the staffs aren't going to waste time on most of them and they'll seek out kids who actually want to go to VT and UVA.

Like I said, if a player thinks VT or UVA is an inferior school then why sweat an offer? If they think they're a good school then if the offer comes in a reasonable timeframe i.e. not a week before NSD then it's all good because getting the offer is what matters compared to when you got it. This kid in particular has already visited VT and UVA, both schools are obviously aware of him, and if they want to offer I'm sure they will.

Mendenhall said all of this when he took the job and in the first two years of his rebuild. The perception of the program, lack of familiarity with the area/coaches were not there, but a quick way to bridge that gap is by becoming a household name and brand. The wins generate more ads/TV Time you get coverage/exposure Which will create some want to for the kids to come. London brought in a lot of VA talent he just couldn’t develop and win with it. UVA would love to have a lockdown on the state and keep the top talent here. Tony Grimes and many others would make UVA a contender against the Clemsons of the world. Tech could benefit from the same as well, but Fuentes being from the Midwest and not continuing those relationships through Bud Foster hurt him and the program. Beamer had tech nationally ranked and tech had a brand “Beamer ball” that players wanted to be apart of the top talent went to blacksburg from VA. That lore begun dwindling when Beamer began losing and Fuentes fumbled the bag, he didn’t keep the pipeline open but clogged it. Tech isn’t a perennial power anymore, they are battling for a middle spot to lower echelon of the top tier in the ACC yearly as of now.


Recruiting is all on relationships the earlier you build a relationship the stronger it will become, I may have interest and a lot of it for something but choose something more comfortable because of the fit and relationship I had created. Timing is vital sure if the kid gets 50 offers 40 of them are obsolete to them but the team who offered first or early have a higher chance to stays in the hunt longer.

 

[rainman17]

VT and UVA would both be better served if they were doing a better job in state as it is a more efficient use of recruiting resources provided they can get talent that can actually play. Virginia has had kids like Hand, Allen, Sweat, Nnadi, etc. that would have helped either program, however, for each "impact" guy there are multiple kids that were thought to be able to play at the FBS level that clearly could not. The quality and, just as important from a program development standpoint, the quantity of talent in VA HS football, as a whole, that is capable of playing at the FBS level has been on the decline over the last decade, if not longer. A look at Top 25/50 composite rankings would seem to bear this out. That is not to say there are not some good players, there are, or that some areas have not seen increased talent, they have, but, the totality of the state is a different story.

I don’t think anyone thinks VA is as deep too to bottom as the other states you mentioned. However a lot of these lower ranked players have had success at the in state schools (joe reed LAC) and been able to make it to the big league. Some of those big names were swallowed up on the depth chart and they saw they were a fish in the ocean instead of the massive flathead catfish in pond. Va as a state has multiple players make the NFL yearly. The issue though is that recruiting is based on what the kid sees for themselves, they don’t know the future and that it’s a business next man up. Impact is a relative term.

 

[MCAthletics]

Probably confusing you with someone else then. The guy I met at Madison is a Mason, like me.

Sorry, I couldn’t lay a brick if I had to! I’m okay okay with a hammer though.

 

[ClarkeFan83]

Sorry, I couldn’t lay a brick if I had to! I’m okay okay with a hammer though.

I'll meet you at the next MC vs. CC football game then.

 

[iDidntGetBanned]

Dang...you totally missed the point. It is not about the player!!!!!!!’ It is about out of state schools recruiting harder in Virginia than our in state schools!!!!! Geez....

I get you 100%.Same with basketball. UVA, VT and VCU, Virginia’s 3 premiere basketball programs also losses out on VA’s and DC’s talent. UVA does do a good job recruiting in the Charlottesville area, usually walk ons but still.

 

[Shabutie]

For the record, it is Fuente. Hearing 'Fuentes' from so many people after he has been the coach at VT for this long really irks me.

 

[iDidntGetBanned]

For the record, it is Fuente. Hearing 'Fuentes' from so many people after he has been the coach at VT for this long really irks me.

He’s been there too long for the program to be stuck in mediocrity.

 

[rainman17]

For the record, it is Fuente. Hearing 'Fuentes' from so many people after he has been the coach at VT for this long really irks me.

fuente fuentes fuentanas fue whoever UVA again this year to start the new streak

 

[Lafayette]

In the Daily Press today they reviewed the top 15 Senior players. Only 1 has committed so far to VT, others to Pitt, Ohio St, LSU, NC etc. this is why VT has sunk to mediocrity.

 

[rainman17]

Lately both schools have begun surging with some in state guys, still not the upper echelon of the states top guys but they are bringing in more in state guys. I know UVA recently reeled in 3 VA kids and Tech has been getting hotter in the trail and grabbing a few instate guys also. Maybe that article renewed the focus