Foster and Friends
Foster and Friends
Foster and Friends Vol 140 Coach Speak
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this week's episode, Bud breaks down the Brendan Sorsby case and his decision to enter into the NFL supplemental draft. Also, we feature James Madison football coach Billy Napier and his fit with the Harrisonburg, Virginia school.
Welcome to Foster and Friends. Send us a text message. Bud and I would love to hear from you.
The value of the degree, the network of people they have access to. So you end up with a guy who's a little smarter than most, committed to his education, he loves football, and he wants to win. The most powerful piece is they're all the underlying.
SPEAKER_05Foster and Friends is presented by Envision. Locations are in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia. For the best in eye care and fashion, it's Envision. By the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win Vodka. It's a good day to enjoy a win. And by Brick House Pizza, visit our Radford location in the Brick House Garden featuring live music and the best in comfort food. Brickhouse Pizza means good times.
SPEAKER_07In no particular order, then it's your eyesight, your reaction, and then your body hurts. I've already got the body hurts part of it, right? And so it's just the other two things have remained really sharp.
SPEAKER_05Now, from the NSB Radio Network, Foster and Friends, here's Bud and Mac.
SPEAKER_08Happy Father's Day from Foster and Friends, NSB Radio Network. And I can say that to Bud, of course. And uh uh by the time we get done with this show and get it into the hands of all our affiliates, Bud will be on a plane to Ireland. So what have you not ever you've not been there?
SPEAKER_11And you and the pubs in Ireland is gonna be just a perfect mix in my yeah, we can we can be a perfect mix, but this will be my this will be my second trip to Ireland. Okay. We were briefly in Dublin. And we went to Croatia a couple years ago. And uh we just stayed in Dublin. Now this time we're gonna be in um uh an area called Adair, which is um I don't know how many miles west of Dublin, but we're gonna be there. Actually, a Adair Manor where we're staying is the gonna be the home of the 2027 Ryder Cup. Um this place is like a is it's a castle, man. And it's it's about it costs, I like I pulled it up, it's about $1,900 a night, is what it costs to stay there.
SPEAKER_08You know, and uh and I told V at some point I wanted to stay in a castle one day. Yeah, she said, well, okay.
SPEAKER_11This place is gonna have all the bells and whistles, but we're gonna be there for three nights, and then we're gonna go into Belfast for three nights. And uh yeah, we're staying in this place called the Merchant Hotel. And uh right now, the only concerning thing is in Belfast it's been there been a little bit of chaos.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, a little history there too.
SPEAKER_11I mean, yeah, so I'm a little uh concerned, uh, but uh I'm sure we will um I'm not playing golf, so I'm gonna be doing the tour, tourist uh thing with uh probably the wives. I might be the only guy uh doing this though, but it's all right, you know. Um somebody needs to look after those.
SPEAKER_08That's right, you can hold down the port. That's fine.
SPEAKER_11Yeah, no, but uh you know, we're supposed to be going to like an Irish whiskey plant, you know, or a distillery. We're gonna go to the Titanic Museum. That's where they built the Titanic. So there's gonna be a variety of things. We're gonna see a bunch of castles and you know, neat stuff. And so I'm looking forward to it. I I don't know what the what to wear. Um, that's true. It's any could be anywhere from 50 to 70. They said golfers, it could be 70 on the front nine, and if you turn around the back, 45 on the back and win and raid in sideways on you, you know. So it could be that way while we're we're sightseeing too. But uh, but I'm looking forward to it. I've I've like I said, I've really never been to Ireland other than we spent a couple of weeks in Dublin, but we we we stayed down at the temple bar area in Dublin, and um that was just nothing but bars and bunch of uh bunch of people drinking a bunch of Guinness.
SPEAKER_08There's a reason they call it the pub crawl. There's you know, when you go through that sounds too good. Well, that's why we have so with Bud leaving, and uh, you know, there's I had to get caught up in a lot of stuff, and that's what we're gonna do today. We're gonna wrap up the uh Brandon Soresby case. Uh with uh Bud's also gonna talk about retirement. Denny Hamlin announced uh, you know, retirement not yet after he wins three in a row. We're gonna get into that, talk to Bud about when you know and when you don't know. And also, I want to pay a little tribute to Billy Napier at JMU, who is who's, you know, came out of spring practice and feeling really good about the program, almost a 50-50 split of veterans and newcomers. And so uh Bud's gonna walk us through because the name of the show today is Coach Speak. And so with retirement and Billy Napier, and also then I'm gonna introduce Bud to a little music he can uh walk around the streets of uh Ireland with and you know just kind of groove a little bit. So that's our show. It's in a nutshell. This is a good place to break, and we'll come back and talk about the Soresby case and wrap that up since he's headed to the supplemental draft. So this is Foster and Friends, a Father's Day edition in the NSB Radio Network. Stay with us.
