	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

FEDEX ORANGE BOWL

December 31, 2007

Bud Foster

MIAMI, FLORIDA

JASON ALPERT: Welcome Coach Bud Foster from Virginia Tech. Coach, if you want to begin with some of the challenges that Kansas presents to your team.
BUD FOSTER: First of all, it's great to be here in South Beach or South Florida. They've treated us very, very well. I think our practices have gone very well and very good today. I was real pleased with our practice yesterday. Our Monday practice which was, what is today? Is today Monday or Saturday? Yeah, I get all these days. Today's Wednesday for us, that's all I know.
But our Tuesday practice for us, which is a physical practice, hitting practice, you know, I thought we got our timing back. I was real pleased with our kid's work yesterday. You know, we're excited about the opportunity to play a great Kansas team.
They present a lot of problems, you know. They're a spread offense. But at the same time they're a very balanced offense. They run the ball for close to 20 yards a game. They're the second ranked scoring offense in the country, and in the top sixth ranked in total offense.
They present a major, major problem for us. They've got outstanding players. The quarterback's a super football player. Again, a physical running back that you've got to tattoo him. You've got to bring 11 guys to stop him. And if you load up to stop the run, they have a talent of corps receivers that can create plays in the ball in their hand.
They present a major problem and challenge for us. But we're excited about the opportunity to play in this great ballgame.

Q. What do you remember about when Jose and Vince came to tech in terms of your first impressions when you realized they were going to be something special?
BUD FOSTER: My first impression of Vince was fat. He came in about 260 pounds, you know. Now he's 230. But, no, you know, those guys I felt like they were going to be our future at that position. Two of the best high school football players I had an opportunity to see and recruit and be involved with. But as they developed at the college level, became two of the best football players I've coached.
Vince, you know, they complement each other very, very well. Vince might be the most instinctive football player I've been around. He's got great vision. Great anticipation. Just great football IQ.
In Jose, on the other hand might be the most athletic guy and the fastest linebacker I've had the opportunity to coach. But those two guys complement each other on the field, off the field. The thing that I really like about them is their -- they want to be good football players. They're very competitive, not so much against each other. That was never the deal. We put those guys on the field to play with each other, not to compete against each other. They knew that. They relish that role of wanting to be tougher.
This bowl game, for me is kind of bittersweet. Because we're excited to be here. Proud to represent the ACC and be the ACC Champion. At the same time, I've got a great group of seniors.
In my position personally and on this football team on the defensive side of the ball, you know, I'm amiss. I've seen these guys come in as young people and grow to be young men. And I think all of those guys have graduated and I'm really proud of that. But it's a bittersweet time. I'm going to miss them when they go on. I'm going to see if you guys have any jobs out there. I might want to move on after this.
But it's a good group though. And Vince and Jose have kind of the set the tone with this group. They want to be good football players. I didn't have to spend a lot of time talking technique and fundamentals. They worked hard. How they play, they work that way in practice.
Spent a lot of time coaching offense to them. And I want them as much to anticipative defense as a reactive defense, and those guys are a big part of that, because they understand the game.
Good football IQ's, you know, that's kind of what I like about this senior class. You're not spending a lot of time still talking technique and fundamentals. Not that you don't do that all the time. They understand that and know what they need to do and we spend a lot of time talking offense. Those guys have been special all the way around, and I'm going to miss them.

