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Cody Journell hasn’t even suited up for the Hokies yet, but already fans are eagerly anticipating his arrival on campus. The Giles High School senior is the only kicker on Tech’s 2009 roster that has a full scholarship and he will have the opportunity to win the starting job when he arrives as a true freshman in August. Following the less-than-encouraging kicking performance at the April 25 spring game, the arrival of such a highly-touted kicker will be a welcome addition in the eyes of many Hokie fans.

The Collegiate Times has a great feature article on Cody Journell.

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The News Leader reported this morning that 6-3, 310-pound offensive lineman Caleb Farris (Rockbridge County) gave Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer his verbal commitment to play for the Hokies in 2010. Farris also had offers from East Carolina and Marshall and was still being recruited by Virginia, Boston College, Maryland and North Carolina.

Read more about Caleb Farris at the News Leader.

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Danville (George Washington) running back David Wilson and Lynchburg (Brookville) tight end/quarterback/wide receiver Logan Thomas headlined an impressive 2009 recruiting class for the Hokies.

Wilson is the No. 4 rated RB in the country according to Rivals and rushed for 2,291 yards and 35 touchdowns – both school records – in his senior year. I talked to some veteran sports journalists who covered Wilson and they all say that he is the best high school RB they’ve ever seen come out of the state and that he could easily start for the Hokies next season.

That would be quite an accomplishment given the crowded stable of backs the Hokies will have in 2009. For starters, there is rising sophomore Darren Evans who rushed for a Tech freshman record 1,265 yards and 11 TDs last season. Also returning will be Josh Oglesby and Kenny Lewis Jr. Oglesby, who took over as the No. 2 back after Lewis suffered a torn Achilles. Then there is Ryan Williams who redshirted last season. Now you add Wilson and Pulaski’s Nubian Peak to the mix.

How the backfield situation will play out is anybody’s guess, but using a little common sense, you would have Evans at No. 1 and then let Oglesby, Lewis, Williams and Wilson compete for the No. 2 spot. Now, considering Lewis will likely still be rehabbing his Achilles in the spring (not sure of his timetable at this point), Oglesby and Williams will get quite a few snaps giving them an edge over Lewis and Wilson heading into the fall practice schedule. I’m guessing here, but I’d say Evans No. 1, Williams No. 2 and Oglesby No. 3. I’m not discounting Lewis, but an Achilles is a tough injury from which to come back, so until we see what he can do, I’ll put him at No. 4, but he’s a leader and a dedicated player, so I fully expect him to work his way back up the depth chart. As for Wilson, I think he may have the natural ability to play right away, but the question is, can he pick up the blocking schemes? That’s what plagued Oglesby and Williams this past season. Peak will likely move to defense.

As for the wide receivers, again, the Hokies will be loaded at this position. In addition to the fab four freshmen from last year – Danny Coale (freshman record for receptions), Jarrett Boykin, Xavier Boyce and Dyrell Roberts, the Hokies will get back Brandon Dillard who missed last season with a torn Achilles. And of course, don’t forget D.J. Coles who played at Fork Union last season.

We’ll examine more positions, both offense and defense throughout the off-season, but for a more detailed look at the 2009 recruiting class and to hear coach Beamer talk about them, click here.

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Three-star defensive end Landford Collins of Stafford High School announced on Thursday that he will play football at Virginia Tech. Collins is a 6-4, 240-pound defensive end and he chose the Hokies over Virginia, Penn State and 10 other Division I-A programs. This brings Tech’s 2009 class to 19 commitments. The national signing day is Wednesday, Feb. 4.

Read more about Collins:

TechSideline.com
The Free Lance Star

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After only one season as the Virginia Tech Hokies place kicker, the Hokies got some good news as All-Met kicker Andrew Lloyd of James Wood High School accepted a preferred walk-on position with the Hokies for next season. Lloyd can also punt.

Read more at the Washington Post.

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Green Run (Va. Beach) defensive lineman Joe Jones verbally committed to Virginia Tech making him the 31st recruit for the Hokies 2008 class.

Jones’ high school coach Shawn Wilson told the Roanoke Times, “He’s one of the best defensive linemen I’ve seen down here in 10 years.”

Jones is an All-Tidewater DL and the RT rated him as the No. 27 senior in Virginia.

