Foster and Friends
Foster and Friends
Foster and Friends Vol 148 No Comment with David Teel
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Virginia Sports Hall of Fame member and one of the top writers and columnists in America, David Teel, joins Bud and Mac. It's time to make sense of the coaches pre-season press conferences. No further comment needed!
Welcome to Foster and Friends. Send us a text message. Bud and I would love to hear from you.
This is Foster and Friends with former coach Bud Foster and his co-host Mac McDonald.
SPEAKER_05There's no magic here. It's fundamentals. You know, I would like to think the leader, which is me, knows what he's doing and has a blueprint in the plan. Create the intangibles on your football team, the culture, the mindset, a philosophy on how you want to play. There's no magic here.
SPEAKER_02Foster 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 buy Brick House Pizza. Visit our Radford location in the Brick House Garden featuring live music in the best in comfort food. Brick House Pizza means good times.
SPEAKER_01To play hard, to be a great teammate, to show up every single day, treat every possession, every drill like it's the last one. That's really where I learned that, like, okay, if there's no hard work, then there's really nothing.
SPEAKER_02Now, from the NSB Radio Network, Foster and Friends. Here's Bud and Mac.
SPEAKER_08It is Foster and Friends for another weekend. Bud Foster is here and uh he has been on the road. He's had a very, very busy week. And even uh last week was at uh at a Pirates game talking to talking to Hokies and watching the Red Sox. So you uh you've been busy. How much fun? How much fun was Pittsburgh?
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh. You know, like I've told you before, I've been to a lot of places but seen nothing. You know, you see a locker room, you see a hotel room, you you, you know, you uh and uh but I've had a chance since retirement to get up to Pittsburgh. I've seen a couple Steelers Ravens games because a couple more players played on each squad. So I went up to see those games. Then the last two years and this weekend, uh past weekend, went up and saw the Pirates Red Sox series. And uh just had a great weekend, hung out. Uh Pittsburgh's such a fun city, man. It's you know, a lot of I mean it's old, but they you know how they've um they've revitalized it and underrated, yeah. Yeah, and uh they had it, they had Italian days too. So you talk about food, drink, and uh I I think I put on about seven pounds uh just being there Friday and Saturday and come back uh a little pasta, huh? Pasta. I tell you, I need one, so I wasn't I forget the name of the place because I've been there the last two years. Maybe one of the best Italian places I've eaten uh ever. And um, and it's a BYOB. So you I mean they obviously they have soft drinks, but we went with this guy, Paul Hightower. He I want to throw his name out. Paul is longtime Duquesne Associate AD, just retiring after 39 years there. And Paul is a Radford University grad. We got connected um at a Radford uh fundraising event, and so that's kind of how we've gone the last couple years. But Paul is a wine connoisseur, and he brought some of the most fabulous bottles of wine that I've tasted. And we sat around on Friday night at this Italian restaurant and uh had great food and great and had some outstanding wines. They were more, they were like Italian wines, and he, you know, he's just become a he's he's really an interesting guy.
SPEAKER_08Well, today our show is called uh No Comment. It has to do with uh handling the media. David Teal is gonna join us, one of the great writers, Hall of Famer, uh JMU grad in 1981, has learned from the best and uh has covered everything. I mean, rider cups and Olympics, and um David is so revered. We're gonna uh talk to him today, which is gonna be a lot of fun. So we'll go to break, we'll come back. Foster and friends, NSB Radio Network.
SPEAKER_06Hi, 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_03Yeah, 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. 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_03Over 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_06Go see your award-winning Envision team. They have two locations, Salem and Christiansburg. They will meet all your eye care needs.
SPEAKER_04Why don't you start calling around and see if you can get somebody else to play us and we'll play them. We'll play anybody you can get to play us. You know, all that stuff you write about how good we are, and all that stuff they hear on ESPN, it's like poison. So we're gonna play everybody who can expedite winning the game. That's what that's what we're gonna do. So I don't think anybody should expect us to do anything else. If I could tell you why you asked that question, I hell I wouldn't be up here.
