Virginia Tech's Recruiting Philosophy Changing?

Traditionally, Frank Beamer likes to recruit within a six-hour drive of Blacksburg. This quote is from 2011.

"Our recruiting right now is within about six hours of Blacksburg, and I think that's perfect," Beamer said. "I think we can get the talent we need to win a national championship within six hours of Blacksburg and then their family comes with them on the recruiting trip, they come to games, kids can get home. I just think in every way that's a good thing. Now in special cases we'll go into Ohio or Florida or wherever, but there's got to be a connection to Virginia Tech, a reason why we'd do that."

Here is a map of that area which assumes there is a straight road from Blacksburg to any point inside, and travel speed is >= 65 mph on average. (Note: These are unreasonable assumptions, but for sake of argument it is a good estimate.)

Obviously, Tech has signed players from outside the circle. Atlantic in Delray Beach, Florida (Brandon Flowers, David Clowney, Jayron Hosley, Mark Leal, Luther Maddy, and Dadi Nicolas) has been a pipeline for the Hokies.

Andy Bitter wrote a great piece about the new offensive coaches with respect to recruiting. It is full of insightful quotes.

[J.C. Shurburtt of 247Sports] On Grimes: "Jeff Grimes is a guy that has the reputation for going across the country and landing offensive linemen. Whether it's Colorado or Arizona, he scopes mostly in the west, he's got some connections out there. He'll go anywhere to find linemen. And that's good, because in the state of Virginia, it's great for skill guys, it's great for running backs, even a good-moving defensive lineman, and it's really good for linebackers. But o-line, you have maybe one or two really elite, elite guys per year.

Look at Grimes' recruiting history via Rivals.com, and be amazed.

His west coast success stands out.

"So if you're Virginia Tech, maybe you need to kind of expand your horizons looking for offensive linemen. [...] And I think Jeff Grimes is the kind of guy who can get that done for them, of the new coaches."

Being able to spot recruit talented offensive linemen would no doubt fill a void on the roster. More than anything, dominate offensive lines have kept Tech from winning marquee match-ups. It's obvious Shurburtt thinks highly of Grimes, who said this.

When I worked with Dirk Koetter with Boise State and Arizona State, he was really the first guy that told me to do that. He said, 'Hey Grimey, you've got your recruiting area, but you go sign the four best linemen that you can sign this year. That's the No. 1 thing that you've got to do.' So I'm going to be really involved with those guys wherever they are."

At their introductory press conference, Beamer noted the staff hasn't finalized recruiting responsibilities. It looks like in addition to his Virginia territory, Grimes will seek out the best linemen he can find nationally. That is good news.