Why did Virginia Tech Choose “Enter Sandman”? Meet the Trio Who Made the Decision (Part II)

Who are the people responsible for choosing “Enter Sandman” as the entrance song for the Virginia Tech football team?  This is a supplement to the original article that details the full story behind the choice (Why did Virginia Tech Choose “Enter Sandman?” The Real Story Told by Those Who Made the Decision).

Get to know the three individuals who were most involved in a decision that changed the culture of Virginia Tech athletics forever:  Tim East, the Virginia Tech administrator in charge of the decision, his intern Sarah Parsons Yarbrough, and her friend Chip Runyon.

A Miami area native and a Florida State graduate, Tim East came to Blacksburg in 1994 to serve as the Director of Sports Marketing and Promotions. He was promoted to Assistant Athletics Director for Marketing & Promotions in 1996. It was in that role where East left perhaps his greatest impact on the school.

Under East, who was responsible for season ticket sales, the Virginia Tech football team enjoyed a 93-game home sellout streak that spanned fifteen years (1998-2012).  During his 20 years with Virginia Tech, his marketing efforts resulted in more than $180 million in ticket sales.  

“I’m really proud of the fact that we were able to sell out the football stadium for so many years that we did,” he said.

Overseeing the installation of the video board, adding fireworks and pyrotechnics to the gameday experience, and deciding to use “Enter Sandman” are just a few of the significant outcomes of the work of Tim East.  His ability to improve the Virginia Tech brand as well as the game day experience left an everlasting impression on Virginia Tech football, the school, Blacksburg, and college football as a whole.  

East was a great fit for the Virginia Tech athletic department.  He possessed so many of those traits that were the focal points of the Frank Beamer era: paying attention to details, rolling up the sleeves and going to work, and treating people right, all while being humble, selfless, and team-oriented. Those who worked for him or with him reiterated this, still speaking very highly of Tim East.

“He was a really special person,” Sarah Parson Yarbrough said of her former boss.  “He cares, he has the biggest heart, he pours into everything he does, he looks out for everybody…He did a lot in his time there.” 

“Tim did a lot for the school and for the program.  He should be recognized as the guy, the magician, pulling the strings, making it happen,” Chip Runyon remarked.  “Tim’s a humble guy.  He loved Virginia Tech, he put his head down and went to work.” 

“He always downplayed himself,” remembered Anne Dunnington Waters.  “He was genuinely one of the nicest people.” 

Jay Phillips, who was an assistant baseball coach at Tech for fifteen years, considered East one of his best friends.  When talking about the administrators he worked under, specifically East, John Ballein, and Sharon McCloskey, Phillips had high praise. “They were top-notch administrators,” he said.  “They were very good at what they did.”

Any story that involves the origins of “Enter Sandman” has to include Tim East.  Without him, Virginia Tech likely has a different entrance song, probably not one that has become so synonymous with Virginia Tech football - and the university as a whole.  And it is arguable that Tech’s entrance with a different song would not have grown to become nationally renowned, leading to a concert in their stadium with a world-famous rock band.

Tim East made the decision to empower his interns, he had the courage to take a chance with a song that was not so mainstream, and he had the vision to keep using the song after the first few years.

Because of that, an epic tradition began, one that resonates deeply within the core of the fanbase that is Hokie Nation.

(After the new video board was installed and the “Enter Sandman” entrance became a fixture at Lane Stadium, Tim East was eventually promoted to Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs, where he held that position until 2014.  At that time, the Virginia Tech Athletic department turned over with the hiring of a new athletic director, and East’s time in Blacksburg came to an end.  

He then finished his career up the road at Liberty University, where he was a Senior Associate Athletics Director, initially for External Operations and then for Revenue Generation and Brand Development.

He retired in 2023 and has returned to Florida.)

Originally from Cooperstown, New York - yes, the baseball hall of fame town - Parsons Yarbrough almost didn’t make it to Blacksburg.  She was leaning toward James Madison, but her father had heard about a quarterback named Michael Vick who spurned nearby Syracuse, and dad wanted to see the phenom play a little further down route 81.

“If you decide on James Madison,” he told his daughter, “I’m gonna drive right on by and beep as I go to Blacksburg to watch this guy Michael Vick play football.”

That was enough to make Parsons Yarbrough consider Virginia Tech, and the rest sounds like a recruiting trip.

“I took one step on campus, it was a perfect fall weekend in Blacksburg,” she said.  “I went to a football game, had full body chills, and I just remember thinking, ‘This is it, this is where I want to call home’.”

At the end of her freshman year, she decided to get a job.  With an interest in sports marketing, she made contact with Tim East and asked if he was hiring interns.  He invited her in for an interview, and according to Parsons Yarbrough, “We hit it off.”  That was the beginning of her new job in the Virginia Tech Sports Marketing department.

She had a good relationship with East.  He was willing to listen to her, and he gave her a voice.  She liked that he was open-minded, and East trusted her and empowered her, which helped her thrive in her role. 

“She was a voice Tim leaned on to when he was asking for advice,” remembered fellow intern Stuart Mease.

While Parsons Yarbrough saw East as a fatherly figure, she wasn’t afraid to challenge the status quo, even with her boss.  Looking to add excitement to the game day experience, Parsons Yarbrough remembered asking East about using fireworks during games.  Her suggestion was shut down with a bizarre response: “We’re not allowed to do that.  The fireworks scare the cows,” her boss told her.

