Note: this recruiting rally was the fourth annual occurrence of this event, and it was held as usual at Greg Roberts Sports Club/Boomer's Deli in Roanoke.

First up, what a great time, and what a great event. This event is always first rate, and the Coaches and Greg Roberts and his staff are the reason why. Outstanding effort on everyone's part, and they all are to be commended.

Greg emceed, Assistant Head Coach and OL Coach Bryan Stinespring hosted (and was just great, especially when he was giving the "motivational" ending thoughts and sentiments for the day... I think everyone in the place was looking for a helmet to get ready to head into the game after he finished!), DB Coach Lorenzo "Whammy" Ward was at the first session, DL Coach Charley Wiles was at the second session, and LB Coach Jim Cavanaugh was at the third session.

They were all just terrific. Quality coaches, and even better people. Trust me, take the time to go to an event sometime, and talk to them. They are great people, as well as great Hokies.

Dave Kadela, Matt Lehr, and Anthony Lambo made it out and those guys were charming, funny, and a real treat to have there. They all were very sincere in their thoughts about being Hokies, and the best thing was the touching bond between Coach Stinespring and his "boys". Coach gave them all a big hug as they got ready to leave after speaking at the beginning of the third session. Great guys and let me tell you, they can EAT. I think I heard Roberts say that those three had a total tab of over $200. Of course, Roberts picked up that tab.

I helped Greg out with the sale of raffle tickets, and had a chance to see and meet lots of people. It was great to meet everyone. Let's do it again soon.

Now, on to the recruits. I made excellent notes during the third session. Here's my thoughts and descriptions of clips, as well as notables.

Stinespring joked that since HE made the tape, then the O-Linemen were going first, and that they never got to go first in anything else, except maybe the buffet line.

Note: players are presented in the order in which they were shown. They were grouped by position. Height and weight figures are taken from the sheet that was handed out at the rally, and do not necessarily match the height and weight figures from the TSL recruiting database. The ht/wt figures given here are assumed to be more accurate, and the recruiting database will be updated later to match the data here.

Each name is a link to the player's TSL recruiting database entry. If you click on a name, the player's database entry will open in a separate browser window.

Curtis Bradley (6-3, 285) - BIG and looked like a bulldozer while "drive" blocking. Always stayed with his block, and was powerful and quick off the line, and fast with a drive block "takedown". Impressive looking lineman. Stinespring said he is an excellent student and that during his recruitment, his parents set aside 7:00-9:00 every night for study, and that coaches and journalists were only allowed to call between 9:00 and 9:45.

Reggie Butler (6-6, 310) - Even Bigger. Stinespring's "aircraft carrier", and another impressive drive blocker. Also showed good movement on a "pull" and finished it off with a great pancake of a linebacker. He also had one clip where a defensive end rushed, and Big Reg just effortlessly shoved the guy off of him and to the ground. Tossed the poor kid like a rag doll. Raw, but has lots of potential. And BIG. Butler was originally weak academically, but came on strong late, and has now qualified.

Danny McGrath (6-2, 270) - Stinespring called him his new "Matt Lehr". GREAT crushing pancake on a pull block. He also can motor pretty well out in front of a tailback on a pitchout. Again, lots of potential here.

Andrew Fleck (6-4, 240) - "Mr. Versatility". He did it all... TE, DE, LB, FB, he blocks, he catches, he runs, and looked very athletic doing it all. Looks to be legit 6-4 and a beefy 235 or 240, and Wiles beamed a smile when talking about this kid's future.

Brandon Frye (6-4, 225) - Again, very versatile. Raw, but shows lots of potential. Stinespring said he's "made for Mike Gentry's program", showed good hands on pass catches, good tackling, and laid a pop on a QB on a blindside blitz just as the QB lets the ball go. Good stuff.

Kevin Hilton (6-2, 255) - AWESOME DT clips. He just lived in the opponents' backfield. All coaches said the same thing... he's a David Pugh clone. He can really shed his lineman block and quickly shoot a gap. Finishes a play off right with a hard pop. GREAT looking DT prospect with great fundamentals. He'll be a player.

Jeff King (6-5, 245) - Coaches raved about his future star potential. Big, athletic, quick, and strong. Was very productive at TE, and very disruptive at DE. Can really play off his blocks well and showed great tailback pursuit on an option play. I'm thinking he'll be a great player, and they all said he's an even better person. Is also an excellent basketball player who averages a double-double despite being double-teamed.

