Virginia Tech Football

Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley will not attend the 2021 NFL draft in Cleveland after testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.  

Farley's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN's Adam Schefter: "Fortunately he is completely asymptomatic and feels totally normal. He will be watching the draft at home in North Carolina while in quarantine."

After the news, Farley posted a video to Twitter discussing his diagnosis:

pic.twitter.com/TCLWNde6lx

— Caleb 👑 (@IamCalebFarley) April 28, 2021

Farley, who opted out of the 2020 college football season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is among the top cornerbacks in the draft and considered a likely first-round pick.

While plenty of draft experts ranked him as the top corner in the class after the 2020 season, questions surround him after a recent procedure.

Schefter reported in March that Farley underwent a microdiscectomy to remove a herniated disc in his back, which caused him to miss his pro day.

He also missed his freshman year at Virginia Tech in 2017 with a knee injury, so there are some concerns regarding his durability.

The Maiden, North Carolina, native was productive when on the field during his two seasons with the Hokies. In 2018, Farley finished with 36 tackles, two interceptions and seven passes defended, and he followed that up with 20 tackles, four interceptions and 12 passes defended in 2019.

He was also a first-team All-ACC selection in 2019, which is the last time he played competitive football.

Given Farley's accolades and skill level, Rosenhaus told NFL Network's Tom Pelissero he doesn't believe he will fall outside the top 20. Rosenhaus added that "multiple" teams picking in the middle of the first round told him they plan to take Farley if he is on the board.

Any number of teams would benefit from a cornerback of his caliber provided he is healthy, especially those picking in the mid-to-late first round.

Once Alabama's Patrick Surtain II and South Carolina's Jaycee Horn come off the board, it may be difficult for cornerback-needy teams to pass up on Farley, even with his health concerns.

Northwestern's Greg Newsome II, Florida State's Asante Samuel Jr. and Georgia's Tyson Campbell are among the corners Farley could be jockeying for position with once with the draft progresses to the middle of the first round.

Virginia Tech head football coach Justin Fuente announced Wednesday the Hokies have opted out of postseason play, ending the nation's longest active bowl streak at 27 years.

"We had a team meeting and our players have decided to not play, and I'm going to support them 100 percent," Fuente told reporters. "It speaks to the difficulty of the season they've been through. There were players who wanted to play, but we were going to do this all together or not, and it became evident that it was a very difficult situation."

The Blacksburg school becomes the fifth ACC program to decline any potential bowl invitations amid the coronavirus pandemic. The others are Boston College, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh and Virginia.

"There's kids that would like to go home for Christmas. This is ultimately about our kids. I think they've sacrificed enough," Fuente said. "They've been at this for some time and given up freedoms and plenty of opportunities, so we're going to turn the page and get ready to go."

The Hokies finish the 2020 season with a 5-6 record, including an 0-4 mark against ranked opponents, though they narrowly missed upsets against No. 25 Liberty (38-35) and No. 9 Miami (25-24) in November.

Fuente has compiled a 38-26 record across five years leading the program. VT has finished with a losing mark in two of the past three seasons, however, and it last won a bowl game in 2016.

Athletic director Whit Babcock told reporters Tuesday he wasn't considering a coaching change, saying his decisions wouldn't be made to "pacify the social media mob."

"Upheaval is a dangerous strategy if you miss," Babcock said. "I know we have the right coach. But if you make a change and miss, it can get you into a spiral that you don't want."

He explained firing Fuente could lead to players transferring and the risk of losing "a promising young defensive coordinator [Justin Hamilton] and many of our former players who are also on staff."

The Hokies finished the season with a 33-15 victory over rival Virginia last Saturday.

Georgia now owns the longest active bowl streak at 23 years, and it'll increase to 24 if the Bulldogs accept a postseason bid this season. The Dawgs are followed by Oklahoma (21) and LSU (20), though the Tigers' streak is also set to end following a self-imposed bowl ban.

