Latest / Boundary Corner Podcast / Rising Tides

Transcript

Rising Tides · Boundary Corner Podcast

• 0:57
  Whether you like it or don't like it, learn to love it
• 1:03
  because it is the best thing. And welcome back to the Boundary
• 1:20
  Corner Podcast along with my partner, Brian Siegel.
• 1:24
  And tonight, our special guest, Colby Crawford, Form 247.
• 1:27
  I am Curtis Wilson, and we are brought to you by Moments on the
• 1:31
  Mori. Looking for a weekend getaway?
• 1:34
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• 1:37
  Owned by Proud Hokey, located just outside Lexington, VA, the
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  place gives you fishing, kayaking, or just relaxing in or
• 1:45
  by the river Outback. So take a look at the link in
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  our comments section. If you're looking for something
• 1:50
  this spring or summer or maybe even next fall trying to make a
• 1:54
  game, visit that website there the Airbnb and also at Instagram
• 2:00
  on Instagram at Moments on the Maori.
• 2:04
  Colby Crawford has returned to the Boundary Corn podcast.
• 2:09
  Colby, how are you doing this evening, my man?
• 2:12
  Doing well gentlemen you know shoot might have some later
• 2:14
  spring break plans going down in the Moore river thinking about
• 2:17
  that intro video was awesome. So appreciate you guys having me
• 2:21
  back on. I always feel bad.
• 2:22
  I always get the invite so cordially and I feel like every
• 2:26
  time you guys invite me, I'm in a time vortex.
• 2:28
  I'm in Florida, I'm in North Carolina, I'm in Charleston
• 2:31
  chasing some waves or something. But we got it in.
• 2:33
  So looking forward to talk some football here.
• 2:36
  Hey, man, every time we we hit you up your own spring breaks,
• 2:38
  that's that's a good thing for you because you get to step
• 2:41
  away, you get to recharge the battery a little bit, do a
• 2:42
  little something different. So glad you got to do that.
• 2:45
  Glad you're on with us tonight. It's going to be a lot of fun.
• 2:50
  Always, always love chopping it up with you, especially when it
• 2:53
  comes to recruiting, transfer portal, all that.
• 2:56
  Man. You do such a good job in that
• 2:58
  space, so we really appreciate you coming on.
• 3:00
  Yeah, for sure all. Right.
• 3:02
  Well, before we get into football, let's let's, let's,
• 3:06
  let's give the old salute the old rest in peace.
• 3:11
  Men's basketball season came to an end last night.
• 3:17
  For those who are saying they're probably going to be in the NIT,
• 3:20
  no, I'm sorry. I cannot get excited about going
• 3:23
  to the NIT, not this year. But Kobe, I know you were
• 3:26
  mentioning before, as busy as you were, kudos to Kobe
• 3:31
  Crawford, busy man with all the football stuff, makes it to six
• 3:35
  games this year, which is impressive.
• 3:38
  Again, we know how much you're working with the football stuff
• 3:41
  to make six games this year. That's pretty impressive.
• 3:43
  But what's your take just from what you saw with basketball
• 3:47
  this year? And we know it's not your the
• 3:50
  most, it's not your full name, but we know you got an opinion.
• 3:54
  Yeah, I think it was around six. I'm in that neighborhood.
• 3:57
  But yeah, I I think any way you slice it, you cut it.
• 4:00
  Stakeholders, fans, players, staff, anyone involved.
• 4:04
  I think we tell you it was a disappointment of a season,
• 4:07
  right? When you saw what you brought
• 4:09
  in, how the roster was formed ahead of the year.
• 4:12
  It was kind of like, OK, now we're never a type moment,
• 4:14
  right? You, you obviously get Neocliss
• 4:16
  of Dallas who rated the five star.
• 4:19
  And you know, that experiment kind of goes the way it does,
• 4:21
  right? And you bring in the transfers.
• 4:24
  Monty Hansberry, he plays out of his mind.
• 4:26
  Honorable mention gets dinged up at the end of the year.
• 4:28
  Jalen Bedford, you kind of build the roster and then you really
• 4:33
  just miss out. And so many Heartbreakers,
• 4:34
  right? It's almost feels like they've
• 4:36
  become accustomed to it. You look at, I know it's been
• 4:38
  harped on so much, but Stanford up 13, what with like 2 minutes
• 4:42
  left, SMU buzzer beater, Wake Forest, the first time you're
• 4:46
  down. Was it Toby at the time, not
• 4:49
  Tyler Johnson to lose on a last second three pointer?
• 4:52
  There was just opportunities. I mean, even UVAUVA, they were
• 4:55
  down I think 16 at the half and they battled back to lose by 4.
• 4:58
  They had opportunities right there at the end.
• 5:01
  It's it was just a season of we said it before we went live
• 5:05
  living and dying by every shot and they they just died too many
• 5:10
  times and like who knows where it comes from.
• 5:13
  It sounds like Mike Young's going to be back roster
• 5:15
  construction. I'm not exactly sure, but
• 5:18
  definitely a very disappointing season on paper as to what was
• 5:21
  projected going into the year for Virginia Tech.
• 5:24
  Yeah, when you look at the roster top to bottom, it's
• 5:26
  probably one of the more just talented roster, definitely
• 5:30
  probably the the the best roster Mike Young's had in a few years
• 5:34
  for certain. And it just felt like whether it
• 5:38
  was under underachieving, not closing out games, there was
• 5:41
  like something different. Obviously injuries played a
• 5:44
  factor in there with, you know, you haven't, you know, three key
• 5:47
  key pieces missing significant time or playing through
• 5:50
  injuries. And it was just one of those
• 5:53
  years where it it felt like you saw glimpses of what they could
• 5:58
  be at times, but they weren't able to do it consistently
• 6:01
  enough. And they dropped way too many
• 6:03
  games in close fashion that on paper they should have won, and
• 6:07
  in some cases won handily. Yeah. 100% I mean, that was the
• 6:12
  Stanford and that was the weight games.
• 6:14
  Like to me that was like the beginning of the end because you
• 6:18
  you come in and have such a great, great 10 and two.
• 6:23
  The only two losses were right after Toby messed up his ankle
• 6:27
  down in the Bahamas. They lose to a a whole BCU team.
• 6:31
  You leads to an NCAA tournament team in Saint Mary's, right?
• 6:35
  And they they gathered it back where when they beat UVA on
• 6:39
  Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve, excuse me, I was like, wow, this
• 6:42
  team's like they're they're doing what they normally don't
• 6:45
  do. Like normally when they have
• 6:47
  this happen, it just it just just.
• 6:49
  Tumbles out of control, yeah. Exactly bad.
• 6:52
  They they fight UVA and it's like this is great because
• 6:54
  Toby's going to be back soon, yet Tyler gets hurt.
• 6:57
  That stinks, but it's like it's like they understand how to face
• 7:00
  adversity. And then those three games where
• 7:02
  you're looking and said we're better than them.
• 7:04
  We are better than Wake Forest, we're better than SMU, we're
• 7:06
  better than standard. And again, what you said, Colby,
• 7:09
  it's the heartbreaker, 1/2 court buzzer beater, A3 pointer with
• 7:12
  two seconds left and then a three pointer also very late
• 7:16
  against Wake. And you're like, there shouldn't
• 7:19
  be a three-point game. This game should be over.
• 7:22
  You're more talented than them. I digress when it comes to that
• 7:25
  sort of stuff. But basketball season's over
• 7:28
  like and you have Kobe. You said it to every what
• 7:31
  everything we're hearing is Mike's back next year, better or
• 7:36
  worse. I don't know how that's going to
• 7:38
  turn out, but you know. It's going to be hard to build a
• 7:42
  roster with what is effectively a lame duck coach.
• 7:46
  So unless we get a situation where we get some sort of
• 7:51
  coaching waiting type announcement in, you know, the
• 7:54
  next month or two where they can kind of build off of that.
• 7:59
  I'm very concerned about getting the players in here because if
• 8:02
  if you're looking at building a roster with a lame duck coach,
• 8:07
  you're talking about constructing it with a bunch of
• 8:10
  guys that are only there for a year.
• 8:14
  May or may not. You know, their focus may not be
• 8:18
  on winning the ACC, on making it to the turn with their focus may
• 8:22
  just be on getting getting enough time out there to take
• 8:27
  that next step. Right.
• 8:28
  So I don't know if you're going to necessarily be able to build
• 8:30
  a team with that, with that mindset that can do the things
• 8:36
  you want to do from the, you know, end goal, which is to go
• 8:41
  out there and try to try to win the ACC and and make it to the
• 8:44
  tournament. It's going to be a very
• 8:45
  difficult, difficult path for for that team in that situation.
• 8:50
  Like I said, unless you get a a coach in waiting type situation
• 8:54
  in the next couple of months. We'll see, we'll see.
• 8:59
  That's all we can do is see and wait.
• 9:00
  And in a way hope, because you do hope the coaching waiting
• 9:04
  happens because like you said, Brian, that at least gives the
• 9:07
  stability of what's going to go on forward if Mike Young chooses
• 9:11
  to potentially retire maybe in the next year or two.
• 9:15
  All right, so Colby, we brought you in.
• 9:17
  We've got to talk football. We've got to talk recruiting
• 9:20
  from all angles, both Portal and obviously the class of 2027,
• 9:26
  which is just getting kicked off.
• 9:28
  So I'll start out here. You guys, you Evan matey, you
• 9:34
  guys were the absolutely lifeblood of Portal information.
• 9:37
  Those updates, your tweets, the the tracker.
• 9:41
  The tracker is the greatest thing you'll have.
• 9:43
  Like I just go to you or one of y'all's page.
• 9:45
  Let me see who we offered. Does it make sense?
• 9:48
  You guys crushed it in all facets.
• 9:51
  So a tip of the cap to the entire 247 and you especially.
• 9:56
  But I'm going to preface this by some of the questions we're
• 9:58
  going to ask about the portal. Some's going to be spin State
• 10:00
  Pacific's fun are going to be not because we took so many Penn
• 10:03
  State guys, but let's let's let's take Penn State transfers
• 10:08
  out of it. You know, you got to get your
• 10:10
  list to me. Like, let me throw that behind
• 10:11
  me because there's a bunch of them here.
• 10:15
  Taking them out of the equation, which of the players who landed
• 10:19
  at Virginia Tech, non Penn State to me had the to you had the
• 10:22
  most interesting journey as you started looking at their back
• 10:25
  story and where they were coming from and maybe where they were
• 10:27
  out of high school? Yeah, that's a great question.
• 10:31
  First off, thank you guys. I appreciate it.
• 10:33
  The transfer portal is pretty crazy those first couple days.
• 10:38
  I mean, even years passed every time that cycle opens.
• 10:42
  Thankfully this year wasn't like during the semester and like
• 10:45
  final season because you're getting like maybe 4 hours of
• 10:48
  sleep, you know, your phones buzzing, like I'm scared to show
• 10:53
  any loved ones my screen time during that.
• 10:55
  So it is definitely, I mean, it's a well, yeah, look, it's a
• 10:58
  it's a great time, but it's also very wild ride.
• 11:00
  You're hanging on. So it was crazy.