Jason Murphy (6-3, 255) - it's hard not to look at this young man, and not see a young Bruce Smith. Body shape, wheels, and playing with that same fire that Bruce did. In one clip, he's at OL, and their QB throws a pick out in the flat, and the DB takes off, Murphy turns on the jets for a big guy and flat out HUSTLES down field about 35 yards to cut off the streaking DB and make the stop. In another clip, Murphy shoots the DT gap and lays a lick on a QB (shades of Bruce), and in another, he chases down a tailback from behind who's running away from him, showing Smith-like quickness and tenacity. Awesome looking prospect on film. Comparisons have been made to Sapp, but when I see this young man on film, it reminds me of Bruce Smith the most circa 1982-1983. Murphy was also a question mark academically, but has qualified.

Chris Pannell (6-5, 240) - Very athletic looking on film. Gets in a backfield quickly and is disruptive when he gets there. Seems to have a great motor. Again, lots and lots of potential here.

Tim Sandidge (6-2, 275) - Dark film, and pretty poor quality, but you can definitely see an athletic big man that can shed blocks quickly, and moves to the ball with purpose.

James Anderson (6-2, 210) - good looking LB, shown making nice tackles and sacks after "reading" the play and making his move, also a nice grab and run from the TE spot. Stinespring thinks he's got a LOAD of potential, and he commented about what a hard worker Anderson is, and how committed he is. Stinespring commended him for getting a 1200 on his SAT's.

Blake Warren (6-2, 205) - Coaches all said the same thing: Ben Taylor clone at the same age. Showed great range and wheels in the D backfield, and can dish out a punishing FS stick on anyone back there. Also showed a great knack for turning a busted play into a big gainer. Impressive.

DeAngelo Hall (6-0, 190) - Stinespring is VERY proud of this one, understandably. Film clips were VERY, VERY impressive, from both tailback and especially cornerback. Blanket coverage, knows what to do with the ball after an INT, and can bring the big wood on a cornerback stick on a tailback in the flat. Reminded me of some of Ike Charlton's best hits. During one clip, Stinespring said he was at the game, on the sidelines, and Hall was about to receive a kickoff. Stinespring said Hall tells him "See ya in the end zone in about 6 seconds", and sure enough, he takes the kickoff to the house. Stiney said "And he let me know about if afterwards, too." Stinespring joked that he's a (rightfully so) very confident and vocal player, and that if he and Whitaker are on the field together, the D might not get the proper play called because the two of them will be talking so loudly. This kid will play early and often. Future STAR.

D.J. Walton (5-10, 195) - All around impressive looking kid. Roamed and covered the D backfield with a purpose, can run well, has great moves with the ball in his hands, and laid a GIANT stick on a kick-off returner that was worthy of Wayne Ward. Looks to be a big-time player.

Justin Hamilton (6-3, 210) - SPEED and power. One 95 yard TD run was just pure speed running away from everyone. Great stride.

Cedric Humes (6-2, 200) - Stinespring said that all of his clips were from his junior year, and that his senior year clips were even better. Junior clips were awesome. Speed and power and field vision. Impressive running back on tape.

Kevin Jones (6-1, 205) - Unbelievable. (Note from Will Stewart: that's all James said, but I'll add something here. The best news is, Whammy Ward reported during the first session of the day that Jones has gotten the SAT score that he needed in order to qualify academically. He took an SAT course and received tutoring, and the result was a score well over 1000. Ward admitted that Jones's score improved by so much, +200 points, that it will probably get the attention of the NCAA. They may go so far as to toss the score out and/or make him take it again. Time will tell, but for now, KJ has the numbers to qualify.)

Fred Lee (5-10, 175) - he can catch, and he can motor with GREAT open field moves. Also showed impressive vertical in going after a high flanker screen, and then he jukes his cornerback right out of his jock. Not big size-wise, but definitely is a playmaker. Played "big".

Chris Clifton (6-4, 200) - may be the "steal" recruit of all time. I was VERY impressed with his tape. A clone of the 1998 Aaron Brooks that shredded Tech in Lane Stadium. And anyone who says that he's got a weak arm, this is me laughing at you: "Ha ha". In one clip, Clifton was scrambling around buying time, and off his back foot, found a sideline receiver for about a 40 yard gainer, with pin-point accuracy. Also showed impressive touch on two post routes for about 40 yards each. This guy's arm is NOT weak. He has got great field vision, from being so tall, and he can motor on the option keeper. Potential galore. The "steal" of the year, no doubt.