Q. Wanted to ask you about Chris Ellis and what he means? You just went on about the other two guys, can you talk about him?
BUD FOSTER: It's going to be a broken record in a lot of ways. But Chris has been a play maker a lot of time. Everybody says what is the difference with Chris Ellis this year than any other year? But Chris has been a four-year starter for us. He's been a great player, a play maker. His stat numbers are up this year more than they've been in the past. Maybe he's finished things a little bit more this year, but I can't say that.
I know in his sophomore year he had a great year. Last year he played, he separated his shoulder second game of the year, lot of people didn't know how he played. I have a lot of respect for Chris Ellis and the toughness that he plays with.
But Chris is really, this year, you know, stayed all summer. He missed spring practice. Stayed all summer to get, you know, to rehab and get bigger and stronger and get ready to have a great senior year.
Chris is kind of a laid-back kid, you know, off the field and sometimes you mistake maybe his demeanor a little bit to not care. But it's very, very important to Chris Ellis. And he really came along to be one of our good team leaders for us this year. I'm really, really proud of the season he's had. I'm really proud of the leadership he's given us. You know, like I said, he's been a special football player for us.
Chris, probably of any of the guys, has grown up the most of any of our guys. From a maturity standpoint, he's got a great future ahead of him because he's an athletic big guy that can play a lot of different positions at the next level. I'm looking forward to him having one more game wearing a Virginia Tech uniform.

Q. I was wondering if you could talk about the tradition of the lunch pail and what that's come to mean to your players?
BUD FOSTER: Well, the lunch pail is a significant item for us. We started that, myself and Rod started that. We talked about that when I became the coordinator in '95 and I shared that title with Rod.
We've always talked about coming to work. But I wanted to have something significant that we could use. We could put goals in it. We could put different things in it that were important to us and important to the success of our program.
I think Rod's mother or mother-in-law found one. I grew up in the midwest, and Rod was from New Jersey, and we wanted a steel mill, coal mine kind of construction worker lunch pail. And she found one that was kind of beat up, and we beat it up a little bit more as the year went along.
Basically, the lunch pail stands for accountability, responsibility, commitment, all of those things. Sacrifice, all of those things it takes to be a good team football player, and a good team. Regardless of whether you're in football or you're in life. But with that, we initially started out, we had our players put their individual goals and set up their unit goals and team goals.
Then as we go along, obviously, your team goals are set. And right now more than anything, we put our mission statement in there. We have our kids sign off on their mission statement. If they don't, they can transfer to that school up the road. But we wanted to make a commitment to each other and accountability to each other and understand anything worthwhile you have to earn. That's what the lunch pail stands for.
This year is kind of a special deal. We put the 32 names of the victims in the lunch pail this year as I read the bios on those people. They all cared about Virginia Tech athletics and Virginia Tech football. They're still a proud, proud part of our community and our family, and we wanted to recognize those people the right way.
But we put our goals in there, our mission statement in there. Like Florida State down here, they pick a turf game. Every road game for us is a turf game. To be a great football team, you have to be good on the road. I don't care who you're playing. You know, we always try to put an artifact of some sort in the lunch pail any time we're on the road. So that's kind of what's all involved with the lunch pail.

Q. Year in and year out Virginia Tech tends to find their way into these sorts of games, BCS Championship-type games whereas this is kind of a somewhat new experience for a lot of these kids in this Kansas program. How have you had to caution your guys into not overlooking them just because Kansas doesn't have that year-in, year-out tradition type program that you guys have been so well known for?
BUD FOSTER: Well, it's kind of nice to have people talk that way about us. I guess we live in a bubble in Blacksburg. I know this, we work hard every day to try to be one of the top programs in the country. If we're looked at that way, then I'm proud of that.
We talked to our players about the Kansas football team, that they're very similar to us. They're a group that's maybe from what I'm reading they're not the most highly recruited group of guys, we're kind of the same way. They're a group that's played very workmanlike in their approach. And that's what we are. So there are a lot of comparisons between the two programs.
What Mark has done with his program and their staff, they've got a great staff together. They coach them the right way. They demand things the right way. That's what they talked about the players.
This is the Orange Bowl. You don't get to the Orange Bowl without being a great football team and having a great season. So we've got to respect our opponent, and that is the one thing we've always preached at Virginia Tech. You've got to go out and earn respect for yourself. And I think our kids have approached it that way.
Obviously, you know, this is the second ACC Championship, and the second BCS game for this group of kids. Especially the seniors. But at the same time, we've got the chance to win 12 games for the first time in school history here. Just like Kansas has a chance to do some superlative things with their programs. So it should make for a great match-up.
We're not overlooking these guys by any stretch. We respect them. We've studied them. We practiced a week in Blacksburg, and we're looking at them. We're not really looking at ourselves a whole lot now in practice as much as in our meeting time. We're studying Kansas and studying their personnel. But we've got a lot of respect for their program, their staff and their players.

