Virginia Tech’s Pursuit of OLB Damien Dozier

Nov 16, 2013; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies coaching staff including head coach Frank Beamer (left) on the sidelines in overtime. The Terrapins defeated the Hokies 27-24 in overtime at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Tech Hokies have had an interesting start to recruiting for the Class of 2015 with only six commits so far. However, all of those commitments have been on defense with 3-star defensive end Trevon Hill being the most recent commit and ending the Hokies’ decent drought for a commit. Along with Hill, the Hokies have two other commits on the defensive line in 3-star DL Harry Lewis and 3-star DT Eric Whitehead while also having one linebacker in 3-star OLB Carson Lydon.

Virginia Tech is now in pursuit of Damien Dozier who could become the Hokies’ seventh commit.

Damien Dozier is an outside linebacker who could play defensive end that plays for Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg, Virginia. Dozier is rated as a 3-star prospect by 247 Sports and is ranked as their 59th best OLB while ESPN and Rivals both have not given Dozier a rating. Dozier did impress a lot of people with his performances at some of the camps this past spring including some ESPN analysts so it’s surprising that ESPN does not have a ranking for him just yet.

Dozier’s versatility to play defensive end or outside linebacker is intriguing but one sign that the Hokies might see him as more of an outside linebacker is the fact that Outside Linebackers coach Cornell Brown is the primary recruiter. ESPN has Dozier listed as a defensive end but they are the only site of the main three recruiting sites that don’t have Dozier at outside linebacker.

Meanwhile, Damien Dozier made a big announcement on his Twitter recently.

Damien Dozier hasn’t made any sort of cut to his list of suitors or anything along those lines but Virginia Tech is arguably the favorite for Dozier. Clemson has been a top contender for Dozier but they really aren’t in the hunt for now because of the fact that they have no offered him a scholarship just yet. The fact that Dozier is going to announce tomorrow seems to prove that Clemson is probably not in contention.

The top threat to the Hokies getting Dozier seems to be the Cincinnati Bearcats who are one of two programs who have offered Dozier and are listed as Dozier having warm interest in their program with the Hokies being the other. Despite the fact that Cincinnati is in the AAC, their stadium is getting some upgrades which might be some of the appeal. Also, Tommy Tuberville has a proven track record with his success at Auburn and that can help Cincinnati.

However, the Hokies have plenty of reasons to be confident that Dozier will choose to come to Blacksburg. The proximity to home is definitely an advantage while Dozier would also get to work with a staff that has produced plenty of NFL players. Playing in the ACC is preferable to the AAC while power conferences like the ACC tend to have more players selected in the NFL Draft than smaller conferences like the AAC. Right now, it definitely seems like the Hokies are in a vey good position to bring Dozier to Blacksburg but we’ll find out tomorrow night if he will.