With their season complete before December for the first time since 2001, the Virginia football team certainly has its fair share of problems to solve. And the Cavaliers will need this extra month to address them.
I don't necessarily want to complicate matters, but in the long-term, the task could be much more difficult than it appears.
Sure, Virginia retains many starting players, who with experience should help put together a bowl-worthy season in 2007. These players might even have enough in them to win eight or nine games.
But the challenges for Virginia don't necessarily involve the players on the field right now. Future problems for the Cavaliers instead involve a ten-letter word that fans who also camped out for the Playstation 3 love to focus on. That word is "recruiting."
Before I get into this, I want to establish that I hate recruiting.
I hate Rivals.com.
I hate star rankings, top-100 lists, Blue Chips and the Reebok ABCD Camp.
No matter the sport, I hate recruiting.
Unfortunately, this is what we have to deal with.
The recruiting challenge for Virginia, however, is much more comprehensive than the bench press, living rooms and Signing Day.
First, there are probably three "tiers" in the upper level of present-day college football recruiting.
The goal in college football recruiting is to get to the historic level of Notre Dame. Players from all over the country would love to go there.
This is the first-tier.
But short of that, the goal is to dominate your home state, while picking and choosing your recruits from elsewhere. This is the second-tier.
Right now, Virginia is stuck fighting for recruits in state and being marginalized for players outside the Commonwealth. This is the third-tier.
The second-tier is where Virginia should hope to go in the near future.
For the most part, state universities should have the first shot at talented players in their state -- as long as they have cultivated relationships and are willing to focus recruiting assets there. But they should also have the ability to target and specifically recruit players outside their state.
Two prominent examples are Ohio State and Texas. Though these programs have been much more successful than Virginia, the state university comparison applies.
In Ohio State's 2007 recruiting class, seven of nine recruits are from Ohio. The two who are not? Three- and four-star recruits.
20 of 23 recruits in Texas' 2007 class are from Texas. Who is from outside the Lone Star state? A five-star quarterback from Florida and a four-star tight end from California.
When Al Groh came to Virginia, he brought with him connections to certain areas in the northeast (parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) after years of NFL experience.
Yet, with the rise of Rutgers and return of Penn State and Notre Dame, Virginia's case in the northeast is much more difficult. Combine that with North Carolina's splash-hire of former NFL coach Butch Davis and Virginia's out-of-state prospects are even tougher.
From the beginning, Groh took into account the strengths of his coaching staff and apparently decided to split his recruiting assets -- about half within Virginia and half outside the state. In 2002, 14 recruits came from Virginia and 12 from outside state borders.
Over the last six years, the 50-50 trend has remained pretty consistent. In 2006, 45 of 99 players on the Virginia roster were from the Commonwealth.
In the future, however, players outside the state may no longer be available like they were at the beginning of Groh's tenure with the rise of nearby programs.
As a result, it is imperative that Virginia focus its recruiting assets within the state to try and take back areas that have become Virginia Tech strongholds in recent years.
Frank Beamer's long-standing coaching staff has worked to establish relationships in Virginia for decades. Many high school coaches around the Commonwealth encourage their players to go to Virginia Tech.
As result of these relationships, Tech is always able to recruit successfully in Virginia. This fall, 77 of 119 players on the Hokie roster were from Virginia. On both sides of the ball, 10 of 11 starters were from the home state.
Recruiting in college football is territorial. The best programs dominate their home state and carefully select outside players to offer scholarships.
For Virginia to ever be successful in the long-term, it must turn inward, away from the borders of the Commonwealth. Gone should be the days of dividing recruiting assets inside and outside the state.
A change in recruiting strategy would serve Virginia in the long-term, to remain ahead of the curve as the times change for college football in our region.
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