For the uninitiated, TSL created a purely numerical system for rating past recruiting classes, and over time, it has been applied VT football recruiting classes from 1990 to the present (it requires that a class go through its redshirt-senior year before it can be fully evaluated). The rating system is explained in this article, and there are links that go into more detail. At the end of this article, a link is provided to an Excel file with the data that was used.

Back in early 1997, the Hokies were coming off four consecutive bowl bids, including two trips to Bowl Alliance games. VT had whipped Texas in the Sugar Bowl following the 1995 season and had played Nebraska close for three quarters in the Orange Bowl. Tech had won 10 games in each of the two previous seasons, and things were looking very good in Blacksburg.

Frank Beamer & Co. kept the ball rolling in February of that year when they signed the 1997 recruiting class. The class featured a number of unheralded recruits that would become big-time players for the Hokies down the road. It also featured a player who was ranked among the top 50 prospects in the nation, but who would never even set foot in Blacksburg.

By today’s standards, the 1997 class wasn’t much to brag about. The Hokies only signed two of the top 10 players in Virginia as ranked by the Roanoke Times, four of the top 20 and six of the top 25. And as it turned out, the highest ranked player in the state to sign with the Hokies never even enrolled at Tech. But like seemingly every other class from the 1990s, there were some diamonds-in-the-rough that went on to become All-Americans.

The best recruit in the class of 1997, and arguably the best recruit on paper that the Hokies ever signed until Kevin Jones, was George Washington (Danville) defensive tackle Tyrone Robertson. Robertson was ranked #3 in the state of Virginia in 1997. Not only was he ranked highly in the state, he was among the top prospects in the country. He was ranked as the #16 defensive player in the nation by The G&W Recruiting Report, the #26 overall prospect by The National Recruiting Advisor, and the #3 defensive lineman in the nation by PrepStar.

Robertson was a big-time recruit who could have gone anywhere he wanted. And while he originally wanted to go to Tech, eventually he decided he wanted to go somewhere else. After he signed his LOI with the Hokies, he intentionally failed his senior year of high school, which meant his agreement to play in Blacksburg would not be binding after a year of prep school.

Robertson ended up playing college football for the University of Georgia, as well as Hinds Community College. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 7th round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played as a rookie, started some games, and finished the season with 26 tackles and two sacks. He had a bright future ahead of him, but he threw it all away with drug problems.

Probably the biggest name of the class, as far as future star power is concerned, is Andre Davis. The Vol. 14, No. 22 edition of the Hokie Huddler has Davis on their list of six sleepers from the Class of 1997. A sleeper is exactly what Andre Davis was. In fact, he was pretty much in a coma. The Huddler says Davis also considered UMass, Delaware and Maine. Davis became a record-setting receiver for the Hokies and now plays for the Buffalo Bills.

Here is a list of all the recruits from the Class of 1997:

• QB (0)
• RB (2): Wayne Ward, Camm Jackson
• WR (4): Andre Davis, Ricky Hall, Butch Patrick, Adrien Pressey
• TE (3): James Lomax, Derrick Carter, Bob Slowikowski
• OL (3): Dave Kadela, Matt Lehr, Matt Wincek
• DL (7): Chad Beasley, Barney Bowman, Derrius Monroe, David Pugh, Tyrone Robertson, Tim Selmon, Dan Wilkinson
• LB (4): Ron Cook, Jim Ferugio, Derek Piniella, Brian Welch
• DB (3): Larry Austin, Reggie Samuel, Ben Taylor

It’s tough to complain about the offensive class that Tech signed in 1997. It featured a couple of guys that never panned out, but most of these guys went on to become heavy contributors for the Hokies.

At tailback, Tech signed Wayne Ward and Camm Jackson. Jackson actually began his short career at whip linebacker, so we can only judge Ward as a tailback. And while Ward never found his way into the regular rotation in the offensive backfield, he did develop into one of the great special teams players under Frank Beamer. Who can forget his block of Kyle Kayden during the 2000 West Virginia game?

At wide receiver, Tech came away batting .500. Butch Patrick and Adrien Pressey never played for Tech, but Andre Davis and Ricky Hall certainly panned out. Hall originially committed to Tech as part of the class of 1995, but he was forced to go the JUCO route. He still ended up at Tech, redshirted in 1997, and led the Hokies in receiving in 1998. Davis developed into one of the most feared big play threats in the Big East, and he holds many Virginia Tech receiving and punt return records.

