After call from Georgia, Foster gets new deal at Virginia Tech
Bud Foster won’t become Georgia’s new defensive coordinator, but the Bulldogs’ overtures to bring him to Athens will pay off for the highly respected coach.
Hours after acknowledging contact from UGA about its job, Foster late Monday agreed to new financial terms to remain at Virginia Tech.
“I’ve been approached for jobs -– the strongest one was Georgia -– and [Virginia] Tech came through with a package that’s going to keep me here,” Foster said Monday night in Blacksburg, Va., according to the Daily Press of Newport News, Va. “I’m pleased with that.
“On the table right now, there’s a nice situation for me to want to continue here and stay here.”
Virginia Tech said terms of the new deal, which had been in the works since the weekend, will not be released until it is finalized. But the key element is an annuity that will pay Foster a lump sum if he remains at the school another five years.
Foster, 50, is in his 23rd year at Virginia Tech, his 15th as defensive coordinator. He is making $402,000 this year.
Georgia coach Mark Richt is seeking a replacement for Willie Martinez, the defensive coordinator who was fired along with two other UGA defensive coaches on Dec. 2.
Earlier Monday, Foster confirmed through a spokesman that he had been approached by Georgia at some point since Martinez was fired.
“He said he has been contacted,” Virginia Tech associate athletics director Dave Smith said by e-mail in mid-afternoon, “but that’s it.”
Asked at the time if “that’s it” meant talks with Georgia hadn’t progressed beyond initial stages, Smith replied: “That would be my take, but the only other thing [Foster] said was there really isn’t anything else to say.”
A few hours later, he said he’s staying at Virginia Tech.
Although Richt has made no public comments about Georgia’s search, candidates widely rumored to be on his radar include Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, Kansas State defensive coordinator Vic Koenning and Buffalo Bills defensive-line coach Bob Sanders, among others. Smart, a former Georgia player, has said he is “not looking to go anywhere.”
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
305 comments Add your comment
JacketFan
December 14th, 2009
7:51 pm
Easssy-yeah, don’t see that happening. More likely will be a thrashing of UGA by the Aggies who gave the #2 team in the nation all they could handle.
Back to the topic, I still think Dick Bumpass would be a wise choice.
Elite Programs????
December 14th, 2009
7:52 pm
Well, the SEC has won the last 3 national championships with another waiting to be won in less than a month.
Eaaasssy
December 14th, 2009
7:53 pm
Camden County has better defensive tackles then GA TECH. Key to winning for Iowa: pancake the entire defensive line and double team the D End, then watch the DB’s chase. Too easy!!! Enjoy the massacre dorks!!!! I could rush for 150 against your weak a$$ D.
Laughable
December 14th, 2009
7:53 pm
GA Tech: Where you get educated in selling your “we just beat our in state rivals for the first time in 8 years” rings on ebay. Nice try. Moron.
Hometowndawg
December 14th, 2009
7:54 pm
What do Tech fans know about defense anyway.
JacketFan
December 14th, 2009
7:54 pm
TChick – AQ – Automatic Qualifying, as in automatic qualifying conference for the BCS (ACC, Big 10, Big East, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC).
JacketFan
December 14th, 2009
7:56 pm
What do Tech fans know about defense?
A: That we need to improve our defense.
Speaking of which, what the hell do Dawg fans know about defense as of late?
Dumb
December 14th, 2009
7:56 pm
Really UGA? Damn. what on this god green earth would make you THINK that a guy who has been at a school 20+ years would want to leave and come to UGA? That is just PATHETIC. Guess we will offer the job to 5 people and drag this on into the spring
Living Large
December 14th, 2009
7:56 pm
That’s what I mean. The other conferences consist of the players and coaches that the SEC didn’t want. Kind of like sloppy seconds, but worse. Others only exist to serve the SEC.
truthsayer
December 14th, 2009
7:56 pm
Elite programs don’t play in Shreveport or have to get rid of DCs to save the coach’s job….
Dick Cheney
December 14th, 2009
7:57 pm
Almost 8 years of searching for Bin Laden in the hills of “the ’stans” when we should have been looking for him on the Tech campus!
Normal Dawg
December 14th, 2009
7:57 pm
JacketFan- please ignore our lunatic fringe who are just pissed you guys are back to challenging us from year to year. I think Bumpas is with Patterson unless they just don’t want to pay him. I don’t like Bumpas’ age. I guess the good news with him is that he is not likely to leave for a head coaching job.
Question for you: who are the Jackets going to get for DC? That dude needs to go, too. Although much like you guys were about Martinez, we’ll cool if y’all keep’em.
For the record, I think the Iowa/Tech match up is a pretty interesting game.
ELITE at 11-2
December 14th, 2009
7:58 pm
Enter your 7-5 Shreveport comments here:
TChick
December 14th, 2009
7:58 pm
Thank you, JacketFan.
Jazzy J
December 14th, 2009
7:58 pm
Nor do elite programs play in one major bowl every 40 years.
dd
December 14th, 2009
7:58 pm
30-24
Mr. Green
December 14th, 2009
7:58 pm
Smart and Foster have used UGA to get more $$$$$$$$$$ on their existing contracts. They aren’t going to take a lateral move to go to UGA.