SPEAKER_02Foster 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_08Welcome back. It's Foster and Friends, and uh David Teal's gonna join us in just a few minutes. Looking forward to talking to him as we uh the name of the show today is No Comment. Um uh came to me in a uh in a dream, thinking about all the press conferences and all the things that you know we're talking about, not only college and pro, but I mean just press conference after press conference after comment after comment, you know, a lot has happened. So uh I wanted David's perspective on handling the media and some of the coaches that have been in the state, the the George Welshes of the world, Frank Beamers of the world, that kind of thing, uh, and also what he has learned, what he did learn from uh some of the other writers, the the Bill Millsaps of the world, for example, in the state of Virginia. So, but with that being said, um you uh Frank Beamer, I think I've asked you this question before. Frank gave you kind of an open form with writers, right? In other words, he uh Al Groh had a one voice um thing where he said he didn't want his assistants talking to the media unless he knew about it. Um but I'm guessing, did you have pretty much open reign with the writers uh under uh Coach Beamer?
SPEAKER_06We did, and Coach was very open with the players too, you know, and uh letting them have um exposure to the writers as well. And uh the one thing that we did with Coach is we went through a we had a media relations kind of seminar. He would always have that during fall camp. You know, we would always that in the evening have some kind of educational process. It could be maybe uh the university coming in talking about uh the parking policy because I mean student athletes and students all over, you know, they can get fined and parking on spot all the day. But anyway, we had bankers come in, just a variety of people come in, just educate you, police come in, you know, that they were on your side, blah, blah, blah. But we also had a uh, you know, had a media relationship, you know, kind of seminar, how to and and had some practice. And and uh obviously the coaches, we didn't, we were there, and then we'd go on, but uh, but it was always good for me to hear that. And even when I was a young coach, I might even go sit in and listen to a press conference just because I wanted to hear that experience. I wasn't involved, but I knew if I was gonna stay in this business that I was gonna be in that position at some point in time. But um, I always thought that was something that coach really it was good of for our kids to understand how to handle themselves. You talk about no comment, that was always a thing they'd rather sit, one didn't want them our players to say, hey, no comment. They would just say, well, I'd rather discuss that at another time. Or like for me, if they just ask a tough question instead of me saying no comments, and I'd rather not talk about that right now without looking at the film or let me evaluate it a little. Maybe just really, you know, kind of let you sit back and think and and take a deep breath before you answered the question, even if one could be a little challenging, you know, from a standpoint of, you know, it would tick you off. And I've had a couple of those scenarios that, you know, I've just had to take a deep breath and, you know, handle myself. You know, probably one of the biggest uh experiences I had was, well, two things. And I think we talked about it before. I know Randy King uh was our beat writer here, and I was talking about, you know, it was one year, I think we talked about another show where we we had some personal fouls and things, and we lost a game to pit because of we extended a drive because one of our players flipped a ball. We stopped uh, you know, it was like Larry Fitzgerald or, you know, Brian on, you know, for Pitt. I can't remember which one. We stopped him, and the player flipped the ball to the receiver, you know, and personal foul got a, you know, uh first down, and when they went down and scored, then instead of getting off the field, and that changed the momentum of the football game. And uh, but I remember the article after the year we had some things, and I talked about that those were selfish penalties, and you know, and those are things that we addressed, blah, blah, blah. But then on the headlines of the newspaper was Foster calls football team selfish, which is not what I said. And then um, and then I I got into Randy King said, He said, Well, the editor wrote that, but then it wasn't what Randy wrote really wasn't what I said, too. You know, he wrote it in his own ways, and that's where a guy like who we're getting ready to have on, David Teal, and another guy that I mentioned, Mike Harris, um, you know, were guys that I thought did things, you know, wrote things down the way.
