BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech recruiting director John Iezzi announced he is leaving the football program on Monday.
The Hokies staffer is leaving his alma mater for a position with SEQL (Sports Equality), a Richmond-based startup offering student-athletes the ability to create their own recruiting profiles.
Iezzi spent the last seven years on the staff, the last three of which were spent working in a player personnel role for the Hokies on a full-time basis. He started as a student recruiting assistant during his senior year and moved up through the ranks during coach Justin Fuente’s tenure.
In a farewell message posted on social media, Iezzi said working on Tech’s staff was like “living out a dream.”
“My first memory in Lane was when I was 8 years old at my parents 15-year reunion,” Iezzi wrote. “I remember Michael Vick running and throwing all over Akron. I remember falling in love with VT football. I remember 5 years later crying after we lost to Miami and defiantly vowing that I’d work here one day, that I’d have an impact.”
Iezzi had a huge list of day-to-day responsibilities including player evaluation, managing Tech’s prospect database and coordinating visits. He played a key role in helping Tech sign top 30 classes (according to 247 Sports composite rankings) from 2017-19.
He’s the second recruiting staffer to depart the program since the end of the 2020 season. Director of on-campus recruiting Alex White accepted a similar position at North Carolina after spending one season with the Hokies.
Tech has plans in the work to expand the program’s recruiting staff — athletic director Whit Babcock said in the fall he hopes to add up to four more staffers in the future — after hiring Corey Fuller and Jeron Gouveia-Winslow in support staff roles over the summer.
The Hokies recently handed out recruiting coordinator titles to running backs coach Adam Lechtenberg (for the offense) and new co-defensive line coach J.C. Price (for the defense) in anticipation of Iezzi’s departure.