The successful wide receiver crop of 1997 was exactly what Tech needed, especially after the wide receiver class of 1996, which included Cory Bird, Walter Ford, Brian Remley and Greg Myers, none of which ever contributed at the position.

Tight end also turned out well for Tech in 1997. Bob Slowikowski and Derek Carter were contributors for their entire careers, which is exactly what Frank Beamer intended. In the 1997 recruiting edition of the Hokie Huddler, Beamer stated that tight end was perhaps the biggest need on the team, and that they needed someone from the 1997 class to be able to play right away.

Finally, Tech was a perfect three-for-three with offensive line recruiting. Matt Lehr and Dave Kadela were both big time players up front for Tech, and Lehr is now an Atlanta Falcon. Matt Wincek enjoyed a solid career as a backup before breaking into the starting lineup as a senior.

The Hokies did well on the defensive side of the ball in 1997. Tech signed a total of seven defensive linemen. Of those seven players, one became an All-American (Pugh), one became a very good college player and future NFL offensive lineman (Beasley) and two were heavy contributors (Wilkinson and Monroe). Tim Selmon moved to the offensive line and Barney Bowman never lettered.

If you count Tyrone Robertson, four of the seven defensive linemen that the Hokies signed in 1997 went on the play in the NFL. That’s pretty good recruiting, even if one of those players never played in Blacksburg.

At linebacker, Tech didn’t do quite as well, although Ben Taylor ended up playing there instead of defensive back. Brian Welch was a solid player and started some games during his senior season. But Ron Cook switched to defensive end, never lettered, and was eventually kicked off the team after complaining to the media as a senior about his lack of playing time. Derek Piniella lettered for two seasons before quitting the team, and Jim Ferugio never lettered at all.

Of the defensive back recruits, Ben Taylor became the most famous. Taylor quickly moved to linebacker, where he became an All-American in 2000 and 2001. He played for the Cleveland Browns for years and currently plays for the Green Bay Packers. Larry Austin became a two year starter and went to training camp with the Houston Texans. Reggie Samuel played wide receiver as a r-freshman in 1998, then switched to free safety. Sadly, Samuel blew out his knee while trying to avoid contact with a yellow jersey-clad Michael Vick, and his career was over.

Overall, this was a very good class. There were some future stars that signed with the Hokies in 1997, and many went on to play in the NFL. A total of eight players from the class of 1997 got drafted (seven of which actually played for Tech). Others, such as Dave Kadela, Ricky Hall and Larry Austin, signed free agent contracts.

Many players from this class played a big part in Tech’s run to the national championship game in 1999. Six players from the 1997 class (Ben Taylor, Dave Kadela, Matt Lehr, Andre Davis, Ricky Hall and Derek Carter) started for the 1999 team, while others played prominent roles as backups (Pugh, Beasley, Austin, Monroe).

On the other hand, it’s a shame the Hokies couldn’t sign a good quarterback in 1997. Provided that a QB would have redshirted as a freshman, he would have been a redshirt senior in 2001. That would have given the Hokies an experienced, fifth-year senior signal caller, and it could have made a big difference in the outcome of the 2001 season, when the Hokies had a great defense but a mediocre offense.

Note: the recruit ranking system was introduced in the TSL Extra, our old monthly publication that is no longer produced, in issue #21 (July 24, 2002). To learn how it works and how points are awarded, see the Inside the Numbers article from that issue.

In an effort to numerically rate the "success" of a recruiting class, both as individuals and as a team, I created a detailed point system that awards points for individual accomplishments and team accomplishments. I created a large table of "accomplishments" that players and recruiting classes could achieve, and then awarded points to players and classes that achieved those objectives.

Individual players, for example, can earn varsity letters, set records, become All-Americans, and get drafted by the NFL. Recruiting classes can win games, go to bowls, and obtain Top 25 rankings.

The system is admittedly flawed – no ranking system is perfect – but for consistency's sake, it does a pretty good job of enabling us to compare recruits individually and as classes.

Here is a list of how many points are awarded for what accomplishments, both individual and team – note that this system still uses "Big East" awards, because the Hokies were in the Big East at the time.