Q. How did you get to be so good in the fourth quarter?
BUD FOSTER: You know, we've done that over the last couple of years. I think it's a combination of things. I think you know Mike Gentry, our strength coach who, I think, is the best in the country.
Our conditioning is that -- I think over the years as we've gotten the program to the point where it is right now, you know, we've practiced a lot of good on good and we have a high-intensity level of practice. And I think that allows our mental toughness and physical toughness to carry over for four quarters as opposed to maybe dying down towards it.
But we've been a team over the last several years that's been a solid team in the fourth quarter. But this year's been really special because I think we've only given up one score or something like that down the stretch in the last five ballgames. With the last two years we've been known for some runs. Last year we had the last five or six games we finished out, you know.
This year, we're proud of our kids from the fact that we lost a tough, tough ballgame to Boston College. And in a game in today's nature of the business, you know, if you lose a game like that, all of a sudden, everybody starts talking national championship and then throwing that out. Then you're getting into that how do we motivate them now? But we still had a lot to play for and could accomplish our goals other than maybe an undefeated season or those things like that.
But I'm really proud of how our kids finished down the stretch. We played good people, physical, aggressive and came together as a football team. I was really proud of that from a team standpoint.

Q. Consistency has sort of been the hallmark of your program for a long time as a coaching staff. But for you, have you been sort of open over your time here as a coordinator to change when it was necessary, maybe in your philosophy or scheme or approach? And if so, was there a specific time you remember okay, I've got to change what I'm doing a little bit to keep this thing going the way it is?
BUD FOSTER: Well, yeah, I think in the game you have to do that. You have to change and adjust.
We were an eight-man front attack defense since '93. Then we played California in the Insight Bowl in the 2003 game, we hit a stretch where I don't know what it was. Whether it was the scheme, whether it was our personnel. But we did a little soul searching.
But when you start pointing the finger, there are usually three or four that come right back at you. So I looked at myself and what we needed to do. We made some big changes. I wouldn't say big, but they looked to be big. Especially to our kids. We still call things the same as we did in in '95.
But the structure of the defense is different. We've moved some people around more to fit a true four-three than an eight-man front type deal. But with that I think came a new resurgence with our players. Whether it was through their energy or they thought that we were changing things. And we did a little bit. It gave us an opportunity to be more multiple in our coverages. Gave us an opportunity to disguise things a little bit more. But I think in this day and age you have to do those things.
We've always been one that we've looked to tweak and better ourselves if we can, and stay one step ahead of the offense, if there is such a thing. Most of the time when you do react, it's because of what people have done to you and how the game is changing, you know. And that's what's you've got to be able to do. People were getting away from the two-back offense, and the traditional one-back to more of the spread offense now.
We have to be multiple in our scheme, and we do it more from a coverage standpoint than we do from a front standpoint. But you have to tweak things to always stay up to par with how the game is changing and how the personnel makes you change, and how the offensive people or what they're doing to change the game. That's something you've always got to stay on top of to continue to be consistently good. That is what our expectations are here.
I expect us to be up to par with what everybody's doing. And I expect us to be consistently good. But we have to adjust to that every year. And if you don't, you'll be a step behind.

