Foster and Friends Vol 147 Camp Fires

With college football training camps in full swing...Bud and Mac reflect on Bud's ACC Network appearance.  Also...the press conferences are dominating the airwaves.  Bud and Mac take you to James Madison, Old Dominion and Richmond.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

This is Foster and Friends with former coach Bud Foster and his co-host Mac McDonald.

SPEAKER_05 0:10

He's just the perfect fit for Virginia Tech, I felt, with his personality. I mean, we couldn't have got a better head football coach, in my opinion. You're talking about one of the elite head coaches in college football and then one of the elite recruiters in college football as well.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Foster 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. Brick House Pizza means good times. Now, from the NSB Radio Network, Foster and Friends. Here's Bud and Mac.

SPEAKER_09 1:01

Welcome in, Foster and Friends. And yes, just uh a couple of weeks away from college football, Bud Foster's here. He's now a television network star. And uh anyway, it's good to see Bud and uh he's been practicing. Did you wear makeup that day, by the way, when you were on the ACC network, which we are going to talk about a little later.

SPEAKER_05 1:21

Did you wear you know, I did not. I needed to. Once I saw myself on the screen, it's like, oh my god, who is that old dude? You know, I was like, I I they could do they could do better for me, you know what I mean? They really could, but uh yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:36

The uh a lot of times you you not as bad as me, but if I do any TV, I and the the my students laugh. I have to put uh makeup on my head, on top of my head, being a bald guy because lights bounce right off your head. And so I have to put makeup all over me, you know, just uh uh I'm glad I don't do that much anymore. But hey, you were good, you were good that day. We're gonna we got a couple of examples we're gonna talk uh today, by the way, it's called campfires, as we uh, which is just a stupid name to we're gonna dive into some training camps. Uh, a lot of a lot of coaches are saying some fun things, you know. So uh as it is camping, and I'm gonna ask Bud some questions about a camp and what uh you know what coaches are trying to find out. Is it a difficult time of year? I mean, difficult for uh for coaches this time of year?

SPEAKER_05 2:26

Uh I I don't know. I think this is what you you you work for. It's just a long time of year, you know, it's just a long day. I mean, you're in at six o'clock in the morning, and uh a lot of times you're leaving at you know 10, 10 o'clock at night. Uh this is not like game week preparation, but you have uh meetings in the morning, you have meetings with your players in the mornings, you have walkthroughs in the morning, um, you know, then you in the afternoon you have meetings again, you have special teams meetings, you um you have you know your practice, your practice schedule meetings as the coaches, and then you have practice, then you come back and meet again that night. It's just um it's just a long day, but it's a it's important because you know, camp sets the foundation for your season, you know. That's the that's the big thing about camp, and it just gets you acclimated to get ready for the grind, you know, both for the players and for the coaches when it's all said and done.

SPEAKER_09 3:22

Well, today we're gonna uh not only are we gonna feature Bud in a whole other capacity, uh Billy Napier from JMU, Ricky Ronnie from Old Dominion, and also a guy that I just could listen to forever, uh, is Russ Husman, who's with Richmond, and he had some funny things to say about his budget. So uh anyway, we're gonna get into that. Also, Bud's gonna give us a foundation update because uh he's just absolutely kicking like crazy. So, all right, I'll go to break here because we can spend a little time with Bud and the ACC Television Network. It was no big deal, but Bud just said once again some great things about James Franklin. So that's why I wanted to bring that to the table. And you had fun doing it, right? It wasn't a long uh thing, was it? With the ACC network.

SPEAKER_05 4:06

You know, actually, I wasn't even planning on doing anything, and then I think James wanted me to be on there, so they asked a couple quick questions, but it was really cool. You know, there was the whole production because obviously the ACC's going around to all the campsite and going to all the camps. So this was a this was a big production, and uh yeah, it was fun to be part of it. I'd done it before with them at uh a couple other times before maybe the uh first ball game when they had kind of their ACC game day here. But uh yeah, it was a lot of fun to be involved and just made me stay around and watch the whole practice. I've been watching practice, but I usually get up and leave just a little bit before the end. But this time I had to stay till the end because that we didn't do the interview until 7 p.m. that night.

SPEAKER_09 4:47

Well, you look good. You look and I was just dialing, and there it was. There was uh there was Bud. All right, we'll get a break, come back. It's Campfires and it's fostering friends, and this is the NSB Radio Network. We'll return right after this.

SPEAKER_05 5:03

Hi, 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_00 5:12

I 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. It was scary, but we 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_03 5:29

The 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_05 5:50

Go see your award-winning Envision team. They have two locations, Salem and Christiansburg. They will meet all your eye care needs. He's hit the ground running, and uh being a part of something that was really special here. Uh I'm excited to see what you know he's gonna do. We're gonna be really, really good.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Foster and Friends is presented by Envision. Locations are in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia. For the best in eye care and fashion, it's Envision.

