Robert Eugene "Bud" Foster Jr. (born July 28, 1959) is a retired American
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
coach and former player. He currently serves as a Special Assistant to Athletics Director
Whit Babcock
Whit Babcock (born June 17, 1970) is the current athletics director at Virginia Tech, a position he has held since 2014. Previously, he was the athletics director at the University of Cincinnati from 2011 to 2014. He previously served in the ath ...
. Following the 2006 season, he received the
Frank Broyles Award
The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little R ...
, which is annually given to the top assistant coach in college football. Foster's
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
and 2006 Hokie defenses led the nation in total defense. Foster is regarded as one of the best defensive coordinators in college football. On August 1, 2019, Foster announced he was retiring at the end of the 2019 season.
Since taking on his first coaching position at Virginia Tech in 1987, Foster coached over 50 players that were drafted in the NFL including first-round draft picks
DeAngelo Hall
DeAngelo Eugene Hall (born November 19, 1983) is a former American football defensive back who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons eighth ov ...
,
Kyle Fuller
Kyle Brandon Fuller (born February 16, 1992) is an American football cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft and played college ...
,
Tremaine Edmunds
Fe'Zahn Tremaine Edmunds (born May 2, 1998) is an American football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 201 ...
and
Terrell Edmunds
FeDerius Terrell Edmunds (born January 20, 1997) is an American football Safety (gridiron football position), safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech Hokies football, ...
; Pro Bowlers Hall,
Brandon Flowers
Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers.
In addition to his w ...
and
Kam Chancellor
Kameron Darnel Chancellor (born April 3, 1988), nicknamed "Bam Bam", is an American former football strong safety who played for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech prior t ...
and Super Bowl champions Chancellor,
Roger Brown,
Tyronne Drakeford
Tyronne James Drakeford (born June 21, 1971) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He played college football at Virgi ...
,
Cornell Brown
Cornell Desmond Brown (born March 15, 1975) is a former American college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for Virginia Tech, and earned A ...
,
Pierson Prioleau
Pierson Olin Prioleau EER-sun PRAY-low(born August 6, 1977) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia Tech and is currentl ...
and
Kendall Fuller
Kendall Christopher Fuller (born February 13, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Washington Commanders ...
. Foster also coached former All-Americans
John Engelberger
John Albert Engelberger (born October 18, 1976) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia Tech. Engelberger has also pl ...
,
Anthony Midget
Anthony Midget (born February 22, 1978) is an American football coach. He played college football at Virginia Tech. After a short-lived career playing professionally in the National Football League (NFL), Midget began coaching beginning at the hi ...
,
Corey Moore
Corey Moore (born March 20, 1979) is a former American college and professional American football, football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) during the early 2000s. He played college football for Virginia Tech, ea ...
,
Ben Taylor,
Ronyell Whitaker
Ronyell Whitaker (born March 19, 1979) is a former professional American football cornerback. He was signed by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2002 and played for the Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions and the CFL' ...
,
David Pugh,
Willie Pile
Willie Marquis Pile (born May 25, 1980) is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. He also played in the Canadian Football League for the Toronto Argonauts. He played colleg ...
,
Darryl Tapp
Darryl Anthony Tapp (born September 13, 1984) is a former American football defensive end and outside linebacker who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He is currently an assistant defensive line coach for the San Franc ...
,
Jimmy Williams and
Xavier Adibi.
Playing career
Foster went to high school in
Nokomis, Illinois
Nokomis is a city in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,256 at the 2010 census, and 2,126 as of 2018.
Geography
Nokomis is located at (39.300435, −89.285413).
According to the 2010 census, Nokomis has a total are ...
. A 1981 graduate of
Murray State University
Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, H ...
, Foster played
strong safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...
and
outside linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
for the
Murray State Racers
The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks (for football, the Football Championship Su ...
from 1977 to 1980.
Coaching career
Murray State
Foster began his coaching career as a
graduate assistant
A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...
at Murray State in 1981,
Frank Beamer's first season as the head coach. After two years as a
graduate assistant
A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...
, Foster was elevated to a full-time staff position. He coached outside linebackers for three seasons before taking over the inside linebackers as well in 1986. He also served as the Racers' recruiting coordinator and worked with
special teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
.
Virginia Tech
Foster moved with head coach Beamer to
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
in 1987 and became the inside linebackers coach. He then coached the outside linebackers for the next five seasons. Foster assumed responsibility for both sets of linebackers prior to the 1993 season and also took over special-teams coaching that year. The following year, he coached the inside linebackers and special teams. Foster assumed the position of co-
defensive coordinator
A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...
in 1995 and took over as the sole defensive coordinator in 1996.
After helping Tech to the national championship game (
Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...
) in 1999, Foster was recognized as the 2000
American Football Coaches Association
The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...
Defensive Coordinator of the Year. Tech's 1999 defensive unit led
Division I-A
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
in scoring defense and ranked third in both total and rushing defense.
Under Foster's coaching, the Hokies' 2001 defense proved to be one of the nation's best, ranking among the top eight teams in Division I-A in six different categories and leading the way in
shutout
In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball.
Shutouts are usuall ...
s with four. In 2000, Foster took a defense that returned just three starters and turned it into a unit that led the
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...
in rushing defense, placed 16th nationally against the run and tied for third nationally in interceptions.
"Lunch pail defense"
![2018 Military Bowl - Virginia Tech lunch pail (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/2018_Military_Bowl_-_Virginia_Tech_lunch_pail_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Since the 1995 season, a battered metal
lunch pail
A lunch box (alt. spelling lunchbox) refers to a hand-held container used to transport food, usually to work or to school. It is commonly made of metal or plastic, is reasonably airtight and often has a handle for carrying.
In the United ...
has been the symbol of Virginia Tech's blue-collar mentality on defense. Each week a list of goals is put in the lunch pail and a player is chosen to have the honor of carrying the lunch pail onto the sidelines. The Lunch Pail Defense Foundation was founded to fund academic scholarships for students from the area near Blacksburg, Virginia.
Statistics
Foster's defenses consistently rank among the top in the nation. Below are Virginia Tech's defensive statistics since 1995.
References
External links
Virginia Tech profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Bud
1959 births
Living people
American football safeties
American football linebackers
Murray State Racers football coaches
Murray State Racers football players
Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches
Players of American football from Illinois
People from Nokomis, Illinois
People from Somerset, Kentucky