SPEAKER_11Hi, this is Bud Foster for Envision. For over 30 years, my good friends, Dr. Scott and Becky Mann, have built a practice that truly cares about their patients.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, we just try to do everything with the patients in mind. Everything we do is from the patient's point of view, and we try to put them first and really have state-of-the-art equipment and technology, and then old-fashioned personal care and attention.
SPEAKER_00Oh, well, I think it's mainly about the relationship and that we care. We care for them and they become family. Women we've been in that office now for over 30 years. So it's it's more like a family environment and that we do care about providing the best vision care available.
SPEAKER_06Over 30 years ago, we started with one office, one staff member, one doctor, and we've just kind of grown from there. The community's been great in supporting us, and now we have two locations. Uh, we're getting ready to add our six and seventh doctors and about 25 staff.
SPEAKER_11Go see your award-winning Envision team. They have two locations: Salem and Christiansburg. They will meet all your eye care needs.
SPEAKER_10Given the circumstances, this is the best outcome for all parties. I know it may not sound like that for Texas Tech, but this is the best outcome for all parties.
SPEAKER_05Foster and Friends is brought to you in part by Envision with locations in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia. For the best in eye care, it's Envision.
SPEAKER_08Welcome back. It's Foster and Friends, Father's Day edition. Name of the show today is Coach Speak, and we'll get into some of that in just a little bit. The voice you heard coming into this segment was Josh Pate uh talking about this being the best outcome for Texas Tech. And I just thought with everything that happened in the about uh the about face of Brendan Soresby that uh uh Bud and I needed to wrap up a couple of things. So uh, but as far as the concern that and Josh Pate will talk about it too. This is absolutely the best outcome for Texas Tech, the Big 12, and of course Brendan Sorsby going into the supplemental draft. Don't you think this was, and probably his attorney said, hey Brendan, don't worry about this Texas Tech thing, get to the get to the NFL.
SPEAKER_11Yeah, I just um, you know, it was getting ready to get real ugly, I think. And uh there was so much, there was 99% of the country. Um and I know how it was in the just reading uh what the Big 12 ADs and coaches felt like. And there was only one program that wasn't thinking in that term, and that was Texas Tech. And and maybe they were their part part of it was that they wanted to see him um get treated and you know come out of this thing on the other side, which is what you want. More the most important thing is yeah, that you know, he benefits from um going to counseling and and this thing doesn't happen again. But yeah, I think in the in the at the end of the day, this was a a good decision. Um and uh and just for the integ we talked about for the integrity of sport. I mean, you've it you've got there's got to be a standard. And um, and unfortunately, I think if you didn't follow through there, you just open up a can of worms and and uh and create um some potential issues down the road. And uh so it was it was good to see, in my opinion, uh that there was a standard set and it was upheld um by Texas Tech when it's all said and done, and saying, hey, yeah, it's probably better off we we sever ties and and let's move forward. Now the big question is gonna be is um you know how professional athletics are with gambling. Um who is gonna take a chance on this? Because this is this would be a rips, you know. And I know we said it in in in jest and the uh and off offline, but I know Cleveland, I was looking at who's gonna who's gonna be looking at a quarterback. It ain't the Cleveland Browns, I can tell you that was all.
SPEAKER_08You think Johnny Man, the Johnny Manzel story had something to do with it, Deshaun Watson.
SPEAKER_11I mean, you know, they just they've had so many issues at quarterback. They don't need another one, you know, when it's all said and done. But yeah uh no, I I just hope the young man um can get through this thing. He learns a big time lesson and doesn't have a true problem. And we've seen it with pro athletes before and um what it can do, you know, Ark Schleester being one of them, you know, ruined a career, and uh you just hate to see this um this young man have that kind of problem that uh just you're in a perpetual drain that's just sucking you down, you know. Yeah, that doesn't happen, you know. But uh it sounds like to me he's gonna be in pretty good shape. I I saw where uh Texas Tech was not taking back, he's already gonna keep he's gonna be able to keep the money that he he was given already so far through um his name, image, and likeness or his contract, however, you know, however it's been uh negotiated. But uh um and but this will be an important phase for him. This and I don't know the protocol with the supplemental draft as much as I do with the regular draft. Um, you know, the time frame, the the the time frame that the teams will be able to, the clubs will be able to meet with him.
SPEAKER_08Right.
SPEAKER_11Um, you know, there's a whole process that goes through it. And I'm sure with the his case, they're want to do a they're gonna do a deep dive into his background and character once all said and done.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, it's basically a blind. I think the simple way to say it, it's a blind draw, and then the team, the NFL teams have a chance to get to know him before they decide to add him to the roster. I think that's the the best way to say it. Um to circle back, uh Josh Pate, who um is a college football insider. I've written him a couple times and trying to get him on the show because I think he's one of the best. Uh he's very outspoken, very good, does his homework anyway. He said there is a lot to learn from the Soresby case.
