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The National Football Post reported today that former Virginia Tech standout defensive end Jason Worilds has signed a four-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Worilds, a standout defensive end at Virginia Tech, was the Steelers’ second-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft.

Worilds played four seasons at Virginia Tech, though his freshman season was cut short after only two games due to a shoulder injury that led to season-ending surgery. In his three full seasons, he played in 41 games and started 25 of those.

His redshirt sophomore season (2008) was by far his best. He registered 62 tackles, 18.5 for a losses and eight sacks. By his redshirt junior season, opposing offenses showed a little more respect, which diminished his numbers, but allowed other Tech defenders to step up and make plays.

Worilds, who changed his last name in 2007 from Adjepong, will likely play outside linebacker in the Steelers’ 3-4 defense (three down lineman, four linebackers). But barring an injury to incumbent and established starting OLBs LeMarr Woodley and James Harrison, don’t expect Worilds to start any time soon.

Michael Bean of behindthesteelcurtain.comwrote a good post on Worilds, his potential and bright future in the Steel City: How Jason Worilds Can Add Value to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010

See a video of Jason Worilds’ pro day workout here.

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WFNZ, a CBS affiliate, posted a video interview with Virginia Tech senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor from this week’s ACC media session. He addressed his ability to stay in the pocket and his progress as a passer from his freshman year to his senior year.

See the original WFNZ post here.

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In less than a year, our Facebook page has grown to nearly 1,000 fans/likes and more than 500 people follow us on Twitter. Our Website continues to bring in more visitors each month. All of this means we are growing and to say “thanks!” to all of you who follow us, comment on our posts and help us spread the word about the Hokies and our site, we are giving away a $100 gift certificate to Campus Emporium!

We will hold the drawing by choosing a name at random. The deadline to enter is Friday, Aug. 13. OK, now listen up, this next part is important!

To be eligible, you must complete the following easy steps:

1. “Like” our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter (@vthokiefans)
2. Tweet the following: I just entered to win a $100 gift certificate to @Campus_Emporium courtesy of @vthokiefans! Learn how you can, too! http://nrv.me/cVXk3d
3. Leave a comment on this blog post letting us know you completed all the steps and copy and paste the link to your Tweet in the comment so we can see it.
4. Sit back and cross your fingers! (optional)

We will notify the winner via Facebook message and/or Twitter DM, and he/she will get to choose whether they want an in-store certificate or an on-line gift certificate. Pretty easy, huh?

This is our first giveaway, so we’re shootin’ from the hip. If you have questions, let us know. Thanks and good luck!

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Virginia Tech Hokies head football coachFrank Beamer and his coaching staff are famous for taking unheralded recruits and walk-ons and turning them into all conference players, i.e. John Engelberger, Andre Davisand Cody Grimm.

So, while today’s announcement that Virginia Tech got a commitment from 6-3, 220-pound defensive end with offers from James Madison (I-AA) and Old Dominion (I-AA) may not sound like the team is building for the future, Dewayne Alford’s coach believes otherwise.

Tracy Parker, Nansemond River head coach, told the Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times that Alford has “flown under the radar because he’s only been here for one year. A lot of I-A schools were hesitant to pull the trigger but Tech saw what I saw.”

Parker called Alford a diamond in the rough, but Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster is a master of getting the most out of all of his players.

Alford will “greyshirt,” which means that even though he’s a member of the 2011 recruiting class, he will not enroll at Tech until January 2012. This will give him time to mature and get a full spring practice, fall practice and presumably a redshirt year under his belt before he’s ready to contribute.

Check out the Roanoke Times article for more information about Alford and his thoughts on greyshirting.

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Thanks to a new 12-year broadcast deal between the ACC and ESPN, Virginia Tech and the 11 other ACC schools will double their annual TV revenue.

Just weeks after nearly being raided by other college football conferences, the Atlantic Coast Conference signed a new 12-year multimedia broadcast deal with ESPN.

The Associated Press reported that the deal is worth $1.86 billion, however, neither the ACC, nor ESPN would specify the value of the deal. But, when asked about the AP report, ACC commissioner John Swofford said, “I have read some things that have been written that have been quite accurate.”

The proceeds of the contract, according to Swofford, will be divided equally among the 12 member institutions, as has been the case with previous media contracts. The deal, according to Swofford, will more than double each school’s current TV revenue.

The ACC and ESPN announced the new deal on Thursday, July 8. The new agreement will begin with the 2011-2012 academic year and gives ESPN exclusive broadcast rights to every conference-controlled football and men’s basketball game, women’s basketball, Olympic sports games, and conference championships.

The agreement runs through 2022-23 and during that time, nearly 5,000 ACC athletic events will be broadcast on ESPN’s television outlets, digital and mobile platforms, syndication and more.

Raycom Sports, which regularly broadcasts ACC football and basketball games will still be involved and will continue to broadcast games according to ESPN, which called Raycom a valued partner.

George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports pointed out that this is ESPN’s first all-in deal with a conference, noting that ESPN’s deal with the SEC is not exclusive as CBS has some broadcast rights.

And with regards to potential future conference realignment, there are provisions in the contract that deal with conference makeup, so if the conference landscape changes, the ACC and ESPN can renegotiate to reflect any changes.

