Backbone of Virginia Tech Football's Recruiting Named Best in the ACC

When Brent Pry took over at Virginia Tech for Justin Fuente three years ago, the former Penn State defensive coordinator knew if there was one way he was going to make the rebuild in Blacksburg quick, it would be recruiting better in the state of Virginia. Something that Fuente did not do.

There are a lot of good football players in the Commonwealth and too many times, programs from outside of the state would come in and steal the top talent. That needed to change and it has under Pry. The Class of 2025 signed on Wednesday and the Hokies had 12 in-state recruits commit to the program, including a last-second flip.

Yes, Pry has been out recruiting as has his staff and they are making big strides to keep some of the talent home and evening beating out Virginia for some of the top players, but behind the scenes, there is one coach who is doing a lot of recruiting for Pry and he was recently named the conference's top recruiter.

Fontel Mines named top ACC recruiter

Some coaches have it and some don't. You can say that Fontel Mines has it when it comes to recruiting. He was a major reason why Jahmari DeLoatch flipped his commitment late Wednesday morning to the Hokies from Cincinnati as Mines never gave up after DeLoatch committed to the Bearcats. The communication and hard work paid off.

It didn't go lost on 247Sports as they named Mines the top recruiter in the ACC. That is two years in a row where the Hokies have a very good incoming freshmen class and it's not out of the question that some of them, like running back Jeff Overton, could come in and contribute as early as 2025. That would be a huge bonus.

Say what you will about Pry and his game management, but one thing is clear, he has had a ton of success in recruiting, and a major reason why is Mines.