Virginia Tech reportedly suspended safety Devon Hunter after he was arrested Sunday.

Norm Wood of the Daily Press reported the news, noting Hunter was charged with strangling another to cause wound or injury, a felony, and simple assault against a family member, a misdemeanor.

According to Wood, the safety is being held without bond in Montgomery County Jail prior to a court date.

Wood explained Virginia Tech's policy calls for athletes to be immediately suspended until felony charges are resolved.

Andrea Adelson of ESPN cited a school statement that said Hunter was suspended for "not upholding the high standards we have for our student-athletes."

Adelson also noted the Hokies have paused all football-related activities and pushed back the start of their season because of COVID-19 concerns on the team. It is slated to start its 2020 campaign on Sept. 26 against the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Hunter, who was expected to start at safety this year, appeared in seven games for the Hokies last season.

Virginia Tech announced Saturday its season-opening game against rival Virginia, originally scheduled for Sept. 19, has been postponed because of COVID-19 concerns.

The Commonwealth Cup will be rescheduled for a later date, and the Hokies are going to pause football activities for four days.

Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente released a statement about the decision:

"My primary concern continues to be the well-being of the student-athletes on our football team. I hurt for them because I know how badly they want to compete. I also appreciate that these young men have been dealing with the same stress, uncertainty and anxiety as their fellow Virginia Tech students over the past few months as their spring semester was dramatically altered. Then they were forced to find a way to train on their own, and to their credit, they found a way to get it done.

"So many individuals worked so tirelessly to give us an opportunity to get back on campus to train and to get back on the practice field. To all of those individuals who continue to go the extra mile for our student-athletes, I'm extremely grateful. I appreciate how many people at Virginia Tech are so deeply invested in the success of our football team and our young men."

Virginia Tech's dashboard shows students who moved to campus in August were tested and that just 21 of the 9,041 tests returned positive results (0.23 percent). The numbers have skyrocketed, however, with 219 of the 1,331 tests taken from the period of Sept. 4 through Sept. 10 coming back positive (16.5 percent).

Pete DeLuca of WDBJ reported Friday over 40 students at the school were given interim suspensions for violating local health guidelines related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Analysis by Shawn Hubler and Anemona Hartocollis of the New York Times showed colleges around the United States have become "hot spots for virus transmission," with more than 36,000 new cases over the past week.

A viral video taken last week near the home stadium of South Carolina's football team showed students packing a sports bar with no masks or social distancing:

JUST IN: The scene tonight at TLC Sports Bar near Williams-Brice Stadium. Students say they’re going here because it’s just outside of Columbia city limits, and doesn’t have strict COVID safety guidelines. pic.twitter.com/1xpm9R1OTM

— SGTV News (@SGTVNews4) September 4, 2020

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech will now attempt to open its regular season Sept. 26 when it is scheduled to host NC State.

Hokies athletic director Whit Babcock remains hopeful the delay won't impact the team's ability to play its entire ACC schedule:

"The safety, as well as the physical and mental well-being of these young men and women entrusted to our care by their families, remains our top priority. While we share the disappointment of everyone who hoped to begin the football season against our in-state rival, we remain optimistic that a full ACC football schedule can be played thanks to the flexibility the present format permits. Despite this delay, our schedule still aligns closely with the Southeastern Conference and Big 12 football timelines."

Virginia Tech is scheduled to play every weekend through late November. Their next open date would be Nov. 28 between games against Pittsburgh and Clemson. Virginia is scheduled to face Florida State that day, so finding a way to reschedule the rivalry clash could prove difficult.

The Cavaliers are now slated to open the campaign Oct. 3 with a road game against Clemson and won't have a free date until mid-December.

Caleb Farley, the Virginia Tech cornerback who opted out of the 2020 college football season, says he has no regrets after making the "toughest decision" of his life.