SPEAKER_10Given the circumstances, this is the best outcome for all parties. I know it may not sound like that for Texas Tech. This is the best outcome for all parties. It was gonna be really, really ugly. All you can do at this point is really learn from it. And there's gonna be a lot of mud thrown Texas Tech's way. Some of it they deserve, some of it they do not deserve. You gotta be ready for crisis at all times. This was not merely a Joey Maguire problem. This was Texas Tech in totality dealing with a crisis.
SPEAKER_08Um, and but he said something there, and I and uh uh I want to throw it in front of you too when you talked about Joey Maguire, the head coach, of course. Um, and you know, all the years with with Frank Beamer and stuff, and head coaches have that. They don't talk about it very often, they don't go to a press conference and talk about it very often. But coaches have to be ready for anything that can happen within a program, right? I mean, Jim Caldwell had no idea that three players were going to be shot a couple of years ago. I mean, you know, how would how could any coach be ready to face that? And and in Tony Elliott's credit, I thought he handled that whole thing about as good as any coach can handle it. But but when Paige says a coach has to be ready for crisis situations, and he was talking about Joy Maguire, that's a pretty accurate statement, isn't it?
SPEAKER_11It is, you know, basically you're a surrogate parent, and uh you're responsible for the city. Well said, well said you know, you're you're responsible for these young people's lives, even though you you know you want to treat them as adults, they're not with you 24-7 like a child is in your house because they live on the campus, they live in the dorm, whatever they may be doing, you know. You're but you do have your thumb on them as much as you possibly can. And um, but you've got to envision all the possible things that that come can come along with being responsible. And um, you know, this is just one case, and but um I know in our time over the 40 years that I coached, uh, I saw a variety of things, you know, from deaths in the family to death within the program to uh variety of issues um that we had to deal with and uh that were personal and just it's things that are that are family oriented in a lot of ways. And um, but yeah, you got to be prepared. And sometimes you can't be, but experience is the best teacher. I've said that before, and that's just kind of like there's a there's no really book that leads you to being a great parent. You know, it's kind of the same thing with um, you know, being a leader. I mean, I there's all kinds of books, but until you have to experience it, and and there's the the business side of things that can be chaos, but then there's also more importantly, is there's the personal side of things that you've got to be that you deal with probably more so uh than people know about because that's that's held within the family.
SPEAKER_08Bro, you bring up something really that just came to mind when you said that. Uh, I had a real good friend at the Virginia Student Aid Foundation when I first got there in 1980. He was a former coach with Dick Bestwick. Uh then he became uh he worked with a student aid with Ted Davenport, and then he became the director and he got uh Joe Mark was his name. He ended up going to Davidson. Joe got involved in a lot of stuff that was not his fault, uh and stuff at the University of Virginia. But anyway, when uh, and since since it is Father's Day weekend, um, when my wife and I, my wife at the time, when we adopted Ellie, and I said, uh, and Joe was just so great because he had a couple of kids, and Joe was always really, really good. And I said, and I asked his advice, I said, Joe, how do you become a good parent? And I know we're kind of off the rails here. I said, but how do you become a good parent? And he had three words just love them. Yeah, you know, and I thought, and naturally it goes a little deeper than that, and I get that, but I've always remembered that show your kids love because sometimes there's gonna be tough love and you got to put them in the right direction. That's what I was gonna say.
