Virginia Tech Exemplifies Why Recruiting Rankings Matter for Successful Programs

The Virginia Tech Hokies have had seven consecutive 10-win seasons, and no other team in the country can match that. They’ve dominated the ACC since expansion and have won the conference four out of seven tries.

From a glance over that record, regardless of other factors, Tech seems like a perennial Top 10 team that is more often than not in the national title race.

That is not the case.

Virginia Tech is one of the only programs in the nation that consistently brings in 3-star athletes and gets 5-star production out of them. Yet they can’t seem to play their way into being considered an elite program.

Outside of 2007, when every team except an awful Hawaii team and mediocre Kansas team (yes, I know Tech lost to them—doesn’t mean they still weren’t mediocre) had at least two losses, Virginia Tech has gone into the postseason ranked ninth or worse in the country since 2000. It doesn’t matter that the Hokies play in the ACC; not being in the national title hunt after all of their 10-win seasons doesn’t add up.

Their abysmal 1-27 record against Top Five teams all-time has a lot to do with it. Excuses can be made for some of those numbers, but certainly not for all of them.

While many people, myself included, point to Tech's offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring as the primary cause of the team's ineptitude in big games, an interesting trend has emerged with regards to recruiting and the Hokies’ success.

*** There has never been a year when Virginia Tech has been ranked in the top five nationally at any point in the season without serious contributions from a 5-star recruit on offense. ***

See the table below—all data per Rivals' recruiting database.

Notes: Jonathan Lewis, Xavier Adibi, Vince Hall and Chris Ellis were not given numeric ratings and only star ratings; all were 4-stars, so I’ve included them as 5.9 out of 6.1 recruits. The rankings go back to 2002, but Michael Vick and Kevin Jones were obvious.

Year	5.9+ Recruits Per Rivals Rankings	5 Star Recruits	Highest Ranking	Points Allowed Per Game
1999	Michael Vick	Michael Vick	2	10.5
2000	Michael Vick	Michael Vick	3	22.6
2001	Kevin Jones	Kevin Jones	5	13.4
2002	Kevin Jones	Kevin Jones	3	18.8
2003	Kevin Jones, Jonathan Lewis	Kevin Jones	3	23.0
2004	Jonathan Lewis, Xavier Adibi, Chris Ellis, Vince Hall, Eddie Royal	None	9	12.8
2005	Marcus Vick, Jonathan Lewis, Xavier Adibi, Chris Ellis, Vince Hall, Eddie Royal	Marcus Vick	3	12.9
2006	Macho Harris, Xavier Adibi, Chris Ellis, Vince Hall, Eddie Royal	Macho Harris	11	11.0
2007	Macho Harris, Tyrod Taylor, Jason Worilds, Xavier Adibi, Chris Ellis, Vince Hall, Eddie Royal	Macho Harris, Tyrod Taylor	3	16.1 (13.1 without outlier LSU)
2008	Macho Harris, Tyrod Taylor, Jason Worilds	Macho Harris, Tyrod Taylor	15	16.7
2009	Tyrod Taylor, Jason Worilds, Ryan Williams, Jayron Hosley, David Wilson	Tyrod Taylor	4	15.6
2010	Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams, David Wilson, Jayron Hosley	Tyrod Taylor	10	20.6
2011	Projected: David Wilson, Jayron Hosley, Logan Thomas (rated 6.0 as TE)	None	?	?

Kevin Jones was the best overall prospect in 2001, and Michael Vick is a once in a generation player, which more or less explains how they almost singlehandedly put the Hokies in the national title conversation.

Marcus Vick and Tyrod Taylor, Taylor especially, were great quarterbacks—Vick was just an awful person, and that kept 2005 from being a special year—but they needed help. Eddie Royal was that guy until 2007, and Ryan Williams took over that role in 2009. The 2008 offense ranked 103rd in total yards with 303.4 per game.

But it isn’t just offensive production that takes a hit when Tech can’t land big recruits. Points allowed per game spikes, relatively, once the Hokies only have two top defensive recruits playing and goes up to 20.6 with only one. 

Bryan Stinespring is an incompetent coordinator, and Curt Newsome can’t put together a functioning offensive line, so it’s not far-fetched to think that the 2007 team could have gone to the national championship had they coached up to a college level. However, the bigger problem runs deeper than coaching.

Bud Foster and Torrian Gray are special coaches, and it’s unfair and unrealistic for fans to expect every assistant to be on that level. However, it is fair to expect those coaches to recruit a higher level of talent and then be coached up to an NFL level. Gray, though, is only one who currently does both well for Tech and, consequently, it likely won't be long before he's wooed away to bigger pastures with bigger pay checks.

