Charles Arthur "Yank" Bernier was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college administrator. He served as the head football coach at Hampden–Sydney College from 1912 to 1916 and again from 1923 to 1938 and at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI)—now known as Virginia Tech— from 1917 to 1919, compiling a career college football record of 87–106–18. Bernier was also the head basketball coach at Hampden–Sydney, Virginia Tech (1917–1920), and the University of Alabama (1920–1923), amassing a career college basketball record of 242–219. In addition, he was the head baseball coach at the University of New Hampshire (1912), Virginia Tech (1918–1920), and Alabama (1921–1923), tallying a career college baseball record of 67–65–4. Bernier also served as the athletic director at Alabama from 1920 to 1923.

The Virginia Tech Hokies football team represents Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the sport of American football. The Hokies compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They previously competed in the Big East. Their home games are played at Lane Stadium, located in Blacksburg, Virginia, with a seating capacity of over 65,000 fans. Lane Stadium is considered to be one of the loudest stadiums in the country, being voted number two in ESPN's 2007 "Top 20 Scariest Places to Play". It was also recognized in 2005 by Rivals.com as having the best home-field advantage in the country.