SPEAKER_11I think with the part that we were just talking about, obviously with your own, there's love and tough love, and that's the same thing it is with your football team or you're with your conversation, and you know, it and and it's a relationship-driven business, as I've said many a time, but you you coach them hard, but you gotta love them even harder because you want them to know that you really care and that you're trying to get the best out of them, just like you are with your children, you know. And I know how it is probably with you and and and you and me both. I wanted for my kids to have a better growing up situation. Absolutely. We're always trying to, we're probably spoiling them, but also we truly by the same token, though, you got to keep them grounded and and understand the importance of being kind and treating other people the way you want to be treated and and all those type of things, you know, and and teaching them work ethic and discipline. And that's the challenge of doing that, and also that's the tough love part of it, you know, when it's all said and done. But I think that's the one thing that as you know, as coaches, that's a big that's a hat that you that you wear that we wear more than so than people think. They just see us on game day and and and that type of stuff. They don't see us the other six days a week when we're you know uh with them in a lot of different scenarios.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, my dad, uh before we go to break, my dad was not a roughneck or not a he was not a hitter or anything like that, but he was a Clint Eastwood guy. And when he looked you in the eye and said, Do you realize what you just did? You know, so I got it right away because I got the evil look anyway. All right, we'll go to break, we'll come back. Denny Hamlin, after three in a row and his fourth win of the year, talking retirement, but maybe he's gonna delay it now. We'll get into that more with Bud. On like, how do you know this is fostering friends and the NSP Radio Network? When you walk into a restaurant, say your favorite pizza place, what's the first thing you notice? The way it smells, the vibe, maybe the party atmosphere. If you're traveling in Southwest Virginia or lucky enough to live in the Radford area, hopefully you have visited Brickhouse Pizza, a staple since 1972. Brickhouse Pizza has become a legendary stop. Jeff and Diane's Main Street attraction features artisanal wood-fired pizza with fresh ingredients prepped every day. Brickhouse's pizzas are made with flour imported from Italy. Throw in the recipe for their homemade brew, and you have the recipe for fun. Brickhouse Pizza is open Tuesday through Friday at 3.30, Saturdays at 11.30, and the Sunday brunch begins at 10. Fresh food, cold beer, great times. That's Brickhouse Pizza, 311 West Main Street in Radford. Boster and Friends, Father's Day edition. Name of the show is Coach Speak. And uh we'll get into that in just a second. Billy Napier from JMU talking about the program, and Bud's gonna translate a press conference for us, so which uh ought to be good. Um, Denny Hamlin, the bump coming in, uh Denny Hamlin talking about retirement, and uh will tell us in just a minute about the downfall is inevitable. You gotta be able to manage it. But the hardest thing with your love for the game, you played it, you coached it, you were with Frank Beamer, you were winning games and becoming, you know, the assistant of the year and everything. And I know you had the little health scare because you know, we've been together for four years, so I know a lot. But did you really know it was time to retire? When did you know? When did you like just did you wake up one morning or when did you know it was time to retire?
SPEAKER_11You know, uh the for me, like you said, the the health scare was the one thing that really um was the big factor for me. Um but it I I will say this, Mac. There was there was a time when I couldn't wait to come to work. And uh I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait to just see the kids, I couldn't wait to game plan, and I couldn't wait to do those things. And then 25 years later, which is turning now into 40 years later, um, you know, that it wasn't the same. Um these and more of it was self-um driven, but sure there was stress that I felt like just we weren't performing, um, you know, and I'm always looking at myself because like I've always said if you point a finger, there's three coming back at you, you know, and uh I was driving myself insane and it wasn't fun anymore. I don't mean to laugh, but yeah, but you know, I w it wasn't uh you know, it wasn't fun anymore. I went from being the mad scientist, which I I I really like dabbling and doing all the things, to I was a crazy deranged uh you know scientist. And um that's what I always said when you know I just felt like I didn't have a timetable. I wanted to coach, and I as long as I was enjoying it, um, I was gonna do it. And uh, you know, with uh 2018 was a tough year, but three of the four years I was with uh Justin Fuente, we had success and we were relevant. We were in the hunt for Acc Championship. And uh so that part was fun. It was the other part though that uh it was just um it got to the point where it was more uh the wins were uh instead of celebrating, it was just an exhale. It just you know, and I was dreading getting up in the morning to go uh, you know, to go do it again.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_11And after doing it for so long, and that's when I, you know, I realized that probably it's time to, you know, change gears a little bit.
SPEAKER_08Well, I'm gonna before we get to Denny Hamlet, I'm gonna tell a little inside story ever since I've known you. Uh and you've done a lot of other shows, and a lot of other people have interviewed you, and I've been at tailgates with you, and you don't know this, and I've never told you this. But when somebody says to you, Bud, would you run four or three here? Or would you what would you do in a red zone defensive situation? Your eyes and your face light up just a little bit more. Okay. Your voice becomes a little more authoritative. You become like, well, here's what I mean, it it's just a little pattern. That says still, there is still still fire in that furnace. There is still football fire in that furnace. And this is what Denny Hamlin's going to talk about, too. You start winning later in life, and we'll get to it in a second. You start to win later in life, and that fire gets back gets back there.
SPEAKER_11So yeah, it does. It does. And I still like talking ball. I still like talking about it. Sure. Oh, I know you would. I just don't want to do it for 18 hours a day.
SPEAKER_08I get it. I and I understand it. All right. As far as Denny Hamlin's concerned, he was asked the question uh and several questions about retirement. He he had uh right now he had predicted 2027, uh, but going back to back to back, three wins in a row, getting the Pokano win last week. Denny Hamlin was asked the question, how do you know? And uh Hamlin said, Look, the downfall is inevitable.
SPEAKER_07Again, I'm planning for for the downfall that I know will will come. Um I you know, I'm I've I always say there's like three things that happen. You got your you lose your eyesight, then you lose, you know, in no particular order, then it's your eyesight, your reaction, and then your body hurts. And I've already got the body hurts part of it, right? And so it's just the other two things have remained really sharp.
