By Matthew Hatfield

Correspondent

The start of football season is still five months away, but one of the area’s most coveted prospects has finalized his college football plans for 2016.

Thomas Jarrett Hopple, a 6-foot-6-inch, 285-pound junior offensive tackle from Nansemond River High School, gave a verbal commitment to the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Following his junior season last November, Hopple was in high demand from a number of different colleges. During the past year, offers came pouring in from James Madison, Marshall, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Wake Forest and West Virginia. He checked out Clemson, NC State, Penn State, Virginia and Wake Forest on visits.

What sold him on the Hokies?

“The coaches, the people up here, the area — and I just felt more at home here,” Hopple said while on an unofficial visit to Virginia Tech last weekend. “They seem to really need and want me. They really need offensive tackles, so maybe I will have a chance to play early.”

Named First Team All-Ironclad Conference and Honorable Mention All-Region last season, Hopple is rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com. He’s the 10th player to commit to Virginia Tech from the Class of 2016, but the first offensive lineman.

In addition, Hopple is the first Nansemond River player to commit to the Hokies since Dewayne Alford signed with them in 2011.

College coaches were intrigued by Hopple for a variety of reasons, among them being the improvement he made from sophomore to junior season.

“I’ve just worked on my feet, getting stronger and quicker off the ball,” Hopple noted. “The non-coachable side of it is my size, but just pass/run techniques as well.”

For many football players, the junior season is a pivotal point in both the recruiting process and their individual development. That also proved to be the case for Hopple, as he had to adjust to a new scheme during David Coccoli’s first year as head coach in 2014.

“We ran a different offense than what he was in his sophomore year,” Coccoli pointed out. “We’ve been trying to run more man-on blocking and down-blocking. We’re going to do even more this year with some additions to the coaching staff that I think will benefit him.”

Coccoli believes Hopple possesses the necessary qualities to flourish as he prepares for the collegiate level.

“Being close to 6-foot-7 and able to bend, the sky’s the limit for him,” Coccoli said. “He’s a hard worker and is a kid that hasn’t missed a day of weightlifting. He’s not satisfied and that’s a good thing.”

“He’s right where he should be. A couple of schools watched him at the beginning of the year and then watched him at the end of the year, and they said he was a totally different player,” Coccoli added. “We want to build on that going into this fall and even take it to a higher level than where he was at the end of last year.”

At this point, Hopple is undecided on his college major, leaning toward engineering or finance and management. However, his mindset is clear going into his final year with the Warriors — trying to bring them their first winning record since 2002.

The Warriors return the bulk of last year’s team, which made its second consecutive postseason appearance, losing a nail-biter, 14-13, to Phoebus in the opening round of the 4A-South Region playoffs.

“It takes some pressure off and helps greatly,” Hopple said of having his college choice now out of the way. “One of my biggest goals for this season is having a winning season, and of course, getting better.”