J'Courtney Williams, the top strongside linebacker recruit in the country, turned down offers from Clemson, Louisville and Virginia Tech Wednesday to become a Cavalier. Peter Lalich, a four-star quarterback out of Fairfax, did the same thing -- blowing off Miami, Michigan and UCLA to join Al Groh and Co. in Charlottesville. The same day, Nick Jenkins, a massive 310-pound offensive lineman out of Wheaton, Md. told Joe Paterno and the rest of the Penn State coaching staff to take their scholarship offer and shove it (I'm paraphrasing) because he'd rather be a Wahoo.
Think about it for a second. These three high school seniors, and 21 more just like them, actually chose the bowl-less Cavaliers over some of last season's BCS favorites during the 2007 Signing Day frenzy. Pretty impressive for a Virginia squad coming off a 5-7 season filled with coaching overhaul and a starting lineup that is miles away from maturity.
In the circus-like world of blue-chip recruiting, however, it helps to suspend reality for a few minutes. The actual process of landing top-shelf high school talent is far from an exact science; in fact, it seems to combine the worst elements of P.E. class (prospects are tested in the shuttle run) fuzzy math (recruits barely scraping by academically are praised as "excellent students") and hyperbole (18-year-old kids routinely boast they are "the next Ben Roethlisberger"). Cutting through this mess are college coaches, who grit their teeth and suck up to the same teenage punks they'll be punishing on the practice field come August.
The surprising thing is that Groh and his staff are very, very good at this. Since the 2001-02 season, Groh's first in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers have never landed a recruiting class ranked lower than 40th in the country by Rivals.com. In 2002, Groh capitalized on legendary coach George Welsh's work and nabbed the No.12 class in the nation -- better than six of the eight teams that played in BCS bowls that year. Not too shabby. In 2005, the Virginia staff scored another winner with the 19th-best class in the NCAA, higher than Texas, Utah and Pittsburgh (all BCS bowl veterans that year). By comparison, the Hokies have dipped from No.14 to No.45 in the same period, usually hovering in the mid-30s. Last week, the tradition continued as Virginia's crop of freshmen was named 24th-best in the country -- better than Boise State (Fiesta Bowl), Louisville (Orange Bowl), Virginia Tech (Toilet Bowl), Wisconsin, Rutgers and West Virginia.
Why all the success? It sure isn't Groh's track record that blows perennial football powerhouses out of the water. This past season, the Cavaliers' record was exactly the same as it was following Groh's first season at the helm (5-7). Although Virginia has been to four bowls in the past six seasons, none of them have been named after a food, plant or animal. I'm betting that after visiting Lloyd Carr's office at Michigan, recruits aren't exactly floored by Virginia's gleaming Music City Bowl trophy.
So if it's not team performance that makes recruits all weak at the knees when Groh comes a-knocking, what is it? Three letters: N.F.L. While Virginia's team stats haven't been stellar, its draft numbers have. There are currently 28 former Cavaliers in the pros, the majority of whom studied under Groh's watchful eye. Since 2002, Virginia has churned out 18 draft picks, including the best non-starting quarterback in the league (Matt Schaub), last year's Super Bowl-winning tight end (Heath Miller) and the No. 4 pick of the 2006 draft (D'Brickashaw Ferguson).
The mystery is how so many talented players can swing through Charlottesville without elevating the Cavaliers higher than 22nd in the country at season's end (Groh's all-time best) or bringing an ACC title to Scott Stadium. I'm not going to take a stab at answering that question, and I'm betting recruits don't stay up at night trying to figure it out either. In their minds, Virginia is the perfect breeding ground for future pros: big enough to have a few games on ESPN, guided by a former New York Jets head coach and connected to an N.F.L. alumni network that would make the Board of Visitors green with envy.
For Williams, Lalich, Jenkins and friends, that means saying no to rising stars like Rutgers and Louisville in favor of a mid-level ACC school that incubates professional athletes from its comfortable position outside the national rankings.
For Virginia students and fans, however, this role isn't exactly inspiring. Sure, you might have been in discussion section with a newly-minted N.F.L. millionaire last semester, but the frustration of watching the Cavaliers hover around .500 tends to overshadow that very quickly. In the end, this might be Groh's legacy: a top-notch recruiter and the darling of general managers everywhere, but ultimately a coach who was better at preparing his kids for the next level than excelling at this one.
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