"This was the toughest decision of my life. I live for football. But now that I've made the decision, I am totally at peace. I know I've done the right thing," Farley wrote for NBC Sports.

Farley is expected to be a first-round pick and was the first major collegiate star to opt out of the season over COVID-19 concerns.

A combination of unsafe conditions, including a lack of testing and teammates not wearing masks, led to Farley's decision:

"This year at Virginia Tech, at our workouts, I started having deep concerns about staying healthy. Guys were going home, going to Myrtle Beach, coming back to campus, and we weren't getting tested. We're all together, working out, close to each other, and you have no real idea who might have it, if anybody might have it. One day, I looked around, and we were like 100-deep in our indoor facility, no masks. My concern grew more and more.

"I started being really conflicted about playing. What this came down to is, I lost one parent. My dad is so important to me. Growing old with him means so much to me, more than football. I don't know what I would do if I contracted it and gave it to him, and he passed. I couldn't live with that. Part of me thought 'I put all my eggs into this basket since I was 6 years old...just suck it up and play. Try to stay safe.' But I couldn’t ignore all the doubts in my head."

Because college football players are not employees, NCAA teams have no recourse to punish players who make unsafe decisions. The players also do not have rights to demand safer working conditions, consistent testing and other measures that would potentially allow them to play the 2020 season without an outbreak.

A group of Pac-12 players are threatening to boycott the 2020 season if the conference does not adopt stringent safety protocols and revenue sharing, among other demands. It's unclear if players from other major conferences will make similar demands, but if anything, the pandemic has made it clear the level of value players provide to their schools. 

If changes aren't made to college football's structure soon, it's likely several stars will follow in Farley's footsteps. 

Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley will opt out of the 2020 season and instead train for the 2021 NFL draft, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. 

Here is former Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley’a announcement that he is opting out of the college football season to train and turn pro, sent to ESPN: pic.twitter.com/5j4FmQvGKy

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 29, 2020

"Though the competitor in me badly wants to play this season, I cannot ignore what's going on in my heart and I must make the decision that brings me the most peace," Farley said.

The redshirt junior also noted his mother died of an illness in 2018 and he "can not afford to lose another parent or loved on."

He joins Illinois running back Ra'Von Bonner among the first college football players to choose not to play this year. Over two dozen NFL players have already opted out for both voluntary reasons or being at high-risk of contracting COVID-19.

There have been several notable adjustments to the 2020 college football season due to the coronavirus, including canceled games and limited or no fans allowed at stadiums. The Pac-12 and Big Ten are both taking part in conference-only schedules.

The ACC announced Wednesday it has also altered its schedule with 10 conference games and one non-conference game.

Farley's decision will affect Virginia Tech, which will also now have to compete without one of its best players.

Farley is a two-year starter and is coming off a huge sophomore season where he was named first-team All-ACC. He matched up against some of the best receivers in the conference, totaling four interceptions and an ACC-high 16 passes defended.

Not only was he added to the Thorpe Award watch list for the best defensive backs in the country, but he also was ranked the No. 16 overall player in college football by 247Sports.

He will now skip the season and instead prepare for the draft, where he will hope to be a first-round pick. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller listed him as his top cornerback in the class going into the season.

Virginia Tech head football coach Justin Fuente will stay with the Hokies for the 2020 college football season after interviewing at Baylor as a potential replacement for Matt Rhule, who left the Bears to become head coach of the NFL's Carolina Panthers.

A Virginia Tech official confirmed the news Thursday to ESPN's Andrea Adelson, and Fuente posted a picture on Twitter of his VT staff:

2020 - Let’s go! pic.twitter.com/hSE2uNR2LB

— Justin Fuente (@CoachFuente) January 16, 2020

The 43-year-old Oklahoma native has posted a 33-20 record across four seasons with the Hokies since being hired in November 2015. Although the team has qualified for a bowl game in each of his four years, it's just 1-3 in those postseason contests, including three straight losses.