• 11:03
  Now going back to your question though, there's a couple
• 11:05
  different guys like one that I think of that I think not from
• 11:08
  Penn State, but it's going to be an impact guy and has a little
• 11:10
  bit of a crazy journey. Keshawn Brown coming from Duke
• 11:13
  had a very good season there. Duke obviously the ACC champion
• 11:17
  and he was the one where he camped at Virginia Tech.
• 11:20
  You know, it's from Kernsville, North Carolina, I believe.
• 11:23
  E Forsyth High School, I think might be talking out of turn
• 11:25
  there, but he camped at Virginia Tech when he was coming out and
• 11:28
  Fontel Mines, I believe it was that first year with Brent pride
• 11:31
  when mines was on staff and mines didn't offer him that wide
• 11:34
  receiver coming out of the camp right now.
• 11:36
  He goes on to Duke the in state school and does what he does all
• 11:40
  ACC caliber player and then coming out of the portal.
• 11:42
  That's kind of how mines entry point is like, look, man, I'm
• 11:45
  sorry, it was a mis eval. I should have offered you.
• 11:47
  So I think that's one that's interesting.
• 11:49
  Not from Penn State and I think you know, he's going to factor
• 11:51
  pretty early right there in the slot position.
• 11:53
  You've seen what he's been able to do in the conference already.
• 11:56
  Another one I think is Justin Terry, who's also someone I
• 11:59
  think he'd contribute pretty early, Ohio State transfer
• 12:01
  offensive tackle. And his relationship goes back
• 12:04
  with Matt Moore. Matt Moore's been at Virginia
• 12:06
  Tech now for a couple years and Justin Terry was recruited to
• 12:09
  West Virginia under Matt Moore. Now, when Moore jumped and you
• 12:12
  saw guys like Cal Tuner, Lucas Austin and Tomas Remack follow,
• 12:18
  I guess Terry, you know, decided to go to Ohio State, follow
• 12:21
  Tyler Bowen over there, go play for Ryan Day and then, you know,
• 12:26
  found his way back to Virginia Tech this last cycle.
• 12:29
  So I think that is definitely one to watch.
• 12:34
  I think those are two names to watch.
• 12:36
  Trying to think about some other names.
• 12:39
  Cortez Harris, he visited Virginia Tech in the past, edge
• 12:42
  rusher from Penn State. Another one I think is the edge
• 12:45
  position continues to flush out, but he went to Penn State.
• 12:47
  So I know we weren't talking Penn State guys.
• 12:49
  Justin Bell, I believe, had a relationship with Matt Moore but
• 12:52
  chose Michigan State over West Virginia.
• 12:54
  I believe that was one of his final groups, the Michigan State
• 12:57
  transfer offensive tackle. And I'm trying to think about
• 13:01
  who else has a connection. I think those are some of the,
• 13:05
  yeah. Go ahead, go ahead, go.
• 13:08
  Ahead, No, I I think that was kind of it.
• 13:10
  And then Eric Mensa, the last one I'll say is the one who was
• 13:13
  obviously committed to Virginia Tech out of high school, right.
• 13:16
  And then in terms of Ohio State and then found this way back.
• 13:18
  So just broad stroke, like you said, interesting stories.
• 13:21
  I would say those guys Mensa was committed to Tech and then when
• 13:24
  oh, sorry, the the statue of Virginia Tech and Ohio State at
• 13:27
  the time. And even still, you know, it's
• 13:29
  they're still kind of on two different playing fields on
• 13:31
  James Franklin has raised the floor there.
• 13:33
  But you know, flipping to Ohio State.
• 13:34
  I would say those were the most interesting storylines from the
• 13:38
  transfers. Yeah.
• 13:40
  I know when we were doing a lot of the kind of the breakdown of
• 13:43
  the, the guys that that were targets, you know, Terry was the
• 13:46
  guy that we were really excited about you not only because you
• 13:50
  know, the tackle room needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.
• 13:55
  You know, we saw the the lack of depth last year be a big issue,
• 14:00
  especially as injury stacked up as the season went along.
• 14:03
  Rebuilding that tackle room certainly seemed like a priority
• 14:06
  for Matt Moore and for for Coach Franklin.
• 14:09
  So excited to see him in the building.
• 14:11
  And I know that's one that dragged on.
• 14:13
  I'm trying to think I know we'll get into it, but I remember when
• 14:15
  Ethan Grunkmeyer hadn't officially signed and people
• 14:18
  were losing. Their minds.
• 14:19
  In their minds, they were losing their minds.
• 14:22
  There was a there. Was a weak period there where it
• 14:24
  was like everyone was on edge because it was.
• 14:26
  It was right it. Came out national like the
• 14:29
  national guy said. Grung is expected to to sign
• 14:32
  with the Hokies and then radio silence. 8.
• 14:35
  Or 9 days, something like that. You know, it's been long enough.
• 14:38
  I'll tell you the the story on why the Grunk News originally
• 14:41
  broke, right was it was because for Beulah's agent had talked to
• 14:46
  reporters, right and said Gronk is going to Virginia Tech,
• 14:49
  right, Because for Beulah was out of the running there.
• 14:51
  Now this was before anything was signed, but it was well known
• 14:54
  right behind the scenes. So that's why the initial leak
• 14:56
  came out. So I mean at that point, that's
• 14:59
  why you make that reporting right.
• 15:00
  So now it's been enough, it's been a couple months now to say
• 15:03
  that, but throughout the process, people are like, is
• 15:07
  this school getting involved or that there there really was none
• 15:09
  of that back channeling going on.
• 15:11
  He was dealing with a a new agent as well in the process.
• 15:14
  He was working through, I guess NFL contracts or something and
• 15:16
  then red lighting some items. But there there was no wavering.
• 15:19
  And and that's how the initial news broke the week before.
• 15:22
  It was right after, I think it was midnight and it was after
• 15:25
  the Steelers Ravens game, and that was after the Anthony
• 15:28
  Midget news is broke. So that that game hinged on if
• 15:30
  Anthony Midget was going to make the Blacksburg in time.
• 15:33
  Man, it was just so hectic with people losing their mind.
• 15:36
  I think it's this feeling right here from one of our costume
• 15:40
  listeners, Jim. Yeah.
• 15:43
  We aren't used to having nice things happen.
• 15:45
  It's true. Like we're going to get the rug
• 15:47
  pulled out from us. It does feel like when when
• 15:50
  things start to go a little S, we definitely are used to, you
• 15:54
  know. Being it going really S being.
• 15:57
  On the wrong end of that. So I think, you know, the the
• 15:59
  pessimism certainly started to kick in pretty quick there.
• 16:03
  I just remember not not to cut you off, but to stay on that.
• 16:06
  I remember I got back from my trip.
• 16:08
  I I went out West like halfway through it to go snowboarding
• 16:10
  and I came back and I still see all this discourse and I
• 16:13
  remember I put in a crystal ball lock of 10 for Grunk Meyer and
• 16:17
  somehow that got people more up in arms like, oh, and it's not
• 16:20
  happening now. I was like here, Let let me like
• 16:23
  settle some concerns. I just.
• 16:24
  Remember, yeah, you thought you were doing the the Lord's work
• 16:27
  there. You're getting piled on.
• 16:30
  That's what we call, but I'm going to calm the waters.
• 16:32
  Instead, it's like you throw a giant boulder and it's like
• 16:37
  Jeezy, well. Let's.
• 16:39
  Let's let's do this because of the collective, at least this
• 16:44
  podcast, myself, Brian Talley, Shelton, we all thank Ethan
• 16:48
  Grotmeyer. Without a doubt the most
• 16:50
  important transfer, whether Penn State or outside Penn State.
• 16:54
  But I think I know you're going to answer this because you kind
• 16:57
  of you gave it away when you were talking a little bit
• 16:59
  earlier, but which other Penn State transfer do you believe is
• 17:02
  the key to this portal class? Yeah, I know we were talking
• 17:06
  Luke Reynolds. I mean Luke Reynolds, the one
• 17:08
  that jumps off the page, right? Just without thinking. 5 star
• 17:11
  guy out of high school has all the tools.
• 17:13
  Now, maybe he didn't put it together in full force at Penn
• 17:15
  State, but this is someone like this Thai house guy, right?
• 17:19
  And in early stuff and, and you know, their individual workouts
• 17:23
  as they've been able to do throwing now, granted with no
• 17:25
  pads on, no offensive install, you've heard really great things
• 17:28
  like, you know, Route 3, like a wide receiver wait is up there
• 17:33
  to block in line, like all the things you want to hear.
• 17:36
  And, and you saw some of that production at Penn State.
• 17:38
  I think that's a guy that you, you know what Ty Howe's going to
• 17:41
  want to do. You're going to see some 12
• 17:42
  personnel and this is an offense and you know, you hear 12
• 17:45
  personnel and you think, oh, stagnant, Look at what the Rams
• 17:48
  do, you know, like they run a lot of 12 personnel.
• 17:50
  It's a pretty explosive offense. They're they're still going to
• 17:52
  want to push the ball down the field, But I mean, it's going to
• 17:56
  be very tight and heavy. I think that's why retaining
• 17:58
  Benji Gosnell and also having Luke Reynolds is such an asset
• 18:01
  because they're both great pass catchers, right?
• 18:04
  They bring an element of surprise and that's what the
• 18:05
  tight end can do. You put in a linebacker on that
• 18:08
  guy, right? Like you, you want your tight
• 18:09
  end to be a better athlete than that linebacker creates a
• 18:11
  mismatch or or put a nickel on put whoever like both those guys
• 18:15
  create matchup problems. And and that's what Ty Howe
• 18:17
  continually says, right, like any good OC is, is not the
• 18:20
  shaping and curating their offense to the talent they have.
• 18:23
  And when you have that type of talent in the tight end room and
• 18:26
  not to not mention Jerickies Harrison, who had a really great
• 18:29
  year last year and they were very high on that was a big
• 18:31
  retention get some SEC schools knocking very aggressively at
• 18:34
  them that I don't think even a lot of people gave, you know,
• 18:38
  like thought to. So that tight end room is in the
• 18:40
  best shape it's been in. I mean, definitely in the front
• 18:43
  pride tenure and probably even stemming back a decade probably.
• 18:48
  Like I don't I don't even know like it's in a really, really
• 18:51
  good spot at other Penn State transfers.
• 18:53
  Like I said, I don't want to who could make an impact
• 18:57
  immediately. You have Gronk, you have Luke
• 18:59
  Reynolds, Keon Wiley at linebacker.
• 19:05
  I think that's going to be another one who's going to
• 19:06
  factor in that starting rotation.
• 19:08
  I know over on Vt scoop.com, it's like you think out loud
• 19:12
  because, you know, you hear some NFL feedback of Cable Spencer
• 19:14
  wanting to keep him inside, right?
• 19:16
  But he was sort of that natural star in front prize defense.
• 19:19
  And he's come on like there's no way he's not going to be one of
• 19:22
  the starting 3 linebackers. And I think Noah Chambers
• 19:25
  probably has an inside track at Mike just based on personnel and
• 19:28
  what he was able to show. Wiley is probably a little bit
• 19:31
  more ready inside than to go play outside.
• 19:36
  So if you want your best 3 backers, I think it's Keon
• 19:38
  Wiley, Noah Chambers and Caleb Spencer.
• 19:41
  But it's just, what does that rotation look like?
