"Yes, the tippity-top in-state recruits will probably choose UVA and UNC over VT, but I have to believe that VT should be in the mix. Going far out of state does not seem necessary as a primary effort."
My reading is Coaches Hughes agrees VT was in the mix. The issue was they didn't win those battles. I tend to think the insight of Coach Hughes is awfully informative. While he does not say so, he clearly communicates that the recruiting budget at VT was not "unlimited." Necessarily, he and his staff needed to allocate their dollars where they would have the most success in getting top recruits on campus.
Implicit in his comments is the fact that he wanted to win both on the field and in recruiting battles. After sufficient losses in recruiting those in-state players who would be needed to win on the field, he realized a change of strategy was needed.
If you have met and sat with Coach Hughes for any period of time, you know he is a terrific recruiter, terrific family man, and a coach you would want for your son. Coaching, identifying talent to recruit and recruiting talent in state was not the VT issue when it came to recruiting and he says so in the article. He could get the recruits on campus. Once they got to other facilities, VT could not compete so he went nationally and did so very successfully.