SPEAKER_09 6:25

Welcome back, Foster and Friends. Ironically enough, the bump coming into this segment was the voice of who else? But Foster. Um, when I uh I was dialing around and looking at some stuff, and and uh on uh last Friday, I think it was, or maybe it was it was Saturday morning, and um after Bud had already recorded it, and I see Bud sitting on a uh you know, a chair in the stadium with James Franklin and a couple of representatives from the ACC network, and I said, Well, of course, this is a natural fit, this is where Bud belongs. So, anyway, you look good. And uh, so I had I had to just I wanted to play this for people who might have missed it because it does have football connotation with uh you talking about James Franklin and for the people that missed our show months ago when you talked about the committee. I thought it was pretty good, you know, for you, and you just said some really good things. So it had to be some fun. You ready for your you ready for your first soundbite? You want me to play the soundbite? Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_05 7:24

I want to say, hey, do you happen to notice the shirt I was wearing? Okay. I had more comments about the shirt because they're gonna be. Oh, are they new?

SPEAKER_09 7:31

Was that new?

SPEAKER_05 7:32

That was a new logo that came out that was a uh Johnny O brand. I got it from the uh uh hokey shop at Lane Stadium.

SPEAKER_08 7:40

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05 7:40

And uh it's it's uh it's a hokey bird with uh carrying a football. That was the that was the initial release or drop, I guess, in the technical terms, that day Friday. So I might have been the first one to wear it publicly, you know. So uh I got a lot of comments about the shirt more than I got comments about, you know, uh my my uh my professionalism as a um you know in the interview.

SPEAKER_09 8:06

Well, was that a Frank? Is that a Franklin deal? Because I know a lot of coaches bring logos to mind and they bring them to the table.

SPEAKER_05 8:12

I don't think so. I think that's just a uh Virginia Tech deal. They're trying to do that with other sports, and you know, I think they start it with a golf, uh, with a hokey bird with a golf uh club swinging.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05 8:22

And so this is the uh kick off from football. But I liked it. It's got a little bit, it's got that same head looking, but it's just more of an athletic looking hokie bird, got a little attitude, and so check that out.

SPEAKER_09 8:34

Yeah, absolutely. Nice, nice plug. All right. Well, Bud was on uh ACC television and uh regarding James Franklin, and uh uh so uh again I had to bring this to the table, but was asked about uh the whole Franklin thing, and it's great to be associated with the committee, of course, and deal with Franklin. Bud reflected.

SPEAKER_05 8:54

Well, number one, it was uh it was exciting to be on the committee. It was interesting to be on the other side of the fence instead of being on, you know, being the that guy being interviewed and all that. But number one, when James became available, I was shocked like probably the whole nation was when it was all said and done. But I've just known James. We competed against each other, we crossed paths. I went and visited his staff when he was at um at Vanderbilt uh and just really liked what he was all about. He had a foothold in recruiting in the mid-Atlantic here and was kicking our tail for a number of years when we were when we were winning these battles. He's just the perfect fit for Virginia Tech, I felt.

SPEAKER_09 9:30

Oh, so thorough. And anytime you mention the committee, you know uh uh hokey fans and really college football fans are all about that. And uh Bud went on to explain as part of the soundbite that Franklin is absolutely the perfect fit for Blacksburg.

SPEAKER_05 9:45

I thought it was a perfect fit. Uh, I can tell you this. We once he was available and he showed a little bit of interest early, we put on a full court press. I can promise you that. And uh, but no, we couldn't be more happy to have him here. He's hit the ground running. And uh being a part of something that was really special here. Uh I'm excited to see what you know he's gonna do. We're gonna be really, really good.

SPEAKER_09 10:09

Yeah, and I ended it right there because that was uh uh you know naturally so actually just it was it's apropos that you are doing a lot of that and then people are coming to you. It just it's a it's a perfect fit. Absolutely. It's a perfect fit.

SPEAKER_05 10:25

You know, it is, and and as I've gotten to even be more to expand on that, you know, James is just he's he's a real guy, you know, and genuine guy. And that's kind of been the lifeline of you know of Blacksburg and Virginia Tech. That's who Frank Beamer was. Um, you know, that's probably what Justin Fuente was his, you know, was you know, his nemesis was his his personality. And this is a place that they put coaches on the pedestal, and and James wants to represent this place the right way and and and be transparent and be open. And uh so I think it it's not just his football part of it. I think he's just the right fit as a personality, too. That uh, you know, he'll be open and accessible, you know, to the fan base and people, but he's also a CEO. He may he'll spend some time with you, but he's gonna move on, you know. So I'm letting people know, but he also knows the importance of uh and and the role of his position and and the impact he can make on this community as well.