SPEAKER_08I've done things the right way. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06The other time I had an experience was uh we had Anton Xam was playing corner for us. We moved him from corner or from safety to corner. We got beat by Cincinnati, good Cincinnati team in FedEx field. Man, the receiver caught about 11 balls on tone. And they were just berating him. And that was before I got on, you know, and you know, my deal after that, I got on and said, shame on you, kind of to the you know, the writers. You know, here's this, you know, if you're gonna do anything, talk to me. Don't talk to him about that. And I said, he's gonna be a heck of a player, and turned out he ended up being an all-ACC performer, drafted, you know, having played several years in the NFL. But me backing my player and showing the confidence I had in my player, you know, meant the world to him. And that, I think, in turn took a guy that had a rough outing early on in his transition from safety to corner to becoming an outstanding football player at that position because of my I gave him the confidence that he needed. And and that's all he needed. It was he needed to please me, not them, you know, when it was all said and done. And I think that made a big difference. And and he told me that, you know, that was a big part of you know, him moving forward and having, you know, being able to look at himself with with confidence that he could play that position, you know.
SPEAKER_08So when you had, because you had, when did you, and maybe you did it right away, uh, because I didn't I didn't notice uh probably right away or early in uh in my tenure, but um how often did you do the weekly press conferences? When did you start that? In other words, what the because the writers, you know, coordinators became back when I got into the college game in 1980 and broadcasting games, coordinators were non-existent. We we didn't really talk to them, they didn't really speak to the media, but as as recruiting wars, I mean as it wore on, coordinators, offensive and defensive, became staples really in in media coverage.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and you know, and I I I'm trying to think exactly when it that hit, but I do know this playing in, you know, in the uh in some big bowl games, playing for the national, maybe it was kind of when the national championship kind of round and ESPN really started taking off, you know, and that's when because we would always meet as coordinators with the TV people before games. And I think to me, that was probably as much as anything a great teaching tool for me to be able to talk to them, even though you weren't in front of a mass group of people, the questions they would ask, uh, and you know, you had to without giving up your game plan or you know, doing things and and but you also wanted to give them enough information that they could talk and and and and talk about what you're doing and and that type of thing. And and uh, but I think probably about midway through my career as a coordinator, um you know, coach was very good. It was all like you said, it was always the head coach, and then it became the head coach and then the coordinators. And um, and coach was always good about that. And there's still some guys today, it's just strictly the head football coaches do the do the interviews. And you know, the coordinators may do a press conference during the week when they do that, and uh and we always had to do that too. I will say this, you know, probably my first experience doing it more than anything was we do they have the Virginia Tech has what they call Tech Talk Live. Yeah, which you know that it was really the Coach Beamer show, but he had the coordinators come on there every Monday, which that was great for me to get there and answer questions from Bill Roth, uh, answer questions. We had a couple here and there when call-ins. Sure. So that was an opportunity to really gain the experience to, you know, to be in front of the media, so to speak. And um, but uh as I said, you know, Coach was always wanted, he knew that the media had a job to do and wanted us to be, we didn't have to tell them everything, but he also wanted us to be respectful and treat them the way we want to be treated. And in turn, he hoped that would we'd be fair to them, and in turn they'd be fair to us.
SPEAKER_08Great stuff. Well, David Teal's gonna join us and he'll explain how you never throw a first pitch fastball to a coach. We'll do that when you come back. It's Foster and friends. This is the NSB 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.
SPEAKER_07Clemson took its multimedia rights completely in-house to Clemson Ventures. It does not have an MMR partner anymore. I think name rights are going to be very much a tech's future. Same with jersey patches, field logos, all of it.
SPEAKER_02Foster and Friends is presented by the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win Bodka in Gentleman's Journey Bourbon. Once again, here's Bud and Mac.
SPEAKER_08Welcome back. It's Foster and Friends, and uh with an with an old friend, and uh I don't want to call him old because he looks like he just stepped out of uh uh JMU, which he did in the well, it was the spring of you know sometime sometime in the 80s. David Teal is with us, who I was kidding him before we came on, but he's he's doing more TV than Terry Bradshaw and Tom Brady combined. But uh it's just great to have him because he's seen all over the Virginia Tech podcast, and why not? Because he's a a wealth of information. And with what you and I were talking about today, as far as August and coaches and dog days, this uh this fits in really well, doesn't it? To have David with us.