Individual accomplishments: letter earned (1 point); season starter (2 points); VT season stat leader (2); VT game (5), season (7) or career (10) record held; All-American (10); First-team AA (15); Consensus AA (20), Unanimous AA (25); national award (20); Heisman finalist (30); All-Big East 2nd (3) or 1st (5) Team; BE Player of the Year (10); BE season stats leader (5); BE game (6), season (8), or career (11) record held; BE academic honor roll (2); drafted by the NFL (3-10 points).

Class achievements: Wins (2 points per win); conference win (2); win over Virginia (5) or Miami (5); BE Champions (25); Top 25 (10) or Top 10 (15) finish; play in (15) or win (10) minor bowl; play in (25) or win (25) BCS bowl; play in championship game (50).

Note that the reasons for this ranking system, and its strengths and shortcomings, were talked about in detail in TSL Extra issue #21. See the article explaining the ranking system at this link.

As we do for each of these articles, here's a walk-through with Tyronne Drakeford, a key member of the 1990 recruiting class. Here are his accomplishments:

• Lettered, 1990-93 (4 points, 1 for each letter)
• Started, 1991-93 (6 points, 2 for each season)
• Led VT in interceptions, 1991-93 (12 points, 4 points for each season)
• All-Big East 2nd team, 1991 (3 points)
• All-Big East 1st team, 1992-93 (10 points, 5 for each season)
• Led Big East in interceptions, 1992 (5 points)
• Drafted in the second round, 1994 (9 points)
• Total points for Tyronne Drakeford: 49

Andre Davis (WR, 137 points): Andre Davis will go down in Virginia Tech history as possibly the greatest big play threat to ever don a Hokie uniform. The 27.5 yards per catch average that he posted in 1999 is unbelievable, and his game against West Virginia in 2000 during which he scored three touchdowns in three different ways will never be forgotten.

Ben Taylor (LB, 55 points): Despite having a large number of very good linebackers throughout the Beamer Bowl Era, Taylor is the only one who has been able to stick in the NFL. He led the Hokies in tackles from his backer position in 2000 and 2001. He was also the starting whip linebacker on the 1999 squad that played for the National Championship.

David Pugh (DT, 33 points): Pugh was a somewhat undersized defensive tackle who used his quickness to get the best of offensive guards and centers. He was constantly in opposing backfields, either making the tackle or forcing the play in a different direction.

Matt Lehr (OG, 29 points): Matt Lehr was a very good interior offensive lineman for Tech. Since his graduation to the NFL, he has played both the center and guard positions for the Dallas Cowboys. He is now a member of the Atlanta Falcons.

Ricky Hall (WR, 26 points): Ricky Hall led Tech in receiving in 1998 and was the team leader in punt returning in 1999, when he returned a punt for a crucial touchdown against Miami. Hall was spent some time with the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos, and was a productive NFL Europe player.

In terms of team accomplishments, the 1997 recruiting class wins points for what the team accomplished during the 1998-2001 seasons, when the class would have been redshirt freshmen – redshirt seniors. The accomplishments are:

The total recruiting class points of 760 is currently in 2nd place of all the recruiting classes that we have ranked thus far. It is just behind the 789 points scored by the class of 1996. It easily outdistances the class of 1992, which scored 592 points. The points per player score of 29.2 is good enough to rank 3rd on the list.

Here is how the eight classes we have rated stack up against each other.

The 1997 class comes up in 3rd place in individual points, which are calculated by achievements of individuals in the recruiting class. The 380 team points ranks 2nd, and is consistent with the amount of team points scored by each recruiting class since 1993.

At first glance, the class of 1997 looks like it includes more busts than the average VT class. But when you take a closer look, the class of 1997 included 26 players, more than any other VT class, except for the class of 1996. So a few more busts are to be expected. However, the eight players drafted from the class of 1997 is by far the most of any other VT class. Again, there are more players than most classes, but there appears to have been more overall talent in the class of 1997, as we can tell from individual points, points per player average, and players drafted.

A couple of players make their way into the top 10 from the class of 1997, most notably Andre Davis. Davis lands all the way up at the #2 spot, ahead of Cornell Brown and behind only Shayne Graham. Ben Taylor also finds his way onto the list at #8.

The top 10 still features four members of the class of 1990, which is a pretty amazing feat. But that number won’t last forever, as we have the class of 1998 coming up next, which featured players such as Lee Suggs and Michael Vick.

The Data

To download an MS Excel spreadsheet containing all of the data and formulas that were used here, go here:

http://www.techsideline.com/tslpass/2006/1997RecruitingClass.xls