How this new agreement affects ACC football:

With exclusive rights to every conference-controlled football game, ESPN will serve as the national cable and broadcast TV home for the conference and distributor of syndication telecasts via an agreement with Raycom Sports. With the agreement granting rights to every matchup, there is flexibility where games can be distributed on a weekly basis throughout the season. Outlets will include:

• ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC: The networks will televise ACC games each week, including Thursday, Saturday and a Labor Day Monday telecast each season. The ACC Football Championship Game will continue to be televised each year on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.
• ESPNU: The 24-hour college sports network, currently distributed in more than 70 million households, will continue to televise ACC football. Syndication: ESPN will sublicense games to Raycom Sports and potentially to additional national outlets. As part of the agreement, Raycom Sports will produce and distribute a package of games for over-the-air syndication and for the first time, an additional package of games through regional cable syndication in the ACC markets and beyond.
• ESPN3.com: Exclusive ACC game presentations as well as simulcasts will be offered on the broadband network.
• ESPN 3D: ACC matchups will be part of the live schedule of games offered on the new service.
• ESPN Mobile TV: Extensive ACC content, including highlights and live game simulcasts will be presented on mobile phones.
• ESPN International and ESPN Deportes: The deal includes global rights to present live games and encore presentations across ESPN’s International platforms and domestic Spanish-language rights for ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s 24-hour, U.S.-based network.
• ESPN GamePlan: The out-of-market college football service will continue to offer an extensive weekly schedule of ACC games.
• ESPN Classic: The network may televise live ACC games as well as historic and immediate encore presentations.
• ESPN.com: Extensive ACC content, including highlights, will be presented online.

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Corey Marshall is rated the No. 21 strong-side defensive end and No. 250 overall prospect nationally by Rivals.com and today, he announced his decision to come to Virginia Tech. He joins his high school teammate at Dinwiddie, tight end Chris Hall, who gave his verbal commitment to the Hokies on Monday. Marshall and Hall boost Tech’s 2011 recruiting class to six. National signing day is Feb. 2, 2011.

Marshall chose the Hokies on ComcastSportsNet’s Washington Post Live show at 5 p.m. today. Though his list of suitors included Virginia, WVU, Tennessee and Michigan, Marshall laid only two hats on the table as he made his announcement on live television. He chose the Hokies, which have been his favorite team for years.

Read more about Marshall on CSNWashington.com, PilotOnline.com (Virginian-Pilot) and DailyPress.com.

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Virginia Tech Hokies head football coach Frank Beamer hasn’t even opened camp for the 2010 season and already his 2011 recruiting class is shaping up to be another good one. This on the heels of a 2010 class that is considered one of his best ever.

Adeboye Aromire, a 6-2, 192-pound cornerback out of H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C., verbally committed to Virginia Tech earlier today according to Rivals.com.

Rivals listed Aromire as a three-star recruit with offers from Tech, UNC and Maryland from the ACC, as well as Illinois (Big Ten), WVU (Big East) and Buffalo.

The Hokies’ 2011 class is as follows:

• Kris Harley (6-2, 265 pounds, defensive tackle)
• Ronny Vandyke (6-3, 185 pounds, safety)
• Christian Reeves (6-3, 210 pounds, tight end)
• Adeboye Aromire (6-2, 192 pounds, cornerback)

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In the days following the 2010 NFL draft several Hokies who went undrafted signed free agent deals with various NFL teams. Among the former Hokies to sign such as deal was tight end Greg Boone.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted punter Brent Bowden and linebacker Cody Grimm and then signed offensive lineman Sergio Render and Boone after the draft had ended. However, no record of Boone exists in the official NFL transactions wire. Nowhere was he listed as having been signed or cut from any NFL team.

A source inside Virginia Tech’s athletics department said that Boone failed his physical with the Tampa Bay Bucs and was sent home. There’s been no word on what caused the failed physical.

Boone always seemed to be a little banged up because of his aggressive style of play, but he averages 13 games a season for four straight years totally 52 games played and 41 starts.

Former Hokie tight end Greg Booned reportedly failed his physical with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Former Hokie cornerback Stephan Virgil wasn’t selected in the 2010 NFL draft, but he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Buffalo Bills. Less than two months later, they cut him.

Virgil was let go on June 8 after failing to impress. It looks like he hasn’t been able to fully recover from the knee injury that kept him out nearly half of the 2009 season. He was slow at the combine, running a 4.69 forty-yard dash and then an even slower 4.73 at his pro day.

At this point, it would be surprising to see Virgil get picked up by another team, but we’ll keep an eye out on the transaction wire. Perhaps he needs more time to rehab and try and get his times down.

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The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported this week that the Virginia Tech Hokies got a verbal commitment from Christian Reeves, a 6-3, 210-pound tight end from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, Ga.

Reeves becomes the third commit for the 2011 class, joining 6-2, 265-pound defensive tackle Kris Harley and Ronny Vandyke, a 6-3, 185-pound safety from South County Secondary in Lorton, Va.

Rivals.com reports that Reeves has offers from Air Force, Buffalo, Central Florida, Western Kentucky and Western Michigan. Harley, who hails from the same high school as Tech running back Darren Evans, is ranked as the 19th-best DT in the 2011 recruiting class by Rivals and has offers from Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Purdue, North Carolina, Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa and Wake Forest.

Vandyke is a 6-3, 185-pound safety from South County Secondary in Lorton. Rivals has him as the 35th-best safety in his class and his offers include Boston College, Maryland, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Rutgers and Virginia.

While the recruits have verbally committed to the Hokies, they can’t officially sign a national letter of intent until Feb. 2, 2011.

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