Two years ago, when the Nike camp made its first-ever stop in Blacksburg, it created quite a buzz, and the weather was drizzly and a little chilly. This time around, Nike camps are almost old hat in the fast-moving world of football recruiting, and the 281 attendees were greeted with a rare sight: snow in late April and frigid weather that caused the players to spend most of their time indoors. I spent the day in Blacksburg, and what follows are some personal observations and descriptions of how the camp was run and some of the action I observed. Included are pictures and four video clips.

2005 Nike Camp Multimedia

Pics (click to enlarge)

It's freezing out here!

MD commit Antonio Logan-El gives me the evil eye.

Marcus Anthony walks back to the line after kicking butt.

Isaiah Hinson inspects a ... broken nail?

Hinson gets ready to attack the dummy.

It's freezing, but Hinson and a buddy look tough for the camera.

Videos (All WVM format)

Hampton QB Tyrod Taylor shows us some footwork, then fires.

Line drill

DE Marcus Anthony speed rush #1

DE Marcus Anthony speed rush #2

Each spring, there are a dozen Nike camps, run by Student Sports, and they take place (mostly on college campuses) around the nation. This year, they run from April 10th to June 18th:

• Sunday, April 10th - Miami, Fla.
• Sunday, April 17th - Los Angeles, Calif.
• Saturday, April 23rd - Fort Worth, Texas
• Sunday, April 24th - Blacksburg, Va.
• Saturday, April 30th - State College, Pa.
• Sunday, May 1st - Tallahassee, Fla.
• Saturday, May 7th - Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Saturday, May 7th - Manhattan, Kan.
• Saturday, May 14th - Athens, Ga.
• Sunday, May 15th - Oxford, Miss.
• Saturday, May 21st - Stanford, Calif.
• Saturday, June 18th - Eugene, Ore.

The top prospects from a region are invited to attend a Nike camp, making them a hotbed of football talent, and the format is simple. Players are weighed and measured, then they go through a few simple combine-type drills (bench pressing 185 pounds, vertical jump, and the 40-yard dash), and then they break up into position groups and receive training from the Student Sports instructors.

It's part football camp, part combine, and part all-star event, though not every player present at one of these camps is a Division 1-A talent, and not every top prospect will attend a Nike camp. Percy Harvin, for example, regarded as perhaps the top player in the nation, didn't attend the Blacksburg camp this year.

When they first appeared, Nike camps were perceived as a recruiting advantage for the host school, and while there is something to be said for recruits getting a look at your facilities without it being an official or unofficial recruiting visit, fans of football recruiting are becoming more savvy to the limited recruiting impact that an event like the Nike camp can have.

For one, there is no time spent "selling" the host school. Prospects, numbering in the hundreds, show up and spend every minute of their time registering, testing, going through workouts, and competing in drills. The focus for the campers is very much on what the camp instructors are doing, and on making a name for themselves in drills against good competition, not on looking around and admiring Hokie stone and oohing and aahing at Virginia Tech's athletic facilities (which, to be honest, are nice but nothing that really stands out anymore – everyone's got a Merryman Center and practice fields and a football stadium).

For another, the coaches of the host institution are not allowed to attend the event, and indeed, a full day spent observing this year's Blacksburg camp turned up not a single sight of VT's coaches. Trainer Mike Goforth and equipment manager Lester Karlin could be seen helping out here and there, and after the event was over, Director of Football Operations John Ballein was spied roaming the halls of the Merryman Center, but other than that, little to no VT personnel were present, and certainly not any coaches. It's not as if they lined the windows of Frank Beamer's office to watch the proceedings from a distance – they simply weren't there at all.

Lastly, the frigid weather Sunday, complete with blowing snow (on April 24th!), wasn't exactly a strong recruiting pitch for Virginia Tech. Hey, kids! Come to Blacksburg and freeze your cleats off!

Two years ago, players registered in the entry of the Merryman Center, went downstairs for the bench press and vertical jump, then headed outside to run the 40 and go through workouts and drills on VT's football practice fields. This year, with blowing snow and frigid temperatures, the first two stages took place as before, but then the players made their way down to Rector Field House to run the 40 and do their workouts and drills inside.