SPEAKER_09 11:22

Last week you told a great story about camps. And my question to you today, at least I I thought about I want to make sure that I asked you about uh great training camp stories, and you told that the the one about uh all the man all the uh preseason magazines and that uh you you read them and you made sure the the the your team saw them, but it right before get you know, right before the first game, you burned them all. And I just thought that was a great have you what is your greatest training camp August story? Do you have one or two that anything that's happened that you know in training camp?

SPEAKER_05 11:58

You know, I don't know if I have because you know camp's a grind, you just get in. I you know, you you you want to make it fun because it is a grind, I will say that. But probably one of the ones most recently is we had our band, and I'd say this, Justin. That one thing Justin wanted our players to know the fight song, you know, the school. And so we always had the band director to come in and we we'd stand up and do the fight song. But then one day he had the band come in. This was actually my last season. So they came out and right after we finished practice, they they stayed at um and and they played the uh the the hooky tradition, you know, our Virginia Tech fight song. Right. I got up on I got up on the ladder and became the uh band leader, you know, and all the so that was probably you know one of the uh you know, a light moment right there. But no, you know, it was just it's such a daggum grind, man. You know, camp is, and um, but you also you gotta keep it loose. And you know, we'd always did like there was when the ALS plunge was going around first, sure, you know, we did that, and that was, I mean, I froze my tail off, but it was for a great cause. But I mean, there, you know, just there's a variety of things you do to try to keep it light because it is football's a tough sport, physically and mentally in this time of year, the dog days, you know, so to speak. Um, so you got to keep it light at times.

SPEAKER_09 13:23

I thought I've got to find, I gotta go back and see if I can find a picture of you on a ladder directing the band, and and now we're gonna have to start calling you maestro. So you I don't wanna I don't want this hour to get away without because before we recorded today, you started to you you were starting to tell me a story about a kid that you saw a training, and and this has to be one of the great training camp stories of all time. Tell tell the story about the kid in the helmet.

SPEAKER_05 13:50

Yeah, I mean, I was starting to read in the athletic this morning, and it's like there's this player that had a two-foot long cotton mouth snake got in his helmet. And you know, it's a venomous snake, you know. And she's like, I dove in, I'm learning all kinds of things. The cotton mouth is actually a copper head, but the cotton mouth isn't has semi-aquatic. We used to call them uh water moccasins when I was a kid, but somehow this two-foot, you know, he put the helmet on and he said it felt like a little bit different and like tight, and you know, and and luckily he didn't get bit, but he was like they an hour through practice, somehow they took the helmet off, you know, in order to get in a water break, and there's a dagum snake and poked its head out, and so they stuck it in a I saw pictures of it, but they stuck it the helmet in the water so the snake would come out. Ended up being a two-foot long um cotton mouth. And my God, could you imagine that? Now the kid evidently it didn't, you know, disturb him too much because he put the helmet back on and played, but or practice with the last hour of practice. But my God, I'd be I'd be skittish a little bit after that. That's uh luckily he didn't get bit, and you know, because that's like I said, that's a venomous thing. That that that that that make for a bad day.

SPEAKER_09 15:05

No kidding. That's crazy. All right. Well, look, uh, we'll go to break, we'll come back. Um I said we're we wanted to uh to go around some of the camps in the in the state. Uh we got Billy Napier coming up and also Rick Rick Ricky Ronnie, who's seventh season at Old Dominion already. And uh, you know, the program is to watch. And also coming up uh is Russ Husman, just an old uh I don't want to say old, old because but he is old school. That's that's the best way to say it. And uh had some funny things to say. It's training camp, it's campfires, and this is Foster and Friends, and this is the NSB Radio Network. Good story. We'll be right back. The first legal distillery in the Radford City limits, River City Distillery, specializes in handcrafted vodka and the smoothest you will find anywhere. As a matter of fact, Win Vodka being made right there at River City Distillery supports Bud Foster's Lunch Pail Defense Foundation. Master Distiller Charlie Cosmano's business model was simple. Make the best vodka and gradually build a portfolio to include bourbon, American single mold whiskey, and other craft spirits. Residents from all over Virginia traveling to Radford to see the distillery, take a tour, try a tasting, and meet Charlie. See the River City Distillery Facebook page. Fascinating, refreshing, live music right there on Main Street in downtown Radford. And don't forget, ask about Rusty Rabbit Bourbon. You're gonna love the River City Distillery. Tell Charlie that button I sent you.

SPEAKER_07 16:44

You know, and we wanted to be very intentional about plugging into each generation, each era, and make that a strength of the program.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

Foster and Friends is presented by the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win Vodka in Gentleman's Journey Bourbon.

