This is from the Washington Post this morning, an excellent article from the perspective of a beat writer. Well worth the read and the insight of a beat writer covering Beamer.
Frank Beamer: The Face, The Soul, The Draw of Virginia Tech
The program was in the wilderness when Beamer arrived. He resuscitated the Virginia Tech football team and elevated the university without sacrificing his decency and dignity and niceness. He had a bigger impact on college football than college football had on him, and the place he loved grew up and got better because of him. When he could have left, he stayed. When it needed to heal, he helped. When it got time, he exited. What I'm trying to say is, Frank Beamer made Virginia Tech different.
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I should have bought stock in onions. So many people are cutting them around here these days. Great read.
that was a great article...
Best article on Frank I have ever seen!
Wow... thanks for sharing. And, I got a new signature quote out of it.
Oh man..that last line got me.
That was a really well written piece! Thank you for sharing.
Now that is a well-written article.
Beamer is a guy who made a difference.
I think this pretty much summed up how all of us felt on campus after the shootings. Completely and utterly helpless and all we could do was care.
I honestly never knew they did this. Forget the onions, these are real man tears right here. Little anecdotes like this get me every time, and they always will.
I likewise had never heard that. Great article.
I said it in the comment section of that article, but it bears repeating:
In the near future, when someone asks you, a VT Alumni, "What's a Hokie?" I'd like everyone to respond with "Friend, that's easy. Frank Beamer is a Hokie. A man who will keep his word, no matter the cost. A gentleman and a friend when you need one the most. That, friend, is a Hokie." God bless him and all that he did for Virginia Tech and southwest Virginia.
I made a couple #GameDay4Frank posters a little early, and even though Gameday never came, I'm still glad I made them because of what one said: "The next time someone asks me what a Hokie is, I'm going to say Frank Beamer."
I'm 27, so Frank has been the head coach at Tech for longer than I've been alive (which is crazy to think about). Some will make the argument that those who don't remember the pre-'87 years won't appreciate Frank as much as those who do -- and that may be true...but I know this:
While the word "class" is thrown around WAY too often in sports, Frank Beamer deserves to be described that way. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has something negative to say about who he is as a person (and this is a top notch article about him). I firmly believe he should be prouder of what he's done building a program and his off the field impact than his record or bowl wins.
My clearest and most enduring memory of him is from 2007. On the first day back in class that April, they rang a bell 32 times on the drillfield, which was nothing short of chilling. I was a wreck, as was everyone else on campus as we all tearily made our way back. You're never really aware of your surroundings in those situations, you have total tunnel vision. But I happened to notice Coach Beamer was walking right next to me as I headed back to my dorm. I wanted to say something, but had no words, there was nothing to be said in that moment, not to a man that meant that much to the community. All I can say is that the look on his face was one of pure resolve. You've seen it at times in pictures of him before he takes the field. That was the first and one of the strongest signals that Virginia Tech was going to have the determination necessary to deal with tragedy.
I hope that Frank knows how much he means to all of us.
I truly believe that Frank is far too humble to realize how much he has meant to all of us. That is just how he is - even in his most private conversations with his wife and family, he displays humility. Excellent post, Hammer.
It's sad I'm learning more about Frank as he steps down than when he was the coach. I hate to admit I was one of the few that wanted Frank to step down sooner rather than later and after reading articles like this (among others) I see the resistance to it. This is truly a great man and fantastic role model he absolutely deserves to be remembered for everything he has done to make Virginia Tech special and one of a kind.