Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
West Virginia’s Southern Recruiting Strategy
December 20, 2018 11:48 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – We've heard about the so-called Southern Strategy in U.S. politics. Well, for years West Virginia has adopted a Southern Strategy in football recruiting.
It began more than 50 years ago with Tennessee native Jim Carlen, and it continued with Birmingham, Alabama's, Bobby Bowden in the early 1970s.
Don Nehlen turned Miami's Dade and Broward counties into a regular winter destination by the late 1980s, making the Sunshine State a recruiting priority throughout the remaining years of his 21-season tenure in Morgantown.
Rich Rodriguez and Bill Stewart continued to recruit Florida and some of its surrounding states before Dana Holgorsen took over in 2011.
Now with West Virginia competing in the Big 12, Holgorsen has expanded WVU's Deep South net to also include North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia, where the Mountaineers are really beginning to make inroads with second-year assistant coach Doug Belk.
Just as Doc Holliday once became a household name in Miami, Belk is beginning to develop the same reputation in the Peach State.
This year's early signing class includes five players from Georgia – Suwanee linebacker Jared Bartlett, Roswell corner Nicktroy Fortune, Cedartown running back Tony Mathis, Kennesaw corner Dreshun Miller and Pooler wide receiver Winston Wright.
That will give West Virginia at least 11 Georgia residents on its 2019 football roster (there could be even more by the time August rolls around), which puts the Peach State behind only West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio as Mountaineer football's most fertile recruiting states.
Why Georgia?
Holgorsen rattled off a long list of reasons Wednesday afternoon, beginning with the ease of connecting to the Pittsburgh International Airport.
"The Atlanta to Pittsburgh connection is really easy; there's about eight flights a day," he explained. "There's a large part of Atlanta that is full of kids that didn't grow up in Georgia; they have a ton of move-ins."
He also mentioned West Virginia's great success in the past with Georgia natives Pacman Jones and Bruce Irvin, but that success really dates back to Bowden's first year at WVU in 1970 when he signed flanker Danny Buggs.
There are lots of really good football players in Georgia – and they all can't go to Georgia, Auburn, Alabama or the rest of the SEC. There are more than enough of them to go around for other programs, provided you have strong relationships with some of the top talent-producing programs in the state.
That's where Belk comes in.
The website SB Nation last year surveyed the top states for producing four- and five-star football players and Georgia ranked fourth behind Texas, Florida and California.
"They have great talent, they have great population and they play great football," Holgorsen pointed out. "It's just really good football, and I think it's as well-coached of a football state as I've seen."
Holgorsen said he was in Atlanta early last week watching the Georgia state championships, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium was an absolute madhouse.
Hotel rooms throughout the city were booked solid for the entire week.
"They had four games on Tuesday and four games on Wednesday, and the entire city was sold out of hotel rooms because, whether its 1A all the way up to 7A, it's unreal how many people go to those games," he said. "It's just incredible football and really well-coached and a lot of talent.
"It makes sense for us. I wish I would have stumbled on it and focused on it earlier," he added.
What West Virginia is getting from Georgia this year are three top 100 prospects from the state in No. 82 Wright, No. 86 Mathis and No. 93 Fortune, and one player rated just outside the top 100 in No. 105 Jared Bartlett.
The Rivals.com list of the top football prospects in Georgia mentioned 130 players, of which 106 have already signed with Division I programs.
And, one of the peaches of this year's Mountaineer recruiting class is Georgia native Dreshun Miller, the nation's No. 7-rated junior college player at Eastern Arizona College. Also the No. 3-rated JC corner, Miller was once an LSU recruiting target before switching to WVU.
He was brought here to play immediately, just like Valdosta's Josh Norwood was last year after playing at Northwest Mississippi Community College.
"A big get for us," Holgorsen said of Miller.
A major reason why some of these top Georgia prospects are now considering WVU is Belk, who continues to develop strong recruiting ties in that part of the country.
