London, new staff hold together another solid class

COLLEGE FOOTBALL NATIONAL SIGNING DAY

Wednesday was national signing day all across the country and I took my dinner hour at work to go John Paul Jones Arena and sit in on coach Mike London's news conference to see what he had to say about the incoming 2013 class. What I realized is how solid of a recruiter London is, and I hope he can eventually turn those recruiting chops into consistent wins on the field. Consistent meaning, hey, the eight-victory season in 2011 was nice, but let's get it rolling and go to several bowls in a row. That's how you sustain success.

UVa's class, which has 22 players in it (though 21 signed letters of intent Wednesday; one, LaChaston Smith, is enrolled at UVa this semester and did not sign a letter of intent), is ranked No. 27 in the nation by rivals.com, and, looking back at my blog post on last year's class, that one was actually also No. 27. This is London's third class in a row ranked around the top 20-30 area depending on which ranking service you look at. Certainly, with the exception of a game here or there, this has not been the 20th to 30th best team in the nation the past few years so it is time to see some return investment from the recruiting field to the playing field.

Taquan Mizzell

London made note of that fact, how this is his third full class while he's been the coach of UVa. His first class, he called the "Tre Nicholson" class, referring to the rising junior cornerback out of Bayside High in Virginia Beach. Last year's class was dubbed the "Eli Harold" class, named for the defensive end who was the No. 1 recruit in the state out of Ocean Lakes High, also in Virginia Beach. Virginia's coaches must be getting sand in their toes because the top recruit of this class is five-star running back Taquan "Smoke" Mizzell, also out of Bayside. Mizzell got into some trouble on an official visit a few weeks ago as you may recall but is still slated to join the team in the fall and signed his national letter of intent Wednesday. London said the Mizzell situation was addressed by the University and that he would also address it to make sure something like that doesn't happen again.

George Adeosun

Two recruiting coupes London and his staff pulled off were with offensive linemen and London said the fact that the Cavaliers got a commitment from Mizzell back in August probably helped get more offensive linemen in this class because they like to block for good running backs. One was George Adeosun, a three-star recruit from Georgia that London said "blew up" overnight in popularity with big schools. He was a William & Mary commit, but he eventually also drew interest from Purdue, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Georgia, and Tennessee. Adeosun is a native of Nigeria that didn't start playing football until high school. The other lineman that the staff landed that was a bit of a surprise was Eric Tetlow, a three-star player out of Richmond. He was committed to Wake Forest, but London said he got a call "after midnight" last night that Tetlow was switching allegiances.

Donta Wilkins

Near the beginning of the press conference, London said that the class met a specific need at offensive line. There are five linemen in the class, the most of any position. I think any Wahoo fan can get excited about that after seeing the line and the running game struggle last season. Mizzell could be All-American good, but if the line isn't good, then he won't get far.

On the defensive line, one lineman, Donta Wilkins, is out of Potomac High in Dumfries (Northern Virginia) and I got to read about him some when I would design the sports section for the now defunct newspaper, the News & Messenger, based in Manassas. Wilkins, a three star-recruit per Rivals, dominated on both the offensive and defensive lines as a Panther and was named the Cardinal District Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, something that London seemed very impressed with.

Corwin Cutler

Continuing with the defense, a pair of players from the Richmond area that Virginia was able to hold on to post-staff shakeup was safety Malcolm Cook (three stars, Fork Union) and cornerback Tim Harris (four stars, Varina High). As a senior, Cook intercepted nine passes and returned four for touchdowns and also forced three fumbles. They both seemed to be wavering on their commitment to the Wahoos. Per Daily Progress columnist Jerry Ratcliffe, former defensive coordinator Jim Reid called up the Richmond-area recruits he was involved with and told them to still choose Virginia. What a class act and gracious action by Reid. You have to love that.

Brendan Marshall

Virginia picked up two quarterbacks in the class: Corwin Cutler, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound three-star player out of Ocean Lakes who tore his ACL late in the season, and Brendan Marshall, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound, three-star signal caller out of Good Counsel in Gaithersburg, Md. The Cavaliers are expected to have six QBs battling for the starting spot come fall: Marshall along with rising redshirt junior Phillip Sims, rising redshirt sophomore David Watford, rising redshirt freshman Greyson Lambert, rising redshirt freshman Matt Johns, and maybe Cutler, but he is expected to redshirt as he continues to recover from his ACL tear.

Another commit worth mentioning is Zack Jones, a three-star receiver out of Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake. Why is he worth mentioning? He happens to be the little brother of running back Perry Jones, who was a senior this past season and a fan favorite despite having a disappointing final season.

Zack Jones

Once again, London has scored big with this class. It really is amazing to me how he held the class together despite the firing of several coaches. I think it speaks volumes about London's abilities as a recruiter. It makes you wonder and shake your head at the times that he appeared so clueless on the sidelines during the 2012 season. How can be such a good recruiter, but maybe just an average coach? He said that the new coaches, who have strong reputations, were able to help hold this class together. I'm sure London is looking for them to help on the field a lot, too, where London seems to struggle the most.

I am particularly excited to see what associate head coach for offense Tom O'Brien does with the offensive linemen. He is known for working well with linemen. I think for UVa's offense to really go, the running game must be good. New offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild does not seem to favor passing over running. At times, it seemed like UVa passed the ball too much under Bill Lazor. The running game should always be the key. Virginia shouldn't be switching to an "air-raid" passing attack anytime soon. In that regard, UVa must have better O'line play this year and develop the linemen better. Offensive line coach Scott Wachenheim had a rough year, and lots of fans wanted him fired, but let's not forget that he was here in 2011 when Virginia had one of the finer running games in the ACC. I think with O'Brien's help and Fairchild's system, which doesn't shove the rushing attack to the side, Virginia can once again have a running game that ranks near the top of the ACC. If it does that, I think the offense will get back on track and start producing points again.

If London can still hit it big after a 4-8 season and two 4-8 seasons in three years, think about what he can do if he can string two eight-win seasons back-to-back. That's why getting the Oregon game on the schedule this year seems a little weird to me. London said at the presser "We embrace the fact that the schedule is challenging" but it seems like this is a year where it would be important to get to six wins and get a bowl game so that he can keep momentum going in recruiting or at least not slow it down with yet another losing season.

With that said, this year's schedule is top of the line, and that attracts recruits, too. I just hope Virginia can at least put up a good showing against the Ducks. And who knows? With some new, highly thought of coaches on the staff and a stable of players now chock-full of talent, maybe UVa can surprise some people in 2013 and reach six victories (or more) after all.