Frank Beamer Reflects on His Football Mortality, Expectations for 2015

The fate of two Hokies players experiencing some "off the field" troubles in recent weeks has been the talk of the offseason, but Frank Beamer's lips are sealed.

In his hour-long session with the media at the ACC Kickoff, Beamer deftly dodged the inevitable questions about the fate of suspended running back Shai McKenzie and unenrolled safety C.J. Reavis.

After QB Michael Brewer mentioned on Monday that McKenzie has gotten some work in with the team in players-only gatherings, it was inevitable that the media would look for any nugget of information about the running back.

"I can't talk about Shai right now, that's pending out there," Beamer said.

Beamer notes that being suspended from the team means that McKenzie is mainly barred from playing in the games, clearing the way for those practice sessions.

But what about Reavis?

"I can't talk about him either," Beamer said.

The head Hokie would allow that he doesn't believe the hearing for Reavis' appeal to a student conduct board has happened yet, saying "it's coming up, I'm not sure when it is."

These are the questions that can tire out any football coach, especially one that's been fending off the media hordes for the better part of three decades.

And of course, those questions about his future at Virginia Tech come too.

Yet, while Beamer's speech remains slightly slurred from how he used to sound before this trying year, he otherwise shows no ill effects from the throat surgery that kept him from coaching his team's Military Bowl matchup.

"My health is good, I feel good, I'm excited about going into the season," Beamer said. "I'm excited about the players we've got, I'm excited about my coaching staff, I feel great about those guys. I look forward to the year."

But there's no way around the fact that Beamer's vaunted tenure is slowly coming to an end in Blacksburg — a fact that isn't lost on him.

"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."

The sudden nature of former athletic director Jim Weaver's passing earlier this month surely made Beamer sit up and take notice as he ponders the end of his career. While Beamer's reported health concerns haven't been nearly as severe as Weaver's battle with Parkinson's, he acknowledges that it's impossible to ignore the shock of something like that.

"There's no denying the suddenness of it," Beamer said. "He was at his son's baseball game the night before, there's things everyday that tells you nothing's guaranteed, things happen quickly, so I'm certainly aware of all those things."

Compounding the issue is the lagging performance of Beamer's last three squads. If the Hokies were winning ACC titles each year, there would certainly be fewer questions coming about how long Beamer will stay at the helm.

"There's no denying that the number of wins we've had over the last few years is not the number we had a few years back," Beamer said.

"There's no denying that, for our fans, for our players, for our coaches, for our administration, everybody's life is a little bit easier when you have success on Saturday. Whit (Babcock)'s life is a little easier when he's not getting a bunch of calls on Monday. I understand that. I understand where we are, what we need to do, what we need to get back to, but we've got the capabilities, so it's up to myself and the coaching staff and the football team to get back there."

Beamer says he and Babcock have "talked several times" about his future and "we both know what needs to happen."

A thought like that shows the kind of pressure that Beamer must feel in this unusual time in his tenure, but he brushes aside the notion that the weight of those expectations are having any undue effect on his coaching.

"I think if you don't feel pressure in this business, you're misguided," Beamer said.

"So much changes in a year, so much changes week to week. After Ohio State we were feeling pretty good, but after that we weren't feeling so good. It's just what happens week to week, year to year, you just grind. You put your head down and grind and treat people right and make the right decisions for your program and that's what I've always tried to do."

That grinding gets easier when you have a shiny new multimillion dollar indoor practice facility.

"It's good knowing you've got the best facility in the country," Beamer said. "Have you seen that thing? It'll take your breath."

Beamer notes he's challenged AJ Hughes to hit the top of facility's very high ceilings, which he seems to be ardently working to accomplish, but he says the building's had more practical applications as well.

"It gives you something where you can go in there and function," Beamer said.

"We can go in and scrimmage. The old indoor facility was good, but we were afraid of running into the columns over there (at the Rector Field House) because they were so near the sideline. Here, you go in and scrimmage, it just gives us a lot of flexibility, you don't care what the weather is."

This is the type of topic that perks Beamer up, making it no surprise that he's so willing to stick around and enjoy the benefits of the facility that he and Weaver worked to build over the course of roughly two decades.

"It may not be the best facility in the country, but that's my story and I'm going to stay with it," Beamer joked, pounding the interview table for emphasis. "I think it's the best indoor facility in the country."

But what's next for the program now that the indoor is built? Beamer isn't sure.

"I spent a whole year going to our alumni and our Hokie Club meetings and said 'look, let's get this indoor facility built, and it's going to be the last thing I've ever asked you for,' so for right now, I'm going to stay with that," Beamer said. "I'm going to think a little bit about it, I'm sure there's something else we need."

Beamer might not be around to see through the construction of Tech's next major facility project, but he's adamant that his focus is on working to build the type of season that puts these questions to rest, if only for a few months.

"We need to get back to where we've been," Beamer said. "We've got a good team, we've got the capabilities of a good team. Putting that together is what challenges me. The capabilities are there, but getting it to be efficient, consistent, getting the chemistry right on the team, that's what challenges me."