Next season will officially mark the first year in which Virginia football coach Al Groh has a team that was completely recruited by his coaching staff. Yesterday, the Cavaliers announced the final quarter of that group of young men -- 22 players who signed letters-of-intent to attend Virginia in the fall on football grant-in-aid.
Topping the list of the 14th-ranked (ESPN) recruit class are All-American lineman Eugene Monroe (Plainfield, South Plainfield, N.J.), who is listed as the No. 2 player nationally by CollegeFootballNews.com and All-American quarterback Vic Hall (Gretna Senior, Gretna, Va.), who is ranked as the ninth best quarterback in the country by SuperPrep recruiting magazine.
Monroe, listed at 6-foot-6 and 318 pounds, went the last 25 games of his career without allowing a sack. He has already been deemed a threat to challenge for playing time on the Cavaliers' very talented and experienced offensive line.
"He's something special -- he's a tremendous kid," Groh said. "He's got great ambition -- a great personal sense of direction. This is a big kid, 6-6, 315, 310 pounds, but he's very light on his feet. He's very athletic for his position."
Hall, a 5-foot-9, 168-pound signal caller, has already drawn comparisons to the Cavaliers' current starting quarterback, Marques Hagans. Hall guided his team to 14-0 marks his junior and senior seasons and two state championships. He ranks fifth all-time nationally with 8,731 career passing yards and 104 passing touchdowns. The star quarterback gained over 4,852 total yards his senior season, including 2,851 yards through the air along with 38 passing touchdowns (third-most in state history) and just six interceptions.
"He's had a dynamic career," Groh said. "It wasn't just in performance. He's shown great poise, calmness under pressure, and the ability to perform in big games -- something that [for some recruits] isn't taken into evaluation until they're here."
The New Jersey/Pennsylvania area continued to be a stronghold for Groh and his recruiting staff. Six of the 22 players hail from one of these states, including running back Mikell Simpson from Harrisburg, Pa. Simpson, who announced his decision to come to Virginia last week on ESPNNEWS, is ranked as the No. 13 running back nationally by SuperPrep recruiting magazine.
"I felt more comfortable at Virginia," Simpson told the Daily Progress. "I really liked coach [Anthony] Poindexter, who will be my position coach, and the entire coaching staff."
Six of the Cavalier signees already will have buddies on next year's team, as Virginia signed two players each from three schools.
Michael Covington and Brandon Woods both starred at Southern Durham High School in Durham, N.C. as wide receivers and in the secondary. Covington is rated as the 14th-best player from N.C. and Woods as the 10th-best by the Charlotte Observer. Rashawn Jackson and Mike Brown both played at St. Peter's Prep in Newark, N.J., in the offensive and defensive backfields. Jackson, who has drawn comparisons to current Virginia fullback, Jason Snelling, is listed as the nation's third-best fullback by CollegeFootballNews.com. The third Cavalier duo is from Hermitage High School in Richmond.
Groh said this class has the potential to match his first recruiting class, which was ranked in the top 10 in the country.
"In every situation we have a model we were working towards," Groh said. "We feel very confident that we were able to stay to that model. We are very pleased"
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