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Well, looky here. Two schools from Virginia, fresh off wins over Florida teams, duking it out in what is essentially a semifinal match for the ACC championship—a championship guaranteed not to feature Florida State or Miami. Does this portend the age of the Commonwealth, a new dawn in college football and the ACC?
Not so fast, my friend (to use the words of FSU alum Lee Corso). Sure, Virginia has the better ball clubs this year. Virginia smacked down Miami 48-0 and Virginia Tech beat Florida State for the first time in Frank Beamer‘s 20-year Hokie career. (Tech’s game against Miami is too late for press time.) But it’s extremely unlikely that the balance of power has permanently shifted.
 Al Groh and Frank Beamer—supplanting Randy Shannon and Bobby Bowden as ACC top dogs? |
Both schools have hired new coaching staffs to make up for lost ground. Some coaches, like Jimbo Fisher, the offensive coordinator at Florida State, are bringing in complicated systems that will need some time to take root. But overall, the younger assistants at FSU and the younger Miami head coach, Randy Shannon, will help get those schools back to the top of recruiting, an investment that won’t mature for another two to three years.
Despite relatively poor years on the field in 2006 and 2007, Miami and FSU are still beating Virginia Tech and (especially UVA) in the recruiting battles, thanks in large part to being located in the state of Florida. Beyond coaches who are (or at least historically have been) good, the Sunshine State is home to a bevy of high school football talent, so much so that every coach from Texas to New Jersey works like hell to get a slice of that talent. Noting that a player is from Florida is often code for "He’s fast," and a disproportionate amount of defensive backs and wide receivers come out of the state. Rivals.com lists between Top 10 and Top 30 recruits for each state, but Florida, California and Texas have so much talent, the list has to go to Top 100. And of the Top 50 in Florida, Miami has commitments from 14, while Florida State has nine commitments. UVA and Virginia Tech have none in the state.
For the most part, Tech, which has long done an excellent job locking down home state talent, is continuing that trend. Of the rivals.com Top 30 Virginia players, 12 have already committed to play for Beamer (only one has committed to UVA). However, the state’s No. 1 prospect for next year, E.J. Emanuel, committed to Florida State.
So enjoy it this year, Virginia. Next year, Santa Claus may get back to delivering bowl invitations to Idaho.
