Hokies Continue Trend of Pursuing Athletic OTs, Offer 2016's Jay Jay McCargo

When it comes to tackles, it's clear the offensive line coach Stacy Searels knows what he's looking for; if they're athletic with room to fill out a big frame, he's interested.

Just take look at his commits for the 2015 class so far.

Mike Arnold stands at 6'5", Fredrick Johnson checks in at 6'6.5", and newest Hokie commits Austin Clark and D'Andre Plantin top 6'6" and 6'5" respectively.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise in the slightest that Searels is already hot on the trail of 6'4" junior OT Jay Jay McCargo out of Arlington, Va.'s Bishop O'Connell HS, offering him last week.

"He was 6'1" and 190 pounds as a freshman and now he's up to 6'4" and 280 and still growing," said Del Smith, O'Connell's head coach. "To be honest, I think he's got a few more inches to go too."

McCargo wouldn't be surprised either if he gained a little height.

"I think I'll grow, my dad's almost 6'5" and my mom's six foot, so I've got a couple inches left I think," McCargo said. "Plus I'm young for my grade."

But Searels doesn't deserve sole credit for noticing McCargo's impressive frame.

"Bud Foster is the recruiter for our school, and he always recruits us well," Smith said. "He's know about him for a couple years. And first he saw he had the body type, and then he saw he had the grades."

Foster gave Searels the heads up about McCargo's potential, and once the Hokies hit their first bye week after beating North Carolina, he headed up to Northern Virginia to meet with both Smith and McCargo.

"Searels came up for one of our games and met with us, and once we met, I think that's when they finalized things," McCargo said.

Then McCargo says his offer came in from Foster in unusual fashion.

"It actually came through as a DM on Twitter," McCargo said. "Since then, I've probably talked with him the most."

But picking up an offer from the coaches wasn't the first he'd heard of the Hokies.

"I'd always known they were a powerful program in college football," McCargo said.

Playing in Northern Virginia certainly helped keep the Hokies at the forefront of McCargo's mind.

"Any time you play in this state, you know about Virginia Tech," Smith said. "But he's a smart kid, he's done his research."

McCargo says he has yet to talk with either Searels or Foster about where he might fit along the line if he were to head to Tech, but Smith thinks he's got the ability to be versatile.

"His size in combination with his athleticism really sets him apart," Smith said. "He could play guard if he needed to, he's definitely athletic enough to pull."

McCargo adds that he's seen time at every position on the line the last few years, so he's open to any kind of transition.

"I've played every position going from eighth grade until now, so I'll go wherever the coaches think I can have success," McCargo said. "I've got mobility, I can definitely move my feet in pass protection, and since sophomore year I really feel like I've stepped up my run blocking."

But if Smith's prediction of an impending growth spurt comes true, McCargo will almost certainly end up on the outside.

"It's going to depend on his body," Smith said. "At 6'4", it's easy to make a transition. It's not at 6'6" or 6'7"."

That potential for added height has other teams than just the Hokies interested. McCargo is rated a 3-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite ranking, and he's holding offers from eight other schools already.

"He's also thinking about Penn State, Clemson, Boston College and West Virginia," Smith said.

Before he starts to narrow his list down, Smith thinks McCargo could benefit from taking more visits to the schools expressing recent interest like Tech. He's already been to Penn State's campus and has a visit to Duke scheduled as well.

"He just needs to go to Tech's campus, have it be tangible for him," Smith said.

If all goes according to plan, he'll get that chance at the Hokies' final home game of the year against Virginia on November 28.

"I definitely want to see if I can see myself there, check out the gameday atmosphere," McCargo said. "I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the staff, especially Coach Beamer."

McCargo added that he also is looking to head to one of the school's Junior Days in the offseason, but in the meantime, he'll work with Smith on the type of attitude that Searels surely loves in a big OT.

"Good high school offensive linemen can take over games, and he has that mentality," Smith said. "I'd just like to see that more often."