SPEAKER_06It does, it does. You know, David covered um us for years, and and as I told you before, he was always a guy that I uh and David's on here now that I just had the utmost respect for. He treated us fairly and and uh covered us great. And uh I had nothing but the utmost respect for David and and how he handled his business. I hope he felt that about us when it was all said and done.
SPEAKER_08Heck yeah. I mean, David's done Olympics and writer cops, and he he was just telling us that 44 years now covering the Atlantic Coast Conference, so what a short timer and uh the hall of famer that he is. Well, David, we were talking about this is a great time, and and I hear your voice all the time at the press conferences. And um uh if there was one story that you could tell regarding, I don't know, a relationship with a coach or not so much a run-in, but maybe a coach's story or the greatest you ever covered or the most fun you ever have covered, who would you who would you put at the like in your top five?
SPEAKER_07Well, first of all, I I have to needle butt a little bit. I am wearing my uh quarter zip from the 2015 independence bowl. How about that? Which was Coach Beamer's final game at Virginia Tech, was not Coach Foster's finest moment as a defensive coordinator, because the final score was Virginia Tech 55, Tulsa 52.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that was like a basketball game. I I I have to I have to interrupt, and since you brought that up, David, you know, I remember, and you you'll remember this. I mean, at the end of the first quarter, it was like, and maybe within the first uh eight minutes of the first quarters or nine minutes, it was like 24-21. It was unbelievable, Mac. It was going I said, boys, and we had and we were down DBs, and then the first play of the game, one of our our DBs breaks his collarbone. So we are scrambling. But I I was on, I got on the headset and said, Boys, we're getting ready to break some kind of record here today.
SPEAKER_08Well, at least you kept that on the sidelines, you know.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, luckily, but yeah, luckily for coach, though, but we won the game, but that wasn't, yeah, it wasn't one of my five. I will say this, it might have been one of my better coaching moments, though, when it's all said and done to get that group ready to finish and finish the game because Tulsa was a explosive offense. They really really were. But uh yeah, thanks for bringing that up.
SPEAKER_07Daddy Nicholas saved your bacon with two sacks on the final drive.
SPEAKER_06Yes, he did. Yes, he did. As crazy as daddy was, he was a heavy player, too.
SPEAKER_08And and David, when you think of your, and that's so funny you bring that up because when you think of the Bill Dooleys, the Frank Beamers, the George Welshes, all the assistants that George had, um, you know, the Algros and the, you know, just the the Fuentes and the, I mean, you could you could write an encyclopedia worth of the stories and the people that you've you've covered.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and I've been blessed, Mac, because in large measure the the coaches have understood and appreciated our role. And as as bud spoke to, really, all they asked for was fairness and professionalism and respect. And that's what we in the media ask for as well. And usually it works, at least in my experience. It has now there are some exceptions, and uh gentlemen, you know, you mentioned a bunch of football guys. Excuse me, but someone you and I both hold here is the way Terry Holland. Yeah, absolutely. And Coach Holland and I we had some moments when when Terry was in the throes of Alzheimer's and such. I reached out to his family and all his friends, they were more than willing to talk because they knew the respect that Terry and I had for him. And he was so gracious because hey, look, we in the media we make mistakes too. We say and write things that we regret, and in press conference situations, we we don't phrase the questions properly, or they are poorly caught. When when when you first asked me to to come on and you were talking about press conference situations, I I think what bothers me most and what I've learned is number one, they're not performative situations for the media. Don't go in there and and they've become that because they're all online now and they're all videotaped. People are trying to make a name for themselves. Well, guess what? It's not about you. You're trying to have a conversation with somebody and get answers that are informative and help the public understand. Number two, just think about it. Common sense, you don't lead with your fastball. You gotta warm them up and butter them up a little bit.
SPEAKER_08So well said.
SPEAKER_07No, you have to, and I've led with the fastball before, and it's bitten me in the backside. Because and you can ask butt this. If you do that in either in a public setting or even in a one-on-one interview, the subject is gonna tend to shut down and say, Okay, I know where this guy's coming from. What what what the hell am I wasting my time for?
SPEAKER_08Yeah, that's a good, that's really good. Have you had friends? Well, you talked about coach Holland as a perfect example, but have you been have you been friends? Do you do you would you consider yourself friends with the likes of Beamer and Welsh and and all the people that you've covered?
