Introduction
Bud Foster (born July 28, 1959) is a college football coach and former player. He is the current associate head coach, linebackers coach, and defensive coordinator for the Virginia Tech 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 2005 and 2006 Hokie defenses led the nation in total defense.
Playing career
Foster went to high school in Nokomis, Illinois. A 1981 graduate of Murray State University, Foster played strong safety and outside linebacker from 1977 to 1980.
Coaching career
Murray State
Foster began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Murray State in 1981, Frank Beamer's first season as the head coach. After two years as a graduate assistant, 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 coordinator in 1995 and took over as the sole defensive coordinator in 1996.
After helping Tech to the national championship game (Sugar Bowl) in 1999, Foster was recognized as the 2000 American Football Coaches Association 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 shutouts 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 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 1995.
| Season | Rushing defense | Passing defense | Total defense | ‡ Scoring defense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | †Ranking (Conf) | Actual | †Ranking (Conf) | Actual | †Ranking (Conf) | Actual | †Ranking (Conf) | |
| 1995 | 77.4 | #1 (#1 BE) | 208.5 | N/A | 285.9 | #10 (#1 BE) | 14.1 | #5 (#1 BE) |
| 1996 | 112.0 | #19 (#3 BE) | 204.1 | N/A | 316.1 | #24 (#4 BE) | 15.3 | #9 (#2 BE) |
| 1997 | 118.9 | #30 (#2 BE) | 208.0 | N/A | 326.9 | #26 (#2 BE) | 16.8 | #13 (#2 BE) |
| 1998 | 102.2 | #11 (#1 BE) | 182.7 | N/A | 284.9 | #7 (#1 BE) | 12.9 | #4 (#1 BE) |
| 1999 | 75.9 | #3 (#1 BE) | 171.4 | #8 (#1 BE) | 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) | 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) |
| 2011 | 104.07 | #14 (#2 ACC) | 200.57 | #31 (#4 ACC) | 304.64 | #10 (#2 ACC) | 17.64 | #7 (#2 ACC) |
| 2012 | 134.08 | #29 (#3 ACC) | 199.08 | #24 (#2 ACC) | 333.15 | #18 (#2 ACC) | 22.85 | #32 (#2 ACC) |
| 2013 | 110.9 | #10 (#1 ACC) | 172.7 | #8 (#2 ACC) | 283.6 | #4 (#2 ACC) | 19.3 | #11 (#2 ACC) |
| 2014 | 144.8 | #39 (#7 ACC) | 199.0 | #25 (#5 ACC) | 343.8 | #21 (#5 ACC) | 20.2 | #14 (#2 ACC) |
| 2015 | 180.7 | #75 (#11 ACC) | 189.2 | #19 (#4 ACC) | 369.8 | #44 (#9 ACC) | 26.3 | #59 (#11 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 127 teams. ‡ Scoring defense also includes touchdowns allowed by the offense and special teams. | ||||||||