SPEAKER_09 17:01

Welcome back. It's Foster and Friends. You just heard uh Billy Napier, the voice uh taking over at JMU. Uh, of course, uh with uh Mr. Chesney going to UCLA now and handling things there. He just hired Derek Carr for training camp. Not bad. Not uh, you know, where he he gets uh uh an NFL quarterback in to work for him. Uh Billy Napier, I think, will do a very, very good job. Boy, he he has been around the block, things kind of fell apart at Florida, but uh, but don't you agree that uh that JMU should have another uh terrific year?

SPEAKER_05 17:34

Yeah, and I'm not sure what their talent level looks like. I'm sure there's enough solid people there. That's the unique thing, and we've talked about this before at JMU. They've had multiple head coaches changes here now the last several years, and they've continued to have success. And they've always been able uh, you know, to hire um you know outstanding people. Um, you know, they're their ADs have done a great job you know, and and and hires. Um and um and yeah, Billy's got a great track record. I mean, he did a great job at Louisiana. Um obviously it didn't go the way he wanted at Florida, but um, I mean they got a great hire, and uh I think he'll do a great job, and it'll you know, and and obviously recruiting is is critical, but he has that experience, and uh but he's got a good foundation there. I know he's got a good base and a good culture that's for whatever reason is stayed there regardless of who the head coach is.

SPEAKER_09 18:33

You bring up a great point. I'm gonna I'm gonna move ahead and then go back. But uh he talked about he was asked the question about you know moving into JMU and then teaching culture, and he thinks it's important for the program to understand the the Mickey Matthews of the world and the Kurt Signetis of the world and how important JMU football has become.

SPEAKER_07 18:54

I think what I've seen in college football, having worked at a lot of different spots, is there's always that, you know, I'm a Houston guy, I'm a Matthews guy, I'm a Withers guy, I'm a Signetti guy, I'm a Chez guy. You know, we're uh we all bleed purple, we're all dukes, and I think that um, you know, we wanted to be very intentional about plugging into each generation, each era, um, and make that a strength of the program.

SPEAKER_09 19:21

I think that's pretty good, you know, because I think it and uh on the outside looking in, but I'm I'm guessing that you just talked about bringing in the band and the there are a lot of things that the student athletes need to understand. You know, it's not their name on the back of the jersey, but it's the name on the on the front of the jersey, you know.

SPEAKER_05 19:40

Without without a doubt, you know, and that's the one thing not to jump away from there. That's what James Franklin's doing here. You know, our facilities right now, they're being stripped, have been stripped, and they're being re-backed, redone. And James wants to go ahead and show that there was there's a tradition here at Virginia Tech. You know, we went to we had the longest bowl streak in the country at one time just a couple years ago. And our kids need to understand that that walk when they go sit in that those seats, just like at JMU, who's had a great tradition, there's a there is a tradition here, there's an expectation here. There's um, you know, and uh there's a culture here. And um and that's I think it's important. That's what you know. I think Billy's saying right there. They've been able to keep that tradition and culture flowing, even though they've changed the guard, so to speak, you know, with their head coaches.

SPEAKER_09 20:34

Yeah, good stuff. All right. Uh now's uh an X is an O's thing, and uh and I'll have but talk about this. This is Billy Napier talking about the how college football has changed and how uh you know it it's important for uh you know to learn defenses and how you know and and going against when you're going against your guys in camp, but also keeping up with uh where college football is moving.

SPEAKER_07 20:58

The games change quite a bit, you know. Your traditional um old school pro Y that plays on the ball, there's a place for that guy, but you know, you may be at a disadvantage if that guy can't do more than just be a blocker, right? So now there's a there's a place and time for that, and we certainly have those type of guys, but these guys that can play off the ball, that can play in the four open sets, that can execute uh in the run game and the protection game and the perimeter and throw game, those are the ones that we're looking for. And we have we have a good group there.

SPEAKER_09 21:29

And but we have seen that, and that's Billy Naper from JMU. We have seen, you know, the open offenses now. How difficult is it for a defensive coordinator to to play defense in this day and age of college football?

