Calm Ford Picks VT
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The flurry of 2014 quarterback commitments continued today. And while Virginia Tech missed on a few top targets in the frenzy, the Hokies finally got their quarterback.
Cedar Cliff (Pa.) three-star quarterback Andrew Ford picked up an offer from Virginia Tech Friday. After thinking about it a few days, he made his decision to commit to the Hokies.
Ford, Rivals.com's No. 19 pro-style quarterback, is commitment No. 10 for Virginia Tech in 2014. He's also the No. 11 player in Pennsylvania.
Ford also participated in the Hokies' June prospect camp two weeks ago and said that played a big role, as did a connection to offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler.
"A lot of people don't know this, but Coach Loeffler, when he was at Michigan, coached my current head coach's quarterback a while ago, Chad Henne," Ford said. "Right off the bat, we had that connection right there. When you say Frank Beamer, that says enough about Virginia Tech. We were very excited to go down there. A lot of people told me throughout the process, when you get on a campus and it feels like home, that's probably the school you're gonna lean to the most. There's a lot of other schools that were in on me, but when I got in the car to head home a few weeks ago, I knew Virginia Tech was the place for me."
That camp also gave Ford a chance to reconnect with four-star safety commit C.J. Reavis, who was hanging out at the camp. But there was plenty of other things he picked up on the visit as well.
"For me, I'd never been there before then," Ford said. "It was just to kinda get around, get comfortable with everything and get to know the coaching staff. I knew Coach Loeffler a little bit before I was there from talking on the phone every night. But there's more to it than just one coach. It was important for me to get down there, sit down with the academic people. I was at the Under Armour game with C.J. Reavis and we've been really close friends. I got to spend the weekend with him. It was an awesome opportunity for me to camp, to work with Coach Loeffler and see how he works with the quarterbacks. After that, we did board work and I know he's the best quarterbacks coach in the country when it comes to developing. It definitely had a lot of hype, but it exceeded all expectations I had."
Ford said his decision for the Hokies came out of a top three that also included Pittsburgh and Virginia. He said he also had verbal offers from Boston College, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Temple and UMASS, though some were contingent on him making a visit and/or camping.
Ford's decision comes after a number of the top quarterbacks committed to schools Friday. Norman North (Okla.) four-star David Cornwell visited Virginia Tech Wednesday and Thursday, but committed to Alabama. Stratford (SC) four-star Jacob Park committed to Georgia after cancelling his Virginia Tech visit Friday and Apopka (Fla.) quarterback Zack Darlington pledged to Nebraska.
Throughout the decisions, Ford said he stayed calm, since he had an idea what was going on.
"I've gotten to know most of the QBs pretty well," Ford said. "All of them are out at Elite 11 with group lessons right now. I knew where everyone else was going on about Tuesday. For me, when everyone saw it come out, I was kinda laughing because I knew what was happening before. I knew that Virginia Tech was interested in Jacob Park and David Cornwell, but it was the situation where the first guy to take it, gets it. I understood that and I made my decision, but it wasn't a rushed decision. I picked Virginia Tech because I knew it was the place I was gonna be successful for the next four years."
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