• 19:43
  So I think Wiley's going to play a ton of snaps.
• 19:44
  It's just where does it fit? And then the other one, Kenny
• 19:47
  Wilsley junior, they're a nickel.
• 19:50
  How does that factor? And I think it's going to be
• 19:51
  hard to keep Jamar Deloach off the field at nickel, some of
• 19:54
  those other young guys. But I think you're still going
• 19:56
  to see him take on quite a heavy snap share.
• 19:58
  But I would definitely say Ethan Gruckmeyer, like we said across
• 20:01
  the board, touches the ball every play.
• 20:03
  You don't have to look far in college football right now to
• 20:05
  know. Like, Indiana's a really great
• 20:08
  team. You go bring in a difference
• 20:09
  maker at quarterback. Look what happened.
• 20:11
  I mean, there's, there's so many examples of that, that
• 20:14
  quarterback just across football at every level can really be a
• 20:18
  difference maker. But I think Luke Reynolds and
• 20:21
  Keon Wiley are the two biggest names from Penn State to watch
• 20:23
  for the 2026 season. Yeah, yeah.
• 20:26
  I love that you said Luke, and and I love that what you were
• 20:28
  talking about there with the route tree in the passing game,
• 20:31
  because if there's one thing that we collectively talk about
• 20:35
  and feel like we didn't see enough is using that tight end
• 20:39
  to attack the seam of the defense.
• 20:41
  You, you know, getting them involved vertically in the
• 20:44
  passing game. And I feel like, you know, some
• 20:47
  of that was if you're going to do that, you've got to have an
• 20:50
  accurate quarterback because that's a difficult throw to
• 20:52
  make. So that's number one, right.
• 20:55
  Yep, you know, you feel probably a little bit better about taking
• 20:58
  those kind of shots with someone as accurate.
• 21:01
  That's showing the accuracy that that Gronk has to this point.
• 21:04
  But but getting a guy and now, you know, we we've seen Benji be
• 21:07
  able to do it in a limited capacity.
• 21:09
  Getting him matched up with Benji now, I think that's going
• 21:12
  to, you know, pay some pretty big dividends in the offense,
• 21:15
  being able to attack vertically up the seam with the new
• 21:18
  offense. And obviously I still think it's
• 21:20
  going to be a run first offense. I I think you're still, yeah,
• 21:23
  everything's going to go through the running back, But I think
• 21:25
  being able to attack at every level of the defense with the
• 21:30
  passing game is going to be a big asset.
• 21:32
  Let's flip it over. So we we talked about the Penn
• 21:34
  State guys coming in. Which of those non Penn State
• 21:38
  guys do you feel is going to be the most important heading into
• 21:40
  2026? Yeah, that's a really great
• 21:43
  question. My head goes a couple different
• 21:46
  places. We talked about Justin Terry a
• 21:48
  little bit at the top. What is that offensive tackle
• 21:50
  rotation look like? Logan Howlands going to miss a
• 21:52
  spring down with shoulder collarbone type deal or labrum.
• 21:59
  So that that's going to be something you know, because I
• 22:02
  think that would be a name to watch, right, because like
• 22:04
  people had him penciled in Justin Terry.
• 22:06
  Does he have heard really great things about him early?
• 22:10
  You know, Johnny Garrett, how does that tackle rotation?
• 22:12
  Because the offensive line, it starts with those five guys up
• 22:14
  front. Every, everyone's going to say
• 22:16
  that you can have the most accurate quarterback, but it
• 22:18
  starts with those five guys up front in what you want to do.
• 22:21
  So I think that's big. Another name I go to the edge
• 22:26
  rusher position because when you look at Virginia Tech a year
• 22:28
  ago, the offensive line couldn't protect and pass pro and they
• 22:32
  really didn't get a consistent effective pressure coming off
• 22:35
  the edge on defense. And you lost a guy like Antoine
• 22:38
  Powder Island who had what, 15 sacks to his name?
• 22:41
  And you just really didn't replace that.
• 22:43
  And, you know, it allowed defense.
• 22:45
  It just put so much pressure on the secondary and linebackers to
• 22:48
  make extra plays when the quarterback could just sit back
• 22:50
  there. So Ajabian Hilson, Sam Okolola,
• 22:53
  the late transfer from Colorado, Like, dude, are those two guys
• 22:56
  are starting edges come VMI? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't
• 22:59
  rule it out. You know, like I've heard good
• 23:01
  things from Jason Abbey returning.
• 23:02
  But I think those two guys along the defensive line now you feel
• 23:05
  good on the inside. A lodge fall, Kamari Copeland,
• 23:08
  Emmy Law stepping up. Like you've got more experience
• 23:11
  there, but you kind of need a difference maker at pass rusher.
• 23:14
  So I think getting those guys in the building and as well with
• 23:17
  backfilling Aderika on the interior, Cortez Harris, Malachi
• 23:21
  Williams, like that's a premier position.
• 23:24
  And you just brought in all those guys from Penn State to
• 23:27
  play edge as well. Got Dwight Victoria in here.
• 23:30
  Shout out try to tell them about the offensive line and, and
• 23:33
  yeah, and like we, I know we're talking about portal
• 23:35
  specifically, but then they went and recruited what, 7 in high
• 23:38
  school? Like that's the way it needed to
• 23:39
  be done because they brought in 5 / 2 cycles with Ron Crook and
• 23:44
  it's just not an effective way to build out your board long
• 23:47
  term because for for better or for worse, some guys aren't
• 23:50
  going to pan out, some guys are going to transfer.
• 23:52
  You just have to over recruit there.
• 23:55
  So I think those are some names that I would definitely want.
• 23:58
  So it was hilarious. It was 7 freshmen, 4 portal, 11
• 24:04
  offensive lineman in effectively the first class of 27.
• 24:10
  Like it was basically roughly 1/4.
• 24:12
  Of and guess what Curtis, I don't I don't know your plans
• 24:14
  for April 18th or whatever, but when you watch that game,
• 24:17
  they're trying to get it to a point where you can have two
• 24:19
  teams now because. And.
• 24:22
  For the longest time, right, Like you just it's hard to hold
• 24:26
  even an effective practice, right?
• 24:27
  Like you can't even give your guys good looks in practice,
• 24:30
  right, if you just don't have the numbers.
• 24:32
  And that's the biggest thing. It's like he said, how are you
• 24:34
  getting better if you're putting these guys on like you just
• 24:37
  didn't have the numbers there. And like you've heard of that
• 24:39
  different ranks in this day and age with how talent is getting
• 24:42
  spread out with, I mean, even with the rosters here in the one
• 24:44
  O 5 you've heard like you can't run effective practice if you
• 24:47
  don't like. So that's why you have to get
• 24:50
  those guys in the building and build it up, especially from the
• 24:53
  high school ranks, I think. But to do what they did in the
• 24:55
  portal. Michael Troutman, I know you've
• 24:57
  got a pretty good center in Kyle Altuner.
• 24:59
  I think people are really high on him.
• 25:01
  I think, I mean, personally, like I think he's a really nice
• 25:04
  player there. But Michael Troutman have heard
• 25:05
  nice things about him at center. They've they've just completely
• 25:09
  overhauled the room and I think you'll see dividends in practice
• 25:13
  and getting those good looks that you want.
• 25:15
  Yeah, getting the good looks, being able to do like for Brett
• 25:19
  Prize defense this year, it's being able, I want to be able to
• 25:22
  do what I want to do. And I want it to be against
• 25:24
  competition that might actually slow us down.
• 25:28
  Yeah, that is always a plus. Can I ask a quick question about
• 25:31
  let's go back to Javion Hilson. You mentioned the war.
• 25:33
  Yeah, Cali's not here. So I get to get on Cali's
• 25:37
  soapbox. So Javion Hilson coming out of
• 25:39
  high school only one year ago was a borderline 5 star.
• 25:44
  When he goes into the portal, he doesn't get much playing time at
• 25:46
  Missouri. It's expected.
• 25:48
  They're an SEC school. They are a pretty good school.
• 25:52
  Last year, I think at the end they wavered whatever.
• 25:55
  But how does the how does that go into the transfer ranking?
• 25:58
  Because I think when when we all heard his name, it was like, OK,
• 26:02
  he's a 97, he's a borderline 5 star.
• 26:05
  He's coming here. And then it's like he's a mid
• 26:08
  three star. I don't quite get that.
• 26:11
  Like, if he had played significant reps, absolutely.
• 26:15
  And he didn't look good. Yeah, he's got to go to him.
• 26:18
  He's not that. This is a guy who was a true
• 26:20
  freshman, right? Yeah, He was a true freshman
• 26:23
  last year. Right.
• 26:23
  But what what goes into the the transfer rankings just so we can
• 26:27
  make Tally who's hopefully safe in Alabama and all the bad
• 26:31
  activity down there a little bit happier?
• 26:34
  Yeah, hopefully. First off, first and foremost,
• 26:36
  prayers to Tally and everyone affected by any of the Tornadoes
• 26:39
  going through. It seems like the whole Midwest
• 26:41
  right now, but no, yeah, for Jamie Hilson, you look at him
• 26:45
  for the 24/7 sports ranking was a top 80 prospect.
• 26:48
  I believe he had a 95 grade on him coming out of high school at
• 26:51
  height, weight, speed measure rules.
• 26:53
  When you look at him, it's like, Yep, that's a guy, right?
• 26:55
  Like, I mean, you, you cut on the tape as well.
• 26:58
  And you see that now the transfer ranking process, right?
• 27:00
  Like you're you're ranking 3035 hundred guys in a two week span,
• 27:04
  right. So I'm not on the scouting team
• 27:07
  person. I know Cooper Patagna and his
• 27:09
  boys, you know, I commend them. I forgot I text him.
• 27:13
  I mean, I've texted him between now and then, but I remember
• 27:15
  when it was all said and done, I was like, wow, man, I hope
• 27:17
  you're all right because everyone's busy in it.
• 27:20
  But I mean, trying to watch, evaluate and get grades out and
• 27:23
  all these players as they're committing, it's, it's, it's a
• 27:26
  very busy time now. Like I said, things flip through
• 27:29
  the cracks. I think they've finished with
• 27:30
  the 87 transfer rating on 24/7. I'm not sure what other services
• 27:33
  had, but yeah, that's maybe one that probably left a little bit
• 27:37
  to be desired because he just didn't play much right.
• 27:39
  Like he was behind, I believe Damon Wilson, who is, you know,
• 27:44
  kind of a really good player down there, sat behind some some
• 27:47
  pretty good talents on that drink wits his team defense.
• 27:51
  So yeah, I I know if Tally was here, I'd probably just have to
• 27:55
  throw in the hat and say I'm not on the scouting team, but we'll
• 27:59
  see how it plays out. We'll see if he's vindicated in
• 28:02
  that ranking or not. I think he's going to outplay
• 28:03
  his ranking at Virginia Tech by the time it's all said and done.
• 28:07
  Yeah, I mean that that's good to hear.
• 28:08
  I mean, you know, when you see a guy that was ranked at high
• 28:11
  coming out of high school, you know, still very young, a lot of
• 28:13
  eligibility left. So, yeah, hoping that he's going
• 28:16
  to come in, take the steps that he needs to.