SPEAKER_08So with that, Denny, and this is where Denny and and Bud and a lot of people that go through it, when you decide that, you know, it's time. Well, he says, uh, I'm content with what's going on.
SPEAKER_07I'm I'm content. Like if I quit tomorrow, I swear I will feel no more gratified that if I go out there and I win 72 races before I it makes no difference. So nobody cares. You'll be forgotten the you within six months of when you're not here. So I I might as well just enjoy life while I'm still somewhat young and and you know, be able to be there a little bit more for the kids and what they're doing.
SPEAKER_08There you go. Be there. And so I hear a lot of Bud Foster in that comment. When I and that's why I brought Denny Hamlin to the table for this week. You know, it's a good Father's Day weekend, so I thought that was a pretty good comment.
SPEAKER_11Well, he puts he's putting it in perspective. I mean that's how I feel the same way. I mean, um, you know, I I well one of the biggest questions I got was are you disappointed that you did not become a head coach? You know, yeah, I wanted that opportunity, but I was also extremely selective in what I wanted.
SPEAKER_08Sure.
SPEAKER_11And so, and uh I don't lose sleep over not that that doesn't bother me, you know, at all. Like some people think it might. And that's like with Denny. I mean, I know deep down he wants to win a championship. And I would love to see him do that, you know. And I know with Coach Beamer and myself, I would have loved to won a national championship. But I was very fortunate to, you know, to win, I don't know, eight, nine, you know, conference championships and play in some incredible bowl games and win some incredible bowl games and great games. And that's what drives you. Um, you know, and um, but when it's all said and done, he put it in perspective. Yeah, six months later, I get patted on the back, but yeah, yeah, you're you know, you you're remembered, but it's not you're you're kind of also on the back burner now. No, it's well said he's that he's it looks like to me he's got a perspective that yeah, he'll be remembered, but then after that he's also gonna be, yeah, yeah, he used to race. He was a he was a good racer when it's all said and done. It's kind of, you know, but there is, as he's starting to figure out, there's a lot more things to do besides run around in circles or coach football, you know.
SPEAKER_08Well, I you know, just last week or however long ago it was, um, I celebrate a birthday, and I can tell you I was 10 years old during the Kennedy assassination. So you can do the math right. So, but people ask me all the time, Mac, why don't why haven't you retired? Well, first of all, um there was a chance to to give back, and just like you, I had two NFL interviews and two NBA interviews during my career. And you there's a chance, but when you look back at was there impact, did I have impact on kids that are were interns then? And am I making impact now, which I think I am, and I still got you know a couple of faculties left where now I can't remember where I put my glasses, but when you do that, and like you, what you're saying, because now in your transition, it's really not retirement because your impact now is felt other places, you know, i.e., the James Franklin hire, and we don't need to go into that. We told the story a thousand times, but your job on that committee showed your absolute leadership and what you and what you can do.
SPEAKER_11So and that's what Denny, you know, Denny's the same way. I mean, you know, he's been a great racer, but now he's a he's an outstanding owner uh with him and Michael Jordan. I mean, yeah, I'm sure he, you know, he's made an impact on the on the sport of racing, he's made an impact on individual drivers and owners, um, you know, and and he'll probably continue to do that. Those guys just don't ride off in the sunset and you don't hear about them again. Guys like that, like Adele Jr., some of them, you know, they're uh Jeff Gordon, they're gonna stay connected a little, you know. And uh, if you don't though, that's it, and you and I both found, I mean, look at our our smiling faces that look at us right now. We look younger than we are just because we're active and staying involved in the city.
SPEAKER_08I think there's a lot, yeah. I I think there's a lot to be said about that. I think that's I think that's true because there are just other things to to look at and whatever. Now, now, just like you watching a football game, whether it's college pro doesn't make any difference. You're probably sitting in front of the TV and you're going, or you know, you go to the tech game and go, oh my God, we need to be in a three-four prevent here. We need to, you know, this red zone, we need to be in a full blitz here, whatever it might be. And I'm the same way, watching games, listening to games, and I hear these young announcers going, oh my God, you need to improve your fundamentals, you need to slow down, you need to, you know, it's the same way. You keep it inside you and you continue to uh to do that. So anyway, well, that makes for a great transition because now Bud's gonna, he's gonna do a little translating for us. So you have a chance to talk football today. So uh what is Billy Napier actually saying at JMU and why the move? I got some pretty good stuff for you, and one to pay tribute to Billy Napier, who I think is gonna get it done at uh JMU. It's fostering friends, Father's Day weekend. It's called Coach Speak, and Bud's gonna tell us exactly what Billy Napier is saying. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
SPEAKER_01Here's what people are saying about the River City Distillery. Good atmosphere and a very knowledgeable owner. It's Radford's unique gem. Cheers to the owners. Charlie Cosmato, master distiller, took his years of experience and began producing wind vodka. He knew he had something special. Gentlemen's Journey bourbon and rye whiskey followed, not to mention Rusty Rabbit, a cinnamon-flavored vodka that's already become very popular. River City Distillery is the first legal distillery in the Radford City limits. Charlie and his staff welcome you for tasting a pre-dinner visit or a post-party celebration. There's often live music and plenty of good conversation. If you are traveling the Commonwealth, make a point to stop in Radford and visit River City Distillery, 94 Harvey Street, downtown. It's a good day for a win.