SPEAKER_05 21:43

Well, what Billy's talking about there, too, is probably more like with 11 or 12 personnel, meaning one back, one tight end, and three wide receivers, or 12 personnel, which is one back, two tight ends. But the ability, and I think the the 12 personnel is is kind of coming down. Back more and more. And what I say from there, the 12 personnel gives you multiple uh formation uh opportunities and multiple personnel grouping looks. You can get into 12 personnel and be what we'd call 21, like the old pro style where you have a fullback and tailback. You can get create broad blocking services with two tight ends, you know, on each side of the line of scrimmage, you know, where you've got two three-man services. Uh you could create a four-man side, you know, an overload-looking side, you know, where you've got a tight end and a wing, or you can put them down together. And then you can spread them out. Like we've got a tight end that can transfer from um from uh Penn State, Luke Reynolds, who's 6'5, 250 pounds. But, you know, and I I told you when we played uh uh Stanford um back in the day in the in the Orange Bowl, uh they had a couple guys that went on to play NFL careers, but they were 6'6, 250. But they could be as a fullback tight end, or they could be a wide receiver, and they were matchup issues for safeties, for linebackers, they could run with the ball, you know, after the catch, they were good on the perimeter for like quick screens and that type of thing. So the versatility of a big athlete kind of is what Billy's talking about right there. And that's the one thing that we're leading to. And I know this as a coordinator, those were always the the ones because you had to understand the the play selection from each of those formations. And even though it's the same personnel grouping, they came out and presented multiple formations that would be more for maybe a true one-back type set, but they could also get into, you know, get into that physical, let's hit you in the mouth kind of formation. So being able to balance that from a defensive standpoint, from a game plan standpoint, because each offense is a little bit different when they configure in their formations, that's that's kind of where the challenge lies, you know.

SPEAKER_09 23:52

When did the when did the tight end position really start to change?

SPEAKER_05 23:57

You know, I it it's hard to say, but you know, you you look at the NFL, you had so many uh good players that you know made a name for themselves. And that's that's where those guys then became the target. They weren't just the you know, the end, the extra tackle on the line of scrimmage, you know, the big record blockers blocking on the perimeter. All of a sudden, you know, the Russ Francis, you know, guys, you remember him. He might have been one of the early ones to start it out, and then it came all the way here most recently, you know. But you had some guys that were basketball players. Gonzalez, you know, the Gaines guy out at San Diego, you know. But um those guys just became so multiple. They became the fullback, they become they are the tight end, but they also became a receiver because you're they're a big kid in space that can run. And like I said, are matchup issues. But uh those guys have really become more and more important, more and more valuable. And uh, and you can't always find those great wide receivers because everybody's looking for them, but you can you know more and more you can find those big athletic kids that you know can be a tight end or be a matchup issue in space.

SPEAKER_09 25:08

Yeah, always love kids. Always love that position for sure. Um, Ricky Ronnie is in his seventh year, as we said a minute ago at uh Old Dominion. And if there's a guy that I love to listen to, um, and just the way he approaches the program in his day-to-day, he had a comment uh bud about bowl games, and he says, if people don't think that bowl games are still important, I mean, there's so much talk, and even you know, you and me and all the CFP talk and the expansion and whatever, but um Ronnie, you know, said, Hey, we don't want bowl games to go by the wayside because they're still very, very important for his kids, but also for Ronnie to, in a school like Old Dominion, okay, building through the portal and making the portal work. Ronnie has a game plan.

SPEAKER_04 25:52

So I think the you know the biggest thing is with the one portal window, we're actually able to build a team. And these guys are actually able to know each other and invest in each other over the spring semester, not in terms not only in terms of athletically, but emotionally as well. You know, I think before with the two portal window, the guys, there was a little bit of hesitancy. Hey, I don't know if I want to really want to invest in this friendship with this guy because he may leave, you know, and so I think there was there was part of that. With the one portal window, that the guys could kind of dive all in. I feel like the team is is very close, even though we have a bunch of new players.

SPEAKER_09 26:23

Okay, so that's Ricky Ronnie. And bud, and you would know this better than anybody because the way you follow it, the science of the portal now is amazing. You know, yeah, we can talk about hey, they landed this guy and they got a guy from this school, and you know, he was a four-star in high school, whatever it is. But the science of who you bring in is amazing to me.

SPEAKER_05 26:43

Yeah, I mean, the coaches are doing their you know, their due diligence as far as making sure they're getting the right fit because you can you can bring in a bad apple, man, and that can create some issues, you know what I mean? And and I know just in our my uh dealings with James and this first year, and he's not really a big portal guy, he wants to build it from within. Um, but and then pick the right spots, hopefully he doesn't lose guys, you know. Um, but um I think what he made a great uh comment there about, you know, the one portal window now. I think that's incre i is incredibly important because just what he said, you get them in January, now they can't leave again until January. So you can actually start building a culture instead of worrying about a kid coming in in January and leaving in April, you know, or the first of May. I mean, that's and building your roster. You can and then I think as you as we move forward, if they pass the a one-time portal allowance, unless your coach leaves, then now you're gonna get back to people building cultures. And but I do think going back to this, getting the right fit in the portal is extremely important because you're it's just like recruiting. You want to make sure you're adding the right piece to the puzzle, you know, that's gonna give you an opportunity for success. But then being able to have them there where they can develop a chemistry and a friendship and a relationship, not just player to coach, but player to player, which is extremely important because that's the that's the chemistry that really matters when it's all said and done.