• 28:20
  Definitely he's going to get an opportunity which is, you know,
• 28:23
  early on something he didn't really get as much of at
• 28:26
  Missouri. So we certainly have a, a, a
• 28:30
  hole to fill there for him to, to slide in and and and get a
• 28:32
  lot of opportunities pretty quick.
• 28:35
  Yeah. I mean, 63241 like that.
• 28:38
  That's yeah. That's that's exactly what you
• 28:40
  want. That's exactly what you want.
• 28:43
  Let let me ask this before we kind of pivot to, to something
• 28:45
  else. Yeah, You know, you've got this,
• 28:49
  you got this transfer portal tracker, you're kind of
• 28:51
  following all these guys. You got all these conversations
• 28:54
  going on. Was there a commit that kind of
• 28:58
  snuck up on you that you hadn't heard any rumblings or any of
• 29:01
  that? And all of a sudden, you know,
• 29:03
  you, you see things start to come out that, oh, this guy's
• 29:06
  coming to come to Virginia Tech. I would say the biggest surprise
• 29:10
  of the cycle, without really thinking too hard about it was
• 29:12
  Logan Howland. That was one that was super out
• 29:15
  of left field. Really not much like worrying or
• 29:20
  or whatever signs talking to different people.
• 29:22
  Logan Howland was one that was kind of way out of left field.
• 29:25
  I think I was really maybe the only one that kind of caught us
• 29:27
  by surprise. And you know, he's a guy, you
• 29:30
  know, obviously dealing with the injury, but you know, you bring
• 29:33
  that guy in to be a tackle, right?
• 29:35
  And probably be in that starting 5 somewhere Now.
• 29:37
  We'll we'll see when he's able to get back to football
• 29:40
  activities. But I think that was the biggest
• 29:41
  one. That was no real heads up or you
• 29:44
  weren't really tracking and it was just like, oh, wow, there he
• 29:46
  is. He signed like he's not
• 29:48
  committed, like, oh, he's time. So that was a real stealth
• 29:51
  visitor. All the other ones, I mean, you
• 29:54
  had pretty good beats on and you saw that in the crystal balls
• 29:57
  and some different notes or even if you weren't putting in
• 29:59
  crystal balls, like, hey, keep an eye here.
• 30:02
  I'm trying to think about any that were really off the wall.
• 30:06
  I think all the other ones were pretty wrapped up.
• 30:07
  A lot of the Penn State guys, you know, there were, there was,
• 30:11
  there was writing on the wall, but.
• 30:16
  Ali's phone's working. Yeah.
• 30:21
  That's good. That's good.
• 30:22
  We we know that he's safe right now.
• 30:26
  Pause. But I think Jacquizz White, you
• 30:30
  know, that was one that was visiting, But you know, it
• 30:32
  looked like Tennessee might have had the inside track.
• 30:33
  But I think really, Logan Howland was the only big
• 30:35
  surprise. OK, I I like that.
• 30:38
  I mean, you know, when we looked at the offensive line like it,
• 30:41
  it, it had to be done like there.
• 30:43
  Was. Oh yeah.
• 30:44
  There, there was nothing that, you know, there, there wasn't
• 30:48
  enough bodies that you could bring in and, and be like, Oh,
• 30:50
  that's too many. Like I, I, I wanted another
• 30:53
  guard. I mean, I, I, I know I talked on
• 30:55
  here and I was like, I, I would have loved to see one more guard
• 30:57
  come in with, you know, some, you know, some playing time at
• 31:00
  another stop just to feel a little bit better about it.
• 31:03
  But you know, you got, you know, a center now coming in, you got
• 31:07
  a, you know, a handful of tackles coming in.
• 31:09
  I think that was probably tackle was the room that we had to
• 31:11
  address absolutely there. Was and they did that question
• 31:14
  there. I think I think guards
• 31:15
  interesting like Brody Meadows, Lathe Ganda, Montavius
• 31:18
  Cunningham, those got right. But like you need those guys to
• 31:21
  stay healthy because it's going to be one way or another.
• 31:24
  I don't see a way where not all three of those guys play a
• 31:27
  significant number of snaps. Now I'm not sure if they stay
• 31:30
  healthy for 12 or 13 games, great, but.
• 31:34
  And they got the problem with all three of them.
• 31:35
  Exactly like Bernie, Bernie still like just getting back it
• 31:39
  sounds like, you know, like was out since last campus just
• 31:41
  getting back ready to roll here before spring.
• 31:44
  Montavious was obviously dinged up.
• 31:45
  I've heard really great things about him.
• 31:47
  And then Leith, you know, Leith had the the deal two years ago
• 31:50
  with the slain. Like, you know, so it's just
• 31:53
  been that revolving door and then that guard like, I guess
• 31:57
  you'd kick out some of those other guys.
• 31:58
  But I see what you're saying there.
• 31:59
  I think a lot of these guys that were listed as tackles in this
• 32:03
  high school class will eventually end up moving inside.
• 32:05
  Yeah, I I can see at least at least one of those guys for sure
• 32:09
  moving inside and it it's nice to you know, with the portal
• 32:14
  ads, even with Howlin, you know, probably missing most are all
• 32:17
  the spring. It's it's nice to have guys that
• 32:21
  you feel like they're not necessarily plug and play, but
• 32:25
  they should slot in kind of ahead of at least everybody not
• 32:29
  named Johnny Garrett probably at the tackle position with, with
• 32:32
  with what we brought in in the portal.
• 32:34
  Yeah, I fully agree. And I mean, no one's guaranteed
• 32:38
  anything. And I feel like that is being
• 32:39
  relayed very clearly. Like no one, no one is
• 32:42
  guaranteed anything at like, Logan Howland, Justin Terry, at
• 32:45
  least I know Logan's dinged up, but Justin Terry, like, I think
• 32:47
  that's definitely a name to watch here as we get closer to
• 32:49
  fall camp. Like if he can put it all
• 32:51
  together, like that's someone you know, I think he's the real
• 32:56
  deal. Let me ask you this.
• 32:59
  Where you going to? Say, Curtis, were you going to
• 33:01
  take that one? Yeah, I was going to take this
• 33:02
  next. One.
• 33:03
  OK, Yeah, got it. Yeah.
• 33:04
  It's just you're looking at the, you know, the balance of the
• 33:09
  remaining eligibility with this portal class.
• 33:12
  I thought that was an interesting approach that James
• 33:15
  Franklin took. You got, you know, a couple
• 33:17
  older guys, but yeah, most of the guys with at least two years
• 33:20
  of eligibility left. When we look at that, it's
• 33:26
  interesting to see are some of the guys with that a lot of
• 33:29
  eligibility left? Are those guys that you think
• 33:31
  you're going to play kind of significant roles at the gate or
• 33:33
  that more of a looking towards 2027 and, and, and kind of
• 33:38
  looking past, not necessarily looking past this year, but but
• 33:41
  looking beyond just this year in terms of the roster
• 33:43
  construction. Yeah, that's a really great
• 33:45
  question. I got asked this on my show, a
• 33:48
  couple. It was last Monday, I think it
• 33:50
  was episode 70 of Colby's Corner, and it was a great
• 33:52
  question. It was like how James Franklin
• 33:55
  kind of attacked his portal. Like, I think this is by far
• 33:57
  going to be his biggest portal class at Virginia Tech ever.
• 34:00
  And like when you look at what he did at Penn State, I don't
• 34:02
  think he ever took more than 7 over the last three years when
• 34:04
  it's really been this transfer portal era.
• 34:07
  And all those guys mostly that he took at Penn State were
• 34:10
  contributors at their school, like even either at a lower
• 34:12
  level or even at a Power 4 level.
• 34:15
  But guys, you know, you kind of knew what their what their
• 34:17
  standing was, right? Like not a flyer, a guy with
• 34:20
  three years left, more of just a plug and play.
• 34:22
  And obviously the scenario is different here at Virginia Tech.
• 34:25
  You're building out an entire roster and you need to backfill.
• 34:28
  You can't just bring in 31 year guys.
• 34:31
  You're going to be back in that boat next year, right?
• 34:33
  So I think it's definitely a little bit different.
• 34:34
  I wouldn't say that's the strategy moving forward.
• 34:37
  Now, for example, Matthew Henderson in that tight end
• 34:40
  room, they completely rebuilt that tight end room to a degree
• 34:43
  that Virginia Tech hasn't been in.
• 34:45
  But you've got Jaricus, Benji and Luke already ahead of him.
• 34:48
  But that's going to be a really quality player soon, right?
• 34:50
  So you you had to bring in that quality depth.
• 34:53
  Like I think of Justin Bell. I think they like him at tackle
• 34:56
  and you had to rebuild that offensive line room.
• 34:58
  Is he expected to play 600 snaps this year?
• 35:00
  No, I don't think anywhere close to that.
• 35:02
  But you know, they like his profile to bring him in with
• 35:04
  four years left. Javion Hilson, I think it's a
• 35:07
  little bit different. That's the guy with four years
• 35:09
  who I think you could see play in factory in immediately.
• 35:13
  So it varies a little bit, but I would definitely say a lot of it
• 35:16
  is projecting forward. Now that's not to say that
• 35:18
  they're punting on this year. They still build out this roster
• 35:21
  very effectively with weapons and along the lines to go and
• 35:25
  compete immediately in the ACC. But look, I mean, if you're the
• 35:30
  CEO of a company and you're a shareholder, you don't want to
• 35:33
  know that you're putting all your chips in for Q4 like this
• 35:37
  year, right? Like like, OK, this year and
• 35:39
  then you know what, whatever happens the next the next cycle,
• 35:43
  like. All right, yeah.
• 35:46
  But it's really funny, though. Again, like we are looking at it
• 35:49
  and we say, man, we we we have all these kind of younger guys,
• 35:53
  multiple years of eligibility. And then he's got to just start
• 35:55
  thinking. But there's Queshawn Brown.
• 35:57
  He's got two years left. You know how Long's got Two
• 36:01
  years. These are guys who have played
• 36:02
  significant snaps in the D1 level in high level games.
• 36:06
  And it's like, wait a second. Well, if he slips in here and he
• 36:09
  does this and he does this and this guy, whoa, wait a second.
• 36:13
  What Brian said earlier, the issues where we had last year
• 36:16
  were slowly filling in. Like, you know, we're not
• 36:18
  worried about the interior defensive line that that was
• 36:21
  fine last year. Elijah Fall comes back, Kamari
• 36:23
  Copeland back, you know, and that's where it's like, you
• 36:27
  don't want to get all your bags in one basket.
• 36:29
  But to James Franklin credit, he's put enough in of
• 36:32
  experience, guys, for this year in the right spots where we're
• 36:36
  getting a little bit of hope. Like it's a little bit of hope
• 36:38
  to say, you know what, if certain things click, the spots
• 36:42
  where we struggled with last year are filled, Yeah,
• 36:46
  Quarterback upgrade, slot receiver, better tie it in.
• 36:49
  You're bringing back running backs.
• 36:50
  We had really good season. So cornerback.
• 36:52
  Room, but then two again. What you just said, Polby, we
• 36:56
  couldn't put 30 players out there.
• 36:58
  God, we'll rebuild them again. It's like, well, we could be
• 37:00
  good in 26, but wait a second, we could still be good in 27.
