Would You Retain Bud Foster?

Premise: Bud comes up to you, the head coach of VT, and tells you that he no longer wants to retire and wants to coach another two years as DC for Virginia Tech, what do you do?

I ask this question because of the comments/forums I have seen on TKP is the last few days. Most of them focus on firing Fuente or Cornelson or both and place a majority of blame for the team's failures on the offensive side of the ball. There are comments/topics about the defense's issues, French wrote an excellent article on it, but most of the vitriol seems to be placed on the offense. I am not disagreeing that the offense has been a mess, but the outtrage seems to be 80% on the offense, 20% on the defense. Understandably, there is not a "Fire Foster" Thread because we all know about his retirement upon the conclusion of the season and Bud has a long history of success. However, I have been surprised to see comments saying Foster should be the interim or full time HC if CJF were to be fired, or that Fuente should apologize for his performance on the job, or that Fuente should "just let Bud do his own thing". Doesn''t Bud already have autonomy of the defense? Last time I checked Bud is the Associate Head coach and I am sure he impacts the mindset/culture and has input on the decisions behind the scenes, especially on defense.

Has Foster really done enough this year and the last four years under Fuente to not be held under more scrutiny?The man is without a doubt a legend and will have his own statue next to Coach Beamer when he retires. His legacy is unmatched in the sport, but is his work under Justin Fuente worthy of an extension? Or is his a retirement a good thing for both him and the team moving forward? Lets take a look:

On Field Results
When I think of Bud Foster's LPD, I think of a team that:
1. Makes team's 1 dimensional by taking away the running game
2. Creates havoc with sacks/TFLs
3. Creates TO's
4. Forces teams into third and long situations that results in low third-down conversions

With those things in mind, lets look at the stats from 2016-2019 against conference opponents (Fuente's tenure)

Rushing D yds/gm PPG allowed
2016: 147 2016: 21
2017: 123 2017: 15
2018: 239 2018: 30
2019: 196 2019: 40

Total D yds/gm TFL/gm
2016: 307 2016: 7.89
2017: 302 2017: 7.63
2018: 432 2018: 7.1
2019: 427 2019: 6

Looking at the data, there is a clean line of delineation between Years 1-2 and Years 3-4, similar to the offense. I think a big reason for that is the defense went from having NFL talent that were Juniors/Seniors to Freshmen and Sophmores who still have questions on whether they are talented enough to get drafted. With the majority of the defense returning coupled with some JUCO reinforcements I expected the defense to make more of a leap than it has thus far. I asked French before the season, what historical defense the 2019 defense could mirror based off the make up of the roster, his answer was the 2015 team. Here are some stats from the 2015 season:

Rushing yds/gm: 167
Total yds/gm: 343
ppg: 23

While the defense has improved, it is still below average. This is an experienced defense that has had no major injuries to its starters ,yet there has been only minimal improvement. The optimist may say that by season's end the defense may have a chance of statistically matching the 2015 defense or improving but its hard to see where and how. The points allowed per game, hopefully, will drop, but what else? We still have to play teams with dominating offensive lines which will limit TFLs, sacks, and can run the ball down our throats. Not to mention a high flying team like *checks notes* Wake Forest which could easily put up a lot of yards/points on this defense...on Bud Foster Appreciation Day.

Less Tangible On Field Results

Unlike the prior section, this section is more subjective and open to debate. Here are some issues that I have seen over the last two season:

Inability to play a complete game
-The defense has the ability to play fantastic for a quarter or two, but when has this team played a complete game? Or for that matter played a complete 3 quarters of a game against a P5/conference opponent?
Tackling
-Something I think we all agree with, that the tackling has been poor. This issue has to lie with technique and coaching which falls squarely on the defensive staff.
Mental toughness
-The defense seems to fall apart at the end of the half/end of the game or when the team starts losing momentum. Yes, the defense has been put into difficult situation by TOs from the offense, but its not like they have been able to prevent the other team from scoring. If a coach's personality has such a major impact on how the players play, shouldn't the D being playing with the same fearlessness and passion as the guy who coaches them?

Recruiting and Development
A comment that I get see repeated over and over again is how the talent pool on the defensive side of the ball has dropped, leading to the performance issues on the field. Fuente, as head coach deserves some of the blame, yes, but doesn't Bud have to accept some of it to? To be blunt: Bud is a below average recruiter. Outside of Dax, I am scratching my head on when Bud flipped a recruit or was personally responsible for pulling in a 4*. The defensive line depth is a mess, but is that not on Wiles/Bud? Yes, they were able to secure a commitment from a 4* like Proctor, but either they were unable to develop him or they misevaluated him, and he ultimately transferred. Fuente has the ultimate say in how is roster is built and who the staff extends official offers to, but Bud/Wiles are on the front line in scouting the talent and knowing where on the roster there may be issues in the coming years.

I think there is talent on the defensive side of the ball, but where is the development? As discussed in a different forum, the play from the safeties this season has been disappointing. Floyd/Deablo are presumably healthy and now have a position coach who is well versed in the system calling the shots, yet there has not been a visible improvement. The highest rated player on the team, Devon Hunter, had a redshirt year and still looks lost out on the field. Then you have someone like Dax who does not look like he has improved YoY. Yes, hes playing out of position, but he has been practicing and playing in that position since he arrived at Tech. He even slimmed down to play the position better, but the bottom line is not showing it. After his performance on Friday, Tisdale should be the starter. Foster has been talking about this kid all offseason, yet has continued to play Dax over Tisdale...is that not on Bud too?

Final Thoughts
Against a bad BC team and an average Duke team, Bud's defense has surrendered 80 points. This defense had 0 sacks against Duke and forced 0 turnovers against them as well. The defensive intensity completely fell apart after the Duke TD. Players stopped trusting their technique, were out of position, or were not swarming to the ball. That is on Bud. Unless there is an interview/article saying otherwise, Bud runs this defense. Bud cultivates the culture with his guys. If Bud thinks there is a lack of depth/talent, Bud should be out there changing that on the recruiting trail. There has been some improvement, but when you are still giving up 200 yds/game on the ground even when your whole defensive mentality is about stopping the run, maybe its time for a change. If inexperience and youth is not an excuse on the offensive side of the ball, it should not be on the defensive side of the ball either. I would not retain Bud. I think it is time for a fresh pair of eyes to come in and take over the D.

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You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7

His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."

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To you from failing hands we throw
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Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

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Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

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Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound, Jeff Jagodzinski, Paul Johnson, Pat Narduzzi.

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Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

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"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

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"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

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"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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