SPEAKER_07Matt George didn't have friends. Well, that's true, too.
SPEAKER_08He had a refrigerator and X's and O's. That's what he said.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah. God bless his soul. Um, I'll tell you what, and and I consider Bud a friend, and there is that line you you can't cross, but I'll tell you a story about Coach Beamer. So Coach Beamer retired after after this game, 2015. And we're going through the 2016 season. And a couple weeks before the annual regular season finale between the Hokies and the Cavaliers, it's in Blacksburg. And I reached out to Coach and just said, I'd like to do a story on your first year of retirement. What's it been like? And he said, sure. When do you want to do it? And I said, Well, you know, maybe the week of the game. And Mackie invited me to his home.
SPEAKER_08Oh, how about that?
SPEAKER_07And it was it was Thanksgiving, it was Black Friday, the day before the game. It's all decorated for Christmas. Some of the grandkids are running around. Cheryl's there. And Frank welcomes me into his home. We go up into his office and we're talking and we're reminiscing. And then, bless his heart, he says, Hey, I gotta go. Come with me. I'm like, okay, where are we going? So we hop in Coach's car and we drive to campus. And on the way, he explains to me that Justin has asked him to address the team prior to the UVA game. So we get out of the car and we're walking across Beamer Way, fittingly enough, and literally traffic stops. I mean, because this is the mayor of Blacksburg, and traffic is stopped, people want to say hey. And I I go into the team meeting, and Justin Fuente is like, What is he doing here? And Coach is like, He's with me.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_07And so yeah, do I consider Frank Beamer a friend? That's a great story. I thought that was so gracious.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_07And so yeah, that sometimes it does become, you know, a personal relationship. Sure, sure.
SPEAKER_06Uh that was that was that's true, Frank Beamer. That's what made him special here. It might made him special with you guys too, right? I'm talking about the media because he treated it, you know, that was the one thing Frank said. And I know we've talked about this before on the show, but Frank has always, hey, these guys have they have a job to do. Let's treat them the same way you'd want to be treated. And in turn, all we ask, you know, if we do that, they'll be fair with us. And Frank, you know, he was just, he was that way. And there's other coaches I've been around that like, you know, the media is they're like the they're like a vampire. We can't let them in, you know, we can't let them close. Frank was very open, let you guys come to practice, all those kind of things. He was very open for you guys. Now there was you couldn't see everything or didn't want you to do certain, you know, video, particularly when that kind of came around, but he was just very open for you guys to be exposed to what we were doing, and and you know, and he always felt like if we could show something positive, you guys would then, you know, uh put that out there positively, you know, to the to the to the in the media and to the toward the fan base and the and the readers, you know, or your audience.
SPEAKER_08Dave, were open practices um a thing that the Welshes and the Beamers, uh, you know, the old school guys, I hate to call them old school, but were open practices a thing?
SPEAKER_07With Coach Beamer, that they were with Coach Welsh, as I recall, not as much. Um in in basketball, you you could usually go to practice. Uh what I really appreciated back then, and it's not really your interaction with coaches, but was open locker rooms after after games where it wasn't so controlled about who you could talk to, because what's all these guys aspire to? They aspire to go to the NFL or the NBA. Well, guess what? The locker rooms in the NFL and the NBA are open. Yeah, why not teach them now?
SPEAKER_08Yeah, good point. Great point.
SPEAKER_07And that that's the way it used to be, and and and the coaches were okay with it. And they either instructed their players as to what to say, or they would let them learn on the fly, learn on the top.
SPEAKER_08And do Foster Friends, David Teal is our guest, Hall of Famer, and uh long time, long time sports writer, but still very, very young at heart. He's like me. I don't think he's ever going to retire. So, but now come back. More uh more inside info from David Teal. This is Foster Friends and the NSP Radio Network. 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 the portfolio to include bourbon, American single malt 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 Bud and I sent you.
SPEAKER_07Bill D at Phoebus, Mike Smith at Hampton, Tommy Raymond at Woolwood, Dennis Kozelowski at Bethel. They were big personalities, bigger egos, and they used to fight and just argue and get into it. And it was above the fray all the time. And it was perk news.