UGA doesn’t have enough money to get them.
TUCK FECH
December 14th, 2009
7:58 pm
Not a Georgia Bulldog story goes by with out Tech fans OBSESSING over it!
LMAO
Psssssst
December 14th, 2009
8:00 pm
Got me there, Jazzy! Nice one! I was thinking about switching teams, and that did it for me!
01HAWK
December 14th, 2009
8:01 pm
Virginia Tech is ranked 14th in overall defense. Below are the top 10. Get someone from one of these schools. The only one I see that may leave would be from North Carolina. The others……… this would not be the best move. The Air Force D-Coordinator went to Air Force and has been there for 7-8 years and will not leave. Dick Bumpus from TCU is not going anywhere. The North Carolina coach would be the best bet. Here is his resume below.
Rank
1 TCU
2 Alabama
3 Texas
4 Florida
5 Ohio St.
6 North Carolina
7 Oklahoma
8 Penn St.
9 Nebraska
10 Air Force
Charlotte, N.C., native Everett Withers enters his second spring as North Carolina’s defensive coordinator and secondary coach.
In 2008, the opportunistic Tar Heel defense ranked eighth in the country with 20 interceptions, just one shy of the school record. Carolina returned a school-record four interceptions for touchdowns and posted a positive turnover margin (0.46) for the first time in nine years. Under Withers’ guidance, safety Trimane Goddard led the nation in interceptions en route to first-team All-ACC and second-team Walter Camp All-America honors. He became the first Tar Heel defensive back to earn All-America honors since Dre’ Bly in 1998.
Withers came to North Carolina after serving one season as the University of Minnesota’s defensive coordinator in 2007.
Withers spent six seasons with the Tennessee Titans from 2001-06 under head coach Jeff Fisher. From 2002-04, Withers helped the Titans defense tally 57 interceptions, which was the most for the franchise over a three-year period since 1993-95. The 57 interceptions also ranked fourth in the AFC and eighth overall during that time. The Titans totaled 21 picks in 2004, including 16 by the secondary.
In 2002, Withers directed a revamped secondary that added safeties Lance Schulters and rookie Tank Williams. The new arrangement helped the defense earn a top 10 ranking and Schulters’ six interceptions were the most by a Titans safety since 1993. Withers also developed Andre Dyson into a starter as a rookie in 2001 and helped him total 16 interceptions during his four-year Titan career, including six his final season.
Prior to working with the Titans, Withers was defensive backs coach under Mack Brown at Texas from 1998-2000, where he guided a Longhorns secondary which improved from 75th in the nation in pass defense in 1997 (132.7 efficiency rating) to first in the nation in 2000 (88.02). Withers is credited with helping a young corps of defensive backs improve in a number of statistical categories.
Withers joined the Longhorns after three seasons (1995-97) as defensive coordinator at Louisville. His 1996 defensive unit ranked fourth nationally in both total defense (235.8) and rushing defense (81.1) and led the NCAA in forced turnovers (41). While at Louisville, Withers helped current New York Giants All-Pro cornerback Sam Madison earn All-America honors for the Cardinals.
Withers’ first National Football League experience came with the New Orleans Saints where he worked as defensive quality control in 1994. Prior to his experience with the Saints, Withers was defensive backs coach at Southern Mississippi for two seasons (1992-93) and outside linebackers coach at Tulane in 1991. The first three years of Withers’ coaching career came at Austin Peay, where he was defensive coordinator (1988-89) and special teams/wide receivers coach (1990).
Withers earned his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State in 1985. He was also a standout defensive back and captain for the Mountaineers from 1981-85. Withers and his wife, Kara, have two children, Tia and Pierce.
OrangeBowlBound
December 14th, 2009
8:01 pm
This was expected. Its not easy swaying a guy who has been somewhere for 20 years. If he was interested in leaving for an SEC school then he would be at South Carolina right now.
CC
December 14th, 2009
8:02 pm
Tuck Fech is dyslexic, perhaps?
Make a hire already
December 14th, 2009
8:02 pm
Whoever GA is going to hire, they need to get the ball rolling. Let’s not forget that FL is looking for the same position. See if you can hire Ellis Johnson, if not then look off the radar, someone like Travis Jones.
JacketFan
December 14th, 2009
8:02 pm
NormalDawg – I don’t know who we are going to get. I told someone the other day on one of the blogs that I would really like a young upstart, non-AQ DC-someone with a lot of piss and vinegar and something to prove that can really invigorate the defensive players – give them some swag. I like Manny Diaz from Middle Tenn, Ron English at Louisville, or Justin Wilcox at Boise. Would love to have anyone of those guys.
Steve
December 14th, 2009
8:02 pm
Rick Smith, Secondary coach from East Carolina would be glad to come to UGA as DC.