East confirmed this story, claiming that when he asked around about using fireworks, the answer was no.  “We can’t do fireworks because the university doesn’t like it because the cows on campus get spooked,” a colleague told East.

But Parsons Yarbrough would not accept this answer and kept pushing the issue.  “Would you be willing to talk to the administration about the possibility of giving it a chance and seeing how the cows do?” she asked.

Her persistence paid off.  East followed up with administration.  “I chased it down a little bit and finally we got the approval to do it.  And it really didn’t have anything to do with the cows,” he laughed.

When she looks back on the evolution of the “Enter Sandman” entrance, Parsons Yarbrough is still a bit astonished at how something so simple turned into something so great for Hokie Nation.  “Here are three college kids who jumped at a chance to pick a song,” she reflected, “and 25 years later, look at what it’s doing for that sense of community.”

And each autumn, she and Chip Runyon have their annual reminder of their roles in starting this iconic tradition.  “Not a season goes by without a text with Chip about the entrance,” she admitted. It is still an overwhelming spectacle.

“It makes me well up with emotion every single season,” she confessed.  “It’s also a reminder to me of the little things we do and how much they matter.  The tiniest little things can have such a ripple effect into big things in the way people feel.

“You never know where your own spark of creativity can lead,” she added.

It is easy to surmise that Virginia Tech probably would not have chosen “Enter Sandman” if not for the influence of Sarah Parsons Yarbrough.   Her ambition and “never-take-no-for-an-answer” mentality allowed Tim East to put so much trust in her and give her such a strong voice in the entrance song selection process.

As Hokies, we should be very thankful for that!

(Parsons-Yarbrough graduated from Virginia Tech in 2002 with a degree in Marketing and Management.  She now resides near Asheville, North Carolina.  A proud mother of two teenagers, she is also a life coach.  Follow her on Instagram @wyldradiance or visit her Wyld Radiance website.)

From this point forward, Hokie Nation will know Chip Runyon as the guy who suggested “Enter Sandman,” but he had previously made his mark on Virginia Tech as a pitcher for Chuck Hartman's Hammerin’ Hokies. 

Originally from Suffolk, Virginia, Runyon was offered a scholarship to Tech and earned four varsity letters over four years in the program.

He met Sarah Parsons Yarbrough while they were in a class together as freshmen.  They became friends and had many more classes together over the years.

This friendship was quite the good fortune for Hokie Nation, as Runyon was a pivotal piece in the “Enter Sandman” selection process.  Of the three friends in the apartment at 840 Patrick Henry Drive during the brainstorming sessions, he was the one with the rock and metal background.  He was the one with the library of rock and metal mp3 files in his Napster account.

“I had all those songs because I listened to rock, and I had all those kinds of anthems, and that was the music I listened to,” Runyon shared.  “I had a Metallica playlist for sure.”

It’s not unreasonable to say that if Chip Runyon and his Napster playlist were not in the apartment at 840 Patrick Henry Drive that fateful day, “Enter Sandman” would not be Virginia Tech’s entrance song.

For years, Runyon had been reluctant to tell this story publicly.  He knew the obstacles he faced. “Who are you going to tell it to?” he ruminated.  “Am I just going to randomly call some reporter from the Roanoke Times and tell him, ‘Hey, we’re the ones that came up with ‘Enter Sandman’?’ They’re gonna be like, ‘yeah, right, who are you’?”

Runyon’s closest friends have known the story, including some of his Tech baseball teammates and coaches, as he told them about the ordeal when it was happening.  Thankfully, he maintained a good relationship with Jay Phillips, an assistant baseball coach for Virginia Tech when Runyon was there, and Phillips kept pushing Runyon to do something about his secret.

Coach Phiillips and Tim East formed a close friendship while at Tech together, and Phillips was privy to the “secrets” of the origins of “Enter Sandman.”  He also felt strongly that the story deserved to be public knowledge.

“We gotta do something about this,” Phillips recalled saying to Runyon numerous times over the years, most recently early this spring. “You gotta get the true story out there.”

Runyon emphasized that Phillips told him, “It’s time.”

Metallica’s decision to play at Lane Stadium turned out to be the impetus that Runyon needed to finally overcome his trepidation.  Those who knew the story kept telling him, “Metallica’s coming.  You guys did this, you had a hand in this.  This needs to be told.

“That was really the driving force to bring it out,” Runyon said.

Ever the rock and metal enthusiast, of course Runyon attended the show in Blacksburg.  “It was surreal, just to see those guys in Lane Stadium.” 

As if having one of the most iconic bands playing in Lane Stadium wasn’t enough, Runyon also had the added emotions of knowing that he played a pivotal part in the origins of “Sandman’s” legacy at Virginia Tech.  

The evolution of the “Enter Sandman” entrance led to this concert. Because Runyon suggested that song.

“It gave me chill bumps,” he said.

(Runyon graduated from Tech in 2002 with a degree in Business Management, but the Kansas City Royals signed him to a free agent contract, and so Runyon spent the next three years in the minor leagues.  

After his baseball days ended, Runyon fell back on his Tech degree and worked in financial research.  He was a wealth advisor for fifteen years before starting his own Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm.  

Life has come full circle for Runyon, as he now resides in his hometown of Suffolk with his wife and four children, the oldest of whom is a pitcher for the Virginia Tech Hokies!)

(There are two installments to this story.  The first part can be read by clicking HERE)