SPEAKER_09 28:13

No, very well said, great stuff. You know, you ought to be doing some TV. Oh, wait a minute, you are. Uh anyway, fostering friends, NSB Radio Network, but now I'll come back because there's one guy in Richmond that just wants a little bigger budget, and we'll explain why. Stay tuned. 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.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

From the desk of former coaching great Bud Foster, this is Foster and Friends on the NSB Radio Network.

SPEAKER_09 30:07

You know, I know coaches get tired of talking, the media's looking for the right questions. And uh that was Russ Hughesman who is coaching at Richmond. We got to wanted to talk some technology with uh Bud as well, because uh Russ was they're putting gold pros on quarterbacks' helmets. And I thought, okay, I gotta ask Bud if that's a fairly new thing. And here's what here's what happens. I'm gonna let Russ explain and let Bud take over. So they feel that it's another advantage to go in a quarterback room and film to see what the quarterback is actually seeing, and then that way he can't lie to you. Uh, the kid can't lie to you, go, no, I was looking to say I thought it was too deep, whatever it might be. Russ Husman, head coach, Richmond, he's been at it for a long time. Now going new technology.

SPEAKER_06 30:54

Yeah, we've always looked at different things to try to, you know, to kind of advance their skills, whether it's in a meeting room or out on the field. And um, we had the opportunity to purchase it through some some gifts that uh that we got. And uh now Jacob can take them in the meeting room, and you know, he can ask them where were you looking, and you know, Ashton can say, yeah, I was looking at the safety over here, and Jacob said, Look at that dot right over there, but so you can't fool us.

SPEAKER_09 31:26

So, Bud, I guess GoPros are a thing, right? In camps, in training camps.

SPEAKER_05 31:32

You know, there there's all different kinds of technologies that are being sold and people trying to take a look at that who can maybe improve help with coaching and improve your players' uh football IQ and and get them to develop, you know, better. I know this, there's a big thing right now with virtual reality. We did it uh with our linebackers and our quarterbacks. So the way they the camera sat up behind, but you can put the virtual reality on as in a quarterback, then you can go through it and same kind of scenario. You're not necessarily looking at a play, but or doing the play, but you can look at the defense dropping and and go through your progressions as far as a read and that type of thing. Defensively, I used it for the the linebackers to identify the formations and make their run declare strength as quickly as possible. You know what I mean? And for and for key reads as far as meaning blocking schemes and their their being able to reaction to it. So there's tools, and right now they're doing it uh at the at the schools that have a lot of money. Now, Russ is fighting over, you know, uh budget machines. But um, you know, now they're they're having these rooms that a quarterback can just go stand in a room and a play can develop and he can look at her linebacker, they can run a play, the offense can run a play, but just like you're on the other side of the it's just amazing technology that's coming forward uh for these for the player development as far as their vision, their football IQ, and and making quick decisions.

SPEAKER_09 33:06

Wow, that's uh that's that's really good stuff. By the way, before I go to this second bite uh with Russ, um did you did you give your guys a lot of like written tests and were they consistent during training camp? You know, I think it kind of like a written test.

SPEAKER_05 33:25

Yeah, I to be honest with you, I did that when I was a younger coach. And then as I became older and more, you know, I put them on the board. You know, that was their test. I put them on the board. They had to be able to draw formations, they had to be able to draw players.

SPEAKER_09 33:40

Like the Gruden camp. Like the Gruden camp.

SPEAKER_05 33:41

Yeah, I mean, that's and that led those guys to go on to the next level too. But that that didn't prove their football IQ. You know, I didn't have enough time to do all these, you know. I'm I'm doing practice plans, all this stuff. I didn't have time to, and and I didn't, we didn't have the resources, all these GAs and analysts now. They can the analysts can do those tests for the guys. Yeah, you know, you tell him what he you want done. But no, I I put the guys on the board, which I thought was uh a great teacher for them. And it also gave gave got them, particularly as linebackers, that was kind of for me the leader of the defense and you know, the vocal guy that that put them in a position to feel more comfortable in front of a group, even though initially it was their immediate position group, but then eventually, you know, they're gonna be out in front of the defense making calls and and doing it with confidence and you know, and and I that I thought that was important.

SPEAKER_09 34:32

All right, remind me, I gotta tell you an acronym football story here uh after this. But anyway, Russ Husman uh said he wishes he had a bigger budget so he could get the $30,000 membership for the Jugs machine.

SPEAKER_06 34:46

Shoot, I wanted to buy some Jugs machines. The they got the the uh the computer on it with six balls, and like you can you can do it and you can run streaks with your wide outs, you can punt it any different way you want. It shoots out of there. That thing was thirty thousand dollars a year and people got them. I think if it would have been said five thousand a year or ten, I might thirty thousand dollars a year. Well, you get the the the jugs, but then you got to pay for the uh service uh every year.

