With three new coaches already hired and 24 recruits signed Wednesday, there will be quite a few new faces in the Virginia football program. Unfortunately for Cavalier fans, there will be two fewer faces than had been expected as late as this week.
Running backs Kordell Young and Brent Carter, rated the No. 7 and No. 18 backs in the country respectively by Rivals.com, both decomitted to Virginia Tuesday.
Young opted to sign with Rutgers and Carter committed to Penn State. Overall, the Cavaliers picked up a class ranked 39th nationally by Rivals.com.
The headliners of the incoming group include Defensive EndSean Gottschalk, Tight End Joe Torchia and Quarterback O.C. Wardlow. Each is a four-star recruit according to Rivals.com.
The most important signings, though, may have come at the linebacking position, where Al Groh stocked up for the next four years. The Cavaliers signed five linebackers, three of whom earned three-star ratings from Rivals.com.
"We had some very specific purposes in this [recruiting]," Groh said. "We tried to address those purposes from the start. Inside linebacker was one of those spots that we needed a number of talented players. Looking down towards the future, we wanted to get a good supply of players to begin developing that position."
Virginia also addressed needs at safety and on the defensive line.
Rico Bell, Michael Parker, Matt Leemhuis and Trey Wolmack are all three-star defensive backs as rated by Rivals.com.
Along with Gottschalk, the Cavaliers also inked three-star Defensive Tackle Gavin Smith and two-star Defensive Tackle Asa Chapman.
Wardlow, a 6-foot, 170 pound quarterback, is listed as an athlete on many recruiting sites, but Groh and his staff are committed to him as a signal-caller.
"He had a very dynamic career at Mt. Tabor as a run/pass guy and the team was very successful down there," Groh said. "He's been a runner -- very athletic and a guy that we're really looking forward to having."
The sudden changes of heart by the two top-rated running backs left the Cavaliers with only one running back recruit Wednesday, Keith Payne.
A three-star back according to Rivals.com, Payne hails from Oak Hill, Va. and believes he will be a productive back in the Virginia system.
"I don't worry about star ratings and all of that," Payne told CavsCorner.com. "Those stars mean nothing when the practices start in the summer. I plan on working hard to prove my ability to my teammates, the coaches and the opposition."
Virginia's inability to hold onto Young and Carter, though, evokes memories of the 2005 recruiting class. Four-star Linebacker Lamont Robinson decommitted to Virginia after a visit to Oklahoma, and three-star Linebacker Darryl Gresham decommitted in favor of Florida.
As was the case last year with the Roanoke, Va. native Gresham, the Cavaliers could not lure many of Virginia's top players to Charlottesville. Groh and his staff signed only two of Scout.com's top 40 Virginia recruits, leaving Groh puzzled about the flurry of players leaving the Commonwealth.
"We have looked at each individual case. We want to have analysis and thoughts on every occurrence [in] the recruiting process, [whether] it's players we get or ones that go to other places. We think we understand the dynamics in many cases. Sometimes it's a little challenging what was on the minds of some of the players. I have to wonder why players would have to look so far elsewhere to find what they're looking for."
In all, the Cavaliers signed eight players from Virginia.
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