Will Hunt (6-1, 205) - WHEELS! Will can flat out run some option, let me tell you. Also showed great maturity and patience in scrambling out of the pocket and making a pass play happen. Frankly, I was very impressed with his pass release, and his tosses had some ZIP on them. He is an Eric Crouch clone, but he can zip a pass too. Good looking kid on film.

Bryan Randall (6-2, 205) - His clips showed me a MATURE teenage player. Played under control, and appeared to be one cool customer. Nice touch on his passes, seems to have a good release, throws a pump-fake 35 yarder to the end zone (a la Druck to Holmes in 95 vs. UVa), and runs a fabulous option keeper. Also, he called an audible for a QB draw play keeper, and showed Vick-like moves in traffic on a side step to bounce to the outside. You can just see this young man is a mature, cool-headed player, and his touch on his passes is nice. Knows he doesn't need to rifle a 15 yarder. Good looking prospect.

I attended the noon session, and I wanted to add some things to James's descriptions of the recruits, and the news surrounding them.

One of the more interesting differences between this year's recruiting roundup and those of the past is that there was very little talk of current VT players. Typically, during the question and answer session, a lot of questions are asked about the current team, and how the players who are already on the team are doing.

Not so this year. During the noon session at least, the talk and questions centered solely on the new recruits.

Whammy Ward interviewed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and even got a call of interest from Jeff Fisher, the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, but Whammy said he is just not interested in coaching in the NFL right now.

On the subject of the new UVa coaching staff, and whether or not they'll be a formidable opponent in future recruiting wars, the coaches said that they foresee Al Groh's new staff as working harder than George Welsh's staff. The VT coaches were of the opinion that Welsh's staff had started to slack off and ride on past successes.

There is no danger, they said, that the VT staff will ever slack off in recruiting.

Ward, whose prime recruiting responsibility is Northern Virginia, related a funny story about a conversation he had with Al Golden of UVa. Golden recently left the Penn State staff to join Al Groh's staff at UVa, and Golden, an excellent recruiter, has been assigned to Northern Virginia.

Ward talked to Golden, and he says that he told him two things: (1) percentage-wise, there aren't as many good players in Northern Virginia, and (2) it doesn't matter how many there are, "Because I'm going to get them, not you" Ward said.

Regarding Kevin Jones, Ward said that Jones and his father initiated the recruiting process, not the Virginia Tech coaches. Jones was in Blacksburg for a track meet last spring/summer, and he and his father stopped by the Virginia Tech football office. A secretary went in search of a football coach and found Ward. Ward came in and met Kevin and his father Thomas, and that's how Ward, who does not normally recruiting Pennsylvania, came to be the coach responsible for the recruitment of Kevin Jones.

Ward said that Kevin Jones's main reason for choosing Virginia Tech was Mike Gentry's strength and conditioning program. "If Penn State's strength and conditioning program was the same as Tech's, there's no doubt in my mind that Kevin Jones would have signed with Penn State," Ward said flatly. "But that was a big concern for them, and that's why Kevin signed with Tech."

As for the negative recruiting by Virginia Tech's adversaries this year, the coaches had an interesting comment. As Tech gets better, "Recruiting gets harder. You would think it would get easier, but it doesn’t." Now that the Hokies are going up against traditional powers for high profile players, the kid gloves are off, and anything negative about Virginia Tech is fair game.

As usual, the coaches said that they refuse to sell Tech by denigrating another school. They will take the high road and let the Tech program and the Tech players sell recruits on Virginia Tech.

The noon session ended up with a heartfelt thanks from one of the fans in attendance. He addressed Stinespring and Whammy Ward and told them that all Tech fans were well aware of their commitment to Virginia Tech, and their love for the school (as evidence by Ward's lack of interest in an NFL job at this time).

"I know we probably can't keep you guys here forever," the fan said, "and if that's the case, then I just hope that one day, you're coaching against each other in the Super Bowl. Because you guys deserve it."

Naturally, that sentiment drew a standing ovation.

TSL Football Recruiting Page