The Roth Report

Tweet

Size up front, and length on the back end.

Those were the primary recruiting goals for Virginia Tech’s football program, and judging by the Signing Day Vibe on Signing Day Live, this should turn out to be a very solid class for the Hokies.

Now evaluating a school’s football recruiting class is always an exercise in projection and hope. Like with the NFL Draft, there’s always some guesswork involved for teams when a staff brings in a bunch of new players.

“We improved on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Tech recruiting coordinator Bryan Stinespring said on this year’s edition of Signing Day Live, our annual recruiting web show. “That was our focus – to get bigger and longer. Our emphasis has been there, and it paid off for us.”

Half of the Hokies’ 24-member recruiting class was along the lines. Tech signed five offensive linemen and seven defensive linemen.

“It’s a needs-based deal,” Stinespring said. “We have to get better along the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and I think we did that.”

Size and length are the themes of this year’s class, but not only up front. The Hokies signed a 6-foot-6 quarterback, and tall, rangy defensive backs.

“We created length in the back end,” Stinespring said. “If you look at the defensive backs, they’re all over six feet. Our keys were to get better at the line of scrimmage, get depth in the back end and sign a quarterback.”

The quarterback is Dwayne Lawson from Tampa, Florida. He was a one-time Miami commitment who flipped to Virginia Tech in January.

“We started on him when he was a junior,” Tech quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler said. “We watched him throw and go through practice during spring football down there. He committed to Miami, but Brad [Kaaya] played so well last year, and that became a factor. Dwayne wanted to play, like most quarterbacks. You want to come in and have the chance to play.

“I think he’s going to be 235-240 pounds. He can make every throw. And while there are some things we have to correct with his mechanics to make him more accurate, I think he has pro quarterback potential.”

Along with a big quarterback, Tech signed bigger-than-normal offensive line recruits, such as Lexington, Virginia’s Austin Clark (6-6, 297) and Winter Haven, Florida’s Mike Arnold (6-5, 280).

“Keeping with that theme, we need tackle-ready bodies,” Stinespring said. “We need guys with length who can play on the edge. Look at what Bud [Foster] is doing on defense. Well, other teams are doing some of that stuff against us, too, so we need guys with length who are able to play in space, perform on the edge, get to the next level and get down the field.”

Clark is an example of that type of prospect. After originally committing to South Carolina, he changed his mind and signed with the home-state Hokies.

“We stayed in there with him,” Stinespring said. “Give Stacy Searels credit for staying with him over the last year.”

Family ties played a part, too. Stinespring coached Clark’s father, Stephen, at Lexington High School.

“It’s kind of unique to have coached his father and now get to coach Austin as well,” Stinespring said.

An early enrollee, Clark will take part in the Hokies’ spring football drills next month.

“They want me at about 297-300 pounds,” Clark said on SDL. “So I need to add another 5-10 pounds.”

“We want him as a tackle, and we will try to get him ready to play for us in the fall,” Stinespring said.

Arnold is another big body who spurned an SEC school [LSU] at the last minute to sign with the Hokies. He’s a big get for Tech.

“Absolutely,” Stinespring said. “Keeping with the theme of bigger on the line of scrimmage, Arnold is one of those guys who can play on the edge. We withstood late runs by a lot of schools to get him.”

Tech’s staff projects three of the five offensive linemen to play tackle. The three include Clark, Arnold and D’Andre Plantin.

“It’s the toughest position to evaluate,” Stinespring said. “I talk with J.B. Grimes [a former Tech assistant coach now at Auburn] and Stacy [Searels] all the time about this. What we are looking for is body type – a 6-4 or 6-5 guy who has length and movement and flexibility. We got that in all five of these guys.”

Size was the theme on defense as well, particularly 6-3, 315-pound tackle Tim Settle from Manassas, Virginia.