SPEAKER_02Foster and Friends is brought to you by Brick House Pizza in Radford, Virginia. Brickhouse means great times.
SPEAKER_08Welcome back. It's Foster and Friends, NSB Radio Network, and uh our good friend David Teal is with us. Um uh just truly one of the uh just a legend in uh you know pen pads and now you know the electronic media. So it's so good to see. Uh David, David, uh Bud was talking about you working with the young guys, but let's go back to your career when you were getting started. How much influence did the Bill Brills and the Bill Millsaps of the world have on you at the time, the Carlton Tudors and the you know the Doug Dowdy? How how much influence did they have?
SPEAKER_07Profound. Yeah, and for which I am very grateful. And here's what and in different guys kind of taught me different things. I think from Mill Saps, I learned an attention to issues and how things affected the the big picture and also his relationship with coaches. They saps earned their trust. I I you know he wrote opinion columns, but he was fair and he wasn't gonna gloss things over, but he wasn't gonna be a gotcha guy either. And he was just universally respected, and I just kind of watched how he handled himself. Now I could never be Mill Saps because he was this huge, imposing dude, and I'm just this scrawny little wannabe high school basketball player, but um and and Doug Doug was a pioneer when it came to covering recruiting. I mean, way back before the internet and 247 and Rivals, Doug was doing the top 50 or top 25 prospects in Virginia, and he was talking about who was visiting where and who was committing. I mean, he he truly, truly was a pioneer in that regard.
SPEAKER_08That to me would be just root canal.
SPEAKER_07Oh, awful. Oh, I wanted to know part of it, Mac.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, well, I tell you what, that was a big, big thing for us, you know, from a recruiting standpoint. Sure. You know, that was he did his hit his due diligence as far as, you know, and and but that really we used that tool for us in recruiting when he started creating that top 25 and who were the top five players, and you know, then all of a sudden when when we were battling with George and UVA for the top players in the state when they were staying at home, you know, that was critical in our recruiting.
SPEAKER_08But but you'd call Doug Dowdy and say, what do you got on Ronald Curry?
SPEAKER_06Well, I mean, I wouldn't call like John Boleyn, I wouldn't call Doug, but you know, we were out on the road, but you know, John Boleyn had a good relationship with you guys, I think, for the most part. And I think John was the guy that word would probably be the mediator between coach and probably our staff to find out some little information or tidbits and things like that. Um, you know, particularly from a recruiting end of it right there. But you had a couple guys that, you know, we were close to, probably more so than others. You know, you knew who was on one side or the other, so to speak, you know. But like a guy like Doug Dowdy, though, Doug covered a lot more UVA than you know, than probably Virginia Tech when it was all said. We had Brandy King on our side where Doug was kind of doing that. But he also did that top 25, which I really thought was extremely well done and uh detailed and was really beneficial, you know, for us moving forward, like when you had the underclassmen and that type of thing moving forward to uh, you know, on the recruiting trail. So uh yeah, I mean you talk about some pioneers and things that you know kind of that was back in the day too. What was the guy that was used to travel around the country and do all the top uh recruits? So Tom Lemming.
SPEAKER_09Tom Lemming, yeah.
SPEAKER_06That was kind of you know, the same, you know, it was that was kind of a great tool to have, you know.
SPEAKER_08Sure. I get Dave, what was your first experience with Bill Dooley?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I I I didn't overlap much with Coach Dooley. Uh I I my favorite Dooley moment was when it was the press conference of the week of the the UVA game. And it was when Barry Word and Howard Petty were the two Cavaliers running backs. And folks may or may not recall you, Will, that Howard Patty's nickname was Beaver. That's right, and Bill Dooley, who could mangle a name better better than most, he always called Barry Word Barry Ward. And so he starts talking about the the Virginia tailbacks, ward and the beaver. And I was like, How good is that? I was like, Coach, you don't even realize how damn funny you are right now.
SPEAKER_08He never he did have a tradition of he never got a player's name right.