• 37:04
  And then you keep looking. It's like there's not like the
• 37:08
  right now, there's not where you feel like there's a fall off.
• 37:12
  It's like he's truly trying to build it out for a long term
• 37:16
  run. Yeah, and this almost sounds bad
• 37:18
  to say, but it's almost like a formula for successful programs,
• 37:22
  right? Like.
• 37:23
  You recruit. You recruit like 20-5 really
• 37:27
  good guys in that top 25, top 20 ish high school rank and look,
• 37:31
  those guys are going to transfer out right?
• 37:32
  But if you stack those classes year after year and you continue
• 37:36
  to hit your spots in the portal and you get a quarterback you
• 37:38
  can get behind, like the secret formula, Yeah, you bring in
• 37:42
  really great coaching like Indiana and a high swing
• 37:45
  quarterback and you can win. But like these programs that are
• 37:48
  relatively at the top, good coaching, which Franklin has
• 37:51
  proven to do was what, a game away from the national
• 37:54
  championship a year ago. And, you know, bringing in
• 37:58
  talent and evaluation, which he's obviously shown in his time
• 38:01
  at Penn State and, and, and two weeks at Virginia Tech was able
• 38:04
  to get their highest class in 15 years at least.
• 38:09
  So like I said, it almost sounds like asinine for me to say, oh,
• 38:13
  well, that's but yeah, it's really how you kind of need to
• 38:15
  build it. And I I think they've laid a
• 38:17
  really good foundation. They've built out a really nice
• 38:19
  staff on the back end that Virginia Tech, at least I know
• 38:22
  Penn State certainly has had. Virginia Tech has not had in
• 38:25
  that recruiting arm and especially even on the field
• 38:27
  coaches with their recruiting acumen, I think they've done an
• 38:30
  incredible job. And I mean, I don't see it
• 38:32
  slowing down anytime soon like I would.
• 38:34
  This 27 class is certainly, I'm going to be 1 to watch.
• 38:37
  And I think, you know, they, they've still got a lot of work
• 38:39
  to do. You're drinking from a fire
• 38:40
  hose. The transportal is nice because
• 38:42
  you have all these connections from Penn State.
• 38:44
  That 26 class is nice because you have all those Penn State
• 38:47
  commits, right? So it's kind of easy.
• 38:49
  But now, hey, look, it's fully Virginia Tech now, and you're
• 38:52
  still getting your bearing in the state.
• 38:55
  You know, you can come down from Penn State, and Virginia's a
• 38:58
  nicety, but now it's a necessity, right?
• 39:00
  And. I, and I think too, I was just
• 39:04
  going to just throw this in real quick.
• 39:05
  I think too, one of the things that Franklin has shown a really
• 39:10
  high acumen at in his time at Penn State in this transfer
• 39:14
  portal era is he retains a lot of his players in in those
• 39:20
  transfer portal cycles. So, you know, when we talk about
• 39:23
  the guys coming in, I don't anticipate at least at this
• 39:26
  stage that, you know, after 2026 that these guys that we brought
• 39:32
  in with, you know, 2-3 years of eligibility are going to be
• 39:34
  looking for another stop. So you're really just talking
• 39:38
  about next year's transfer portal.
• 39:40
  To your point, Colby, looking at, you know, a much smaller
• 39:44
  transfer portal class because you're really only kind of
• 39:46
  filling in those holes versus having to fully rebuild a roster
• 39:49
  and kind of compensate for the fact that the 24 and 25 classes
• 39:53
  probably weren't where you wanted talent level, especially
• 39:56
  at offensive line. Without a doubt.
• 39:59
  I mean that that's, that is the point, right?
• 40:01
  Like I think you'll see. I think hopefully with some of
• 40:04
  the stuff they're trying to implement, you'll see more of
• 40:06
  this like. A premium on retention, which is
• 40:10
  already right. It's not always who you bring
• 40:11
  in, it's who you keep, right? And I think you're going to see
• 40:13
  more of that. And if that's where, you know,
• 40:16
  really talent evaluation is going to become paramount, and
• 40:19
  that's really going to evaluate the best schools who, you know,
• 40:22
  thrive in this environment. Appreciate that.
• 40:27
  All right, before we, we're going to talk a little 2027 as
• 40:30
  we get near the end here, but there is one situation if you
• 40:33
  feel comfortable talking about it and everything that went
• 40:36
  down, the Kamarian Morgan situation, what went down?
• 40:39
  Was there ever a point that he could have still been a Hokie?
• 40:45
  Was there anything that could have kept him here Because he
• 40:48
  looked like again, he was 64250 look like a stud edge guy coming
• 40:53
  out of Baylor. But what hey, do you feel like,
• 40:57
  can you talk about it? Do you feel comfortable that
• 40:59
  we're far enough off of it now? Yeah, I mean, like I'll
• 41:02
  definitely talk about, I just don't think like of all the
• 41:04
  stories of like the Grummeyer one, like I touched on earlier,
• 41:06
  like there's some juicy stuff that happened certainly.
• 41:09
  And like I'll, I'll we'll have to come back on and when I brain
• 41:12
  dump it all. But this one, I really just
• 41:13
  don't think it was as exciting or there was that much to it as
• 41:16
  people thought. Right.
• 41:17
  So the news comes out that Kim Morgan, he's already in
• 41:20
  Blackbird greatly. He's already there, but he can't
• 41:23
  enroll because his grades aren't there.
• 41:25
  And, and I know he went back and, you know, amended it and
• 41:30
  got his grade change from Baylor.
• 41:33
  Why is he still not signed at, at these other institutions?
• 41:37
  Like it was really just an issue of those grades and the way he
• 41:41
  built out his schedule. Now coming from Baylor, it's a
• 41:43
  little bit tougher, but just really like, you still have to
• 41:46
  be able to get into the school. And it was right after the news
• 41:49
  drop that Virginia Tech was not going to get him through
• 41:52
  admissions issue with the admissions process that a Big 10
• 41:56
  school tried to trip him immediately.
• 41:57
  It was one look at the transcripts and they were like,
• 42:02
  Yep, no shot here. So now I think a lot of people
• 42:05
  were like, OK, why? How did this go this far?
• 42:08
  How did this not get checked before?
• 42:10
  But I honestly, like, I know it was like, James Franklin must be
• 42:13
  so frustrated with Burris. I think it was an understanding
• 42:15
  on all fronts. I mean, like genuinely like
• 42:17
  that. That's where a lot of the
• 42:18
  frustration is because you've seen it in your past with Ramon
• 42:21
  Brown. I'm trying to think about
• 42:23
  Hellcat. I remember, I can't even think
• 42:26
  of his name from down in Roanoke.
• 42:27
  I know that was another one. But you know, there, there have
• 42:30
  been multiple instances where Virginia Tech can't get a guy
• 42:33
  admitted and you see what he goes on to do at different
• 42:36
  institutions. But this was one where he still
• 42:39
  is not signed. Very highly rated prospect,
• 42:42
  right? Did not see much on field
• 42:44
  production there at Baylor and then just did not have the the
• 42:47
  transcripts, transcripts or grades to get in.
• 42:50
  So really, I'm trying to there's not much more beyond it than
• 42:54
  that. It was just they couldn't get
• 42:55
  him into school and even other schools that tried to to pounce
• 42:58
  on it, once they saw that issue and they saw the transcript,
• 43:00
  they were like, yeah, yeah, we have no shot here either.
• 43:02
  So, yeah, yeah. I know West Virginia was making
• 43:05
  a pretty big run even, you know, later into February and still,
• 43:10
  you know, we haven't seen any, anything official on that yet.
• 43:14
  And you know what? I hope like situations like this
• 43:16
  shine the light on for all the kids who are going in and, and
• 43:20
  I'm not sure if it was grades or maybe classes, right, But if you
• 43:24
  are going to vision one, like any of these kids, wherever
• 43:26
  you're going, you need to have that stuff in order You, you
• 43:29
  honestly do. And that tells me, I'll say
• 43:33
  this, if I'm a if I'm a parent and I'm about to send my kid to
• 43:36
  Baylor, I'm going to be thinking twice, like, OK, OK, you know
• 43:42
  what? We just saw what happened to Cam
• 43:44
  Morgan. He came down here.
• 43:45
  He didn't get much PT, but he got his look, his body.
• 43:48
  He was a very high valuable commodity and the classes you
• 43:53
  made him take basically screwed him out of going anywhere else.
• 43:57
  Yeah, well, I mean, it's also a lot harder going from
• 43:59
  institution to institution, right?
• 44:01
  Like privately public school, like if you're going into Notre
• 44:03
  Dame or Stanford, if you're going to now, it definitely did
• 44:06
  him no favors right there. And especially the class had to
• 44:08
  let it built out, it sounds like.
• 44:09
  So there's a ton of factors, but I will say, like I said, I mean,
• 44:14
  they're the athletes are finally being compensated like they
• 44:16
  should, right? And we'll see what guardrails or
• 44:19
  whatever comes about it. But I think we can all agree
• 44:21
  that the product on the field is heavily influenced by them.
• 44:24
  Great. Still, until you CBA, whatever
• 44:28
  happens, I don't even know if that's going to come to to be.
• 44:30
  You're still students. And in this day and age, there
• 44:32
  are more people and more opportunities pretty much
• 44:36
  widespread across the border to online classes, tutors.
• 44:41
  I mean, it is almost, it is the easiest generation possible.
• 44:45
  I feel very confident saying to maintain grades and just kind of
• 44:50
  keep that. I know it's student athlete, but
• 44:53
  let's just say keep that on the side and and keep football as
• 44:56
  the priority. So that's definitely something
• 44:59
  that coaches watch, right? Like knowing, understanding and
• 45:02
  talking to different coaches about.
• 45:03
  So it's a shame it all played out that obviously he wasn't
• 45:06
  Blacksburg and that, you know, it, it developed so far.
• 45:08
  But something that really both parties I don't think should be
• 45:12
  up in arms about. Yeah.
• 45:16
  Just just one of those things that it didn't shake out the way
• 45:18
  anyone wanted. But but yeah, there, there
• 45:21
  wasn't necessarily ill will or anything like that from a
• 45:24
  process standpoint. It's just one of those things.
• 45:28
  Yeah. All right.
• 45:31
  Let's flip it. Let's talk a little 2027.
• 45:35
  Brian, go let you go with this one.
• 45:38
  You'll let me ride with this one.
• 45:39
  Let you. Jump on this.
• 45:40
  All right? All right.
• 45:42
  So we're going to talk. We're going to talk Virginia
• 45:44
  now. We're going to stay.
• 45:45
  We'll start with the state of Virginia.
• 45:46
  We got a lot of Virginia that's important.
• 45:49
  Who are some of the early favorites in the state that the
• 45:53
  Hokies have been targeting? I know you know, James Franklin
• 45:58
  kind of had to hit the ground running with with this class on
• 46:00
  top of closing out 26 and everything with the portal, but
• 46:03
  who are those guys to watch in the state that are high on the
• 46:06
  Hokie board? Yeah, I just said it on my show
• 46:09
  about an hour prior to this, and I wouldn't be shocked within the
• 46:12
  next week if I toss in a crystal ball.
• 46:14
  I feel really good about where Virginia Tech sits with number
• 46:16
  six player in the state, offensive tackle, Junior Sanders
• 46:19
  from Woodbury Forest, top offensive tackle in the state.
