Bowl run ends, but Hokies move forward
Before Virginia Tech’s 2021 recruiting class gets on campus in Blacksburg, there’s a ready-made goal to aim for as soon as they begin workouts.
Start a new bowl streak. While Virginia Tech welcomed a class of 24 signees Wednesday, coach Justin Fuente announced his players have decided to forgo a bowl invitation this month, ending what was the nation’s longest active streak of consecutive seasons with a bowl appearance at 27. Slogging through a 5-6 season, the program’s first losing regular season since 1992, Tech’s players have endured coronavirus issues throughout the fall.
“Our players have decided to not play and I’m going to support them 100%,” Fuente said. “I think it speaks to the difficulty of the season that they’ve been through. There were players that wanted to play and were passionate about that. We were going to do this all together or not.”
Fuente said he’d taken the past few days to meet individually with players to discuss the season and gather opinions on whether they wanted to play in a bowl. Coaches left the decision entirely up to the
players.
“My thought was I was going to support whatever the players chose,” defensive coordinator Justin Hamilton said. “I think it’s the right thing that the players got to decide because as tough as we all had it, they had it the most tough throughout the entire season.”
A day after Tech athletic director Whit Babcock confirmed Fuente would be retained as the Hokies’ coach for next season, Fuente was reflective regarding the ups and downs of the season.
“In regards to our football team, there’s a tremendous amount for us to be proud of,” Fuente said. “There’s some things that disappoint me that are my responsibility and my fault. ... We were an inconsistent football team, to say the least. At times, we looked really good out there. At times, we were poor.
“I encourage our players to be the type of people to look in the mirror, and that’s what we’ve been forced to do. We set out to be a hard, smart and tough football team. I thought we were at times, but we were not nearly enough.”
As nearly three full decades of bowl appearances came to an end in Blacksburg, a new era was ushered in with the arrival of the letters of intent of a class that includes six defensive backs, four running backs, three defensive linemen, three linebackers and a promising quarterback.
Cornerback D.J. Harvey, a Chatsworth, California, product who also had scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Southern California, Auburn and others, is the highest rated of Tech’s signees, but the Hokies’ class didn’t thrill the prominent recruiting analysts. As of early Wednesday evening, Tech’s class was rated 45th in the nation and 10th in the ACC in 247sports.com’s composite rankings.
Tahj Bullock from Jersey City, New Jersey, is considered by many analysts as one of the nation’s top 30 dual-threat quarterbacks in the class. He joins an incoming offensive group that features the late addition of running back Elijah Howard, a Chattanooga, Tennessee, native Tech managed to flip Tuesday night from a commitment to Tennessee.
Defensive lineman Desmond Mamudi from Tampa, Florida, also joined Tech’s class after being
committed elsewhere. He reneged on a commitment to South Florida on Wednesday.
Virginia Tech’s class includes just four players from the state of Virginia, with linebacker Isi Etute from Cox High in Virginia Beach serving as the only player from Hampton Roads.
Two incoming players have sibling ties to Tech. Linebacker Jack Hollifield from Shelby, North Carolina, is the brother of current Tech linebacker Dax Hollifield and defensive back Jalen Stroman from Nokesville is the brother of former Hokies cornerback Greg Stroman.
Two more players - twin defensive backs Jayden and Jorden McDonald from Salem - have not yet signed with Tech in the 2021 class, but are expected to do so.
Virginia Tech signees
Chance Black, RB, 6-1, 190, Roebuck, South Carolina/ Dorman
Tahj Bullock, QB, 6-4, 223, Jersey City, New Jersey/St. Peter’s Prep
Mattheus Carroll, DL, 6-3, 220, Baltimore, Maryland/ Gilman School
Kenji Christian, RB, 6-2, 197, Pinson, Alabama/Pinson Valley
Da’Shawn Elder, DB, 6-2, 200, Watkinsville, Georgia/ Oconee County/Fork Union Military Academy
Isi Etute, LB, 6-3, 205, Virginia Beach/Cox
Jared Gibble, TE, 6-4, 225, Winston-Salem, North Carolina/Oak Grove
Bryce Goodner, OL, 6-3, 300, Athens, Tennessee/ McMinn County
D.J. Harvey, DB, 5-11, 166, Chatsworth, California/ Sierra Canyon
Jack Hollifield, TE, 6-3, 225, Shelby, North Carolina/ Shelby
Elijah Howard, RB, 5-11, 182, Chattanooga, Tennessee/Baylor School
Jalen Hoyle, DB, 6-0, 175, Englewood, New Jersey/ Dwight Morrow
Nyke Johnson, DB, 6-1, 185, Florence, South Carolina/ West Florence
Will Johnson, LB, 6-2, 195, Leonardtown, Maryland/ Leonardtown
Jaylen Jones, WR, 6-1, 185, Richmond/Thomas Jefferson
Jaden Keller, DB, 6-3, 195, Bristol, Tennessee/Tennessee
Keli Lawson, LB, 6-4, 200, Stephens City/Sherando Da’Wain Lofton, WR, 5-10, 175, Fort Worth, Texas/ North Side
Desmond Mamudi, DL, 6-3, 290, Tampa, Florida/ Carrollwood Day School
Danijel Miletic, OL, 6-3, 290, Frankfurt, Germany/ Darmstadt Diamonds
Christian Moss, WR, 6-3, 180, Kennesaw, Georgia/ North Cobb
Cole Nelson, DL, 6-3, 230, Alpharetta, Georgia/John’s Creek
Jalen Stroman, DB, 6-1, 190, Nokesville/Patriot Malachi Thomas, RB, 6-0, 180, Hartwell, Georgia/ Hart County