"The fact that we didn't come through in this game doesn't diminish my pride in them," Fuente told reporters after a 37-30 Belk Bowl loss to Kentucky on New Year's Eve. "My excitement for the direction of our program, my belief in what we're going to be."

Nevertheless, pressure is starting to mount on Fuente given the lack of bowl success and absence of high-profile victories on the recruiting trail. Virginia Tech currently ranks 13th in the 14-team ACC based on its commitments for the 2020 recruiting class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.

His track record is strong, though. He was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2016, his first season with the Hokies, after guiding the program to a 10-4 record and a bowl win. He was also the 2014 AAC Coach of the Year after a 10-3 season with Memphis.

Fuente went 26-23 in four years with the Tigers, including 19-6 over the last two seasons, before accepting the VT job.

Meanwhile, the Baylor coaching search will continue.

Scott Roussel of FootballScoop reported other candidates include Louisiana Lafayette head coach Billy Napier, Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson, LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and Bears assistant coach Joey McGuire.

Baylor will want to make a decision in the near future, with 2020 national signing day on Feb. 5.

The NCAA denied Virginia Tech offensive lineman Brock Hoffman's appeal to immediately play for the Hokies after transferring from Coastal Carolina.

Hoffman, who tweeted the news, sought a medical hardship waiver to be closer his mother Stephanie. She had surgery to remove a non-cancerous brain tumor in 2017 and still has health issues.

The NCAA rejected the waiver in April before an appeal fell through in August, and the lineman provided his thoughts on the decision to make him wait until 2020.

2020 Loading...⏳ pic.twitter.com/qQpoG2woIf

— Brock (@BrockHoffman76) August 27, 2019

"First off I would like to thank the entire country for the overwhelming support on my case! We did what we could, but I was informed today that my appeal has been denied and that I will have to sit out the 2019 season. I will redshirt this season and have two years left to play at VT.

"I know it will be a long journey until the 2020 season, but I'm willing to take it to achieve greatness. The goal now is continue developing my body, perfecting my craft, and being a leader for my teammates. I will not let this bring me down!"

Hoffman's tweet notably included a picture of former Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth, who wore a "National Communists Against Athletes" shirt as a protest against the organization suspending him for the 1987 Orange Bowl for steroid usage.

Hoffman tweeted in April that the NCAA denied his waiver then because (a) Virginia Tech is outside a 100-mile radius from his home in Statesville, North Carolina, and (b) that the NCAA "stated that [his] mothers condition has gotten better since being at Coastal Carolina University."

Per Mike Niziolek of the Roanoke Times, "the NCAA added an 100-mile distance rule when it made changes to the medical hardship waiver process in 2012."

Hoffman also noted that his mother is suffering from "facial paralysis, hear loss and eye sight issues and will never 100% be the same."

Niziolek received the NCAA's reported perspective from a "person familiar with the NCAA process."

"The basis for the decision by the seven-person appeal's committee came down to the timing of Hoffman's transfer," Niziolek wrote. "Tech's compliance department wasn't informed of the specific voting tally."

He also provided more details.

"One of the requirements the NCAA added over the summer to the guidelines that impacted Hoffman stated student-athletes transferring because of an illness in the family 'must occur within or immediately after the academic year.'

"The appeals committee used those guidelines in debating the merits of Hoffman's appeal since it wasn't officially submitted until July."

Numerous people sided with Hoffman after news of his failed appeal broke, including ESPN college football color commentator Todd Blackledge, Chris Hummer of 247Sports and Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Ok, so I just read two consecutive reports on Twitter about CFB transfers. One says Brock Hoffman’s waiver is denied, and the other that Aubrey Solomon’s is granted. Can someone PLEASE explain to me the criteria used to make these decisions??@dennisdoddcbs @BruceFeldmanCFB

— Todd Blackledge (@Todd_Blackledge) August 27, 2019

We're never going to get full wavier stories due to FERPA rules. But man, it's a bad look for the NCAA that Brock Hoffman and Luke Ford, both of whom transferred because of sick family members, are sitting this year, while other high-profile examples are eligible. https://t.co/MZ4fbFJ69y

— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) August 27, 2019

In a million years you wouldn't be able to convince me that best interest of student athletes was served by NCAA's decision in Brock Hoffman case.
And if it's accurate they penalized him for trying to stick it out at CCU for 2 years before moving closer to home, that's abhorrent.