From Techsideline.com’s Free E-mail:

Jones, 6-3, 245, registered 96 tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 17 sacks during his senior season in 2007. He also blocked three kicks. He was a First Team All-Tidewater and First Team All-Beach District player. Jones chose Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech and Maryland.

Articles related to Joe Jones:

• Roanoke Times – “Joe Jones commits to Tech”
• SuperPrep.com- “Jones Hints at Leader”

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By Gary Cope

The Hokies got another commitment for the 2008 recruiting class season this week. According to TSL, Rivals and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia Tech received a verbal commitment from Hermitage High School (Richmond, VA) quarterback Joseph “Ju-Ju” Clayton. Clayton was the Times-Dispatch‘s 2007 All Metro player of the year.

Clayton was not a highly-recruited prospected, mainly because he didn’t arrive on the scene until his senior year, by which point most big time Division IA schools had already handed out their scholarship offers. Virginia Tech and Army were the only D-IA schools to offer while W&M and Youngstown State, both D-IAA schools, had also offered.

Clayton is 6-2, 205 pounds and completed 153-of-255 passes for 2,117 yards in his senior year. He tossed 22 TDs to just nine picks.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch article made the assumption that Tyrod Taylor would be the only scholarship quarterback after Sean Glennon leaves following the 2008 season. That’s not entirely true.

The Hokies have a solid commitment from Amherst County quarterback Peter Rose, who is expected to sign his letter of intent on Feb. 6, 2008 (national signing day) and enroll at Tech in the fall. More than likely he will redshirt his freshman year and if the coaches do not move him to another position, he could compete with Clayton for the backup QB role behind Taylor in 2009.

Rose ran a the triple option at Amherst and even though new Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson, who ran the triple option at Navy, invited Rose down to Atlanta for a visit, Rose turned it down and has reaffirmed his commitment to the Hokies. Rose was The News & Advance‘s all-area offensive player of the year for 2007. He was also the player of the year in Group AA, Region III and the Seminole District. His passing game apparently needs some work, but he accounted for 41 TDs last season.

He may end up on defense eventually, but it would appear that a projected lack of depth at the QB position beginning in ’09 will likely force the Hokies coaching staff to give him a look.

Click here to read more about Rose.

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I was perusing the football message board at TechSideline.com and came across a post that questioned whether Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring violated NCAA Recruiting rules by specifically mentioning a recruits name and his potential role with the team before the recruit signed the official letter of intent. (Read the TSL post here.)

In Randy King’s Roanoke Times article on Friday, Jan. 18, Stinespring was asked about who would be Tech’s No. 3 quarterback in 2008 now that rising senior Cory Holt is moving to wide receiver. Stinespring told King that incoming freshman recruit Peter Rose of Amherst County would be the best bet.

“Obviously, you don’t want to ever get in a position where you have to play your third quarterback,” said Stinespring. “Right now, though, with the possibility of Holt moving to wide receiver, I think Rose would be our third guy.”

OK, so it would seem the Stinespring just committed an NCAA recruiting violation. I went to the NCAA Web site and read a lot of boring rules until I came to section rule 13.10.2 – “Comments Before Signing.” It reads as follows…

Before the signing of a prospective student-athlete to a National Letter of Intent or an institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid, a member institution may comment publicly only to the extent of confirming its recruitment of the prospective student-athlete. The institution may not comment generally about the prospective student-athlete’s ability or the contribution that the prospective student-athlete might make to the institution’s team; further, the institution is precluded from commenting in any manner as to the likelihood of the prospective student-athlete’s signing with that institution. Violations of this bylaw do not affect a prospective student-athlete’s eligibility and are considered institutional violations per Constitution 2.8.1. (Revised: 1/14/97)

If you pay particular attention to the bolded section, it would seem clear that BS did indeed violate NCAA recruiting rules governing comments about recruits prior to having signed an official letter of intent. What does this mean for Tech? Probably nothing. According to the NCAA Web site, there has only been one violation deemed a “major violation” of this rule. Even if the NCAA gets wind of it, I doubt the penalty will be severe. If anything, it will be a slap of the wrist and a stern “don’t do it again” from Myles Brand.

Still, this is just another reason to dislike Bryan Stinespring … like we need any more.

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