Bud Foster is a
college footballCollege football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
assistant coach. He went to high school in
Nokomis, IllinoisNokomis is a city in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,389 at the 2000 census, and 2,230 at a 2009 estimate.-Geography:Nokomis is located at ....
. He is the current
defensive coordinatorA defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
for the
Virginia Tech Hokies footballThe Virginia Tech Hokies football team is a college football program that competes in NCAA Division I-FBS, in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They have more wins in team history than any other program in the ACC. Their home games are played at Lane Stadium which seats over...
team. Following the 2006 season, he received the Frank Broyles Award, which is annually given to the top assistant coach in college football. Foster indicated interest in the head coaching vacancy at West Virginia University after the 2007 season and most recently in the head coaching position at Clemson University in the middle of the 2008 season.
Foster's
2005The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the least amount of controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series title game in many years.To an extent it was a return to classic football...
and 2006 Hokie defenses led the nation in total defense.
Playing Years
A 1981 graduate of
Murray State UniversityMurray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
, Foster played strong safety and
outside linebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
from 1977 to 1980.
Coaching at Murray State
Foster began his coaching career as a
graduate assistantA graduate assistant is a position who serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The individual typically assists professors or with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants, coaches with an athletic team, or university department...
at Murray State in 1981,
Frank Beamer'sFrank Beamer is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , a position he has held since 1987. From 1981 to 1986, Beamer served as the head coach at Murray State University...
first season as the head coach. After two years as a
graduate assistantA graduate assistant is a position who serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The individual typically assists professors or with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants, coaches with an athletic team, or university department...
, Foster was elevated to a full-time staff position. He coached outside linebackers for three seasons before taking over the inside and outside linebackers in 1986. He also served as the Racers' recruiting coordinator and worked with special teams.
Virginia Tech
Foster moved with head coach Beamer to Virginia Tech 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 coordinatorA defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
in 1995 and took over as the sole defensive coordinator in 1996.
After helping Tech to the national championship game (
Sugar BowlThe Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...
) in 1999, Foster was recognized as the 2000
American Football Coaches AssociationThe American Football Coaches Association is an association of over 11,000 football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "maintain the highest possible standards in football and the profession of...
Defensive Coordinator of the Year. Tech's 1999 defensive unit led Division I-A 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
shutoutIn team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
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 ConferenceThe Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
in rushing defense, placed 16th nationally against the run and tied for third nationally in interceptions.
Statistics
Foster's defenses consistently rank among the top in the nation. Below are Virginia Tech's defensive statistics since 1999.
| Season |
Rushing defense |
Passing defense |
Total defense |
‡ Scoring defense |
| |
Actual |
†Ranking (Conf) |
Actual |
†Ranking (Conf) |
Actual |
†Ranking (Conf) |
Actual |
†Ranking (Conf) |
| 1999 |
75.9 |
#2 (#1 BEThe Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
) |
(unavailable) |
247.3 |
#3 (#1 BE) |
10.5 |
#1 (#1 BE) |
| 2000 |
99.27 |
#16 (#1 BE) |
224.36 |
#77 (#6 BE) |
323.64 |
#27 (#2 BE) |
22.64 |
#45 (#4 BE) |
| 2001 |
71.64 |
#2 (#1 BE) |
166.27 |
#8 (#4 BE) |
237.91 |
#2 (#2 BE) |
13.36 |
#2 (#2 BE) |
| 2002 |
121.43 |
#29 (#3 BE) |
213.64 |
#56 (#7 BE) |
335.07 |
#32 (#4 BE) |
18.79 |
#21 (#2 BE) |
| 2003 |
136.00 |
#39 (#4 BE) |
231.46 |
#76 (#7 BE) |
367.46 |
#51 (#4 BE) |
23.00 |
#45 (#3 BE) |
| 2004 |
115.23 |
#21 (#4 ACC The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
) |
152.77 |
#4 (#2 ACC) |
268.00 |
#4 (#2 ACC) |
12.85 |
#2 (#1 ACC) |
| 2005 |
93.38 |
#8 (#2 ACC) |
154.23 |
#3 (#2 ACC) |
247.62 |
#1 (#1 ACC) |
12.92 |
#2 (#1 ACC) |
| 2006 |
91.23 |
#11 (#2 ACC) |
128.23 |
#1 (#1 ACC) |
219.46 |
#1 (#1 ACC) |
11.00 |
#1 (#1 ACC) |
| 2007 |
86.64 |
#5 (#2 ACC) |
210.29 |
#31 (#4 ACC) |
296.93 |
#4 (#1 ACC) |
16.07 |
#3 (#1 ACC) |
| 2008 |
104.43 |
#14 (#2 ACC) |
175.00 |
#16 (#5 ACC) |
279.43 |
#7 (#2 ACC) |
16.71 |
#9 (#1 ACC) |
| 2009 |
128.38 |
#40 (#4 ACC) |
167.08 |
#11 (#2 ACC) |
295.46 |
#12 (#2 ACC) |
15.62 |
#9 (#1 ACC) |
| 2010 |
155.93 |
#64 (#7 ACC) |
205.57 |
#40 (#5 ACC) |
361.50 |
#52 (#8 ACC) |
20.57 |
#26 (#4 ACC) |
All statistics from the NCAA.
† National rankings are among the teams in the football bowl subdivision (formerly called Division I-A), which currently consists of 120 teams.
The Big East ConferenceThe Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
had 8 teams. The ACCThe Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
had 11 teams in 2004 and has had 12 teams in all subsequent years.
‡ Scoring defense also includes touchdowns allowed by the offense and special teams. |
Personal
He is married to Jacquie Porter Foster and has three children: Ammie, Grant and Hillary. He also has a granddaughter, Jaiden. He spends his off days at the family's lakefront house on Claytor Lake.
External links