Bud Foster
Bud Foster is known by many as the defensive genius that has guided Virginia Tech to its successes in the national spotlight as well as in the ACC. The Hokies have never been known for their great offense (aside from Michael Vick) but have instead relied on a stingy, fierce defense to hold opponents down while the special teams dominate the battle of field position. Also, Bud Foster has been responsible for the absolute domination of otherwise high powered offenses, such as the debacle us Tigers witnessed two years ago when we blew out Georgia Tech and the following week got our teeth kicked in by the Hokies. Nobody thought we could be stopped, not even the analysts, until Bud Foster showed the country how to do it. Everyone else on our schedule took note, and Boston College used the same strategy to beat us at home, keeping us out of the ACC Championship.
Foster's list of awards is noteworthy. He took the Hokies to the National Championship with Frank Beamer in 1999 and won the Defensive Coordinator of the Year for his efforts. As recently as 2006, he won the Broyles Award for the best assistant coach in all of college football. Most important to me as a Tiger fan, Foster's defense has led the ACC every year since they joined the conference.
Additionally, Foster has been courted as a head coach for some time now, but has turned down many offers through a mixture of loyalty to Frank Beamer and career savvy as he's openly admitted he's "waiting for the perfect opportunity." In fact, just this morning Foster had this to say:
This means that now we have two high profile defensive coordinators up for the head coaching position here at Clemson. The problem with both Muschamp and Foster is that we just don't know what kind of offense they would want to run, or what their recruiting philosophy would be. We also don't know how open they would be to retaining current members of the staff, most notably Dabo Swinney, who has energized the team, the students, and the fans with his straight talk and spirited comments about the direction he wants to take Clemson Football. However, he's yet to coach his first game, so we'll have to see how he performs during the rest of the season before we jump to conclusions about his abilities.
I don't know how realistic this is, but personally I would hope for a situation where Dabo Swinney proves himself as not only a great recruiter but also a great offensive mind. Then we could hire Bud Foster to be the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator, and have Dabo Swinney as Offensive Coordinator and asst Head Coach. This way we wouldn't miss a step in recruiting and we wouldn't have to guess at what kind of scheme Foster would run on the offensive side of the ball. At this point, I'm really leaning towards Foster as my favorite pick for our next head coach, and I hope that the scenario I outlined plays out.
Foster's list of awards is noteworthy. He took the Hokies to the National Championship with Frank Beamer in 1999 and won the Defensive Coordinator of the Year for his efforts. As recently as 2006, he won the Broyles Award for the best assistant coach in all of college football. Most important to me as a Tiger fan, Foster's defense has led the ACC every year since they joined the conference.
Additionally, Foster has been courted as a head coach for some time now, but has turned down many offers through a mixture of loyalty to Frank Beamer and career savvy as he's openly admitted he's "waiting for the perfect opportunity." In fact, just this morning Foster had this to say:
"I'd be stupid" not to go, Foster said when asked what he would do if Clemson called tomorrow. "That's what you guys have all asked me for the last five years, six years. Who wouldn't be [interested]? ... That'd be one I'd be jumping through hoops to try to get. But at the same time, right now I can't worry about that. All I can worry about is what I can control, and that's trying to put the best defense on the field here."I'd say that's a pretty clear indicator that not only is he ready to move into the role as Head Coach, but he wants to do it at Clemson. This is good news.
This means that now we have two high profile defensive coordinators up for the head coaching position here at Clemson. The problem with both Muschamp and Foster is that we just don't know what kind of offense they would want to run, or what their recruiting philosophy would be. We also don't know how open they would be to retaining current members of the staff, most notably Dabo Swinney, who has energized the team, the students, and the fans with his straight talk and spirited comments about the direction he wants to take Clemson Football. However, he's yet to coach his first game, so we'll have to see how he performs during the rest of the season before we jump to conclusions about his abilities.
I don't know how realistic this is, but personally I would hope for a situation where Dabo Swinney proves himself as not only a great recruiter but also a great offensive mind. Then we could hire Bud Foster to be the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator, and have Dabo Swinney as Offensive Coordinator and asst Head Coach. This way we wouldn't miss a step in recruiting and we wouldn't have to guess at what kind of scheme Foster would run on the offensive side of the ball. At this point, I'm really leaning towards Foster as my favorite pick for our next head coach, and I hope that the scenario I outlined plays out.
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Good job doing the write-ups for the coaches as I appreciate getting a better look at all of them. I don't think we could really go wrong with either Foster or Muschamp. I just prefer Muschamp because I believe he has a little more fire in his belly. At this point though, I'm almost hoping Dabo shows he has what it takes so we can hire him. He's certainly said all the right things so far.
Posted by
Rock Crane |
10/15/08 2:39 PM