Virginia Tech fans received some surprising news Thursday evening as Temple DE transfer Darian Varner, who had signed with the Hokies during the Early Signing Window, flipped his commitment to Wisconsin.
Let’s do it @BadgerFootball @CoachFick @PatLambert13 pic.twitter.com/Yyuve0188a
— Darian Varner (@DarianVarner) January 5, 2023
Varner had originally chosen the Hokies over a litany of other quality options including Colorado, Indiana, Vanderbilt, Tulane, East Carolina, James Madison, Appalachian State, and Old Dominion among his public offers. However, Wisconsin has clearly found a way to flip him following his Tech commitment and following Tech announcing his addition as part of their 29-man high school and transfer recruiting class at Early Signing Day.
There's no downplaying the fact that this is a very disappointing loss for the Hokies. Varner was a big time addition for the defensive line after earning First Team All-AAC honors with 35 tackles including 12.5 for loss with 7.5 sacks in only 10 games this past season. Varner's season had ended early due to a foot injury with it being unknown how long he would be out, but there's no doubt that he seemed poised to be a notable contributor next season.
The Hokies were planning on trying to add another defensive lineman regardless with Varner having the size to give Tech some versatility. However, that need has only grown following Varner's decision to flip his commitment to Wisconsin.
We will have more as this story develops.