SPEAKER_06I don't think he had that drawl and yeah, he had that drawl kind of brought added to that a little bit.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, 100%. Oh, that is that is so good. What's your favorite George Well story then?
SPEAKER_07Um, oh George would he would have his weekly press conferences there in the press box at Scott Stadium, and Rich Murray, the longtime SID, he would serve lunch, and George would usually stick around and and have lunch with us, which was always helpful because it you know it humanized him. But George, you know, old salt navy guy, George was fascinated by the movie Top Gun. And when when it first came out, he spent like the first 20 minutes of his press conference one week talking about Top Gun and what a great movie it was. And it George rarely showed that side of himself, and it was such a cool moment about like you know, we we were mentioning MILSAPs and and the meanie's job of asking hard questions. There was a UVA game at Clemson that Virginia arguably could have won. This is back before UVA had never beaten Clemson, it was a big deal. And Barry Word was this was his ACC player of the year season, he was just kicking ass. In the postgame, Virginia lost a very close decision. And George just got this deer in the headlights look, and he goes, Is that all he had? And Sabs says, Yes, and George is like, We screwed it up. Wow, but that that's somebody asking the hard question that needed to be asked, and it it George wasn't angry, not not at Saps, he was probably mad at Obi or whoever.
SPEAKER_06He was mad at the offensive coordinator. Yeah, yeah, you're go ahead, but go ahead, but we've got one that has to be one of your all-time interviews. A guy that's and it's it's a basketball guy, but has to be one of the most unique characters that's come through here. Uh at tech UVA, whatever Buzz Williams. Oh my god. Um I mean, Buzz, I mean, you he's one of those. I think he opens his the refrigerator door, he's gonna um he's gonna do a press call. He's gonna speak, he's gonna speak, and he'll you talk about talking about Top Gun or something off the off the charts. Yeah, you know, do you have any Buzz Williams stories? Because Buzz was a guy, I mean, I love Buzz, but he is just a unique dude when it comes to uh an interview.
SPEAKER_07He's one of the strangest Rangers I have ever encountered. Um, but Buzz was notorious. Buzz did not grant one-on-one interviews, uh, at least not with local media. Why? Except except when he first got the job. So he hadn't even coached a game yet at Virginia Tech, and we're sitting in a conference room over at Hond Hurst, just the two of us, and he proceeds to tell me I know how it's gonna end for me here. I'm like, excuse me, and he he basically laid it out. I'm gonna win, but I'm gonna wear out my welcome because I just grayed on people, and within five years, he he was prophetic. He had Virginia Tech in back-to-back or no three consecutive NCAA tournaments, and then culminating with a sweet 16 in Washington, DC, there in the uh 2019 season, and he was gone to Texas AM. And he he called a shot beforehand. He said, I'll be out of here. He probably said the same thing to Texas AM media, and he was out of there even faster than he was Virginia Tech.
SPEAKER_08Probably already said it in College Park. I mean, he's probably already made a you know, well, David, I we could go for hours, and uh, as I said, I know your schedule's tight, and um, but you are just you're so revered, and for that, we love you. And uh uh you've never turned down a request, you've never been too busy, and that's uh I think that's a the sign of a you know just an absolute trooper. Real quick, did Bill Brill ever teach you anything?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, Brill was notorious, and it was it was well deserved. It was Brill's blind spot, and Bud knows this. Brill, he he just couldn't come to grips with Virginia Tech's excellence. Yeah, he he couldn't, and he he was a he was a Duke guy, and yes, did he shill for Duke a hundred percent? But uh Brill was another person who absolutely paid attention to the issues and he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, and he and Virginia Tech fans will find this hard to believe, but I know from personal interactions with him he did have a big heart, and he was very kind to young journalists such as Dowdy and me. And I was always grateful uh to him. Now, did I see his blind spots and try to avoid them? 100%, because I think he he screwed some things up, and I think if if given true serum in the afterlife and and maybe a few cocktails, he he might admit to as much.
