There is an old adage in football that says the coach's job is never done. Virginia head coach Al Groh and his staff having taken that maxim to heart this summer by amassing the nation's largest recruiting class -- for 2005. Virginia coaches have secured oral commitments from 18 high school football players who have yet to take their senior portraits.
"I think the response of the players that we have been recruiting so far has been mostly a combination of the efforts of the coaches and the relationships that they are able to build with the players," Groh said.
The Cavaliers have approached the recruiting process early in the year, and that approach has already brought in three prospects that are listed as top 100 prospects by Rivals.com, a Web site that follows college sports and recruiting. The trio of offensive lineman Eugene Monroe, linebacker Lamont Robinson and quarterback Vic Hall has been the blockbuster commitments so far for the Cavaliers.
A strong class "is our goal each year," Groh said. "So, we have to reiterate what our goal was and talk about how we are going to plan things out so we can meet that goal."
Virginia's recruiting effort shows no sign of slowing down either. The Cavaliers received the oral commitment of Mike Brown, a speedy (sub-4.40 40-yard dash) defensive back who is also a threat running the ball for his high school St. Peter's Prep (N.J.), on Monday to bring the total number of commitments to 18. During the week of June 13, four future Cavaliers gave their oral agreements to the coaching staff. Monroe and Robinson, who are both from New Jersey, were joined by Holy Cross (N.Y.) receiver Kevin Ogletree and defensive lineman Antonio Appleby of Salem High School (Va.) in announcing their intentions to play for Virginia.
Monroe could not be reached for comment, but in an interview with The Richmond Times-Dispatch talked about why he chose to commit so early.
"I felt like I'd be procrastinating and making it harder on myself if I didn't do it now," he said. "Once the season began, I didn't want to deal with all the calls and everything."
The commitments of Monroe and Hall add two young offensive talents to a Virginia team known primarily for defense. Monroe, ranked the 11th-best high school player and third-best offensive tackle by rivals.com, is the most heralded member of the class. At 6'7" and 320 pounds, Monroe is already the size of most starting tackles in college football. Monroe, who is projected to be a tackle in college, had 57 pancake blocks as a junior for Plainville High School (N.J.).
Hall is a scoring machine under center for Gretna High School (Va.). Last year, he rushed for over 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns and threw for 3,033 yards and 31 touchdowns while leading Gretna to an 8-3 record.
This recruiting class of 18 high school players is already almost as large as the incoming recruiting class of 19 that will be playing for Virginia this fall. Despite the early success of this recruiting effort, Groh does not feel that it has differed strongly from last year's.
"I wouldn't say that [the recruiting] wasn't so aggressive last year, it's just the results are a little bit different," Groh said. "But just like you don't run the same game plan every week
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