Bruce
December 14th, 2009
8:02 pm
I really don’t want the DC from K State or Ellis Johnson. Look how many points we scored on SC with our offense this yr.
truthsayer
December 14th, 2009
8:03 pm
Keep watching ESPN Classic so you can make it through bowl season
Boots
December 14th, 2009
8:03 pm
I don’t know why Foster didn’t want to come. He’d feel right at home because we’ve got almost as many thugs as Va Tech.
Opinion
December 14th, 2009
8:03 pm
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dock
December 14th, 2009
8:04 pm
Didn’t we (GA)beat Va Tech and Foster’s D?
DaveDawg
December 14th, 2009
8:04 pm
I’d rather spend a weekend in Sheveport than my college days living in fear of being carjacked down in the Georgia Tech hood.
Not to mention, a lifetime inferiority complex because, as you well know, you are most certainly our B*TCHES.
Opinion
December 14th, 2009
8:05 pm
Georgia= Florida’s b*tch
big bad SEC gets turned down by ACC assistant coach
December 14th, 2009
8:06 pm
Maybe UGA can get try to hire another
ACC assistant coach.
By the way, Mark Richt came from the
ACC.
JacketFan
December 14th, 2009
8:06 pm
Normal Dawg – and, yes, the Iowa/GT matchup may turn out to be a really great game, but I think that depends a lot on which GT defense shows up (the one that played VT or the one that played UGA) and the health of our O-Line. Clemson had a real strong interior D that took away Dwyer for three quarters-the outside game saved us. Iowa is solid from end to end, so we will need to have everyone running on all cylinders if we are going to find a chink in the Iowa front line. That said, if any offense can do it, I believe ours can.
Tom
December 14th, 2009
8:07 pm
Erk’s former DC at Ga Southern (Mike Healey) is a HS asst in Jax….maybe he’d come?
Jason
December 14th, 2009
8:08 pm
Wait. If the ACC is so bad, and the SEC has such great defenses, why is Georgia looking the ACC for a defensive coordinator? I thought that the ACC was a pushover conference.
NOVAJacket
December 14th, 2009
8:08 pm
Bud Foster is to Georgia what Rafael Furcal is to the Braves.
Both used them to get a better deal from the team they had no intention of leaving.
Opinion
December 14th, 2009
8:08 pm
I hear Chan Gailey is available for Defensive Coordinator
Normal Dawg
December 14th, 2009
8:09 pm
Jacket FanI- think that is the right move for us as well. That’s what Van Gorder was. I tell you what I do not want is an assistant from a big school with no DC experience. We did that with Kevin Ramsey back under Donnan and it was a DISASTER.
As for us getting rolled by the Aggies, they sure can score some points and I don’t like the fact we have two grad assistants coaching. It could get ugly on that side. That said, their defense is pretty bad. Look for us to replicate our game plan from our game with you guys and run it about 70% of the time, maybe more.
DaveDawg
December 14th, 2009
8:10 pm
I was just reading my last post and I’m not sure if I was clear. To repeat, Ga. Tech is our B*TCH. Furthermore, Tech fans are our B*TCHES.
CC
December 14th, 2009
8:10 pm
Does John Tenuta have a job?
01HAWK
December 14th, 2009
8:11 pm
Everett Withers from North Carolina has an impressive resume. Look at what he has done at Texas, Tenn. Titans, North Carolina, and Louisville.
bulldawgbill
December 14th, 2009
8:11 pm
UGA DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH $ TO GET SMART? UGA CAN BUY GT AND ANY OTHER SECOND RATE COLLEGE IN THE SOUTH BY WRITING A CHECK! WE OWN THIS STATE!!!!
Michael
December 14th, 2009
8:12 pm
Say what you want, DaveDawg, but your favorite football team beating my favorite football team eight years out of nine, or 20 out of 21, or 500 in a row… does not make me your anything.
OZZFEST
December 14th, 2009
8:12 pm
With all due respect to Frank Beamer, YOU CHOOSE BLACKSBURG, VA OVER ATHENS, GA?
LOSER.
Bigg Harry.....
December 14th, 2009
8:13 pm
Richt has waited too long to make a freakin change. Great job Marky boy, great job.
JacketFan
December 14th, 2009
8:13 pm
Normal Dawg – that sounds like a sound strategy. You guys have two real talents in Ealy and King. I’m excited to see what they do next year (not necessarily against Tech, mind you). Do you see Richt sticking with Cox the entire game or could we see a little bit of Murray or Mettenberger?
dasiey mae
December 14th, 2009
8:13 pm
No one with any sense wants to get involved in this train wreck. The damage that has been done by CMR looking the other way is really going to cost this program. BOBO THE BOZO needs to go also. The time is running out for the new recruits before they start changing their minds. The damage has been done. We are in for a couple of worthless years before AD Damian decides that CMR must go, only then will things begin to turn around. I don’t think I will ever see another 10 win season in my life time. I am going on 60 now. I have always been a loyal dog fan but this group of CIRCUS CLOWNS has destroyed all hopes of this.
Tom
December 14th, 2009
8:13 pm
Dave is MY BlTCH!
DaveDawg
December 14th, 2009
8:13 pm
I respectfully disagree, Michael.