Q. For people who haven't been able to see this defense play, what makes this defense so good? Secondly, how does the Kansas offense rank against some of the better offenses like Boston College or LSU that you've played this season?
BUD FOSTER: I'll answer that one first. They rank up as good as anybody we've played. Their offensive line is very physical. That is the one misconception about that offense. Kind of like us defensively. The eight-man front, everybody thought you were susceptible to the pass. But we were always consistently in the top four or five in pass is defense.
But they give you that misconception of the spread, but they're going to be physical enough in the run game. Then when you stop the run, they're going to be good enough to exploit you in the perimeter. And that's where that presents a problem.
But the quarterback is an outstanding football player. He's got great accuracy, he can create when the balls and when things aren't there. And that's where scares me as much as anybody. They remind me a little bit of a good Virginia offense that we've played with Darian Hagens a couple of years ago that can create out of the pocket and have a good offensive line and good running game. The receivers are better though.
These guys kind of remind me of Florida State receivers. They're tall, rangy, they can catch the ball and make plays after the catch. And their offensive line and quarterback and their running game reminds me of Boston College because they're physical, and even though B.C. didn't run it as much this year, they had the ability to do that. It's just a very, very good, good football team.
Our defense, I think the thing that makes us good is our players. I'd like to say it's our scheme and there are too many good schemes out there to say it's one scheme. But I'm really proud of our players. We've got as talented of a corps of football players and collection of football players as we've had in a couple of years.
I'm really excited about these guys. I like their demeanor. I like their football IQ. I like their work ethic. They want to be successful. And that, as much as anything, makes our defense successful. Obviously, it's proven there are too many different schemes out there. But it still comes back down to players.
But the one thing that we are different is we are more multiple in our coverages than most college teams. We play a variety of combination coverages and different things of that nature that I hope can present some problems to people when they have to throw the football. That's kind of our objective.
We want to force the offense to be one dimensional, and that's going to be a challenge for us against the University of Kansas. We can do that and bring a variety of pressures and bring a variety of coverages that can be confusing to a quarterback.

Q. At this point in your career, what drives you the most? Is it fear of failure? Hoping to better the numbers that you've put up in years past? The prospect of a head coaching job down the road? What drives you?
BUD FOSTER: To be honest, the head coaching deal that doesn't drive me. I want that opportunity, hopefully, if it comes, but I'm not going to lose sleep over that. Probably fear of failure more than anything.
My job is I want to keep Coach Beamer out of my office, out of my meeting room. But I'm still young and energetic. Regardless of whatever I do, I want to be the best. I think that's what my father instilled in me. That's one thing that I will always demand of our kids, you know. And I hope the kids are kind of somewhat like me. To be successful in life, nothing's going to be given to you, and that's kind of where I challenge our kids.
The game demands to be good. I mean, anybody can go out and play the game. I can go out and play. Now can I perform? No. That's where we challenge our kids. The game demands you that you do certain things at a certain level to be good. And that's where I am. By pushing to be the best that they can be. Then hopefully that's going to carry over to the rest of their life.
As big as this thing is as far as football goes, you know, and I'm evaluated by you people and our administration on our wins and losses, but probably the biggest thing I'm most proud of is how I have a chance to hopefully influence these young people to be more successful in life. And to be honest with you, that's what pushes me.
I get an opportunity to work with outstanding young people. Make an impact in their life. And hopefully, let them reach experiences that they're looking for.
But, hopefully, somewhere down the road I get the biggest thrill when somebody like George del Rico, who I coached 10, 12 years ago calls me and says, Hey, Coach, I just had my first baby. I want to call you first. That makes me as proud as being the number one defense in the country as much as anything.
But I'm always going to push to be the best, and I'm going to challenge our kids to be the best. Whether we are or not, you know, that -- we're going to work that way. So that's what still motivates me.