SPEAKER_09 35:21

Yeah, I need to be a jug salesman maybe hitting all the cansing.

SPEAKER_05 35:25

That's what I'm saying. There's this technology has gone crazy now. I don't know how many jugs machines we have. I'm sure they got more than one, you know, there at Richmond. I mean, they're they're not a poor school by any stretcher, you know, the imagination. But uh uh but those things they are they're invaluable for, like he said. Uh the they can kick the ball, you can punt, kickoffs, throw, I mean, do whatever. Our guys, we have them in the weight room, receivers and DBs and tight ends, they catch I don't know how many balls a day outside of after practice, even with the jugs and that type of thing. So they're invaluable as far as so. Go ahead. Russ needs a there's some good donors there at Richmond. He can come up with 30 grand.

SPEAKER_09 36:05

Somebody needs to cough okay, step up. Yeah, somebody might give get Russ a little uh yeah, get him a little Christmas gift or whatever. All right, a couple of just a couple of stories, training camp stories. And I read this the other day. The at and and I so I want Bud's reaction. The Akron Football Zips decided to run a promotion to sell tickets. Maybe, and maybe you heard the story. So they are promoting for a seasoned ticket holder. You got to be a seasoned ticket holder, they're promoting that you can be the offensive uh coordinator for a day, and you get to script the opening drive against their home opener against Robert Morris, and you get to go to practice and script and then be on the sidelines and call the opening drive against Robert Morris. Season ticket sales are through the roof, even from people not even close to Akron, and they they want an opportunity to be an offensive coordinator. Thumbs up, thumbs down, bud.

SPEAKER_05 37:06

Well, well, yeah, I mean, good thing they're playing Robert Morris. I mean, we used to play the zips, you know.

SPEAKER_09 37:12

Yeah, I don't think we're opening against Miami and then Oh my god, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:17

We uh I don't know if that flying around here. I mean, I think that's a a heck of a promotion, and I'm sure they're doing their uh the I'm talking the staff at Akron to make sure they get a guy that's got a little bit of football knowledge and background and has some IQ, so it's just not something and you gotta be calling the right, you gotta you can't just call your own place. You gotta call the plays at Akron, you know, in their playbook and that type of thing. So obviously the guy has to come, or the individual could be a lady. I I don't know. I mean they have to have they have to have some time to put in to prepare. Yeah, that'd be the only thing that which would be a cool experience. I would say this that would be a great experience for a fan experience would be able to take a you know, like a week at in in in camp or a week in game preparation. I think that would be a great uh fan experience for, and that'd be a great promotional uh item for any institution. But I don't know if I'd let them call the first series of a game.

SPEAKER_09 38:17

Yeah, but uh the head coach of uh the Akron head coach said he does have veto power. Oh, so he he has the he does get the yeah, he does get the yay or nay, you know.

SPEAKER_05 38:27

Well, I'll I'll say this with the new technology, Mac, you know, because the game caller can call it to the quarterback. Yeah, his just is just muted, and the other guy's gonna be making the calls. Exactly. That guy's thinking he's making the call, and it's actually gonna be the coordinators.

SPEAKER_09 38:42

But I could see you'd be real thrilled you put on the headset, you're talking to the you're talking to your guy upstairs or whatever, you know, or you're maybe you're sitting up saying, Yeah, it's uh it would be good. The other real quick story before we uh go to break would be uh Phil Steele, which uh I read this past week. His his magazine has been an institution for so long, 370 pages plus every year, year in and year out. Well, Amazon was advertising these Phil Steele magazines that were 53 pages and 76 pages, and people started to complain. They were buying them on Amazon saying, wait a minute, this is not the Phil Steel magazine that we thought, but it had his name, it had the image, but they how they caught these people putting out these fake magazines, the numbers on the players that were on the cover were wrong.

SPEAKER_05 39:35

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know this Phil Phil is as detailed oriented as a guy that I've dealt with, you know, and he does a that puts out a great product as far as you talk about wanting to analyze the college football team and you know, make your particularly now in the days of betting, you know. Phil's got a you know, he he know the roster, his he knows the roster as well as anybody because he he really is a guy that sits down and talks to the coaches. It's just not he's not getting hearsay, it's actual, you know, um confirmation from the coaches themselves.

SPEAKER_09 40:08

Remind me next week. I want to uh before we go to break, remind me next week. Uh I want to I want you to explain your media training and what you learned to say and not to say and the cliches. I want to just hold that thought till next week, okay? Because I want you to explain when you learned, like, did you make a mistake earlier in your career saying the wrong thing? I I can't wait. Just hold that thought. All right, we'll go to break, we'll come back. It's Foster and Friends, NSB Radio Networks, uh, a foundation update from uh Bud Foster. We'll continue right after this.

