Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Question: How did Virginia Tech’s Enter Sandman tradition start?

Answer: Virginia Tech’s Enter Sandman tradition began in 2000, when the school installed Lane Stadium’s first videoboard and needed a new team walkout song. Metallica’s track won out over options like Guns N’ Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle and The Alan Parsons Project’s Sirius.

The full electric experience—the mass jumping—started a few years later on a cold night. One Marching Virginians band member began jumping simply to stay warm. Others quickly joined in, and soon the entire stadium was bouncing along. Former band director David McKee later called it “one of those accidental traditions.” That spontaneous warm-up jump is what turned the song into college football’s most iconic entrance, which seismographs have actually registered.