Last summer, I went with Marcus Vick and a few of his Warrick (Va.) High School teammates and their coach, Tommy Reamon, to the University of Virginia to witness the summer camp experience for a top college prospect.

Al Groh was a first-year coach at Virginia and was known as an NFL guy, leaving the New York Jets to return to his alma mater. We spent three and half days at Virginia and I watched how Groh and his young staff interacted with the kids. I definitely was impressed by assistants Al Golden, Corwin Brown and Bill Musgrave, who all had a ton of energy. Groh's son Mike, the former Cav QB, was the receivers coach and also seemed to be very good working with young kids.

But whenever I saw Al Groh, I got the impression he was almost trying too hard to impress the kids. It didn't seem to natural. But obviously, after seeing how Groh has been locking up some of the nation's top recruits, I was wrong. Well, kinda wrong.

	Ahmad Brooks was so impressed by Groh he signed with the Cavs.

Turns out the secret to Groh's success is that he does work so hard. It was the 57-year-old Groh who was the first coach waiting outside the visitor's locker room when Woodbridge (Va.) Hylton High arrived at Stonewall Jackson High in Manassas, Va. to play its season opener Sept. 7. Groh made the three-hour drive just to let linebacker recruit Ahmad Brooks know he was important to the future of Cavalier football.

Brooks, a 6-3, 235-pounder, regarded by many recruiting analysts as a top 25 recruit, was so impressed by Groh's efforts -- and his defensive system -- that he opted for Virginia over FSU, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.

Groh also landed Virginia's other stud linebacker, Kai Parham, giving the Cavs two of the nation's top five prospects at the position.

"I love the scheme he plays," the 6-3, 240-pound Parham said Tuesday night. "His 3-4 is made for linebackers who are playmakers. I'll be able to show my talents as a run stuffer and pass rusher and in coverage. And just look at all the players they've developed: Coach Groh has had nine linebackers make All-Pro."

Getting Parham though wasn't just about Groh's resume. Virginia actually hadn't landed a blue-chip recruit out of Parham's Hampton Roads area since 1992.

"In the past few years, the old staff (George Welsh's) didn't show their faces down here a lot," says former Virginia Tech QB Jeff Ballance, Parham's coach at Princess Anne High. "But this staff has really made a commitment. It's like night and day."

In addition to the two linebackers, UVA also got a commitment from speedster Michael Johnson, the state's top RB. Groh also relied on his New York background to help bring in DLs Kwakou Robinson and D'Brickshaw Ferguson, the two best linemen in the Empire State.

Though Groh missed out on Vick, he still managed to get strong-armed Anthony Martinez, who probably was the second-best QB at that summer camp.

Recruiting Watch