Q. What do you remember about recruiting Barry Booker? And what has he meant to this program?
BUD FOSTER: Barry has come as far as anybody. We're going to have a Senior Night and I get to say something to each of the group on video. But Barry has really meant a lot to this football program. He's probably come as far along physically as anybody.
Barry was the kind of guy early on I didn't know where he was going to fit in. Was he going to be a starter? He was kind of feeling his way a little bit. I didn't know if he was going to be physical enough. But, really, he's stepped up and I tell you the last two years he's been as productive a defensive tackle as we've had a in a number of years as far as his production, tackles, play-making abilities and those type of things. He's turned into a big athlete inside.
Barry was one of those guys he was more of a follower than he was anything else, and he's developed into a leader for us. And you know, I'm just really proud of how he's come along, how he's worked, what he's earned. He's a graduate. I mean, this class is a special class.
Barry is a key, key part of that. He's been a key, key part of our success down the stretch here the last two years. We were the number one defense in the country last year. Obviously, winning the ACC Championship this year. We wouldn't have done it without Barry.

Q. Can you address the difficulties of being a first-year offensive coordinator and accomplishing what's been done at Kansas this year?
BUD FOSTER: It goes back to having talent and having players. And with their offense, what they do offensively, you know, is where the game's going to right now. With the offense, they can evaluate what no-huddle, can evaluate where you're lined up and what you have.
It's a numbers game. They're going to throw the ball or run the ball where they have one more blocker than you have defender. Our objective is to have one more defender than they have blocker.
They've done a great job up there. Obviously, their numbers show that. They spread the ball around. It's not like they're just doing it to a couple of different guys where we can kind of say let's take this guy out of it, and do this and load up here. You've got to defend the entire field. You've got to defend both the run and the pass game.
And they've done a super, super job with this offense. Mark has done a great job as far as developing this. He's kind of a guy that's on the forefront of the offensive game, and it shows by their numbers. But it also shows by their play on the field.

Q. In terms of building the kind of defense you want over the long-term, can you talk about the advantages of being with one program for an extended period of time?
BUD FOSTER: Yeah, obviously, the key to having some continuity in your program is vital. It starts with your coaching staff. We kind of know each other very well. We know what each other wants.
You know, that's the one thing I do like about our staff and Coach Beamer. He's a guy that heads the thing up. We don't have a lot of egos on our staff. We all get along very well. I enjoy coming to work every day and those type of things. But I think that continuity makes it a key part.
We know our practice schedule. I could tell you next year what our practice is going to be like on Wednesday. I don't care in the middle of the season, start of the season. We know what our practice day is going to be like. That's part of it. We expect that from each other. You know, we can relate to each other very well in our communication.
That's always a big, big part like any relationship. You have to have great communications, and that's the one thing we do, we respect each other very well. The staff, we're not afraid to communicate to each other and tell each other what we think is on our mind that way.
But it's never been anything from a struggle thing, as much as it is to help each other and see where we can make our program a little bit better. Make our defense a little bit better. Make our offense a little bit better. And obviously, to have a group that's together, that makes any kind of transition or anything you're doing along that line, it makes it smoother and easier.

Q. You kind of answered this already, but have you faced an offense this year that brings the plays on the field the way Kansas does, where Todd Reesing looks at one of three assistant coaches and you don't know which one is signaling it in? And what problems does that pose?
BUD FOSTER: We've faced the University of Clemson, it's the same offense. They're a no-huddle call from the line of scrimmage. We'll change the call. West Virginia we played every year for three years with Rich Rodriguez. We play those exact same things. So this is not like this is going to be an offense that we have not seen before, and we're prepared for it.
And we used to do it ourselves a few years ago before it was en vogue, so to speak. We ran a no huddle with Jim down here in '96. But it does present some problems because you have to be good from a defense, you can't show your hand. That's what they want you to do.
And this group goes a lot more on the second command, or whatever you want to call it, to see if you're going to show your card. Whereas West Virginia sometimes they're a little more up-tempo at times. And cancer cabs will do that, we've got to be prepared for that. We've got to have the discipline. From the same standpoint, we're going to show the same thing every snap.
So they should have a hard time determining what we're going to be doing, and how we're going to rotate our coverage or personnel, and when are we going to bring pressures and what not. So that is part of the chess match that we're going to be.
We have played, faced a team this year in Clemson and in the past in West Virginia. But those are also the things we have to have the guts of the burglar, so to speak, not to show our hand and be disciplined in our disguises and those type of things. Because that's what they're looking for.
But those are the problems that it presents from a defensive standpoint of making sure we are sound in our numbers and in our gaps and our fits and all those things with the formations that they present to us.