SPEAKER_05Foster and Friends is brought to you by Brickhouse Pizza in Radford, Virginia. Brickhouse means great times.
SPEAKER_08Everybody, happy Father's Day. The name of our show today is Coach Speak. And uh I I was just dialing around looking at some different stuff, and I said to myself, you know what? I said, I haven't heard much from Billy Napier, and that's my fault. Uh Billy Napier, of course, uh was in the middle of his uh what third or fourth season at Florida, and um uh he, you know, 22 to 25, actually his fourth year, I guess, and then was three and four and got let go. Um, but it's a guy that um uh you know is the former Furman quarterback, and he had the great run at Louisiana and uh, you know, with the sunbelt and everything, and then boy, he got to the big time with uh Florida, and he was trying to rebuild, uh, but correct me if I'm wrong, Billy was trying to recreate the Florida infrastructure. I mean, that there was a recruiting thing he was working on and all this other stuff, but um anyway, he gets let go and he gets picked up, uh, you know, going to JMU. So I I wanted to listen to his press conference, and then when I heard it, and I was putting it together last week, I said, okay, I gotta get Bud on this. I gotta get Bud to tell me exactly what he's saying, you know, and you know, just the planning, and and so anyway, I'm gonna play a soundbite, and Bud's gonna tell us what Billy Napier is talking about. All right. So, anyway, uh he's got, you know, trying to put together the roster. You heard the bump coming in, but now, okay, the phases of his program, what he's trying to accomplish.
SPEAKER_09Um, this group started working together 97 days ago. Okay. And we built a great foundation in phase one. I thought we taught a lot of football and intangibles in phase two as we kind of incorporated what we call Duke's DNA. Uh, and then phase three, I thought that the football improved every day. But we have a lot of work left to do. You know, this is really the halfway point. All right.
SPEAKER_08So the Duke's DNA, what's he talking about?
SPEAKER_11You know, um, I I mean, obviously he's trying to create that chemistry and create their their culture. Um, you know, that probably that he had uh when he was at Louisiana, when he was trying to build at Florida. Um you know, it's in this day and age of the portal and him now being a new coach, and he's got 50 new players and and uh and some holdovers uh from a program that's been pretty successful. That's the one thing I'll say this real quick about JMU. They've had some coaching turnover because that's a job that you know you have success, you're gonna get another job.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_11And uh, but they've kept that winning culture, which is really to me amazing that they've been able to do that. So there's something within that that the kids that are that are holdovers that I think you know believe in and probably help drive that thing a little bit too, along with the coaches. But I want to talk about the phases a little bit. You know, we did the same thing at tech. We we cut we had four phases, uh, what we call that. Four phases to win the uh an ACC championship. And that was our that was our our one of our things that we talked about earlier. But like him, phase one for us was we were compiling a good group of athletes. I mean, we you know, we had kids coming in in January from you know, the signing kids, we didn't have the portal window and things of that nature, but you know, you still had the kids that maybe came in as freshmen the year before in the summer, but you were, you know, you're compiling your group of athletes, and your phase one was really you're building your foundation, in my opinion, of your work ethic and the expectations. And that's your winter workout program with your strength staff. Because that's the foundation of any program, is your strength program. You know, that that really is. If you can get an elite strength guy, you look at all the successful programs, it starts in their in their weight room with those guys, and that guy being aligned with the head coach and and and the coordinators, in my opinion. Um we had a great guy in Mike Gentry, who's one of the best in the history, you know, best ever. But that's a big part, and then you try in phase one was also our early morning conditioning, which is almost like boot camp. But those were the things that uh, you know, you really challenged kids, you pushed them to their limits, but that's where they they either pulled together or they pulled apart. And and the challenge is pulling them together, you know, and uh and then you did work some little bit of football in there, started that. But that was really phase one was compiling a group of athletes and and let's build the foundation from the from the ground up, so to speak, with our program. Phase two for us, and and we kind of looked at phase one as the first quarter. Yeah. We also these are like four quarters to oh okay, you broke it down.
SPEAKER_08All right, makes sense, keep things.
