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Monday, Dec. 31, 11:48 a.m.: Hello again, everybody. The Hokies and Jayhawks had press conferences this morning at the hotel. Here's the transcript of the interview with Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, courtesy of the folks with the Orange Bowl.

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
Xavier 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 Xavier, 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 Xavier 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.