Q. Talk to me a little about Brandon Flowers, how he's grown since he came there on the field and off the field?
BUD FOSTER: Well, Brandon, I've made this statement, a lot of people ask me this. They say, are you true in what you said that he's the best defensive back or best corner that you've had at Virginia Tech?
In my mind, yes. He may not be the most athletic guy we've had there. We had D' Angelo Hall who is a great player. Jimmy Williams was a great player. Ike Charles was a great player. Antonio Banks who played four or five years in the league, was a great player. Played that boundary corner position for us.
Our boundary corner position is because we're considered still an eight-man front, we get a lot of what we call single width, you get that tight end on the back side and people like to attack you from a run game standpoint back there. And that guy needs to be a physical football player, good tackler, just a good, sound football player.
But at the same time people will also attack that side of the field in the passing game. Because it's a shorter throw. Probably our best secondary guy, our best football player in the secondary probably needs to be our boundary corner, because he needs to be physical enough to be a safety, tackle a guy from a tackling situation.
But he needs to be a great cover guy. And Brandon possesses all of those talents and skills. He's not the fastest guy we've had, but he's probably the best football player we've had at that spot. He understands the game, he understands his position.
He does a great job flipping his hips. He's got great visual contact with the receivers as far as studying their hips and their mannerisms to when they're going to make their breaks and things. And that's one thing we have our kids do. They get up every Friday, and we have them give their scouting report on the guys they're playing against.
And Brandon's always been a guy that has kind of been on cue with what we look at as a staff. But just really has worked hard to be a complete football player. Competes in practice.
I don't know what he's going to do after this game. I'm supportive for him, whatever. Brandon was a guy that was a prep school guy, obviously.
As a lot of people know he red shirted. Actually, it was kind of a funny story, his first play as a college player at Virginia Tech, he picked the pass off and took it for a touchdown. So that gave me high hopes for the young guy at the time. But then the next year he broke his leg. So we were able to get a red shirt out of him. But he's really going to be a fifth year guy this year.
He has really always been a guy that I've trusted in and been a good football player. Two years ago he played behind Jimmy Williams was our nickel corner or nickel DB. But Jimmy was setting out of the game early in the Gator Bowl against Louisville. And Brandon came in and stepped up and had two picks and a couple of big plays. I knew we wouldn't miss a beat.
That was the one thing Brandon, he's a guy that you knew the level of play he was. He was always going to be consistent. He was not going to be up-and-down. And that's the one thing that he's really, you know brought to the table for us. There's a consistent guy there that you knew was going to play at his best and perform.
And any time, you know, every time he had an opportunity to make the plays, I'd say 98% of the time, he's going to be the one that makes the play. Not to say he hasn't been beaten and those type of things. That's going to happen at that position. But at the same time, he's got a lot of the confidence in his own ability. I've got a lot of confidence in him that we're going to win that battle more often than we lose. He's been a great, great football player for us.

Q. The letters situation, everybody says, Oh, it's not a distraction. But here one player gets his letter, and Harris doesn't get a letter. Is this something that you'd prefer perhaps the NFL might say, Hey, look, we're not even going to think about sending these letters out until after the Bowl season is over so these kids can just concentrate on what they're doing?
BUD FOSTER: Are you talking about the NFL where they're ranking there? Yeah. I don't know a lot about that to be honest with you. I know it's out of my control. But, yeah, I would hope that for the betterment of the kids and where their concentrations and focus needs to be, it would be better for after the bowl game.
You also kind of make it big, especially for a rising senior kid. They need to know where they are going to be before classes start. So they can -- the best thick for me is let's don't draft underclassmen, that would be the best thing. These guys need to be -- they're all on track to graduate and those type of things.
All of our seniors are set to graduate except for one right now. He's going to graduate in the spring. And the NFL's a push for that. They want these young people to prepare themselves for the rest of the their life, and not for the NFL. But I think they could make an even bigger statement by not even being involved in a young, underclassman. You look into where he's going to be drafted, you know.

