Wave of new offers- Jack Doherty
On December 14, Russ Huesman made his return to the University of Richmond. The former defensive coordinator of the 2008 National Championship team was now taking over the program as the head coach.
With 9 verbal commitments, Richmond has gotten a strong start to its 2017 recruiting class. Since the new staff took over, three verbals, Lachlan Pitts, Riley Fox and Thyrick Pitts, have reopened their recruitments, leaving the Spiders with a still solid core of six verbals.
In addition to having to assemble his new staff Coach Huesman had to assess the current team, determine its future needs, prioritize the recruiting board and hit the ground running. Within a week of his arrival, Richmond had extended a number of new offers. Previously, we highlighted Jordan Payne, RB from GA and Charles Crawford, athlete from AL. Today, we highlight Jack Doherty, tackle from TN.
Jack Doherty
Doherty, a 6'5, 280 lbs. tackle from Franklin Road Academy in Nashville, TN is a newcomer to football, but his background in basketball has helped him develop great feet and how to utilize leverage. In just two years, he's gone from never having strapped on a pair of pads to receiving Division I scholarship offers. He still plays basketball and recently became a member of his schools' 1000 Point Club.
Doherty currently has 8 offers, including an FBS offer from Ball St. and was a former verbal to UT-Chattanooga. Once Coach Huesman left Chattanooga, Doherty reached out to wish him the best and thank him for the relationship formed during the recruiting process. Coach Huesman was actually in to visit Doherty at his home just days before taking over at Richmond. Once Ball State offered, Doherty decided to reopen his recruitment, which is when Richmond offered.
Doherty's high school has him lined up at tight end. They run a "Wingbone" offense, which heavily utilizes the run. It's best to think of him as a second tackle. He caught the only pass thrown to him this past year.
Doherty currently has a top 3 of UTC, Ball St. and Richmond in no particular order. One of his best friends is a verbal to Austin Peay and Doherty does hold an offer from former Spider, Will Healy, so they are still a dark horse in the race for Doherty's services.
Doherty hasn't taken any of his official visits yet, but has lined up visits for UTC this weekend, Ball St. on Jan. 21 and UR between the two. His desire to study business in college certainly won't hurt Richmond's chances.