• 46:23
  Woodbury Forest is a program that Virginia Tech has made
• 46:26
  strides in in recent years. You look at Sheldon Robinson,
• 46:29
  they've done an incredible job with Junior Sanders for years
• 46:33
  now, but especially with, you know, James Franklin, he came to
• 46:35
  that Miami game. You look at Buddy Wagdome,
• 46:38
  Hudson's LPWO very close with him.
• 46:42
  Take there from Woodbury Forders.
• 46:43
  I think they sit in a really nice spot.
• 46:44
  He visited last week prior to Virginia Tech spring break.
• 46:49
  I wouldn't say anything jaw-dropping coming out of that
• 46:51
  visit. I just think they sit in a great
• 46:53
  spot and I think they positioned themselves super well.
• 46:56
  I don't see anyone else really making themselves get in the
• 46:58
  mix. He's he's on that first OB
• 47:00
  weekend. I really like where Virginia
• 47:02
  Tech sits could see a crystal ball.
• 47:04
  So that's one which is obviously another a nice four-star tackle.
• 47:09
  You you you love that someone I've been pounding the table for
• 47:12
  to be, you know, rated properly can ask Sullivan from the Saint
• 47:15
  James Academy up there in Springfield, VA.
• 47:18
  You got Overton coaching him up there.
• 47:22
  I think that's one where there's a ton of really big suitors.
• 47:25
  I think he is very underrated talent.
• 47:27
  Even still with a rankings bump in the state of Virginia, I
• 47:30
  think that's going to be a little bit of uphill battle.
• 47:33
  Chris Whitehead, the number one player in the state of Virginia
• 47:35
  Tech, was not a serious contender and Virginia Tech has
• 47:38
  definitely entered that mix. I would not be shocked to see
• 47:42
  them make a massive run at him to try and make a big statement
• 47:45
  in James Franklin's first cycle saying, hey, this is the type
• 47:49
  level we're on. I would definitely not rule that
• 47:51
  one out. Elijah Hutchinson, guy from down
• 47:53
  the road from Roanoke, originally reclassed, move down
• 47:57
  to Georgia, go to Raven Gap Prep School, and then come back up to
• 48:01
  North Cross and Roanoke. Like I said, you know, Clemson,
• 48:04
  Ohio State, a ton of big suitors there, but they're going to try
• 48:09
  and get him on campus a ton. Virginia Tech's going to be in
• 48:12
  the mix. Noah Glover I think we'll give
• 48:15
  Virginia Tech a good look. If I would were to put in the a
• 48:18
  prediction right now, I think Georgia's probably got the
• 48:20
  inside track there. They've done a really great job.
• 48:23
  Carter Jones, Clemson, Clemson, Clemson, but Virginia Tech's
• 48:27
  made a big push. But I would say as of right now,
• 48:30
  I still feel like Clemson has the inside track there.
• 48:32
  They've been doing so well for I feel like a year and a half now.
• 48:36
  James Franklin has completely changed the calculus on all of
• 48:38
  these, though, and I don't want that to be out ruled.
• 48:40
  Like what I said with Chris Whitehead should not go like
• 48:41
  under the radar. Like like James Franklin has
• 48:45
  completely changed the view. Like if I like if you got quotes
• 48:48
  or interviews from these guys, it's like, yeah, Virginia Tech
• 48:50
  state school, but it no, it's completely changed the outlook
• 48:53
  of it. I think Carter Jones will give
• 48:55
  them a fair look. He's the one who's going to want
• 48:57
  to commit early here in April. But I still like Clemson.
• 49:01
  I think Virginia Tech could be a close second there.
• 49:03
  And in the portal age, you never know, but I I like Clemson.
• 49:07
  We talked about junior Sanders, DeMarcus Brown.
• 49:09
  I think Virginia Tech's going to make a push to try and flip from
• 49:11
  Roanoke from Virginia. He's from Roanoke, committed to
• 49:17
  Virginia currently. I talked with him recently.
• 49:20
  Has no visits on the books. Virginia tried Virginia Tech
• 49:24
  tried to get him on campus there for a junior day, didn't get it.
• 49:27
  Ivy and Lewis has one to watch. I, I, I don't know.
• 49:30
  I thought I had a decent read on it.
• 49:32
  I thought Virginia Tech, South Carolina were sort of those two
• 49:34
  schools. We'll see now, you know, if
• 49:36
  Alabama offers, maybe that changes things.
• 49:38
  Ohio State, if he's a take there, I think at the end of the
• 49:42
  day is the one that if it stretches out and comes down the
• 49:44
  line, Virginia Tech, it's in a good spot, but I don't know, I
• 49:47
  know he's visiting Alabama. If they offer and it's a
• 49:49
  committable offer, I could see that changing a little bit.
• 49:52
  But I mean, it's someone that Fontelle Mines has known since
• 49:55
  he was in 8th grade, been in a great spot that one of that top
• 50:00
  OV weekend. So I know we're just going down
• 50:02
  the line, but Kamari Hudson, he was just at Clemson as well for
• 50:04
  the elite retreat, I believe is what they call it.
• 50:07
  He was going to be up in Blacksburg for junior day but
• 50:11
  wasn't able to make it was when all that snow was going on.
• 50:14
  So like a four and a half hour tripled.
• 50:15
  And in the books also, I think an underrated guy there.
• 50:18
  I think he could be close to the top five in the state.
• 50:22
  Actually just talked with him. Hang on, let's see.
• 50:27
  This is live television, UVA, Syracuse, Clemson, Tennessee, NC
• 50:32
  State, Virginia Tech, all kind of in the mix, but that's why
• 50:36
  he's really fleshing out a lot of the stops in these visits
• 50:38
  here. Virginia Tech fits well, but you
• 50:40
  know, you've got real competition there.
• 50:41
  So that's where these visits do kind of differentiate.
• 50:44
  You know, people want to talk about this NIL drive everything.
• 50:47
  Like nobody can kind of be the decider.
• 50:49
  You're really close on a lot of these schools as you come down
• 50:51
  the stretch. And it's just my new things.
• 50:54
  Are you close to a Chipotle? Are you close to like it's
• 50:57
  different for everyone what you're looking for, right?
• 50:59
  But so that was his list. I'm just going through some of
• 51:02
  the top guys. Sam Faneuil, tight end out of
• 51:04
  Benedictine. I know Ty Howe was in the in the
• 51:07
  CM, but his visit schedule is not sure.
• 51:09
  I think Virginia Tech can make a push there.
• 51:11
  They're also in it for tight end Jordan Karoff from Ohio, I
• 51:15
  believe, Rycove, offensive lineman Ethan Lawson.
• 51:18
  I don't expect Virginia Tech to be in the mix long term.
• 51:21
  I think West Virginia might have the inside track there.
• 51:23
  Brody McNeil committed to Ohio State, I don't see them flipping
• 51:26
  there. Matt Williams, corner from
• 51:28
  Norfolk, VA, I've seen him play a ton of times at UA Baltimore
• 51:31
  scrimmages at Morey football games.
• 51:34
  A dynamic athlete. He was playing quarterback for
• 51:35
  them. He's doing everything.
• 51:37
  Haven't heard much with Virginia Tech and Virginia Tech's had a
• 51:40
  really hard time breaking into Maury even with all their
• 51:43
  success. So one to track here, Zavon,
• 51:47
  Ziggy Miller from Huguenot. I think Virginia Tech's it's
• 51:49
  well there and then we'll just close it out with a couple names
• 51:52
  to watch. I think Derek Fisher, cousin of
• 51:55
  Michael Vick. I know we had Dwight Vick in the
• 51:57
  chat at Bethel High School. Really just elite athlete,
• 52:01
  probably projects as a safety committed to Virginia.
• 52:03
  I think Virginia Tech's going to make a big run there.
• 52:05
  They like him. And then as well with Lonnie
• 52:07
  Andrews, cousin Jamar Deloach committed to Virginia, you know,
• 52:12
  three-year starter at Oscar Smith High School.
• 52:14
  Now, I wouldn't be shocked to see Virginia Tech make a pretty
• 52:17
  big push. They tried to get him up for a
• 52:19
  junior day, still pushing. I talked with him not long ago.
• 52:22
  I know he's going back to Virginia, I believe March, late
• 52:25
  March and no other trips on the books yet.
• 52:27
  But I know Virginia Tech's pushing for it.
• 52:30
  So that's, I know I just said a lot.
• 52:32
  I just pulled up the list and kind of went down through the
• 52:34
  state, but I would say that's most of the state.
• 52:36
  Probably heat check. OK.
• 52:38
  He almost answered that the the question we had after this one
• 52:42
  nailed it. Like, who are we trying to flip?
• 52:44
  And as I'm looking, it's like that's the Eva guy.
• 52:47
  There's another Eva guy like we're just basically trying to
• 52:50
  flip some of those guys. But we'll, we'll ask that in a
• 52:53
  second. But let me ask this because I
• 52:55
  think you mentioned it. Chris Whitehead, you'll see Bird
• 53:00
  down not not far from me and Brian in 20-30 minutes down
• 53:04
  South out of Richmond. You said that's the target
• 53:08
  because you said the way I heard it is that's the most important
• 53:13
  guy in this class because if you get Chris Bird, number one
• 53:17
  player in the state, top 10 positionally Top 40 nationally.
• 53:21
  Yeah, stuck. What, what has to happen is
• 53:26
  there, does there have to be breaks?
• 53:29
  Is what has to happen to Landon, you think?
• 53:33
  Well, I mean, it's perception, right?
• 53:35
  Like I think that's the biggest thing.
• 53:36
  Like you can have rankings, your own eval of them or whatever,
• 53:39
  but you see that number one next to his name and like better or
• 53:43
  for worse in this day and age that that goes a long way
• 53:46
  socially, just just in general, you know, like it just does
• 53:49
  matter. It just really does.
• 53:51
  And like, I think that's why it's such a big deal.
• 53:52
  It's because they want to cement and stamp, Hey, this is Virginia
• 53:55
  Tech. We're not coming into our
• 53:56
  backyard anymore. I know Virginia Tech hasn't been
• 53:59
  accustomed to getting that number one guy in the class for
• 54:01
  cycles and cycles, but this is the way it is around here.
• 54:04
  What does it take? It takes an IL, right like that.
• 54:06
  That's obviously a really big factor in these recruitments.
• 54:09
  It takes staying consistent. You get them on that first
• 54:11
  official visit weekend, which is a really big sign already in the
• 54:15
  open periods, connecting with them, getting them up for a
• 54:17
  spring visit. You know, Richmond, shoot, I've
• 54:20
  been making the trip Richmond to Blacksburg here a lot recently.
• 54:23
  It's not that bad. You can get them on for spring
• 54:25
  practice, get them up for the spring game, you know, just
• 54:28
  working those details out. So I think it's that.
• 54:31
  And then obviously in this day and age, nil, right?
• 54:33
  They position themselves super big.
• 54:35
  And I think, you know, showing your vision.
• 54:38
  I said James Franklin changed the calculus like these.
• 54:40
  You can do everything right. But if they don't believe in
• 54:43
  your vision, then they believe Brent Pryor's a lame duck.
• 54:45
  And they they kind of see their writing on the wall.
