Virginia Tech Continues To Miss

This morning Josh Sweat announced that he was heading to Florida State to play his college ball.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Nation&#39;s No. 1 recruit, 5-star DE Josh Sweat. commits to Florida State <a href="http://t.co/eiSBvAGD3g">http://t.co/eiSBvAGD3g</a> (247Sports) <a href="http://t.co/0ZjuTpdmaa">pic.twitter.com/0ZjuTpdmaa</a></p>&mdash; CBS Sports CFB (@CBSSportsCFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSSportsCFB/status/542707939908538368">December 10, 2014</a></blockquote>

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First, congratulations to this young man as he has handled his recruitment the 'right' way by focusing on his goals and what is best for his family in the long run. Second, I do believe that the Virginia Tech staff recruited him very well and harder than any other school. Third, winning gets recruits, no matter who you have as a recruiter or what your pitch is to 18 year old kids.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Josh Sweat just told his family and coach his school. That is what type of recruitment this has been. Now on to his decision. <a href="https://twitter.com/247Sports">@247Sports</a></p>&mdash; Rusty Mansell (@Mansell247) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mansell247/status/542698019960127488">December 10, 2014</a></blockquote>

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I know that many recruiting experts will talk about relationships and that winning doesn't matter as much to kids because they lose games too, but the trend seems to be that the more someone is winning and competing for championships the more they get the recruits. Now, I do think that coach/player relationships are integral to a programs success and Florida State is a great example. FSU is winning and have been winning since Jimbo Fisher arrived, but he has also been recruiting just as hard. He has a brand that is trending up and all he has to do is sell it. I would argue that when VT was winning 10-11 games a season they were trying to let the brand sell itself and failed to recruit as if they were the under dogs.

The bad news is that VT is not winning. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to beat UVA and go to a bowl game for the 22nd straight season, but winning 10 games again would also be nice, especially with how our coaches are recruiting now and they are recruiting their assess off. Yes, they will lose some kids such as Jalen Dalton who really was never going anywhere but UNC, but more often than not VT will lose kids to schools that are winning more football games than them.

So, the question is: How do we get back to winning 10 games? There is talent all over the field for Virginia Tech and still a lot of talented kids choosing to go to VT.

What is the problem? Is it Frank? Are the positional coaches just not getting it done? At this point I am not really sure, but it is probably a combination of both. Whatever decision Whit Babcock, VT athletic director, makes he needs to find a winner to replace Frank Beamer. I would also say that this winner needs to be able to recruit at the highest level and must higher assistants that are young and can connect with high school coaches and players.

The moral is that VT needs to be focused on winning and must settle for nothing less than to compete with championships, not just bowl appearances.

Please provide your thoughts as GC wants to know how Hokie Nation feels after losing another top, in-state, VT lean.

Go Hokies! Beat Cincy!