Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer will announce on Sunday he will retire at the end of the 2015 football season ending his 29 year career at Tech, and abdicating his spot as the winningest active coach in college football. That is according to multiple reports.
#Hokies will announce Frank Beamer is retiring at end of this season around 2:15 p.m. ET. Beamer met with coaches this a.m.— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) November 1, 2015
Source: #VirginiaTech Frank Beamer has told his staff that he's retiring after the season, scheduled to meet with the team this afternoon.— Mike Jurecki (@mikejurecki) November 1, 2015
The Key Play has reached out to the Virginia Tech athletic department for a comment and will pass along new any information.
The 69-year-old Beamer's record at Tech is 235-120-2 at Tech, and he has 277 career wins overall. He led the Hokies to 7 conference championships (3 BIG EAST, 4 ACC), and an appearance in 1999 national championship game against Florida State (29-46 loss). Tech secured 22 consecutive bowl berths on Beamer's watch (and counting).
Beamer guided the Hokies to seasons of 10-or-more wins from 2004 through 2011. However, from 2012-14 Tech notched records of: 7-6, 8-5 and 7-6, respectively. Beamer turned over his offensive staff after the 2012 season, and received an increase in football support staff (with a focus towards recruiting) under then new athletic director Whit Babcock. Beamer and Babcock released a joint statement at the end of the 2014 season and stated they had higher expectations for the football program.
"Again, we both have higher expectations," Babcock said as part of a released statement on January, 3 2015. "Coach Beamer, his staff, and our players are committed and focused on the success of this football program, as we all are. Coach Beamer told me 'we have competed for championships before and we have what it takes to get back to that level.' I appreciate his drive and determination to get us there. We share the same goal. We both understand the significance and importance of a successful, national brand for Virginia Tech Football."
After Tech's 6-30 Thursday night home loss against Miami in 2014, Beamer stated, "I think we're really going to be a good football team next year, and that's kind of where we are."
The Hokies are 4-5 in 2015. Again this season Tech is inconsistent on offense, among the most penalized teams in the nation, and unable to overcome personnel losses (which is as much a reflection of talent development and recruiting, or lack thereof, as bad luck). To boot, the Hokies' defense dropped from its normally elite level of play and statistical rankings to an average unit.
Beamer wrote in his 2013 biography Let Me Be Frank, "What I think is important is that it's not awkward at the end of my career here, whenever the end is. I think I'll know exactly the right time for me to finish up at Virginia Tech. I think so much of this place, this university, and this community that has been so good to me. I will know when he time is right. I am well aware that it is possible to stay around too long."
Beamer echoed that sentiment at ACC Kickoff in July.
"I'm very aware of the situation with me, Virginia Tech, how long I've been there, how long I will be there," Beamer said. "I'm very aware of it, and I'm not going to be there longer than I feel like I'm a real plus for Virginia Tech. When I stop being a plus for Virginia Tech, you guys are going to have to come to Blacksburg to find me. At my house in Blacksburg, not the football office."
True to his word, Beamer announced his retirement when it became apparent Virginia Tech was no longer on track to compete for conference and national championships. He couldn't reach the bar he set for a one-time lifeless Hokies program that he elevated to among the nation's best over the course of his career.
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