— Mike Barber (@StillMikeBarber) August 28, 2019

WCNC Sports Director Nick Carboni also wondered why Hoffman's appeal to play immediately was denied while some quarterbacks (the two biggest names being Ohio State's Justin Fields and Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts) are allowed to suit up right away:

Some context. Statesville's Brock Hoffman was 5 miles outside the 100 mile radius to get NCAA waiver. Meanwhile the QB carousel churns. Ridiculous.https://t.co/cgmwsBAHxU https://t.co/tt3oRefML0

— Nick Carboni (@NickCarboniWCNC) August 27, 2019

Hoffman will be eligible to play beginning Sept. 5, 2020, when the Hokies host Liberty.

Virginia Tech cornerback Dwayne "D.J." Crossen has been charged with a misdemeanor stemming from making an illicit video of another person.

Per Mike Gangloff and Mike Niziolek of The Roanoke Times, Crossen was formally charged with making a video of an unclothed woman without her consent and his arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

The school said in a statement released on Feb. 12 that Crossen has been suspended from the football program for an unspecified violation of team rules since September 2018. 

"He is subject to the policies set forth in the Virginia Tech Code of Student Conduct," Virginia Tech's statement said, via Joe Sirera of the News & Record. 

Gangloff and Niziolek added Crossen was also suspended by the university at the start of the 2019 calendar year, preventing him from attending classes and participating in any school activities. 

The report notes a woman accused Crossen of "making a video of her while she and Crossen engaged in consensual sex" last September, but she told investigators she said "no" when Crossen asked if he could record video. She also said she "received a message saying the video would be posted online."

Crossen committed to Virginia Tech in June 2017. He redshirted his first year with the team and appeared in two games last season against Florida State on Sept. 3 and William & Mary on Sept. 8 before being suspended. 

Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente remained positive in his message despite a rash of players transferring out of the program:

Statement from Head Coach Justin Fuente pic.twitter.com/8tQmZTsaPI

— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) January 23, 2019

"I respect the fact that each individual’s circumstances and situation are different. We will continue to support all our student-athletes and wish them best whether their future is at Virginia Tech or another institution," Fuente said in his statement. 

In the last two days, four offensive players have entered themselves in the transfer portal or announced their decisions to move on, per Sam Cooper of Yahoo Sports. Quarterback Josh Jackson and running back Deshawn McClease have joined wide receiver Eric Kumah and tight end Chris Cunningham in looking for other schools.

All of them announced their decisions on Twitter, although Kumah was the only one who stated a reason, noting that receivers coach Holmon Wiggins was leaving the program. Per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, the coach is headed to work in the same role at Alabama.

With 559 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season, Kumah was the most productive of the four transfers in 2018.

McClease also had a strong year with 433 rushing yards on 96 carries, but he has been with the program for four seasons and he is still behind Steven Peoples on the depth chart.

Jackson is another player likely concerned with playing time after losing his starting job this past season. The quarterback started as a freshman and threw 20 touchdown passes with six rushing touchdowns, but Ryan Willis took over under center in 2018.

A transfer could allow him to find a new chance to become a starter.

Meanwhile, Cunningham scored seven touchdowns in the past three seasons but only caught 22 total passes at tight end. He could potentially be an impact player for a team that uses him all over the field.

While these could all be significant losses for an offense that was up and down last season, Fuente seems to understand the different circumstances leading to their exits.