As expected, Mike Brizendine has been promoted to Virginia Tech men's coach following the resignation of Oliver Weiss. In making the announcement, Tech's athletic director said a change in recruiting philosophy would take place.

A year and a half after he led Virginia Tech to the Men's College Cup, Weiss unexpectedly quit as the Hokies' head coach. In 2007, he had imported a number of foreign exchange students -- three Germans aged 25, 23 and 23 and an Englishman, 6-foot-6 Robert Edmans -- who spent one season in Blacksburg. It was followed by a 2008 season that saw Tech go winless in the ACC.

"We would like to have more American kids in our program," athletic director Jim Weaver told the Roanoke Times.

The Hokie program took off when Weiss recruited Patrick Nyarko and Joshua Boateng from Ghana.

Nyarko was the star of the 2007 team and then left school to join MLS's Chicago Fire. Boateng transferred to Liberty and now plays for USL-1's Cleveland City Stars.

In 2008, two more Germans and three Ghanaians arrived, though the Hokies struggled.

Brizendine, the Hokies' top assistant for five seasons, joined the staff after one season as a men's assistant at Ferrum College and four seasons at Bridgewater College (one as an assistant for both the men's and women's programs and three as the head men's coach).