"I want to give coach Belk a shout out just for doing a great job in Georgia," Holgorsen said. "It's been a high priority of ours; we've really focused on Georgia these last few years. I spent all three weeks pretty much down in Georgia in December, and we're going to continue to work hard getting guys from that area."
Consider it West Virginia's new Southern Strategy.
SIGNING DAY TIDBITS: West Virginia also included August enrollees VanDarius Cowan and Isaiah Esdale on its list of players released Wednesday afternoon … Cowan is an interesting addition after appearing in seven games as a freshman last year for national champion Alabama … Cowan will give WVU's linebacker corps outstanding size (6-feet-4 inches and 233 pounds) and athleticism … the position breakdown for the December signees is four wide receivers, three offensive linemen, three corners, two defensive linemen, two linebackers, two safeties, one running back and one kicking specialist … Jalen Thornton, the son of former Mountaineer and Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals standout defensive tackle John Thornton, is part of this year's recruiting class … Jalen, a 6-2, 250-pound defensive lineman from Indian Hill High in Cincinnati, earned first team Division IV all-state honors as a senior … Capital High's Kerry Martin Jr., listed as a cornerback, was the lone Mountain State signee on Wednesday … Martin is one of three December signees planning to enroll in school next month … the others are Copiah-Lincoln defensive end Taijh Alston and Miller … Richmond wide receiver Ali Jennings was one of the last players to publicly commit to the Mountaineers, announcing his decision on signing day … He is rated the 19th-best player in Virginia … Besides Miller, West Virginia's other four-star prospect signed Wednesday was Imhotep Charter Institute safety Tykee Smith, rated the seventh-best player in Pennsylvania … Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said he will be hunting for a defensive end, another corner and another safety for the February signing period … Holgorsen said Wednesday the Mountaineers have room for seven more players to add to the roster by preseason training camp next year, one being a quarterback: "Obviously, quarterback is still a need at this point. We haven't signed one. I think you all can figure out what we've been successful with - with quarterbacks - and what we will continue to try to look for in quarterbacks. We only have two on scholarship right now."
It began more than 50 years ago with Tennessee native Jim Carlen, and it continued with Birmingham, Alabama's, Bobby Bowden in the early 1970s.
Don Nehlen turned Miami's Dade and Broward counties into a regular winter destination by the late 1980s, making the Sunshine State a recruiting priority throughout the remaining years of his 21-season tenure in Morgantown.
Rich Rodriguez and Bill Stewart continued to recruit Florida and some of its surrounding states before Dana Holgorsen took over in 2011.
Now with West Virginia competing in the Big 12, Holgorsen has expanded WVU's Deep South net to also include North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia, where the Mountaineers are really beginning to make inroads with second-year assistant coach Doug Belk.
Just as Doc Holliday once became a household name in Miami, Belk is beginning to develop the same reputation in the Peach State.
This year's early signing class includes five players from Georgia – Suwanee linebacker Jared Bartlett, Roswell corner Nicktroy Fortune, Cedartown running back Tony Mathis, Kennesaw corner Dreshun Miller and Pooler wide receiver Winston Wright.
That will give West Virginia at least 11 Georgia residents on its 2019 football roster (there could be even more by the time August rolls around), which puts the Peach State behind only West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio as Mountaineer football's most fertile recruiting states.
Why Georgia?
Holgorsen rattled off a long list of reasons Wednesday afternoon, beginning with the ease of connecting to the Pittsburgh International Airport.
"The Atlanta to Pittsburgh connection is really easy; there's about eight flights a day," he explained. "There's a large part of Atlanta that is full of kids that didn't grow up in Georgia; they have a ton of move-ins."
He also mentioned West Virginia's great success in the past with Georgia natives Pacman Jones and Bruce Irvin, but that success really dates back to Bowden's first year at WVU in 1970 when he signed flanker Danny Buggs.
