The fixation of keeping Bud

I've mostly tried to stay away from the conversations surrounding who our next head football coach will be for two reasons:

1. I want to savor the last handful of games of Frank's career - the only head football coach most Hokies have ever known.
2. Much like recruiting, I don't want to get wrapped up in and fixated on the guy I want, only to be disappointed we don't snag him. It's not my decision to make, and I have zero influence on the decision, so I just don't want to get emotionally invested it.

That said, I've seen significant chatter on here about how we should hire Bud as our head coach, or that we should do everything we can to retain him, and how that it would be criminal if neither happen.

With all due to respect to those who hold that opinion, you are ludicrous.

Don't get me wrong, so very much of our success on the football field can be attributed to Bud Foster and the defenses he has coached. Other than Coach Beamer, there's no other coach I associate with Virginia Tech football than I do Bud Foster. Bud is as much a Hokie as Frank, and I am forever grateful that he's been at the helm of the defense all of these years.

But here's the thing, sometimes when you've been at the same place, doing the same thing, for so long, the best thing for all parties is a change. I recently left a job that I frequently tell people was one of the best jobs I've ever had. I worked with some of the brightest software engineers I've ever met, and I had a boss who let us be good at our craft. I left that job because the company wasn't performing well, and I didn't see a great future there, and I recently went to a company where there's more work to do, less experienced people around me, but an opportunity to take the lessons I've learned at previous jobs and do the best work of my career. I feel a bit rejuvenated.

If we don't hire Bud as our head coach, and the incoming head coach doesn't retain him, I will feel no ill will to either party. I think it will be opportunity to Coach Foster to go somewhere and stamp his signature on another football program, and I'll be happy for him to do that.

Would I like to see Bud finish his coaching career at Virginia Tech and finish what Frank started? Hell F*** Yeah. It would be a storybook ending. You know what else would've been a storybook ending? A blocked punt returned for a game winning score at the end of regulation of the UNC game. But storybook endings rarely happen.

So maybe ludicrous was a bit extreme, but if you're so staunchly committed to keeping Bud I do hope you can acknowledge that what might be in his best interests, and possibly VT's, is that he move on. That acknowledgement does not mean you think he's not as good a coach as he was, or that the mutual respect and fondness between him and Virginia Tech is gone. It would be acknowledgement that life happens - situations change, people change, and sometimes a fresh start is the best opportunity to perfect your craft.