![]() Just like at Virginia Tech, South Carolina’s players have bought into the game’s third phase, excelling at returns, blocking schemes and changing games. His son carried that into his first head coaching job with the Gamecocks and made sure to have his hands on special teams alongside the unit’s coordinator, Pete Lembo. “They loved taking part on those teams for us,” Frank Beamer said. Soon enough, Virginia Tech starters were there on kickoff and punt returns as their coach counseled them being skilled on special teams might enhance their NFL chances. So he made sure he emphasized special teams and took part in meetings and practices. I don't think we've ever missed a year of ball together, so it'd be great to continue that.When Frank Beamer got to Virginia Tech in 1987, his early teams struggled and needed a game-altering identity the Hokies could get behind. "Elementary (school), played ball together, all the way up until now. "It's been our dream, we grew up together, and it's been our dream since we were kids," Pimpleton said. Going forward, Pimpleton is hoping to take an official visit to Blacksburg ("possibly" for a game during the season) though he's "undecided" if he wants to try and enroll early.Īs he ponders that decision, he says he's hoping to amplify Tech's overtures to Ward, considering they've long talked about playing together. "He went to visit another school and stopped over at my school on the way back and he was just saying that I'll make them better, a better program," Pimpleton said. Pimpleton also got a chance to feel the love from defensive coordinator Bud Foster a few weeks later when he stopped by Muskegon. He gave Fuente a call with the good news, and he says the coach was definitely "excited" that he was coming on board. Pimpleton held off on making his decision for a few weeks after the trip, but ultimately pulled the trigger on May 8. He also got along well with WRs coach Holmon Wiggins, calling him "very family oriented." "For them to bring in Justin Fuente, replacing Frank Beamer who was there for 30-some years, I know that they wouldn't bring in any old random guy, they'd bring in somebody who had the same mentality as Frank Beamer." "The coaching staff was great, a wonderful staff," Pimpleton said. With spring practice going on, Pimpleton said the coaches had only a limited amount of time to talk with him on the trip, but he came away immensely impressed, especially with the new head Hokie. "We saw pretty much the whole facility, all of campus, and (the coaches) told us pretty much everything we need to know about it," Pimpleton said. Pimpleton, Ward and several other Muskegon players headed down to Tech during their spring break in early April, and he got his first glimpse at Southwestern Virginia. He didn't wait long before getting a chance to see Blacksburg for himself. But the day they offered me, that was pretty much the first time I'd ever talked to them." I knew they'd offered Andrew, and that was cool, but I had no clue they were talking about me. "But they were speaking to my coach almost every day. "I hadn't really spoken to them, the offer really came out of nowhere," Pimpleton said. Nevertheless, once the staff noticed his teammate, 2017 LB Andrew Ward, and sent him an offer in early March, they ended up extending one to Pimpleton just a few weeks later. After all, the Hokies are hardly a local program to his Michigan high school. Yet, as early as the start of this year, Pimpleton says he didn't really know much about Virginia Tech at all. "They have a 100 percent graduation rate for their senior football players, and it's not all about football, it's about education, of course." "It was just somewhere I could see myself playing for the next five years of my life," Pimpleton said. ![]() But based on how he might fit with Fuente's offense, and his impressions of the program as a whole, he didn't give a second thought to waiting to make his decision. The rising senior committed to the Hokies in early May, even though Tech was the only Power 5 school to offer him (though he also had a scholarship on the table from Eastern Michigan). "So they say I'd be the slot receiver, kick returner, punt returner. "What every coach likes is, of course, not my size, but the speed I have for me to get out to the outside, and the hands I've got and my quickness," Pimpleton told The Key Play. Still, he's anxious to use quickness to ply his trade in Blacksburg all the same. The 2017 WR out of Muskegon (Mich.) HS understands that Justin Fuente doesn't see him as the next big outside receiver in his offense, using his strength and size to manhandle opposing defensive backs. Standing at just 5'7", Kalil Pimpleton is realistic about why the Hokies decided to offer him.
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