There are lots of really good football players in Georgia – and they all can't go to Georgia, Auburn, Alabama or the rest of the SEC. There are more than enough of them to go around for other programs, provided you have strong relationships with some of the top talent-producing programs in the state.
That's where Belk comes in.
The website SB Nation last year surveyed the top states for producing four- and five-star football players and Georgia ranked fourth behind Texas, Florida and California.
"They have great talent, they have great population and they play great football," Holgorsen pointed out. "It's just really good football, and I think it's as well-coached of a football state as I've seen."
Holgorsen said he was in Atlanta early last week watching the Georgia state championships, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium was an absolute madhouse.
Hotel rooms throughout the city were booked solid for the entire week.
"They had four games on Tuesday and four games on Wednesday, and the entire city was sold out of hotel rooms because, whether its 1A all the way up to 7A, it's unreal how many people go to those games," he said. "It's just incredible football and really well-coached and a lot of talent.
"It makes sense for us. I wish I would have stumbled on it and focused on it earlier," he added.
What West Virginia is getting from Georgia this year are three top 100 prospects from the state in No. 82 Wright, No. 86 Mathis and No. 93 Fortune, and one player rated just outside the top 100 in No. 105 Jared Bartlett.
The Rivals.com list of the top football prospects in Georgia mentioned 130 players, of which 106 have already signed with Division I programs.
And, one of the peaches of this year's Mountaineer recruiting class is Georgia native Dreshun Miller, the nation's No. 7-rated junior college player at Eastern Arizona College. Also the No. 3-rated JC corner, Miller was once an LSU recruiting target before switching to WVU.
He was brought here to play immediately, just like Valdosta's Josh Norwood was last year after playing at Northwest Mississippi Community College.
"A big get for us," Holgorsen said of Miller.
A major reason why some of these top Georgia prospects are now considering WVU is Belk, who continues to develop strong recruiting ties in that part of the country.
"I want to give coach Belk a shout out just for doing a great job in Georgia," Holgorsen said. "It's been a high priority of ours; we've really focused on Georgia these last few years. I spent all three weeks pretty much down in Georgia in December, and we're going to continue to work hard getting guys from that area."
Consider it West Virginia's new Southern Strategy.
SIGNING DAY TIDBITS: West Virginia also included August enrollees VanDarius Cowan and Isaiah Esdale on its list of players released Wednesday afternoon … Cowan is an interesting addition after appearing in seven games as a freshman last year for national champion Alabama … Cowan will give WVU's linebacker corps outstanding size (6-feet-4 inches and 233 pounds) and athleticism … the position breakdown for the December signees is four wide receivers, three offensive linemen, three corners, two defensive linemen, two linebackers, two safeties, one running back and one kicking specialist … Jalen Thornton, the son of former Mountaineer and Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals standout defensive tackle John Thornton, is part of this year's recruiting class … Jalen, a 6-2, 250-pound defensive lineman from Indian Hill High in Cincinnati, earned first team Division IV all-state honors as a senior … Capital High's Kerry Martin Jr., listed as a cornerback, was the lone Mountain State signee on Wednesday … Martin is one of three December signees planning to enroll in school next month … the others are Copiah-Lincoln defensive end Taijh Alston and Miller … Richmond wide receiver Ali Jennings was one of the last players to publicly commit to the Mountaineers, announcing his decision on signing day … He is rated the 19th-best player in Virginia … Besides Miller, West Virginia's other four-star prospect signed Wednesday was Imhotep Charter Institute safety Tykee Smith, rated the seventh-best player in Pennsylvania … Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said he will be hunting for a defensive end, another corner and another safety for the February signing period … Holgorsen said Wednesday the Mountaineers have room for seven more players to add to the roster by preseason training camp next year, one being a quarterback: "Obviously, quarterback is still a need at this point. We haven't signed one. I think you all can figure out what we've been successful with - with quarterbacks - and what we will continue to try to look for in quarterbacks. We only have two on scholarship right now."
Players Mentioned
Rich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
