By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – Jarrod Hewitt remembers the first time he ever met Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster.
Hewitt was a junior at Venice High School in Venice, Florida, and his high school coach brought Foster into the school's weight room, where various members of the squad, including Hewitt, were participating in a summer weightlifting session. Foster chatted with Hewitt, telling the young man that he liked what he saw of him on film and of Virginia Tech's interest.
Hewitt, getting looks from several colleges at the time, knew little about Virginia Tech and less about Foster. But his high school coach delivered a tutorial after Foster left.
"My high school coach pulled me aside afterward and said, 'That's the most legendary coach that's ever been in my office,'" Hewitt said. "It kind of opened my eyes a little bit, and I did my own research to find out who Bud Foster was. Ever since then, I've wanted to make that man proud."
Hewitt and his teammates will only get one more season to do that, as Foster announced Thursday that he planned to retire after the 2019 season. His decision will end a 33-year tenure as an assistant coach at Tech, including the past 23 as the program's defensive coordinator.
Foster first delivered the news to the team at a 2:15 p.m. meeting and spoke briefly with the media at the program's Media Day held later Thursday afternoon in the Beamer-Lawson Practice Facility. He said he spent most of the summer thinking about retiring and discussing the idea with some of his closest friends. He thanked several people, including former head coach Frank Beamer, current head coach Justin Fuente, and Whit Babcock, the school's director of athletics.
"I want to thank Coach Beamer for giving me an opportunity to do some really special things and giving me an opportunity to get a chance to experience a dream of a lifetime," Foster said. "That's what makes this thing really, really hard. It's about the relationships you bond with, the players you meet, the people you meet, the fans – it's just a special opportunity, and I can't thank him enough for giving me that.
"But it's time for me to step down at the end of the season. I'm not sick. I'm not burned out … Nobody's forcing me out. It's just going to be time when it's all said and done."
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This season thus will cap a hall of fame career for Foster, who turned 60 on Sunday. His defenses have finished in the top 10 in total defense a whopping 11 times during his tenure as the coordinator, and 45 of his players have been drafted by NFL teams since 1996, including 11 in the first or second round.
Thursday's news certainly caught the players off guard, and many of the questions at Media Day centered around Foster, his legacy, and his impact on them.
The news especially hit the linebackers hard. In addition to being the defensive coordinator, Foster has coached linebackers since Beamer brought him from Murray State, so those players interact with him on a daily basis.
"He means so much to me," mike linebacker Rayshard Ashby said. "Just from recruiting, he came to see me, and he was the first to offer me and give me a chance. He always believed in me. He just means so much. I can't even explain it. I just appreciate everything he's done, just teaching me on the football field, but most importantly off the field – just the great role model that he is and the great man that he is."
"Coach Foster is like a father to me," backer Dax Hollifield said. "He's the reason I'm here. He's the reason I made the best decision of my life. I really owe everything to him at this point. I appreciate everything he's done for me. He's taught me so much. It's not about football. It's about being a man, how to be a good person, how to be a leader, all that stuff. It's hard on me because me and him had a really good relationship, but I'm happy for him at the same time."
The players also relayed stories about Foster, who is known for his intensity on the field and his overwhelming love for them off of it.
Divine Deablo, the Hokies' free safety, came to Tech as a receiver, and he spent his first season on offense. He admitted to being a little intimidated at seeing Foster during practices that season, and he was shocked when Tech's staff asked him to move to defense.
"I'd be on the sideline watching the defense, and he's always yelling," Deablo said, smiling. "I'm like, 'Dang, he's hard on them boys. That's crazy. I'm glad I'm not over there.' That's exactly what I said. It's crazy how stuff works out. I'm over there now, and I love him as a coach."
The Hokies open practice Friday and needless to say, they want to play well – and more importantly, win games – for Foster.
"I had a lot of motivation coming into the season already, but finding that out gives me a little extra motivation," Hollifield said of Foster's retirement. "This is it. One last ride, all or nothing. So I'm going to work my tail off every day. I'm going 100 percent already, but as of an hour ago, I'm going to give everything I can, no matter what. He deserves it."
"It's going to drive us and motivate us more day in and day out, starting tonight [Thursday] as we get ready for our first practice tomorrow," Hewitt echoed. "It's going to be the most important day of the season because it's the next one. I can't wait to get to work for Coach Foster."
The Hokies, though, know they have to be careful. Emotion only takes teams so far. Attention to detail, hard work and execution ultimately win games.
Though not a true apples-to-apples comparison, Tech opened last season with a huge win over Florida State in Tallahassee – a great victory at the time, but one from which the Hokies failed to sustain the momentum.
A more experienced team appears to understand that.
"We still have to go out each and every day and do our job and execute each play," nickel Khalil Ladler said. "Try not to make the little mistakes and try to come out and dominate each team we play."
"We can't get caught up in the emotions at all," Deablo said. "We've got to do all the little things right and keep working to get better."
Rest assured, their head coach will be reinforcing those latter points, starting Friday with the first practice and leading up to the season opener Aug. 31 against Boston College. Fuente compared the situation to a novel.
"We know the ending," he said. "Now we have an opportunity to write the chapter, and I don't think that point was lost on our players. I think they understand that we have an awesome opportunity to celebrate, through our play and through our work, a fine, fine man and fantastic coach."Gallery: (8/1/2019) 2019 FOOTBALL REPORT DAY AND MEDIA DAY
