BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry estimated he welcomed 18 players from the transfer portal to campus between Monday and Wednesday. That was on top of the slew of players who made visits the week before.
Clemson safety Sherrod Covil was one of those players who visited Monday. The Chesapeake native didn't wait long after his visit to make a decision for his final season of eligibility.
Covil announced late Wednesday night in an Instagram post that he is transferring to Virginia Tech for the 2025 season. He became the first player from the transfer portal to commit to the Hokies in the current recruiting cycle.
"It's a little bit of a revolving door. I think Monday we had five transfer recruits in here, yesterday seven, today six," Pry said Wednesday, "so it's a lot of work for the staff, but we're creating as much opportunity as we can to fill out our roster, have it be competitive."
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The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Covil's addition helps solidify a safety room that will need to replace three starters in Jaylen Jones (graduation), Jalen Stroman (transfer portal) and Mose Phillips III (transfer portal).
Covil and rising sophomore Quentin Reddish could be the potential starters entering spring practice, with Braylon Johnson, Devin Alves and Noah Jenkins competing to be in the two-deep.
Covil remained with Clemson through the ACC championship game before officially entering the transfer portal on Dec. 6.
"Covil did everything right," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told reporters Wednesday. "He actually came to see me eight, 10 days before, but he really wanted to finish. He wanted to finish through South Carolina was the plan, and then we obviously made the ACC championship.
"He did everything right. I really appreciate Sherrod and how he handled himself and trying to help him make sure he gets in a good spot. ... He did everything right from that standpoint."
Covil played at Oscar Smith High School and Virginia Tech was one of his many offers. Darryl Tapp and Justin Hamilton served as his primary recruiters on Justin Fuente's staff.
Covil committed to Clemson and played 152 defensive snaps over 13 games as a freshman.
He was getting more playing time as a sophomore before tearing an ACL after eight games. He was back on the field in time for the 2024 opener against then-No. 1 Georgia, and he made his first career start at Florida State.
He recorded 36 tackles (22 solo), one tackle for a loss and one pass defended during his three seasons with the Tigers.
Covil joins a growing list of players from Virginia who began their college careers elsewhere and eventually transferred to Virginia Tech.
Antwaun Powell-Ryland began the trend in the spring of 2023 when he transferred to Tech from Florida, and the Hokies added Kemari Copeland, Kelvin Gilliam and Kaleb Spencer in this past recruiting cycle.
"You go to the transfer portal where you have needs, which we've been able to do over the years," Pry said.
Tech's transfer needs have changed dramatically since the regular season's conclusion. Twenty-three players have entered the portal, with four scholarship offensive linemen and three scholarship defensive linemen being the biggest defections.
Fifteen of those players were on scholarship. Tech's also seen eight walk-ons enter the transfer portal as programs are expected to carry a maximum of 105 players during the season after the House settlement is finalized in April.
Four of those walk-ons in the transfer portal -- Griffin Duggan, Josh Gholston, Ben Locklear and Tyler Smedley -- were honored at Senior Night and have one season of eligibility remaining.
All four are still with the team through the Duke's Mayo Bowl.
"We have to be at 105 and it's going to look a little different, much like we have out here right now," Pry said. "But there's also some guys who have walked onto this program and are graduating and have an opportunity to go play and get significant snaps or even start at another place, at a lower institution as far as football, and I want that for them. We're helping them do that."
Three former Hokies announced on social media Thursday where they were transferring.
Phillips and wide receiver Chance Fitzgerald are heading to Missouri and Vanderbilt, respectively. They are the fourth and fifth players to transfer to an SEC program.
Defensive tackle Malachi Madison is heading to UMass for his final two seasons of eligibility.
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