SPEAKER_11And so phase two or the second quarter for us was spring practice, and that's where you're just strictly talking ball, you're teaching technique fundamentals, you're teaching, you know, offensive and defensive and kicking game philosophies. Um, you're you're teaching those foundational, you know, your base defense, your base offense, all the things, your plays, all those type of things. And and and you only have 15 days, which is crazy, but now you can have some meeting time and some different things you can you can and and so that was and what he was talking about, they got better, you know, in that part of it. Phase three for us is what we're doing right now, or the third quarter is the summer. And um the summer development in college football to me is critical. That's where your player development, particularly in the weight room, your your conditioning, and now they've added with uh college, you can do OTAs. So most programs are doing two two uh OTAs a week, other besides meetings and that type of thing. So it's really football point 2.0, so to speak, compared to what it was. We couldn't meet with our kids uh per se. But the summer is critical. So that was what we call phase three. Then phase four was the season, and basically you had fall camp that led into the season. Most of phase four was fall camp, you know, about preparing for that season. But that was, you know, you you now define the roles of your players after through spring practice, through summer development, you kind of you know who your first and second team guys are, who maybe your fifth player is gonna be at positions. And now you gotta sit down and have those meetings with those kids that, hey, look, this is not your time, or you're a you're the you're the backup, but you're a play away from being the guy, you know. But you do you define their roles. Um, and then we spent a lot of time, be honest with you, talking about adjusting to adversity in that phase. I mean, I challenge guys, I and it's particularly when the middle of two a days, three a days got going. I try to create a crisis and and challenge guys because there's going to be a crisis throughout the course of the season in a course of a game. And I'm not talking anything crazy, but I mean a turnover, you know, you got to create those kind of scenarios.
SPEAKER_08And then 21-0 at the end of one.
SPEAKER_11Yeah. Yeah. And then all of a sudden you're hanging on, you know. But I mean, there's there's a variety of things. I try to create some, I'd call it crisis, but issues that they had to respond to in tough situations when they didn't want to be. You know, I just got them off the field and they're they're drenched in sweat and gasping for air. And I'd turn around and sudden change and had to get them on the field. And then we would evaluate that next play because that they they needed to go change the momentum, you know, and we evaluate, you know, the success of our defense to that next play is how we held them. So that it was, but those were teaching moments, but that's what he's talking about. And every program kind of has their window of their expectations and their development, you know. But we had ours, we had our four phases, but like I said, they were also four quarters, and we felt like the fourth quarter was going into the season and we were playing our best ball at that time. That's at least what we wanted to. That momentum was going the right way. But we had created the foundation to be able to handle any situation that would potentially get right.
SPEAKER_08For some reason, I see a connection to raising kids here. Okay. Uh, Billy Napier, part two veterans embracing the newcomers. It's all about leadership.
SPEAKER_09The special thing about this group, if I could compliment them, is the way that the veteran group of players embraced the rookie players, the humility that the new players had uh upon arrival, and the way they built chemistry and morale. Uh people have watched this team practice the last couple weeks, and when you tell them, hey, 50 new, 50 old, they don't believe it.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, so he's got a split. He said 50 old guys, 50 new guys, you know, coming in. But you've got to, you gotta count on your your old guys, right? You gotta count on your veterans.
SPEAKER_11Yeah, we always challenged, you know, and told our guys to uh you know take the young players under your wing. You know, and I wanted the older players, we go, we're gonna have competition. I want them to understand, you know, we needed depth, we needed to have competition to to be successful. And but also understand these guys aren't ready for to take your job, you know, talking to the older guys and by themselves. But we also want you to show them the way because when you're gone or if you're injured and then that guy's a play away from you know playing your position, that he needs there's a standard that he needs to uphold. So I wanted those guys to embrace the players, to um teach them about the culture and what the coaches expected out of them, right? But also what they're the you know, you and once you get the players that understand what the culture is and uh they understand the standard and they start holding the their themselves to the standard, and that starts with those young players. So I always excuse me, always wanted our older guys to take the younger guys under their wing and you know, show them the way and show them the expectations and of what we wanted as a staff and what they were uh ultimately accountable for and responsible for.
SPEAKER_08Good stuff. All right, final one the value of JMU, what it means academically to be there in Harrisonburg, and the fact that you're probably most times going to be in an underdog role.
SPEAKER_09When they make their decision because of the history and tradition here and the winning culture, part of the reason they come here is they want to win. They sense the reputation of the institution, the value of the degree, the network of people they have access to. So you end up with a guy who's a little smarter than most, committed to his education, he loves football and he wants to win. The most powerful piece is they're all the underdog. You know, they're all out to prove themselves. They got a chip on their shoulder. Um, and it's something in the water.
SPEAKER_08Something in the water in Harrisonburg. Gotta love it.
SPEAKER_11So well, you know, Billy's been some places. I mean, you know, besides the head coaching success he had at uh at Louisiana, he was at Alabama for a while, right? Uh Clemson for a while.
SPEAKER_08Clemson for a while.