My colleague Justin Cocchiola just wrote an article about why recruiting doesn’t matter in the ACC, and he was right—to a point. Teams like Clemson go out and steal away top recruits like Da'Quan Bowers, who have successful careers but fail to translate that into wins. The reason why that happens is the Clemson staff is a bunch of recruiters and not coaches.

Virginia Tech is a bunch of coaches and not recruiters, and that simple fact is the only thing keeping the Hokies from being mentioned with the other elite programs around the country.

Hokie fans wouldn’t trade it that for the world. They love getting the sleepers and then rubbing it in the face of the opposing team when the Hokies demolish them with “lesser” talent.

But losing out on Percy Harvin, E.J. Manuel, Phil Sims, Tajh Boyd and Clifton Richardson, all from Virginia high schools, is unacceptable, and they are far from the only players Tech has missed out on. The list easily doubles when defensive recruits are included—see Curtis Grant and Travis Hughes for examples just from this year.

There also seems to be a general lack of interest in recruiting on the lines, particularly at defensive tackle. There has never been a successful NFL DT to come out of Virginia Tech. Ever.

As well, nearly all of their defensive ends are speed rushers who are asked to convert to a 4-3 linebacker in the NFL.

Virginia Tech is a power running team, and that requires a functioning offensive line. So why don’t they have one?

It may be painful for Hokie fans, but picture a 2007 with a competent offensive line—Tech ranked 116th in tackles for loss allowed and 117th in sacks allowed that year out of 120 teams.

Tyrod Taylor could have used his redshirt season, and Sean Glennon could’ve had more than three seconds to throw the ball against LSU and Boston College. Then Taylor would be coming back for 2011 with David Wilson, his top five receivers, four offensive linemen and a 6.0 tight end playing in his actual position.

Have you looked at the 2011 schedule? The Hokies would run the table easily.

Projecting 2011 based on recruits would put us going as high as around 12, but with Tyrod Taylor and Logan Thomas playing his real position, the Hokies would be projected to get into the top five easily based on my recruiting table.

To expand it further, looking at recruiting from a national perspective yields another interesting result. The past five BCS national champions have had at least one recruiting class in the top five in at least one of the previous four years.

Has a team like Florida had more than its fair share of legal trouble? Yes, and Florida State didn’t exactly get the nickname “Criminoles” for no reason. 

The Cam Newton and UNC scandals highlighted the dirty practices of college football, and that is an issue that needs to be further addressed by the NCAA. But not every 5-star player is in it for the glory; there are quite a few who still play football for the love of the game. Not everyone gets caught up in the temptations that come with fame and money, and it’s those players that schools like Virginia Tech need in order to become elite programs.

Plus, it's not about getting every single top recruit. Despite top of the line facilities, many kids won't come to a school in a small town in the middle of southwest Virginia. It's about getting the top players that work for the system on a consistent basis.

ESPN recently did a 2007 recruiting look back, and the Hokies had the 14th best class immediately following signing day. That class was ranked the fourth best in the country in retrospect.

That is what works for Virginia Tech—a very solid class from top to bottom with a little dose of star power—and it is exactly what a lot of other teams like Texas A&M, TCU, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Stanford need as well. It's just a matter of doing it on a consistent basis, and the Hokies have not been able to do that.

Other teams like USC and LSU need a top five class in order to field a great team, but they make it a point to go out and get those players year after year.

The Vick saga has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Virginia Tech fans regarding the recruitment of top talent, but 90 percent of the highly touted players from around the country aren’t going commit armed robbery or host a dog fighting match. It’s those kids that will bring home a national championship.

It’s clear after this year that production on the field isn’t the only factor in bringing in recruits. Just look at Texas, Clemson, Virginia and USC. Teams are thriving off young coaches with big personalities and the promise of bigger results. Facebook and Twitter have changed the face of college football recruiting, and the teams that have adapted to the times have won big on and off the field.

The best part of it all is the fact that recruiting and general salesmanship are skills that can be taught, whereas football IQ and coaching instincts cannot.

But the idea of selling recruits solely on winning tradition and a big fanbase is naive and simply not enough given the parity throughout the nation.

Until teams like Virginia Tech are willing and capable of spending the time and effort to bring in top recruiting classes, they will never be able to break through that parity and will have to settle for the title of best of the rest rather than hoist up the crystal ball at the end of the season.

For more news on Virginia Tech, ACC and national college sports, follow me on Twitter @VT_CaceClosed