Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster is a rare source of continuity in the wake of a major coaching change.
“The only thing that changes is the offseason workouts and what I do in practice sometimes,” said defensive end Ken Ekanem, who had 4.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss as a junior in 2015, and at 6’3”, 243 pounds, projects as a linebacker in the NFL.
Foster was Ekanem’s main recruiter coming out of Centreville High School, and Ekanem is happy that Foster and defensive line coach Charley Wiles were both retained by new head coach Justin Fuente during the transition after the retirement of legendary Tech coach Frank Beamer.
Scheme-wise, Ekanem doesn’t expect much in the way of change. Foster will still be calling the defenses from the sidelines, but Ekanem thinks it will be interesting to see what kind of impact Galen Scott, who came with Fuente from Memphis, where Scott served as Fuente’s defensive coordinator, will have on the approach.
“Scott is more of a zone-blitz guy, and Bud Foster is more of a run-blitz guy, so they kind of just bounce things back and forth between each other. I’m kind of excited to see what they can stir up in the coaches’ office and what they have to offer,” Ekanem told me in an interview at the 2016 ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C., this week.
The big difference will come in conditioning.
“A lot of running, a lot of up-tempo stuff, less time to recover,” said Ekanem. “We’ll have one run where you sprint 40 yards, you walk down, and in the time you walk down, you barely catch your breath, then you have to sprint back another 40. It’s basically simulating a game, sprinting for six seconds, then waiting for the next play, and you get about a 20-second break. It’s going to translate very well onto the field.”
Story by Chris Graham
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