SPEAKER_11Um, you know, he understands just what he was saying there that there's maybe some guys take advantage of their situation, you know, that they're a four or five-star recruit. Um they're they feel a little more entitled than others. And I think what Billy's talking about right there is really appreciating the college experience. Yeah. There is something, there's value to that. And and that's what James is doing here at Virginia Tech. I mean, that's ultimately this next four or five years of your life is you better, you know, you're creating the foundation for the rest of your life. And it's still only 3% of guys or even less are getting an opportunity to go play in the NFL. I mean, that's the triple true the true fact of the matter. So, you know, preparing for life after football is critical. And then I like the fact, and we talked about the winning culture at JMU already. I mean, that's the unique thing that they've done and um that they've done for years. But, you know, he's he's been playing that role that these guys aren't being the four and five-star recruits. They're the they're the second-tier recruits. And playing that underdog and always having a chip on your shoulder, I know that's how we always coached. I always coached that we never got any respect and we had to go earn respect every time we stepped on the field. But that's how I wanted our mindset to be that we had to go out and and prove ourselves each and every day, and each and every time we stepped on the field. So that's that mindset right there. But he's doing it because, hey, you were you weren't recruited by these people. You know, that's that's that underdog mentality. You weren't recruited by them, but you're better than them because that's uh but that's a good mindset to have when it's all great stuff.
SPEAKER_08We'll go to break. We'll come back getting Bud ready for his Irish vacation. I found a little music for his iPod. We'll come right back. This is Foster and Friends, NSB Radio Network.
SPEAKER_11Hi, this is Bud Foster for Envision. For over 30 years, my good friends, Dr. Scott and Becky Mann, have built a practice that truly cares about their patients.
SPEAKER_00I can just remember being pregnant with my first son over 30 years ago, and we bought the practice from Dr. Henry Stewart, who'd had it for 50 years. Which is scary, but we've moved forward and we're actually in the same location, and now we're up to seven doctors and over 25 staff in the two locations.
SPEAKER_06The technology is amazing. Uh we used to take pictures on literally Polaroids, and now we went to digital, and now we have widescreens, and um, we can do things today that 10 years ago were only images you could only generate, maybe at a teaching hospital, and now we can. Do those chair side when our patients come in.
SPEAKER_00We joke about it, it's been an overnight success in 30 years.
SPEAKER_11Go see your award-winning Envision team. They have two locations: Salem and Christiansburg. They will meet all your eye care needs.
SPEAKER_08Welcome back, Coach Speak, on a Father's Day edition of Foster and Friends NSB Radio Network. Bud talked about the topics getting ready to go to Ireland. We bumped in with uh the works of a multi-talented songwriter, bassist, and producer, Katarina Kozadova. She's created a character, uh, I don't know if it's AI or if this lady's really uh real. Her name is Raina Ree. She's all over Spotify, 500,000 views this month in June. But just for you, I found you a little RB here. Okay, so are you sold on uh on Raina Ray? Love her?
SPEAKER_11Well, I I love that vibe. I do, you know. I've I've had uh it's very international sound to me. You you know, I've uh I've had a chance to go to some more Caribbean countries, and but you'll you'll like a place in Costa Rica, there's a place we go to that plays a lot of uh European kind of sound or vibe, and that kind of gives me that little bit of that. Do you think that's AI or do you think that's real?
SPEAKER_08No, this girl's producing it, and I think she found a girl that can sing, and but I think she created not only the voice, but I think she created an AI picture. I think that's what happens. They create the artist, but but the voice is real. Does that sound right?
SPEAKER_11Yeah, no, I I got you. I got you. She even got a little sar sarday to her a little bit.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, a little salsa for you. Well, look, have a great trip. I'm jealous as can be. Um, so I hope you have a great tip to Ireland. We'll see you in a couple of weeks. And uh um, yeah, if you can change, you want to call in from an Irish pub, just let me know. We'll look up the phone calls.
SPEAKER_11I I will I will do that. I will I will remember that, and I don't know what time, so I apologize right now if I put you up in the morning. So I apologize.
SPEAKER_08You have a great time for Bud Foster on Mac McDonald. That's our Father's Day edition. Everybody, happy Father's Day, and then uh enjoy the uh enjoy the weekend. This is Foster and Friends, and this is the NSP Radio Network.
SPEAKER_02Tell me how much longer will you replay that old TV show?
SPEAKER_05Foster and Friends is presented by Envision. Locations are in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia. For the best in eye care and fashion, it's Envision by the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win Vodka. It's a good day to enjoy a win. And by Brick House Pizza. Brick House Pizza means good times.
SPEAKER_03Maybe you should wait some more after all. You're exhausted, dah.
SPEAKER_05But the Foster and Friends is a presentation of the NSB Radio Network and Mac McDonald Media.
SPEAKER_03That's why you keep bending up there.