SPEAKER_05 40:45

Hi, 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_03 40:54

Yeah, 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_00 41:06

Oh, well, I think it's mainly about the relationship and that we care. We care for them and they become family. When 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_03 41:21

Over 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 sixth and seventh doctors and about 25 staff.

SPEAKER_05 41:36

Go see your award-winning Envision team. They have two locations, Salem and Christiansburg. They will meet all your eye care needs.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

Up that he's interested in maybe talking to one of your coaches or things like that. That hasn't that didn't happen. You know, it's kind of an unspoken rule. So didn't hear anything from the other school, didn't hear anything from the previous coach until they called up, tell me that he had been offered a job. So it wasn't a very thorough interview process where you have a few days to kind of plan and think this might be coming down the track.

SPEAKER_08 42:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 42:45

I'll I'll get the link to uh Bud so he can put that in his uh I listened to it.

SPEAKER_05 42:50

My God, that's you know, I need to play that at night with me and Jess. I'm sorry, I don't need to do uh Bruce J on the radio show, but that got me a little moving right there.

SPEAKER_09 43:00

Hey, your uh your foundation just continues to kick. Um, and so we wanted to allow time for you to uh promote what's uh what's coming up because you guys are just doing a wonderful job. And um, and if people are listening for the first time and they're going, what does Bud's foundation do? I'm just gonna turn it over to you so you can explain what's going on.

SPEAKER_05 43:19

Well, I appreciate that, Mac. You know, we've we've been doing this for a long time now, and uh we've got a great team, you know, that uh is that behind me and you know I wouldn't, they're rock stars in their own profession, but have been supportive of of the lunch pail and what it stands for. And then now that we've had this foundation going. But uh yeah, basically we give giving back to the community primarily in two areas. We give back to academics in two areas and we give back to um from a medical standpoint, and uh we support um child um uh um cancer research and and treatment. Uh we support uh community college here locally, um, you know. Academically, we support the ACE program, uh which is uh community college, and then we're supporting uh students with uh financial insecurities uh at Virginia Tech, you know, just if certain things arise, crisis come up, that type of thing. So just giving back to the community and primarily helping young people. But yeah, we're getting ready to before we kick off the season on Friday, the 4th of September, I'm gonna do a meet and greet at the Hokie shop in Lane Stadium. People may not know that, but they've had theirs a bit of bookstore or store in Lane, but that's only been open game day. Now it's open five days a week, and now with football season coming six days a week. And uh there's gonna be, we'll have lunch pails in there for us for our foundation. But there'll be a variety of things in there or uh Virginia Tech, obviously. That's an area too where you can get player um uh products, you know, guys that have signed things that I guess help with their name, image, and likeness, the true meaning of that. And then uh again, we're doing cigars at my friend uh Joan Nazar at uh at uh Blacksburg Pipe and Tobacco, where uh we've got the premium uh wind cigars that you know you gotta enjoy your victory with a wind cigar, and then we got to throw in a wind vodka with that too. But uh we're getting ready to light up a bunch of uh victory cigars, you know, and the we put a new wrapper on the cigar, which is a it's a premium cigar, you know, it's it's not a cheap, uh this is not just a gimmick deal. Um but the new thing is Joe is we're putting some, uh this will be a limited edition that we're we've created a lunch pail uh cigar box that now will hold 20 cigars, and that's a limited edition, but then the proceeds will go back to the foundation. So um, you know, we're excited about that, proud of that. We had uh we sold all of our cigars last year, and uh, you know, they're higher demand than ever, and we've got them back, and we're we're gonna kick them off here on uh September 4th. So that'll be from 10 to 12 at the hooky shop uh on uh and then I'll be at 1 to 3 at Blacksburg Private Tobacco. Then one other thing, September 28th will be our annual golf tournament at Richmond at Hermit's Country Club. So we'd like to have people there. We've only got a few slots left, so we'd love to see you join us. Go to lunchpale defense.org to sign up for that.

SPEAKER_09 46:26

Perfect. I love it. And by the way, you you don't really know this, but you're the sponsor of my daily show on our station in Stanton uh with Joe Thomas and uh Thomas Media and W T O N. And is the we are brought to you by the Lunch Pale Foundation. Yeah, uh Joe does that.

SPEAKER_05 46:42

So anyway, well, Joe has been so good and great and stuff. He has he really has, and you have too. So I can't thank you guys.

SPEAKER_09 46:48

The heck with it. I mean, if you if you can direct bands, we can give you a little plug. So it's all good. For Bud Foster, I'm Mac from Dunlett's Foster and Friends for another week, and we will see you next week and find out about if Bud ever made a media mistake. That's next week. See you soon.

SPEAKER_08 47:09

Real slow. Maybe I like this protection.

SPEAKER_02 47:12

Foster 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. Foster and Friends is a presentation of the NSB Radio Network and Mac McDonald Media.