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In a perfect world, things change and get better. In a perfect world, people grow and develop. In a perfect world, we reward those who have served and excelled above and beyond expectation. The cold, sad truth is: sometimes that isn't feasible. One of the undersold stories in all of the Beamer search is Bud Foster. Everyone loves Bud Foster. The Hokies defense is built by the founding father of the Lunch Pail Defense. Bud Foster epitomizes everything that is great about Virginia Tech Football. He is aggressive. He is steadfast in his approach. He understands the "Beamer Way" better than anyone. I wouldn't want to piss off Bud Foster. He looks like the guy who could put a serious hurting on anyone who stands in his way. We outlined the pros and cons of a Foster regime in this earlier article from Joshua Schneider. The real question up to this point was, does he want it?
Would Bud Foster be interested in Virginia Tech's head coaching position? "Uh, you guys think?" he said with a smirk. #Hokies
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) November 10, 2015
Now that is settled, the questions only get stronger. What has happened these past few years? What would he have done differently? Speaking with the media, including Andy Bitter, Bud offered one insightful nugget:
Foster: "I don't think this program needs a culture change." Said #Hokies need to reclaim the state in recruiting as first step back.
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) November 10, 2015
Again, this is nothing flashy. Bud Foster is not a flashy guy. He is humble, and down to earth. It is hard to watch Josh Sweat wreak havoc in the A.C.C., when he came from the 757. Ten, maybe even 5 years ago, he would have been a Hokie. At this point there are three options for Foster. Number one is that the Hokies name Bud the next head coach. I'm not sure I see that happening at all. Number two is that Foster "takes his talents to South Beach", or more precisely a big time school with a big time need at D.C.. The third and most favorable option is we sign a coach who gives Bud hope that his legendary defenses won't be wasted.
Foster said his other closest-to-leaving-moment was Georgia a few years back, when Mark Richt called. Bud recommended Todd Grantham. #Hokies
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) March 18, 2015
Babcock is not only charged with picking the replacement of a legend. He is in charge of keeping one.