My #TeamAFP colleague Scott German texted me this morning to tell me that Virginia football coach Tony Elliott has a new nickname: “Lazarus.”
I had to text back: based on what?
Somebody is out there advancing the notion that the early signing day was somehow good for Elliott and his tenure.
Gotta say, it ain’t me.
Literally the only good news for Elliott yesterday was that he didn’t lose the one four-star recruit he was able to coax a commitment from, Kamren Robinson, a linebacker from Essex, and even that brought with it unnecessary drama, with Robinson delaying his final decision until late in the day so that he could have a hey, everybody, look at me Instagram announcement spectacle featuring him teasing a flip to Florida State.
Yeah, that’s the kind of kid you want to build your program around right there.
The class ranked 13th in the ACC, 57th among the 65 in Power 5, 60th nationally overall.
Robinson was the lone guy among the Top 10 high school players in Virginia to sign with UVA.
Penn State got six of the Top 10 in Virginia.
Penn State, which also got six of the Top 10 in Pennsylvania, because that’s what you’d expect.
Virginia Tech got 13 of the Top 50 high school players in Virginia.
Virginia got six.
Hell, North Carolina got six of our Top 50.
Mack Brown must be losing his touch. He only got one of our Top 10.
So, this is the big recruiting news from yesterday for Elliott, “Lazarus,” who you might remember made a big deal upon getting the job a year ago about reconnecting the Virginia program with the state’s high school coaches, an obvious dig at Bronco Mendenhall, his predecessor, who only signed one of last year’s Top 50 in Virginia.
But Mendenhall signed eight of the 2021 Top 50, though two of those guys – Logan Taylor and Michael Green – are in the transfer portal after being around for the first year of Elliott’s tenure.
Part of what is being sold as signing day being a good day for Elliott is the transfer portal, with the news this week that former Clemson tailback Kobe Pace has committed to Virginia, and yes, that’s good news, because Pace, when healthy, can be a featured back.
So, yes, a positive with getting Pace, potentially a big one, again, if he’s healthy, and also a positive in adding Malik Washington, a wideout from Northwestern who had 65 catches in 2022.
But look at what is being lost to the portal. Only the program’s record-setting QB, Brennan Armstrong, two starting offensive linemen – Taylor, a four-star recruit in 2021, and John Paul Flores, who had just transferred in earlier this year.
Plus Fentrell Cypress, a shutdown cover corner who is getting looks from everybody at the top of Power 5, and Nick Jackson, a three-time All-ACC middle linebacker.
And then, to the NFL Draft, wideouts Billy Kemp IV, Keytaon Thompson and Dontayvion Wicks.
Wicks was a first-team All-ACC guy in 2021, and is a projected Day 2 or Day 3 draft pick, and KT is maybe a Day 3 pick.
Kemp is getting bad advice to get him thinking he has a shot at the NFL, but still, he’s gone.
The O line is adding a warm body, in the form of a kid who played at D2 Saginaw Valley State, and the QB room is adding depth with the kid who was the starter at Monmouth the past couple of years.
This Lazarus tag, implying that Elliott has somehow made something good out of something bad, doesn’t add up.
Virginia is losing a stud QB with his replacement being a guy who’d rather being playing baseball or a run-of-the-mill FCS guy, replacing two starting O linemen with a D2 guy, replacing three wideouts with one, just flat out losing the two best guys on the D, and the high school recruiting class is one of the worst in Power 5.
Yeah, yesterday was a big win for Tony Elliott.
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Chris Graham
