Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 11 No. 5 | May 2019

inside.hokiesports.com 31 Hearp Financial, LLC Strategies By Tech Fans, For Tech Fans, and more Todd F. Hearp is a Registered Representative and Investment Adviser Representative of, and securities and investment advisory services offered solely by Equity Services Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC, 4401 Starkey Road, Roanoke, VA 24018, (540) 989-4600. Hearp Financial, LLC. and Eddie Hearp are independent of Equity Services, Inc. TC91033(07/16)P 4401 Starkey Road, Roanoke, VA 24018 www.nfservicesinc.com • Hearp_Todd@nlvmail.com Strategies For Seeking a Safe Retirement Todd F. Hearp Class of ‘89 Eddie F. Hearp Class of ‘65 Proud to Support Virginia Tech Athletics (540) 989-4600 Hearp Financial, LLC is based in Roanoke, VA and our representatives have been helping families and businesses address their financial concerns for many years. Our clients receive the benefit of working with an entire team. Each team member has a specific area of expertise, which allows our clients to access the talents and experience of each of our specialists. • Financial Planning • Investment Services • Insurance Services • Wealth Management • Estate Planning Strategies from shoulder surgery. The injury also limited his ability to strengthen his upper body in the weight room. Walk-ons Gideon Driscoll—from Blacks­ burg—and Maxx Philpott from nearby Salem both received a lot of reps this spring, and both made steady improvements. From a strength and experience perspective, both probably figure in more down the road, but certainly provide added depth for this season. Wiles hopes an influx of bodies this summer provides even more depth at the tackle spots. Jaden Cunningham, a 300-pound junior college transfer from Hutchison Community College in Kansas, hopefully comes to Blacksburg in shape and is ready to contribute right away, and three freshmen—Josh Fuga, Mario Kendricks and Norell Pollard—will be looked at closely as well. Fuga brings the most size at more than 300 pounds. Also, keep in mind that Wiles wants to take a close look at Aiden Brown, who dealt with an injury this spring. Tech’s staff moved Brown from offensive guard to defensive tackle—a rare move in today’s college football world. Brown, though, played on the defensive line in high school, weighs around 300 pounds and bench presses more than 400 pounds. “He’s got some explosiveness, and he’s strong,” Wiles said. “He’s going to get some work. I’m high on him, to be honest with you.” So Wiles will have at least 10 defensive tackles on the roster heading into August, including the aforementioned two walk-ons. He expects to use August practices to find his top five for the opener against Boston College. Hewants tokeephis starters at under 40plays each game, so rest assured, with the number of defensive tackles on the team, competition will be healthy and fierce—and week to week. “It’s going to be a little bit by committee,” Wiles said. “There’s not going to be one guy that you want in there more than 40 plays, but that’s fine. That’s good. When we’ve been good, that’s how it’s been. “We’ve got more depth at the position right now than we had since Woody [Baron], Nigel [Williams], Ricky [Walker]. We’ve kind of got the position back right through recruiting. We’ll figure it all out through camp, as to who is going to be your third, fourth, fifth defensive tackle. We’re going to play four or five of them. We’re going to play some guys, and that’s going to make for good competition.” Overall, Wiles likes the entire group—and not just the players’ talent. These guys work hard, and returning this program to its winning ways is important to all of them. Tech’s defense gave up a lot of yards a season ago, and the Hokies lost their top player in Walker. But these defensive linemen think they will be much better up front this fall. And Wiles agrees. “I think it could be something special,” he said. “I really do. We’ve got a bunch of guys that care about each other and care about the football team and the coaches. If everything is equal, that’s the stuff that makes the difference. They’re all back, and that’s a good thing. Now, you never know with this [NCAA transfer] portal, but I don’t think we have those kind of guys in my room.” Defensive Line Ends 35 Zion Debose (6-1, 250, r-So.) 40 Emmanuel Belmar (6-2, 250, r-Jr.) 45 TyJuan Garbutt (6-1, 245, r-So.) 46 Eli Adams (5-11, 240, r-Fr.) 58 Nathan Proctor (6-2, 240, r-So.) 59 Walker Ade (6-3, 217, Fr.) 90 Jaevon Becton (6-4, 250, r-Fr.) 95 Nigel Simmons (6-2, 209, r-Fr.) Tackles 53 Aiden Brown (6-2, 300, r-So.) 55 Jarrod Hewitt (6-1, 282, r-Jr.) 67 Gideon Driscoll (6-5, 269, r-Fr.) 95 DaShawn Crawford (6-0, 280, Jr.) 96 Jimmie Taylor (6-2, 265, r-Jr.) 98 Robert Porcher (6-1, 272, r-So.) 99 Maxx Philpott (6-0, 295, Fr.)