Q. The players say after the game is over, I'm going to sit down with my family and I'm going to sit down with Coach Foster and Coach Beamer, and we're going to talk about this. Does that really happen?
BUD FOSTER: Yeah, it does. I know with Jimmy Williams, we did. And with Jimmy, he made the right decisions. He needed another year to grow physically, grow from a maturity standpoint, and I think he made the right decision for all the way around. He did it for us, he did it for himself. And we'll talk about that.
If there's a kid that I feel like you're ready to go, I'd tell him. Hey, I'm for you. That's the way I am with Brandon flowers. Brandon's a good football player.
Guy like Victor Harris, I think Victor needs to stay another year. He wasn't red shirted. He needs another year to grow from a maturity standpoint, and another year to grow physically.
Because if you go to that next level, this is a business. And the average life expectancy of that in the NFL is about a three-year, if you make it, is about a three-year job tenure. I think sometimes we, as an outsider, and I'm not going to do it from a selfish standpoint. I love having those guys around.
I'm going to look at them as what is best for them, and what is best for their future. That's where we'd sit down and talk about it. They're outstanding football players or the NFL wouldn't be considering them. But what is best for you down the long road. That's what I want to make sure they're looking at the right way.

Q. Who was a player that you knew was ready and you told them they were ready, and they took advantage of it?
BUD FOSTER: Guy like D'Angelo Hall. He was ready to go. He was ready. He wasn't red shirted. But he was ready physically, he was ready from a maturity standpoint. I could see where he was ready to go. And I was supportive of him. Guy like Jimmy, we did sit down and talk about it.
Luckily we haven't had that problem a whole lot. It's not like we've had Ohio State over the years has had a swarm of underclassmen looking at going out. So we've been lucky that way that we haven't had that situation a whole lot. But we had a couple. A guy like Ike Charlton, who I recruited, and was very close with. That was our first one, to be honest with you, and I was kind of torn between that.
I think each individual's a little bit different, and it's part of where they are physically, where they are mentally. And I'm going to hopefully guide them in the direction I feel is best for them. It's not what's best for them.

Q. You've always recruited well in Hampton Roads. You have a group of seniors from that area on this defense that you have said has made this one of the most special defenses you've ever had. The 7-5-7 group getting ready to play their last game together. How important has that group been?
BUD FOSTER: It's two ACC Championships. The only program since the mid '90 s to go back-to-back defensively and lead the country. I won a Broyles Award thankful to those guys. And I told them this award is a group effort. And I was just singled out from them.
But this is a special group. I mean, I like them as people. I care for them as if they were my own and I mean that. You see these guys come in, they all have different personalities, but at the same time, you see them interact with each other, you interact with them. And I've grown to like these guys as people, and that's important to me. You know, and that's how our staff is.
We want to get to know these guys, and we interact and talk to them about a lot of things other than football. And I like this group of guys. This group of guys has been important to our program.
But this is going to be a group that's going to be successful in whatever they do. Because of who they are and how they've grown and developed. I'm really proud to be associated with them.

Q. The bunch pail is special to you, how much more special is it with the addition?
BUD FOSTER: Yeah, you know, we've whether it's right or wrong, we've been kind of pushed to be the healer of that situation right there. I'm glad we've been able to do our part, I think, now. There was a lot of pressure on us early. There was a lot of distractions because there was so much talk about things other than the football game.
But I think the whole Hokie nation, the families, the community, I hope, is healed. I know it's tougher on the families than it is for us. But I know we've really tried to do our part and represent those families our program, our university at a high level and do it with class. And hopefully we've done that.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297