Football Signing Day Reactions

I was talking with a buddy earlier today... let's call him Salty J to give him a bit of anonymity. Salty J was worried that the Hokies would not win another ACC championship anytime soon due to the loss of players like Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams, and Darren Evans, coupled with the fact that the VT coaching staff has a very mediocre recruiting class coming in for next season. I'm wondering if this is the sentiment of most Hokie fans? Personally, I am not the least bit concerned, and here's why: VT has never really done a great job of recruiting, and they are still able to be competitive in the ACC (and before that, the Big East) consistently since the days of Michael Vick. A few headliners for this year's signing day are:

1. KyShoen Jarrett, a defensive back from PA. VT and secondary coach Torrian Gray have created a dynasty here at Tech for cornerbacks, and Jarrett is just the next in that line. Gray has also already received a commitment from a fantastic cornerback recruit for 2012... Donaldven Manning.
2. Kris Harley, a defensive tackle for Indiana.
3. Robert Lockhart, a wide receiver from Florida.

You know, I could go on listing names, but really I think I am just at a point where I trust our coaches to recruit the right players for their system, and then coach them up. We take some shots at Frank Beamer for not being able to beat the big programs, but the truth is that there's a reason behind all of the consecutive 10-win seasons. Beamer, Bud Foster, and maybe even Bryan Stinespring are good at teaching their system to their players and getting them to buy in. Look at the recruiting classes that Miami and Florida State have had over the past several seasons... they are always fantastic, and those teams have been losing pretty consistently to Virginia Tech.

Frankly, I think we're fine. There were no big running back recruits for 2011 because those guys were expecting Williams, Evans, and David Wilson to be sitting in the way of their playing time when they were being recruited. Well now things are very different with Williams and Evans both going to the NFL (where they will certainly both be drafted), and high school running backs are going to take notice. You can absolutely count on a major RB recruit being signed by VT for the 2012 class. The truth is, the only positions where 2011 recruits can come in and contribute quickly are defensive back (because our corners have a history of leaving early for the NFL), tight end (because we lost our one good TE), and defensive line. VT has entrenched starters at linebacker (Rivers, Taylor, Gibson), offensive line (DeChristopher, Brooks, Miller, Nosal, Lanier), quarterback (Thomas), running back (Wilson), and wide receiver (Boykin, Coale, Roberts, Davis, Boyce). If I were a top-rated recruit and saw that logjam, I would probably stay clear of VT too.