Athletic 2017 OL Christian Darrisaw Could Fit at "Any of the Five Positions" for the Hokies

Until the Hokies pulled the trigger and offered 2017 OT Christian Darrisaw of Upper Marlboro, Md.'s Riverdale Baptist School, he lacked a single FBS offer.

But once the 6'5", 290-pound senior picked the Hokies on Nov. 15, Tech's staff came away thinking they managed to pull a fast one on the rest of the college football world.

"They told me they think I can play any of the five positions," Darrisaw told The Key Play. "I'm light on my feet to be 290 pounds, and they liked my athleticism."

Darrisaw's only other offers came from programs like Morgan State and Central Connecticut State and he's unrated by most rankings services, but Riverdale Baptist head coach Caesar Nettles doesn't think that's any black mark on his abilities. Rather, he expects that teams were just a bit nervous about how Darrisaw's senior year might play out (both on the field and in the classroom), and the Hokies were simply the first to go out on a limb for him.

"With the high major FBS guys, when there's any apprehension in offering a kid, a lot of teams don't want to be the first one, because they don't want to be the first one to put him on the scene if they know about him," Nettles said. "But that's what was good about Tech. They didn't wait until the end of the process, because it could've been easy for them to wait until right before signing day and offer him, but they put it out there that they wanted him, and that was really big for Chris. I think, ultimately, that's why he committed."

Darrisaw agreed that he felt a real sense of trust with the coaching staff, and Nettles believes that largely stems from the consistent message he got from the team, led by WRs coach (and area recruiter) Holmon Wiggins.

"He likes how they've been honest with him throughout the process, they've been fair with him," Nettles said. "They basically told him this summer that if he performed well, he'd get an offer. They were consistent with their word, and he's been consistent with his."

Though the Hokies have been interested in Darrisaw for the last "six to eight months" by Nettles' count, they did indeed get a lot more interested in his abilities when he made his first trip to Tech for a camp in July.

That's where he got to meet OL coach Vance Vice for the first time, and his interest in the program was immediately piqued.

"I loved him," Darrisaw said. "We were going over the system that they run now, just showing me different things that we do and I really liked it, like the up-tempo offense, all the things they do with the offense....I just like how they do a tempo offense, they run the ball and pass the ball, it's not all run plays. I like that mixture of both. They do run and pass, it's not just all pass or all run."

The Hokies followed up with a visit for one of Darrisaw's games this season, and once Nettles got a chance to send the staff his film from his full senior year, the coach believes "they were happy with what they saw."

Darrisaw said Tech then invited him down for a visit for the team's game against Georgia Tech on Nov. 12, and even extended that elusive offer the day before he made the visit. He didn't get a chance to see a Hokies win in his first game in Lane Stadium, but he did get to chat briefly with Justin Fuente before kickoff and get to know a little more about his vision for the program.

"I see what he's doing to the program right now, he's going to change it and continue the tradition with what V-Tech has," Darrisaw said.

He felt so overwhelmed by the visit, in fact, that he decided not to wait and committed just a few days later.

"Just the atmosphere at the game, it was amazing and I just knew it was the place I wanted to play," Darrisaw said. "And the education is great, a 92 percent graduation rate is great. It just seems like a great place to be."

He called Wiggins to give him the good news, and he remembers his recruiter feeling "pretty excited" about that decision. That's with good reason, Nettles says.

"They see a little growth in him, and the best thing about him is he's a really, really good athlete," Nettles said. "He moves well for his size, extremely strong and they see the fact that he can play everywhere on the offensive line. They're going to bring him in as a tackle, but they know he can play anywhere on the O-Line."

Yet for all that versatility, Darrisaw expects that he'll "probably" end up at guard at Tech, and Nettles would welcome such a move for him.

"I think he could be a pro at left guard," Nettles said. "He just has really, really good initial punch, he's really good when he goes out and blocks down the field, and he can run, so I'd love to see him at guard."

But Nettles notes that it's no mistake that Darrisaw is Riverdale Baptist's starting left tackle, and he could easily see him staying at tackle at the next level.

"He's been blessed with extremely long arms," Nettle said. "He has arms of a 6'7", 6'8" guy, which is vital for offensive line. So we played him at left tackle because he was our best pass blocker, but he has the ability to run block well. He can pull, he can trap, he can play anything in a zone system, and he's really really smart at picking things up, so I think Virginia Tech will be really happy with the player they're getting."

Now, Darrisaw is busy scheduling his official visit to Blacksburg — he expects that will come in sometime in January — but Nettles cautioned that Tech's offer has since spurred a "variety of other schools" to start expressing their interest in Darrisaw.

Luckily for the Hokies, Darrisaw has given his coach a pretty clear directive in that department.

"He's done with his recruitment," Nettles said. "Once he gives his word, he's done. He told me to shut it all down for everybody that calls."