Last Friday, Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach Nick Howell informed James Monroe (Fredericksburg, VA) junior Aidan Ryan that he had a scholarship offer from the University of Virginia. The 6'1", 190-pound athlete certainly seemed pleased with the news.

“UVA has always been a program that I’ve been really interested in, just everything about it is attractive to me,” Ryan said. “The education, the atmosphere on campus, and the football team most of all.”

Ryan estimates he has visited UVA a total of seven times.

“Every time I went it got better and better,” Ryan said. “I haven’t had a negative visit to the school.”

Following a 2-10 campaign in the first year of the Bronco Mendenhall era, Virginia football achieved a 6-7 record in 2017, an 8-5 mark in 2018, and a 9-5 record in 2019. The Hoos have gone to three straight bowl games, the latest being the 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl. Last season, Coach Mendenhall led the program to its first-ever ACC Coastal Division title and a victory over in-state rival Virginia Tech, a team the Hoos had not defeated since 2003.

Virginia football’s revival under Mendenhall has impressed the Hornets star.

“Their turnaround showed me a lot,” Ryan said. “It showed me that the team is full of hard workers that are willing to do whatever it takes to improve and never stay complacent. They want to go from good to great. I fully believe that all starts with Coach Mendenhall’s leadership and his ability to reach out to the players and influence them to be the best player and person they can be.”

Ryan is a jack-of-all-trades at James Monroe, contributing at quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back, and as a returner on special teams. The versatile junior is being recruited by UVA as a defensive back.

“My favorite position is safety and it’s also where I think I have the most potential to be an impact player one day," said Ryan, who earned all-region honors at defensive back last season.

Friday was a big day for Ryan, who scored an offer from Virginia’s cross-division rival, Louisville, earlier in the day. UVA and Louisville are the standout prospect’s first two Power 5 scholarship offers. He currently claims 31 scholarship offers in total, with Appalachian State, Army, Hawaii, Liberty, Old Dominion and Temple among the other FBS opportunities on his list. He has several Ivy League opportunities as well, including Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton and Yale.

Ryan initially planned on announcing his college choice on October 30, his mother’s birthday. Those plans have changed. He now says he will announce a top five “in the next two weeks or so” with a commitment coming on May 10.

“I’m really just looking for a school that has a balance to it, a school with great academics, and a great football program to go along with it,” Ryan said when asked what he is looking for in his future school. “I’m looking for a place where I know I’ll get a good education because football only lasts so long and I’ll be able to be successful outside of football.”

Determining his college future is clearly on Ryan’s mind. Meanwhile, he is adjusting like everyone else is to life in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Ryan seems to be handling the life adjustment well.

“The pandemic has definitely changed a lot of things, including school, where we’re doing online courses and a lot of online assignments to keep some sort of sense of normalcy in terms of learning,” he said. “Also, the virus has made it hard to workout considering our school weight room is closed along with any other local gym. However, I’ve been able to run around my neighborhood, do a lot of body weight exercises to keep muscle, and work on my backpedals along with other things at a big field right down the street in my neighborhood.”

Recruiting-wise, “the pandemic has made recruiting a really big confusion right now, and it’s left a lot of recruits wondering if the process would be sped up or slowed down by the whole thing. It’s really hard because we can’t take visits anywhere and we just have to rely on what we see from virtual tours and videos.”

EDGE Outlook

Virginia has five commitments. Two of those pledges attend high school in the Commonwealth, and the Hoos appear in great position to add to that total next month. At this point I see UVA as the favorite to come away with Ryan's commitment on May 10. He is versatile, athletic, has good size, and by all accounts (including this interview) has great character. If Virginia does come away with the pledge, Ryan could play safety or perhaps corner.