• 54:48
  Yeah, that's a really tough hill to come down from.
• 54:49
  But James Franklin, they can see what he's building, the changes
• 54:53
  in merriment, what what he's sort of pitching.
• 54:56
  I think that's the biggest thing with him.
• 54:58
  And I I honestly wouldn't rule it out.
• 54:59
  Like, I'm not coming on here blowing smoke like Noah Glover.
• 55:01
  I don't see Virginia Tech getting in the mix with Canas
• 55:04
  Sullivan. I I could see it.
• 55:06
  I think he's going to have some really big suitors.
• 55:08
  Carter Jones. I don't know if Virginia Tech's
• 55:10
  going to do it, but I think Chris Whitehead is 1 where
• 55:13
  they're they're certainly in the mix.
• 55:14
  And only not only for the fact of that number one ranking,
• 55:17
  Nexter's name, they believe in the eval.
• 55:19
  Like, yeah, OK, 6324 like, yeah, that's a pretty good prospect,
• 55:22
  right? Like, but someone, especially
• 55:26
  with that ranking, with that stature, that standing, it's
• 55:29
  like it's kind of just putting the whole state and and you
• 55:33
  know, the whole Mid-Atlantic, the whole ACC, the whole
• 55:35
  whatever coastline on notice, like, all right, you're not
• 55:38
  going to come into our backyard anymore.
• 55:40
  This is what is to be expected with this staff.
• 55:43
  Let's talk about that a little bit more because you know, you,
• 55:45
  you get a guy like Whitehead say say that that comes to fruition.
• 55:49
  What are the tailwinds attached to that from a just a 26 class
• 55:55
  and potentially even looking forward to 27?
• 55:56
  I know someone like a like a Carter. 2728 Brown, 26, has
• 56:00
  already signed. Yeah, sorry, 2728.
• 56:03
  My bet. What?
• 56:04
  What does that look like? I know somebody like a Carter
• 56:07
  Jones who's committing in the next month and 1/2 or so, you
• 56:12
  know, that may not play a factor in his recruiting, but would
• 56:14
  something like that have tailwinds for the 27 class and
• 56:17
  how would how would that play for 28 as well?
• 56:19
  Without a doubt, that's what I'm saying.
• 56:20
  Like it, it's so massive, not only for 27 because you get that
• 56:23
  guy he rallies in, but I'm just talking about 28 projecting for
• 56:26
  the guy in middle school right now who's in Virginia or
• 56:28
  whatever. Like it's, it's great because
• 56:31
  it's my business, right? Like the, the, the graphic
• 56:33
  culture where you're on Instagram or Twitter and you see
• 56:35
  this big #1 Virginia going to Virginia Tech.
• 56:38
  But that's what it is. It's perception.
• 56:40
  It matters because that for a lot of people, that's their
• 56:42
  first touch point with Virginia Tech or, or that program.
• 56:44
  Like, oh, wow, I didn't know that.
• 56:46
  Like when you see Jared Curtis go to Vanderbilt or shoot, what
• 56:51
  was the other one? Deshawn Henderson to Houston or
• 56:55
  there's another one where is AI mean?
• 56:57
  Even Fernando Mendoza to Indiana or something like that, that
• 57:00
  stature where it's like that guy's going to this program that
• 57:03
  hasn't, you know, kind of recruited at that clip.
• 57:05
  Now you see USC, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia getting those
• 57:08
  guys like, OK, But when you start to see continued success
• 57:12
  on the trail, it's like, wow, we can stay close to home.
• 57:15
  We can represent our state at a program that's invested at in US
• 57:19
  at a younger age as opposed to out of state schools.
• 57:22
  Just naturally, like if Virginia Tech is not on guys in the state
• 57:25
  of Virginia before every other school, then that's on them,
• 57:28
  right? Like you, you can't let those
• 57:29
  guys go walking. So I think that's why it's so
• 57:32
  big. And yeah, 20 eights, 20 nines,
• 57:35
  30s, seeing that, parlaying that down the road, it's super big
• 57:39
  and and especially in the 27 class, I wouldn't say he's like
• 57:42
  the most vocal guy, but if you get that, it's like, OK, like
• 57:45
  we're doing this now. It's not a two year, three-year
• 57:47
  rebuild. Like they're they're really
• 57:49
  getting after it right now. Let's let's go hop on the
• 57:51
  bandwagon. Love that Curtis, what you got.
• 57:55
  Well, I'll ask this because you mentioned them all.
• 57:59
  If you had one guy to currently say that was committed and I'm
• 58:03
  going to go UVA because the ones you mentioned are committed, who
• 58:07
  flips? Who's the do you think your
• 58:09
  quickest flip is there? So I listed DeMarcus Brown,
• 58:13
  Derek Fisher and Lonnie Andrews. Correct.
• 58:16
  Yeah, we listened those 3. See, I, I think Derek, I don't
• 58:22
  know, man, I would between, I would say Derek Fisher.
• 58:26
  I don't know about Lonnie Andrews, though, because that
• 58:28
  quarterback board's going to have to shape out.
• 58:31
  But I mean, like to go play with your cousin, right?
• 58:33
  You know, like, and then if you're Derek Fisher, right,
• 58:36
  like, you know who your, your cousin is in Virginia Tech, like
• 58:38
  both those guys, I feel like there's a familial draw there,
• 58:40
  right? Like, and I, I for Lonnie, I
• 58:43
  think a lot about Jamari Deloach.
• 58:44
  Like he was committed to sensing like that was so weird.
• 58:48
  I remember this is such a weird anecdote.
• 58:50
  Side note, but I was in Disney World for my sister's birthday
• 58:53
  and I'm on the phone with Evan G Watkins, like about to put in a
• 58:56
  crystal ball for Jamario to Virginia Tech.
• 58:58
  And it was just so weird the way that whole thing went where
• 59:01
  Michigan was on and then it died down.
• 59:03
  It was going to be Virginia Tech fully and then Cincinnati.
• 59:05
  And he commits to Cincinnati and it never felt right, like even
• 59:08
  me like covering his recruitment, going to state
• 59:10
  track meets and everything was just like Cincinnati, what
• 59:12
  happened? And then there was a really big
• 59:14
  flip like I remember like still, it was be one of my favorite
• 59:16
  signing day memories ever. Like breaking the news of his
• 59:18
  flip right there, right. Like talk like that was insane.
• 59:21
  One of my honestly probably my favorite signing day moment of
• 59:24
  my life. So like so far just breaking
• 59:26
  that because, you know, that was a recruitment I feel like I was
• 59:29
  closest with in that 25 class and it never felt right.
• 59:32
  And it came all the way full circle.
• 59:34
  And, you know, I just feel like, I just feel like I'm maybe this
• 59:38
  is just me feeling remnants of that with Lonnie Andrews.
• 59:42
  But yeah, you know what? I was going to say Derek Fisher,
• 59:44
  but give me Lonnie Andrews. I think that's one.
• 59:47
  I think that's one to watch there at the quarterback
• 59:48
  position. Awesome.
• 59:53
  All right. So I'll, I'll, I'll switch gears
• 59:55
  a little bit with the offers that are being reported right
• 59:59
  now, kind of where things are standing, which areas outside of
• 1:00:02
  Virginia have been the kind of heaviest focus for James
• 1:00:06
  Franklin for this 27 cycle? I would say it's pretty spread
• 1:00:10
  out, but you know, like his connections up in the northern
• 1:00:13
  Mid-Atlantic region, Pennsylvania, Philly area, a lot
• 1:00:17
  of prep schools in their jersey into Ohio.
• 1:00:21
  But then you've got guys on the staff like Coach Chaos who's
• 1:00:24
  down in Texas sending out a ton of offers, Midget Anthony
• 1:00:27
  Midget's down in Florida sending out offers.
• 1:00:29
  You got Norville McKenzie in South Carolina.
• 1:00:31
  But I would say a lot of it is focused in that DMV into
• 1:00:35
  Pennsylvania area just because those are the high schools and
• 1:00:38
  the coaches and the relationships they've been
• 1:00:40
  naturally closest with for the last decade, right?
• 1:00:42
  So I would say outside of Virginia, it would be mostly in
• 1:00:47
  that Northern DMV into Pennsylvania and then extending
• 1:00:50
  outside of that Ohio and then parts of the Southeast Florida,
• 1:00:53
  South Carolina, Georgia with Norville McKenzie kind of
• 1:00:56
  driving that train. And obviously, shoot, I can't
• 1:00:59
  even leave out North Carolina. I would really just kind of say
• 1:01:02
  almost up and down the East Coast from Pennsylvania down and
• 1:01:06
  into really Ohio and parts of Texas.
• 1:01:08
  Outside of that, you won't see much except for quarterbacks,
• 1:01:10
  but I feel like they've made that their territory, right?
• 1:01:13
  Like they'll go Pennsylvania. How in that DC region, you've
• 1:01:17
  obviously got the state of Virginia, North Carolina, you've
• 1:01:20
  got guys South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and yeah, I
• 1:01:25
  mean, but shoot, they've been in offering guys in Alabama, I
• 1:01:27
  would say mostly North Carolina and then up through
• 1:01:30
  Pennsylvania. And some of those guys it'll be
• 1:01:32
  interesting like because they're they're always changing the
• 1:01:35
  areas and regions. Like I know right now I think
• 1:01:38
  Anthony Midget has Florida. I think how is the DMV?
• 1:01:41
  O'Brien has North Carolina, I think Norville has South
• 1:01:44
  Carolina and Georgia. I don't know where Spencer is.
• 1:01:47
  Maybe part of Virginia and Texas still.
• 1:01:51
  So it's changing, but yeah, I mean, it's definitely wider than
• 1:01:54
  just a six hour radius that Virginia Tech's been accustomed
• 1:01:57
  to, yeah. Brian, you had something like
• 1:02:02
  Brian, literally Brian wrote this like an hour before you
• 1:02:06
  jumped on. But Brian?
• 1:02:09
  Yeah, I was just going to like, you know, you talked about the
• 1:02:10
  six hour radius. One of the things Coach Franklin
• 1:02:15
  said when he got on board is that, you know, if you're going
• 1:02:17
  to compete for College Football Playoff, you can't just recruit
• 1:02:22
  in the six hour radius. You got to look, you know, you
• 1:02:24
  got to be able to recruit nationally if you're going to be
• 1:02:26
  relevant. Yeah.
• 1:02:28
  You know, you mentioned Texas is, is there other other areas
• 1:02:31
  that you know, just from a national perspective where
• 1:02:34
  you're seeing kind of maybe even just one offs of, of guys
• 1:02:37
  getting offered kind of outside of that traditional footprint
• 1:02:40
  that Virginia has been looking at, you know, kind of up and
• 1:02:42
  down the East Coast? Yeah, I would say 1 offs.
• 1:02:45
  It's not like state of Washington or Oregon, right?
• 1:02:47
  It was Alabama in the parts of Alabama, Louisiana.
• 1:02:53
  I mean, those states are so hard to crack into when you know the
• 1:02:55
  state schools and how those guys get their talent, right?
• 1:02:58
  Like was saving Alabama even Gene Chisek at Alabama, even
• 1:03:02
  shoot who? Gosh, Gus Malzahn, how can I not
• 1:03:05
  think of his name like those guys?