SPEAKER_08So good, maybe, maybe well, before I let you go, then there was a seat cushion promotion with his face on it, right? At tech, am I am I wrong in that or or I I don't know. Um there were many things that went on at tech as pertained to maybe somebody just had one seat cushion made just for you know that could have been it. I couldn't see that David, thank you so much. Um, we know with this time of year you're you're you're busier, and uh, you know, uh just your your schedule's so busy. Thank you for stopping by and uh we'll keep in touch. Uh when you you know when you get a couple you know, a couple minutes in October, we'll get you back and see, you know, we'll get caught up on the season.
SPEAKER_07Oh, it's a it's a great time of year, guys. I I can't wait to get to Virginia Tech and watch the beginning of of the James Franklin era. Yeah, obviously was essential in that hire. And UVA coming off a school record, 11 wins. Yeah, and wouldn't it wouldn't it be great if the Commonwealth Cup became a real thing where you got two teams that are ranked and battling for conference championship and a spot in the college football playoff? I mean, bud Bud lived it. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06I'm wanting that to happen. I want that to happen again for the state of Virginia. I really, really do. So hey, it's great seeing you, my friend. Always, David. Like I said, uh utmost respect and uh look forward to seeing again here real soon. I know we'll run, we'll probably cross paths on the street here at Beamer Way, uh going to a ball game here this fall. So I'll look for you.
SPEAKER_07I I look forward to it, Coach. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, hey, it's great to have you. And there's never been a no comment with Bud Foster. I trust you. We'll go to break, we'll come back. Uh, this is Foster and Friends. And this is the NSB Radio Network.
SPEAKER_06Hi, 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. 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_03The technology is amazing. We used to take pictures on literally Polaroids. And now we went to digital and now we have widescreens and 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_08The question Jaden Daniels sends LSU a letter. Cease and desist. My number is my number. It's retired. Lane Kiffin says, wait, DJ Pickett. He's an outstanding corner. I'm giving him the number. Bud, what would you do?
SPEAKER_06Well, number one, if the jersey's retired, in my opinion, is retired. Now, I think if you're if there's such a this is that's such a big issue for this kid. If I'm Lane Kivan, I'm reaching out to Jaden Daniels. Hey, let's let's let's be real about this thing, you know, or connect those two players together and you know let them discuss the manager.
SPEAKER_08Put them on a Zoom call and see if they can hash it out.
SPEAKER_06Why not? I mean, there's a little bit of respect that goes into that involvement, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, I mean, Jaden Daniel, come on, your career, I get it. You could say the number's retired, you're honored to uh, you know, to wear it. And by the way, before we go, I think one of the greatest things that Virginia Tech ever did was the the player who wears Beamer's number every week. What an honor. And that still goes on, right? That's gonna go on under Franklin.
SPEAKER_06As far as I know, and you know, and that number's they've got a sense of there's either the jerseys retired or the numbers retired.
SPEAKER_08Good point.
SPEAKER_06That's the way it goes. I think, and right now, I think it's tech more than anything. There's some numbers that are retired, like Bruce Smith and that type of thing, but there's some jerseys retired. So that's where the 25 comes into play.
SPEAKER_08What was your number at Murray State?
SPEAKER_0640, number 43. I was 43 in the program and number one in your heart.
SPEAKER_08Is 43 retired?
SPEAKER_06I mean, they're throwing darts at that thing.
SPEAKER_08My guess is there are a couple of ladies in a dorm somewhere that will have that in a box in the garage somewhere that I'm sure you gave that jersey away a couple times. So anyway. All right. Hey, it's been it's been fun. I'll talk to you after your busy weekend and everything that uh you got going on in your life. I can't wait to see you next week.
SPEAKER_06So well, I can't wait to see you. I know your wife's out of town. I'm just gonna wait to see your smiling face uh this next week and see how you're handling being a bachelor again for a little bit.
SPEAKER_08Well, the kitchen is not as clean as it should be, so I'll be working on that all weekend. All right. For Bud Foster, I'm Mac McDonald, and that's Foster and Friends for another week, and this is the NSB Radio Network.
SPEAKER_02Foster 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. Brickhouse Pizza means good times. Foster and Friends is a presentation of the NSV Radio Network and Mac McDonald Media.