The move to Rector made it tough on observers, because those not directly involved with the camp were confined behind a rope at one end of the field house, while the action went on in the rest of the field house, much of it 30-50 yards away.

I missed the running of the 40s, but I'm told that it was too far from the observation area for you to tell anything. The players were then split into three groups and put through footwork and running drills in two far-away groups, while the third one, the group closest to the roped-off observers, appeared to be a motivational speech, with no physical training going on.

At one point, the two far groups started chanting at each other, with one group shouting "You suck!" at the other repeatedly. Nice job, Nike – let's teach the kids those valuable "how to start a pregame fight" scenarios.

While in Rector, I did manage to snag a nice little video of Hampton High School quarterback Tyrod Taylor, the rising junior QB who helped turn VT wide receiver signee Todd Nolen into a star, and who will be a hot prospect for the 2007 recruiting class. Taylor showed good footwork and good velocity on the ball, as you can see in the video to the right.

After the workouts, the running backs, offensive and defensive lineman, and linebackers left Rector Field House and were shipped back up Spring Road to VT's practice fields, while the quarterbacks, defensive backs, and wide receivers got to stay inside Rector (pansies!). I made my way up Spring Road to catch the kids outside, because unlike Chris Horne, who had driven all the way from Richmond in shorts and had been surprised by the weather, I was properly dressed for being outdoors. Hey, Chris, it's called Weather.com – check it out.

I spent most of my time for the remainder of the camp watching the offensive and defensive linemen go through pass-rushing drills. For a 5-9, 160-pounder like me, watching the big uglies go at it made me shiver, for reasons other than the blowing snow.

It's the time of year when I'm not really up to speed on which prospects to watch, so I was squinting and trying to read the names taped onto players' chests, and I was at the mercy of those who follow recruiting more closely and could mention key players. I bumped into Spencer Cagle of Scout.com, and Spencer pointed out offensive lineman Antonio Logan-El, a Maryland commitment from Forestville, Maryland, as well as DE Marcus Anthony (Ashland, VA/Patrick Henry) and DT Isaiah Hinson (Richmond, VA/Hermitage).

For the pass rush drill, they set up a tall padded dummy that was the quarterback, and an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman would line up five yards away. From there, it was simple: the camp instructor yelled, "Go!" and the DL would try to get to the "quarterback," while the OL tried to stop him. Check out the "Line Drills" video link to the right for a sample.

It's one thing to do those drills in pads and helmets. It's another to do it with no protection at all. Somehow, it seems more personal and more brutal without the gear.

Logan-El was the most impressive offensive lineman in the bunch (too bad, since he's headed to the Terps). There was one player – sorry, I didn't catch his name – who got a little too feisty with head-slaps when he was rushing, and he made the mistake of angering Logan-El, who steamrolled him backwards onto his can. It was the only time all day that an OL did anything but back up, and it drew hoots from the players watching.

Marcus Anthony, who lists a top five of Maryland, Virginia Tech, Florida, Michigan and Clemson, was the most impressive pass rusher in the bunch. While most of the drills wound up being a physical lock-up struggle, Anthony routinely smoked the poor OLs trying to block him with minimal contact, as you can see in the two video links to the right. At 6-1, 240, Anthony was well-proportioned and had a good speed rush.

The most impressive thing about Anthony was that he stood out despite having a bad knee. After almost every drill he ran, Anthony would stand to the side, lean over, and work a knee that was obviously bugging him.

Hinson had his moments, but as you can see from the pics on the right, carries a lot of weight. He still moves pretty well for a 320-pound guy, and while I was shooting video of Anthony, I missed out on a good one of Hinson. He bull-rushed a couple guys, got to the QB dummy, wrapped his arms around it, drilled it into the ground, and rolled over it. Sheesh, if he had done that to me, I'd be crippled for life.

When the drills were over and the instructors called it a day, the players all ran, collected their gear, and vacated the practice fields in a hurry. It was nothing like two years ago, when they took their time getting off the field, or last year in Charlottesville, when it was a sunny, warm day, and the players milled around afterwards. This time, in frosty, snow-blown Blacksburg, it was time to scoot. And like that, the 2005 Nike camp was packed up and gone from the 'Burg.