Virginia Tech & The Lunch Pail Defense: What's Your Symbol?

Many of you that know me realize that I have a passion for college sports. My dorm room at Virginia Tech overlooked Cassell Coliseum and Worsham Field (612 Lee Hall). I wrote for the Collegiate Times in 1988-89. Jeff Motley, the Public Relations guru for Las Vegas Motor Speedway and I had a lot of late nights and road trips. The Hokies were 3-8 overall that year under 2nd year coach Frank Beamer, with a young linebacker coach named Bud Foster. A lot of time has passed since then. A lot more people know where Blacksburg is, and there's a waiting list for season tickets. Traditions have evolved.

The Lunch Pail
Photo Credit: HokieSports.Com

One of the most visible traditions of Hokie Football is the lunch pail; a battered metal lunchbox carrying the VT logo along with the words Team and WIN. The lunch pail sits on the sideline for every game, watched over by the top defender from the previous game.  Inside is the mission statement for the week, along with grass or turf from past road wins. Bud Foster started the lunch pail tradition in 1995, a symbol of the blue-collar, hard working nature of his defense. "The lunch pail is about going out and earning success and deserving victory, whatever it is, whether it's on the field or off the field," explains Foster.

The lunch pail is a powerful symbol. To the members of the team, it represents a common goal and provides motivation.  To the thousands of Hokie fans, it forms a bond with the team rooted in common values of hard work. In 2007, the lunch pail transcended football when it carried the names of the 32 victims killed on campus by a lone gunman. The Pail has even been depicted on class rings awarded to VT graduates. Coach Foster and the lunch pail have extended into the community through the Lunch Pail Defense Foundation.

The key to the lunch pail's success is the emotion it generates. By definition, a symbol represents or stands for something else - especially when the "something else" is abstract.

What kind of emotion do you generate when you conduct training? I would argue that the best instructors face the same challenges Coach Foster did in 1995:

• Building common ground and shared values - the trainer has to believe that what is being taught is important, and get the students to believe as passionately has he or she does.
• Ensuring that the knowledge, skill, and ability conveyed in training is put to use at every opportunity to achieve a common, realistic goal.
• Recognizing individual achievement while simultaneously building team performance and synergy.
• Emphasizing preparation as a major component of success.
• Recognizing that any team (group of students) can be a positive influence and have a significant impact.

Every instructor teaches as part of a larger organization, just as Coach Foster and the defense is just one part of a team and an even smaller part of the University. That hasn't changed the impact of the lunch pail.  The next time you go out to teach, think about what you symbolize. 

Send me an e-mail and tell me what your symbol is, or how you'd build off this concept to support your training program. I will select the best one I receive by December 15th and send you an early Christmas present.