• 1:03:07
  Like I feel like when you would go during those 10 years at
• 1:03:10
  Auburn and Alabama, it was the state of Alabama rankings
• 1:03:12
  Alabama, Alabama, Alabama, Auburn, AL Alabama lake and
• 1:03:16
  Louisiana the same you had the tigers logo LSULSULSU pretty
• 1:03:20
  much for all of them. You know, like I feel like those
• 1:03:21
  states are kind of the the marquee of like keeping in state
• 1:03:25
  talent home and now they're very talent rich states.
• 1:03:28
  But I would say a couple of offers shout out, shout out
• 1:03:30
  there Missouri, nothing too crazy.
• 1:03:34
  Some in California, just because if you want those big national
• 1:03:37
  recruits, you got a lot of big schools out there.
• 1:03:40
  Mattered to some big schools. A lot of.
• 1:03:43
  Quarterbacks, some offers out in Utah.
• 1:03:45
  What'd you say? A lot.
• 1:03:46
  Of quarterbacks out. There in California, Yeah.
• 1:03:48
  I was about to say that's the other thing is like, but like,
• 1:03:51
  yeah, naturally you're going to go find some.
• 1:03:52
  Like look at Troy Hume, you know, like I'm saying, I think
• 1:03:55
  about Brady Edmonds. I think Virginia Tech was in
• 1:03:58
  there for a little bit. I think he's committed to Ohio
• 1:04:00
  State. And I know I think Penn State
• 1:04:02
  was in on him as well. But yeah, I mean, you're
• 1:04:03
  definitely going to go out there for quarterbacks for sure.
• 1:04:07
  But even other positions, I wouldn't be shocked to see them
• 1:04:09
  do that in the future. Has there been any of these like
• 1:04:14
  Texas, California guys that you're hearing like what they're
• 1:04:19
  hearing from Virginia Tech, like what they're seeing with the
• 1:04:21
  vision of the program yet? Yeah, there's one.
• 1:04:24
  There's one from Texas. Not going to be able to find his
• 1:04:28
  name right now. He's a Edge prospect that I'm
• 1:04:31
  watching. I feel so bad.
• 1:04:33
  I'm going to mess up his name. I can remember his high school,
• 1:04:35
  but I can't remember his name. But yeah, I would say, I would
• 1:04:38
  say you're seeing some success there, that there's definitely
• 1:04:40
  at least one guy from Texas. That's on my mind.
• 1:04:43
  Hold on, hold on, I got the list up here.
• 1:04:46
  First of all, I don't remember any of the last 10 years lists
• 1:04:51
  of offers being this big. Maybe I just didn't look at the
• 1:04:54
  right time. Shot out of color.
• 1:04:58
  I mean, and even just talking to different people, like there was
• 1:05:01
  one year I think at Penn State, he offered like 300 wide
• 1:05:04
  receivers or something. It's like or something crazy.
• 1:05:07
  So it's insanely hard to track. And even for them right now,
• 1:05:09
  like, I don't want it to be undersold.
• 1:05:10
  Like they don't have now in years, years moving forward,
• 1:05:15
  they certainly will as they build up this infrastructure,
• 1:05:17
  right? And they have a better footing
• 1:05:18
  of what they want. But they don't have this really
• 1:05:20
  clear board. Like like we were talking about
• 1:05:22
  Chris Whitehead. They're not going to tell him
• 1:05:24
  no, right? Like they're going to take it.
• 1:05:25
  That's a guy they're going to take.
• 1:05:26
  But some of these other guys, it's like we don't, we don't
• 1:05:29
  know yet. Like we're still building out
• 1:05:31
  our board. We're still familiarizing with
• 1:05:32
  your coaches like a junior Sanders, they're taking him
• 1:05:35
  right? Elijah Hutchinson, like those
• 1:05:37
  top of the board guys, OK, take, take whenever.
• 1:05:39
  But some of these other guys are having for obese.
• 1:05:41
  It's like like that's why the dead period was so big.
• 1:05:45
  And even in like still now like it's like, what what's the
• 1:05:48
  quarterback room going to look like?
• 1:05:49
  What's our third wide receiver? What's our second tight end?
• 1:05:52
  What's our 4th offensive lineman?
• 1:05:53
  You know, like we feel good about these guys.
• 1:05:56
  But beyond that, we're still trying to flesh out our board.
• 1:05:59
  Got it. Well, it's really funny because
• 1:06:00
  I thought when I went to Edge here, it would be like one guy.
• 1:06:03
  No, they have three offers, a guy from Denton Dyer, a guy from
• 1:06:09
  We Get Down Here to the other ones, Si Falls and Cedar Hill.
• 1:06:14
  Yeah, that's where, say, the two names hang on, it's.
• 1:06:19
  Jeron Allen, The Second James Harris.
• 1:06:22
  It's James Harris that's the one, and he goes to SI.
• 1:06:27
  Si Falls Ski Falls. That's the one, Yeah.
• 1:06:29
  OK, James, I was just wanting to keep an eye on.
• 1:06:34
  I'm not saying anything crazy, but that that was the one that
• 1:06:36
  comes to mind. That no.
• 1:06:36
  Well, yeah. I understand what you're saying,
• 1:06:39
  but what you're hearing is someone from there with the
• 1:06:43
  James Franklin pitch and with the vision like.
• 1:06:46
  Like he might get up, you know, like that's kind of rare to have
• 1:06:50
  a guy from Texas, right? Like it's not, it's not a trip
• 1:06:53
  from even Greensboro, NC, or even Columbus, OH.
• 1:06:58
  Like that's, that's a real trip, you know?
• 1:07:02
  That is a real trip, Brian. Anything else?
• 1:07:06
  We want to close Colby out here with men because dude, we've
• 1:07:08
  been sitting here an hour. It's been a blast here.
• 1:07:10
  In your takes, by the way, the best thing you do, Colby, is
• 1:07:14
  like the Deloach story. Colby, anytime you're with us,
• 1:07:17
  if you want to go off on a Side Story, that's what we're all
• 1:07:20
  about here. It depends.
• 1:07:21
  Because it makes it real, man. It makes it because we're just
• 1:07:24
  having a conversation about something we all three love.
• 1:07:27
  Dude, I was just thinking about it like if there's I just feel
• 1:07:30
  like there's so much that you're acquainted or like adjacent to
• 1:07:34
  and you like I, I feel like I don't keep enough notes because
• 1:07:36
  if someone brings it up, it like sparks your memory, but it's
• 1:07:38
  like until you think about that Deloach thing or whatever.
• 1:07:42
  Like even the I remember the the one that got blew up a little
• 1:07:46
  bit was the pro day one, right? Like when they were doing the
• 1:07:48
  heating, like, or that was something I never even thought
• 1:07:51
  to talk about until, you know, the heating came in and then
• 1:07:53
  there was a big crash out on the pro day where the scout kind of
• 1:07:56
  got in Brett Pryor's face and was like, you need to have
• 1:07:58
  heating in here. Brett thought it was like a
• 1:07:59
  joke. And then there was that whole
• 1:08:02
  kerfuffle. But yeah, there there's just so
• 1:08:06
  I mean, even in the couple years I've been around it there,
• 1:08:08
  there's always something, there's always a story.
• 1:08:10
  But yeah, we'll, we'll see. Maybe that Lonnie Andrews thing
• 1:08:12
  plays out just like that. But yeah, the man, the Jamari
• 1:08:15
  Deloach, I think he's going to be a special player.
• 1:08:17
  I think you're going to see a lot of him this year.
• 1:08:19
  Those three guys, I've I've said it since they got there
• 1:08:22
  knowledge Harold, he might be moving back to safety, which
• 1:08:24
  I've kind of said since he got there.
• 1:08:26
  JoJo KREM, who sounds like he was a little banged up.
• 1:08:29
  I think we'll be fine for spring and Jamar Deloach probably at
• 1:08:33
  nickel. Like I know you like Isaiah
• 1:08:35
  Brown, Murray, Tyson Flower, like awesome guys.
• 1:08:38
  Go check out on my YouTube channel got great interviews
• 1:08:40
  with him there. Like really awesome guys.
• 1:08:41
  I appreciate them. But I think those young three
• 1:08:44
  guys from last year, it's going to be tough to keep those guys
• 1:08:46
  off the field. Pushing, pushing.
• 1:08:49
  We've been we've been banging the the knowledge Harold Drum
• 1:08:52
  here and obviously Deloach, I mean, just incredible athlete.
• 1:08:56
  So I'm excited to see what he can do kind of getting into the
• 1:08:59
  mix there at Nichols. So.
• 1:09:00
  And what and what you want is the young guys pushing, the
• 1:09:03
  veterans, the guys that you've seen like an IBM, like a
• 1:09:06
  flowers, you know, we know, you know they can play solid.
• 1:09:11
  Do you want football? You want the young guys pushing
• 1:09:13
  because if they're pushing, basically they're saying I'm
• 1:09:16
  coming to take your job, you better give it 110 all the time
• 1:09:20
  or we'll take your job, so. You know what, we're raising the
• 1:09:23
  talent level and you're you're adding depth in there.
• 1:09:25
  So it's like, either way, it's a win. 100, that's what we set off
• 1:09:31
  the top. Like, you got to have talent at
• 1:09:33
  all those levels to make everyone better at practice, and
• 1:09:36
  they've done that, So, yeah. 100% Colby anything where tell
• 1:09:42
  people where they can follow you.
• 1:09:43
  Anything going on 247 right now that people might be interested
• 1:09:47
  in? Yeah, man, it's going to be busy
• 1:09:49
  this coming week. I appreciate you guys had me on
• 1:09:51
  here for spring break because next week we're going to be
• 1:09:53
  after it. We'll see what spring ball looks
• 1:09:55
  like, but you can follow me on X at Colby under score Crawford.
• 1:09:58
  Check out the YouTube channel. Let's just type in Colby.
• 1:10:00
  Crawford should have promo code code Colby for BT scoop in the
• 1:10:06
  next week. So don't tell the bosses.
• 1:10:08
  Maybe don't get the VIP yet until next Tuesday.
• 1:10:11
  Might have a sweet deal for you. But yeah, over there it'll be.
• 1:10:14
  I mean, I feel like we've already had a ton of different
• 1:10:16
  team scoop, but team scoop, when the trench portal gets rocking,
• 1:10:20
  there's no better place to be. High school recruiting is going
• 1:10:22
  to be crazy coming up. So yeah, no better place to be
• 1:10:25
  than over there. All right, we'll check him out.
• 1:10:28
  Colby rear, appreciate you joining us tonight.
• 1:10:30
  That does wrap up this episode of the Boundary Corner podcast
• 1:10:34
  brought to you by Moments on the Mori in Lexington along with our
• 1:10:37
  special guest, Colby Crawford from 247.
• 1:10:39
  I'm Curtis Wilson. I'm Brian Siegler.
• 1:10:42
  Jonathan Tally, we hope, is saved.
• 1:10:44
  Shelton Moss is at some baseball field.
• 1:10:46
  That's all I know. Check out.
• 1:10:50
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• 1:10:52
  There you go, there you go, come down and pinch it.
• 1:10:55
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• 1:10:57
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• 1:10:59
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• 1:11:02
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• 1:11:10
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• 1:11:13
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• 1:12:00
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• 1:12:06
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