“I don’t know if we’ve had a kid this size,” Foster said. “Tim can flatten out and chase the ball. We haven’t had a kid this big since Kory Robertson, with this kind of feet. This kid possesses that great quickness, and he plays on the other side of the ball.”

Settle is the closest thing that the Hokies have had to former Boston College star and current Green Bay Packer B.J. Raji.

“He’s that kind of kid,” Foster said. “He has that low center of gravity. Those guys are hard to find. He’s an impact player.”

And there are plenty more on defense. In all, Tech signed seven defensive linemen, two linebackers, and five defensive backs.

“This was a good day for us,” Foster said. “I’m eager to build on our defense. We’ve got to take another step forward this spring, and we’ve added some parts that will make us even better when we get them all here in August.”

Here are five other closing notes about this year’s class:

1. Who can get on the field this fall? Mook Reynolds seems like a good bet here. The cornerback from Greensboro, North Carolina, enrolled early, and he will go through spring ball. The Hokies played true freshmen defensive backs C.J. Reavis and Greg Stroman in every game last year and Brandon Facyson as a rookie in 2013. That trend is likely to continue. Also Searels is counting on Clark at tackle. We’ll see how he looks once spring ball begins, but anyone who can help on the offensive line could see the field this fall.

2. Tech is back in Florida. Tech signed four players from Florida, the most since 2011. In Lawson, the Hokies signed a quarterback from Tampa who had offers from the ’Canes and numerous other big-time schools. In Arnold, Tech signed a lineman who had an offer from LSU. Throw in linebacker Carson Lydon from Tarpon Springs and tight end Chris Cunningham from Jacksonville, and Tech signed four really good prospects from the Sunshine State.

Stinespring’s take: “I don’t think we were ever out of Florida, but with the play of Luther Maddy, Dadi Nicolas and Isaiah Ford last year, people down there noticed. With the makeup of our staff, we were able to get Torrian [Gray] and Charley [Wiles] down there a bit more. And Lefty [Loeffler] from his days at [the University of] Florida had contacts. It’s helped the process to do a little more recruiting down there.”

3. Loeffler is a dynamic recruiter. The Hokies’ quarterbacks coach stayed on Lawson and in touch with Hillsborough High School’s legendary coach Earl Garcia even after Lawson committed to Miami last May. Kaaya had a tremendous rookie season – he was named the ACC Rookie of the Year – and Lawson opened his recruiting – and Loeffler closed the deal.

“Coach Garcia has been there for 25 years,” Loeffler said. “He’s like the Coach Beamer of Tampa and Florida high school coaches.”

A year ago, Loeffler stayed on Chris Durkin after his initial commitment to Michigan State. Also, having the quarterbacks coach recruit quarterbacks – instead of having a more geographic-based recruiting focus – has been a plus for Tech. Not every quarterbacks coach likes to hit the road and recruit. In Loeffler, the Hokies have one who is closing deals.

4. Miami battles. I found it interesting that several of Tech’s signees had offers from Miami. Traditionally, Virginia Tech and Miami haven’t recruited in the same pool, but this year, for whatever reason, we saw it frequently. Don’t feel bad for the ‘Canes, as they signed a terrific class, including some outstanding offensive line prospects and a stud local tailback. But getting Lawson and Arnold to come north to school was huge for Virginia Tech.

5. IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, is the new epicenter of recruiting. Thirteen players from IMG signed with Division I teams, including quarterback Deondre Francois, perhaps the nation’s top quarterback who inked with Florida State. Miami signed three players from IMG as well.

As for next year, the top high school quarterback in California announced he’ll play his senior season for IMG, where former Florida State quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke is the quarterbacks coach. Two of the top players in Tampa announced that they would be transferring to IMG as well for the 2015 season.

The IMG dynamic and influence is an interesting trend in all sports – not just football. The bottom line is that assistant coaches from every school, and every sport, will be spending a lot of time on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

For updates on Virginia Tech Athletics, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @hokiesports