After a big recruiting weekend where the program landed four commitments, the Virginia football coaching staff didn’t sit around celebrating Monday. Assistants blanketed the state on UVA’s first day of spring recruiting with someone touching each area of the state.
Running backs coach Mark Atuaia made a Northern Virginia loop with stops at Broad Run, Dominion, Potomac Falls, Park View (Sterling), Briar Woods, and Stone Bridge. Linebackers coach Kelly Poppinga also took in some schools north of Charlottesville with visits to Colonial Forge, C.D. Hylton, Freedom, Massaponax, North Stafford, and Potomac Senior all on his list.
Nana Asiedu is an offensive line prospect at North Stafford in the 2018 class, though UVA is not in his top group. 2019 running back Devyn Ford, however, is one of the top recruits in the nation and the Hoos will be working hard on that recruitment. At Dominion, 2018 defensive tackle Jayde Pierre has a Virginia offer in hand already.
Receivers coach Marques Hagans headed toward the coast. He made stops at Ocean Lakes, Princess Anne, and Bayside. Offensive line coach Garett Tujague took a trip in that direction too with visits to I.C. Norcom, Oscar Smith, Hickory, Dinwiddie, and Smithfield.
Some 2018 prospects in that area include James Collins (Oscar Smith), Keshon Artis (Oscar Smith), Darryl Jones (Princess Anne), and Willie Drew (Smithfield).
Quarterbacks coach Jason Beck headed south for the day. He made a stop at Union High where 2018 tight end James Mitchell attends.
The coaches made the various stops part of their Twitter feeds with the hashtag #HoosState as the label; they did something similar last spring with the #HoosRising hashtag that is still used. UVA has gained ground in terms of social media presence this spring. The Hoos have generated some buzz among recruits with memes of Drake and a football player emoji with crossed arms and V-Sabres up this spring as well.
As you can see below, the program also composed a nice state graphic for Twitter too. While it’s unclear where offensive coordinator Robert Anae, assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill, linebackers coach Shane Hunter, and defensive coordinator Nick Howell went, the graphic shows them on the road as well. Anae is shown toward the I-81 corridor, with McNeill and Hunter around Richmond. Howell was pictured in Northern Virginia as well.
@UVa_Football coaches had an excellent day in the VA recruiting. #HoosState⚔️🔷🔶 #FamilyFirstLastAlways pic.twitter.com/cI4UwQHERW
— VirginiaFBRecruiting (@UVAFBRecruiting) April 24, 2017
Stay tuned to the Sabre to follow who the Hoos start to zone in on with recruiting.
Union high for Coach Beck. Formerly Powell Valley HS (consolidated w/Appalachia HS) and alum Thomas Jones.