By Drew Wilson
This article is reprinted online with permission from the Register & Bee. “Game On: ACC Coaches Flock to Hargrave to Woo Recruits a Week Before Signing Day” first appeared January 31, 2008 in the Register & Bee. Drew Wilson is a Register & Bee sports editor.
CHATHAM – It’s not quite the 11th hour, but it might as well be 10:59. The recruiting war is in full force.
With national signing day a week away, college coaches are circling the country like hungry sharks, waiting to snatch up any football recruits that might still be on the fence. Several big fish were hunting at Hargrave Military Academy on Wednesday.
Assistant coaches from Virginia Tech and the head coaches at North Carolina and Florida State all made visits to the post-graduate football office within a matter of hours. Hargrave still has a handful of players who haven’t decided where they’ll play college ball, including defensive ends Quinton Coples and Leon Mackey.
Both true seniors are listed as 4-star players by Scout.com, a recruiting Web site, and all three schools that paid a visit to Chatham wouldn’t mind adding either player to their incoming freshman class. Each coach made their pitch in hopes of persuading the players to commit to their respective school. And for North Carolina and Florida State, Mackey and Coples are worth bringing in the clean-up hitters. Tar Heels coach Butch Davis and Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden both made the trip.
“You want to close well,” Davis said of the time between now and next Thursday’s national signing day. “We’re on a lot of really good kids and I think it’s going to be a very good recruiting class.”
NCAA regulations prohibit coaches from talking about specific recruits before they have signed a letter of intent.
Coples, who said his list has been narrowed down to Tennessee, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Florida State, noted that the recruiting process is exciting, but frustrating.
“I’m still kind of thinking,” said Coples, who admitted that he won’t likely make up his mind before the eve of signing day. “I’m going to sit down and put things out on paper and just see what outweighs what and what doesn’t, how it went on my official visits and get my decision from that.”
Mackey has his list down to Florida State, N.C. State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
“I feel like I’ve narrowed it down … well, I wouldn’t say that. It’s open still,” Mackey said. “I’m going to sit down and talk to my brother and my uncle so they can help me make my decision.”
Not even Hargrave coach Robert Prunty knows where they might sign.
“I can’t get a feel on them to know where they are going to go,” Prunty said. “That’s why everybody is here today. This thing is going down to the wire.”
Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring and defensive line coach Charley Wiles showed up around 12:20 p.m. to meet with at least one recruit. The Hokies, who are coming off an Atlantic Coast Conference title, are losing most of their defensive starters. A guy like Mackey would certainly help Virginia Tech on the defensive line.
“Obviously defensive end is a prominent position for us right now,” Stinespring said of their recruiting focus. “We’ve got a guy like Chris Ellis leaving and you look at Orion Martin from here, who’s becoming a senior.”
Just before Stinespring and Wiles departed around 2:45 p.m., Davis and North Carolina assistant coach Ken Browning walked though the doors. No sooner than the Hargrave coaching staff got those two up to Prunty’s upstairs office overlooking the gym, Bowden and his Florida State entourage – executive head coach Chuck Amato and defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins – strolled in. They were escorted into the assistant coaches’ office adjacent to the gym. Both groups took turns talking to Coples and Mackey.
The chance to land a big-time recruit can change a program, as Davis explained.
“When I built the teams at the University of Miami, we really didn’t focus on like one general specific area,” said Davis, who is entering his second season in Chapel Hill. “We tried to focus on kids that we felt could be impact players – guys that could change the complexion of ball games.”
As Davis tries to build Carolina’s program, Bowden is trying to return his to the top.
“I hope we do better,” Bowden laughed. “We’re trying to get back to where we were. In the ’90s, we were the winningest team ever – a couple of national championships and eight conference championships. In the 2000s, we haven’t done that well.
“We’re trying naturally to recruit back to that level. It all goes back to recruiting. That’s why you always see so many people up here.”
The offensive and defensive lines are an area of concern for Bowden, which is why he made the trip to speak to Hargrave’s two defensive studs, who Prunty compared to NFL stars Julius Peppers and Mario Williams.
“The thing that Hargrave does is that it gives these boys an extra year under real good competition,” Bowden said. “If you can compete at this school and at this level, then it projects what you can do in college.”
Many schools, especially Virginia Tech, benefit from recruiting within Hargrave’s post-graduate football program. A handful of prominent Hokies – Brandon Flowers, D.J. Parker, Justin Harper and Orion Martin to name a few – all came through Hargrave.
“Our road to the ACC championship was paved a little through Hargrave,” Stinespring said.
Virginia Tech’s incoming class already includes two Hargrave players – linebacker Quillie Odom and wide receiver Kendrick Pressley.
Getting a player to commit, especially this late in the game, is all about relationships.
“It’s about getting to know players well enough to know they can trust you and that what you tell them is the truth,” Davis said.
“You want kids to love to come to where you’re at.”
Davis, probably like his counterparts, left Hargrave feeling good about landing a top-ranked recruiting class.
“You win some and sometimes you don’t win all of the recruiting battles you’d like,” Davis said. “But I feel good about the ones I’m going to get.”
Although neither Coples nor Mackey would tip their cap as to which school they might be leaning toward, both said they’ll be less stressed when their decision is made.
“I’ll be so relieved so I can focus on my academics and getting ready for training camp,” Mackey said.
