In 1995, Virginia Tech defensive coordinators Rod Sharpless and Bud Foster brought an old lunch pail, which once belonged to a coal miner in Mercerville, N.J., where Sharpless’ mother-in-law lived, to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to use it as a motivational tool for the football season.
Each side of the dented box reads “team,” “VT” and “win,” the latter painted front and center. The pail, which holds papers inscribed with players’ goals and is carried into the stadium before every game, represents the strength of Hokie Nation and its tough, blue-collar work ethic.
Quickly, that meaning began to trickle throughout the Hokies athletic department.
On Feb. 18, 2017, the women’s lacrosse team took its inspiration to heart.
Under new head coach John Sung, who built the reigning Big South champion Winthrop from the ground up, the Hokies turned to face its first ACC opponent of the year, Boston College, in the football team’s indoor practice facility.
Virginia Tech won 18-12 – its first conference win since 2012.
PHOTO COURTESY OF VIRGINIA TECH ATHLETICS
The Hokies' lunch pail represents the tough, gritty mindset Virginia Tech athletics embodies on a daily basis, starting with the football team and trickling to its other sports, including women's lacrosse.
The victory was a result of the fresh foundation Sung built. Since joining the ACC in 2005, the Hokies went 3-62 in conference play, which for Sung, meant it was time to reboot.
“I can tell you this – when kids are 5-13 [in 2016] and they’re 3-62 in the ACC, those kids are resilient,” said Sung. “They’re tough as nails. I think they just needed a little bit of a better map to figure out how to get to where they needed to go.”
The map led the Hokies to thinking outside of the box. It meant going back to the basics, playing wall ball before implementing team concepts and practicing one-on-ones every day. It meant focusing on being a great athlete, increasing fitness levels to be able to run with ACC teams.
“They were hungry for it,” said Sung. “They had that look in their eye of ‘Coach, we’ll do whatever we need to to be successful.”
It also meant not rushing the process, Sung added. He had to create a style that best suited the Hokies – playing fast, while also keeping composure, which was evident in their second half 12-5 comeback against the Eagles.
“When you want to build a successful team, it’s not easy,” Sung added. “The one thing our kids really learned fast is you’ve got to outwork your opponent and I think they see it from our other athletic teams here. The football team carries the lunch pail and we’re lucky enough to practice in their indoor facility. Our kids have seen the lunch pail and wanted to carry out to the game. That’s symbolism of we’ve got to go to work and we’ve got to be a little bit more blue-collar and more gritty.”
The payoff began in fall ball. At the Navy Invitational on Oct. 15, the Hokies defeated No. 16 Towson and Vanderbilt. Their only loss was to No. 5 Florida.
The Hokies have four more games before their next ACC match against No. 8 Duke on March 4, and while their win over Boston College is a step in the right direction, “they’re still just scratching the surface.”
“With the past we have, we’ve got to make sure that we do everything to change our future,” Sung said. “We have some good stepping stones to build off of. If we can just be disciplined, do the little things and not try to be a hero, I think we stay in the game.”
And hopefully, stay in the press, Sung added with a laugh.